Chuang, Katherine Y. and Yang, Christopher C. (2012).
A Study of Informational Support Exchanges in MedHelp Alcoholism Community. SBP 2012, Lecture Notes in Computer Science v7227(9-17). Springer Press. (link)

Abstract: E-patients searching for online health information may seek support from the peers in health social media platforms especially when they cannot find the relevant information from authoritative Web sites. Many health social media sites have different ‘architectural elements’ to support the user communication. We seek to understand the relationship between social support and Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) formats by comparing the social support types exchanged across multiple CMC formats (forums, journals, and notes) within the same community using descriptive content analysis on three months of data from MedHelp Alcoholism support community to find informational support (i.e. advice, opinions, and personal experiences, etc.). Forums are used for asking general questions related to Alcoholism. Notes are used for maintaining relationships rather than the main source for seeking information. Journal comments are similar to notes, which might indicate that journal readers consider the author as a friend. These descriptive results suggest that users may be initially attracted to the community forums for information seeking yet continue to engage in the online community due to relationships strengthened through journal or note formats.

Lars Backstrom, Eytan Bakshy, Jon Kleinberg, Thomas M. Lento, Itamar Rosenn. ICWSM 2011

Abstract:

An individual’s personal network — their set of social contacts — is a basic object of study in sociology. Studies of personal networks have focused on their size (the number of contacts) and their composition (in terms of categories such as kin and co-workers). Here we propose a new measure for the analysis of personal networks, based on the way in which an individual divides his or her attention across contacts. This allows us to contrast people who focus a large fraction of their interactions on a small set of close friends with people who disperse their attention more widely.

Using data from Facebook, we find that this balance of attention is a relatively stable property of an individual over time, and that it displays interesting variation across both different groups of people and different modes of interaction. In particular, activities based on communication involve a much higher focus of attention than activities based simply on observation, and these two types of modalities also exhibit different forms of variation in interaction patterns both within and across groups. Finally, we contrast the amount of attention paid by individuals to their most frequent contacts with the rate of change in the identities of these contacts, providing a measure of churn for this set.

via Michigan Interactive & Social Computing

Citation: Miesler, L., Leder, H., & Herrmann, A. (2011). Isn’t it cute: An evolutionary perspective of baby-schema effects in visual product designs. International Journal of Design, 5(3), 17-30.

Abstract: Through applying an evolutionary approach, we examined affective consumer responses to facial features in product designs. Previous studies have suggested that consumers might perceive the fronts of cars similarly to how they perceive human faces, but how consumers respond on an affective level to evolutionarily significant features when they are part of artifacts such as product designs has not been thoroughly studied. Therefore, we studied affective responses to features of an important stimulus that is known to elicit affect and approach behavior: the baby schema. We tested whether the affective responses to this stimulus were generalized to product designs, and how stable these generalized responses were over repeated exposures. We manipulated car fronts - and faces as controls - in accordance with the baby schema (e.g., by enlarging the headlights/eyes). Combining facial electromyography with cuteness ratings to assess innate affective responses, we found that our participants (n = 57) showed more positive affective responses to the babyfaced car fronts than to the original stimuli, and that the effect of the baby-schema features on positive affect was stable over two repeated exposures, thus did not show effects of fast habituation. These results confirm that consumers’ affective responses to visual product designs are affected by evolutionarily-implemented features.

hmm.. I wonder if the effects change for women through out their monthly hormonal cycle..

By Cliff Lampe (2006, University of Michigan)

Abstract:Large-scale, online communication systems allow many-to-many interactions among users, which can result in a variety of positive outcomes. However, the prevalence of information overload and problems caused by the loss of shared communication channels in text-based environments may create barriers to realizing the benefits of online interactions. Attempts to manage online communication systems in the past depended on techniques that cannot be applied to, or do not allow, large-scale interactions. Slashdot is a large-scale, long-lasting Web discussion community that uses a form of recommendation system to provide feedback about the quality of comments users post to the site. This dissertation examines this novel approach to organizing an online communication system in terms of how users employ the ratings provided by the system, whether comment ratings have an effect on how new users of the site participate, and how users making recommendations about content actually provide ratings. I find that users do employ ratings to change how they view content, but that there is some resistance that prevents them from doing so readily. To overcome this friction, I recommend dynamic changes based on the choices of other users who seem more willing to make interface changes based on comment ratings. I also find that new user participation on Slashdot is affected by feedback on the initial comment made by the new member, but that user observation is just as important in determining how the new member will participate in the future. Finally, I find that ratings are being sufficiently applied to comments, but that some comments are not receiving fair attention because of when or where they are posted within the online discussion. The overall conclusions of this work are that pre-rating content helps to relieve the pressure of attaining sufficient ratings on comments, that rating labels provide valuable feedback for customizing how users with different motivations may read comments, and that comments ratings positively affect user experiences in a large, online discussion system. The Slashdot case shows how the use of recommendations in an online discussion system creates organization that ameliorates the problems of information overload and loss of communication channels, while still allowing for large-scale, heterogeneous interactions.

Academic Medicine: June 2011 - Volume 86 - Issue 6 - pp 759-767doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e31821836ff

Purpose: The authors provide an analysis of sex differences in National Institutes of Health (NIH) award programs to inform potential initiatives for promoting diversity in the research workforce.

Method: In 2010, the authors retrieved data for NIH extramural grants in the electronic Research Administration Information for Management, Planning, and Coordination II database and used statistical analysis to determine any sex differences in securing NIH funding, as well as subsequent success of researchers who had already received independent NIH support.

Results: Success and funding rates for men and women were not significantly different in most award programs. Furthermore, in programs where participation was lower for women than men, the disparity was primarily related to a lower percentage of women applicants compared with men, rather than decreased success rates or funding rates. However, for subsequent grants, both application and funding rates were generally higher for men than for women.

Conclusions: Cross-sectional analysis showed that women and men were generally equally successful at all career stages, but longitudinal analysis showed that men with previous experience as NIH grantees had higher application and funding rates than women at similar career points. On average, although women received larger R01 awards than men, men had more R01 awards than women at all points in their careers. Therefore, while greater participation of women in NIH programs is under way, further action will be required to eradicate remaining sex differences.

Broadband and mobile internet access is spreading to more Americans, making them more likely to access health information whenever and wherever they need it. The always-on, always-with-you internet enhances people’s online experience and creates a positive feedback loop, reinforcing their interest in using the internet to gather and share information. Given the evidence that people are ready, willing, and able to engage in online discussions about cancer prevention and treatment, what steps are being taken to ensure that the U.S. (and the world) does not miss this latest opportunity for education and discovery?