fishers, surfers and casters

G’day everyone,

I’d like to promote a book coming out by IGI Global, of which I’m a contributor:

Networked Sociability and Individualism: Technology for Personal and Professional Relationships, ed. Francesca Comunello.

The recent popularity of Social Network Sites (SNS) shows that there is a growing interest in articulating, making visible, and managing personal or professional relationships through technology-enabled environments.

Networked Sociability and Individualism: Technology for Personal and Professional Relationships provides a multidisciplinary framework for analysing the new forms of sociability enabled by digital media and networks. This book focuses on a variety of social media and computer-mediated communication environments with the aim of identifying and understanding different types of social behaviour and identity expression.

For more information, and a list of contributors, go to http://www.igi-global.com/book/networked-sociability-individualism/53001. To get a discount when ordering one or more copies (and other titles), go here: http://www.igi-global.com/Files/Ancillary/e854d522-d7bc-4f50-aab8-d4213da6f8fa_9781613503386.pdf.

Someone forgot to tell me, so I had to look for myself. I’m happy to announce that my PhD thesis is available for view/download at the RMIT library, via this link: http://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/view/rmit:6138.

I understand that to cite the thesis, this is the reference to use:

Emerson Teusner, P 2010, Emerging church bloggers in Australia: Prophets, priests and rulers in God’s virtual world, PhD Thesis, School of Media and Communication, RMIT University.

Nadja Miczek and Simone Heidbrink are (according to an email received from them) happy to announce the release of the special issue of “Online – Heidelberg Journal of Religions on the Internet” on “Aesthetics and the Dimension of the Senses”! (Please see: http://www.online.uni-hd.de/.)

When we look on the various representations of religious groups and individuals on personal homepages, in weblogs, in virtual worlds or the like and when we follow their communications on religious topics online, the visual and auditive aspects of the medium seem to play a major role. Using pictures, videos, icons, as well as music and other sounds, the internet users can design a multisensual virtual environment which might implicate its own notion of “aesthetics”.

As the aesthetic and sensual dimensions of religions and rituals on the internet have long been a neglected area of research, we called upon theoretical and methodical reflection as well as on empiric studies referring to these topics. – And many renowned scholars answered with interesting and inspiring articles with which we hope to contribute and give some impulse to the still ongoing discussion on the different theoretical, methodical and methodological approaches to “aesthetics and the dimension of the senses” in the context of religion and religious practice online.

1. Imagine a car that would drive itself, navigated by Google Maps and by its sensors on the front and sides of the vehicle. Now, imagine that while in the car you could not only see the landscape through the window, but the names, emails and even private information of people in the neighbourhoods you drive through.

2. Sherry Turkle, author of Life on the screen, has a lecture posted on her university’s website, in which she develops her own thinking on identity online. (HT: Louise Connelly)

3. A new mobile app that helps you track your own moods may help in improving mental health.

4. In a case where Victoria Police attempt to stop a stalker online, questions are raised about the service and enforcement of local law in a global space.

5. Google, in its long-term endeavour to make every printed word in the universe available online, has got the go from Israel to reproduce the Dead Sea Scrolls.

6. I think Axel Bruns is a great source of information on good methods for understanding online practices among Australians, and researching networks. This is a great example of the work he’s doing among micro-bloggers, and how he’s doing it. So is this.