What do all Twitter users want? Followers – and lots of them. Looking at a half-million tweets over 15 months, a first-of-its-kind study from Georgia Tech has revealed a set of reliable predictors for building a Twitter following.
The day of the Boston Marathon was the saddest day in nearly 5 years of observations by a team of scientists from the University of Vermont and The MITRE Corporation. For the first time, results from their "hedonometer" are being made available to the public for free at a new website.
With more than a billion active accounts worldwide, it can be easy to forget that some people don’t use Facebook. A study by Cornell University researchers suggests that “non-use” of the social networking site is fairly common – a quarter of Facebook users take breaks from the site by deactivating their account, and one in 10 completely quit.
Researchers at Georgia Tech and the University of Minnesota have released a new study that uses statistical data to help understand the motivations behind Pinterest activity, the roles gender plays among users and the factors that distinguish Pinterest from other popular social networking sites.
A Western Illinois University faculty member who published a widely covered study about Facebook and narcissism last year has authored another study about Facebook and romantic relationships.
Chicago's neighborhood secondhand stores thrive while competing with eBay because their patrons seek "intangible satisfactions," not just bargains. Secondhand retail also boosts other retail, say researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Facebook profiles reassure our self-worth because they offer a place where we can display the personal characteristics and relationships we value most, says a Cornell University communication expert in the March 2013 edition of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Recently a Los Alamos National Laboratory quantum cryptography (QC) team successfully completed the first-ever demonstration of securing control data for electric grids using quantum cryptography.
By allowing employees to participate in a work-sponsored internal social networking site, a company can improve morale and reduce turnover, according to a Baylor University case study published in the European Journal of Information Systems.
It seems like a great idea: Provide instant corrections to web-surfers when they run across obviously false information on the Internet. But a new study suggests that this type of tool may not always dispel inaccurate beliefs.
With a single social-media misstep, student-athletes could lose athletic eligibility or a scholarship. But that’s not stopping them from using Twitter – sometimes even during games, when they may see harsh criticism of their performances from fans, according to a study by Baylor University and Clemson University researchers.
Thanks to ubiquitous usage of smartphones and other computing devices, children are using applications more than ever. Now, there are concerns whether companies that make apps – or perhaps even social-networking entities – are violating federal privacy laws. The Federal Trade Commission is investigating what information is being collected about children without parental consent. Cornell's Tracy Mitrano teaches "Culture, Law and Politics of the Internet" and offers her thoughts.
A recent study found that applicants whose pictures appear on their social media profiles are viewed more favorably than applicants who are not pictured. Also, that applicants with "attractive" photos were considered stronger than those with "unattractive" pictures.
The structure of the universe and the laws that govern its growth may be more similar than previously thought to the structure and growth of the human brain and other complex networks, such as the Internet or a social network of trust relationships between people, according to a new paper published in the science journal Nature’s Scientific Reports.
Dawn Woodard, a professor or Operations Research and Information Engineering who teaches courses on data mining, comments on privacy and data brokers in the wake of House and Senate investigations into data brokerage firms.
This week, the social media world reached two milestones: Facebook announced it reached 1 billion active users, and pop icon Lady Gaga became the first to amass 30 million followers on Twitter. Jeff Hancock, a professor of communication and of computer and information science, sees good news in the rise of both.
With the Presidential election quickly approaching, social media sites such as Facebook are filled with political posturing and comments. A Southeastern Communication professor discusses the results of an unscientific poll of friends and associates who commonly post on political topics or candidates.
Our Pleistocene-era brains can't resist the seductive appeal of Internet-enabled virtual reality, says William Davidow, a distinguished engineer and venture capitalist.
With the web constantly expanding, researchers at USC have proposed – and demonstrated the feasibility – of using quantum computers to run Google's page ranking algorithm faster.
According to some estimates, the average corporate email user sends 112 emails every day. About one out of every seven of those messages, says a new study from Georgia Tech, can be called gossip. Assistant Professor Eric Gilbert of the School of Interactive Computing examined hundreds of thousands of emails from the former Enron corporation and found that 14.7 percent of the emails qualify as office scuttlebutt.
A new study out of the Georgia Tech School of Computer Science calls such patterns of communication “hyperadvocacy.” The study identifies four characteristic behaviors of Twitter hyperadvocates, whose actions clearly separate them from the tweeting behavior of typical users.
As daily news of cyber crimes, such as bullying, sextortion and pornography, and other forms of fraud are reported, deciphering good from bad web sites is key to navigating the Internet in today’s fast paced technological society according to communications professor Dr. Pavica Sheldon, at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAHuntsville).
While daily deal websites and flash sale websites offer a service or product at a discount to bring in new consumers and incentivize them to return, consumers are not coming back after the initial use, a marketing and technology researcher says.
In a new study analyzing Internet usage among college students, researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology have found that students who show signs of depression tend to use the Internet differently than those who show no symptoms of depression.
Mayo Clinic has created a comprehensive mobile health application; combining a custom mobile experience with unparalleled expertise and access. Empowering patients with information at their fingertips, this app sets a new standard for health care apps.
In the old days, family, friends, cookbooks, and food company suggestions were the top go-to sources for consumers looking to find a good recipe. But in today’s digital world, social media, blogs and phone apps are becoming the greatest influencers on the household chef. An article in the May 2012 issue of Food Technology magazine takes a look at how social media is changing food culture by influencing how consumers think about, talk about, and experience food.
College students’ social networks influence their beliefs regarding the safety of influenza vaccines and decisions about vaccination, according to a new study in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
With little more than basic information about Web users’ behavior – that is, the hyperlinks they click on daily and the content at those sites – Susan Gauch can build a better search engine. In information systems research, this work is known as “implicit” user profiling, meaning there are basic assumptions about user interest and intent based on the sites they frequent and the content they view.
The Internet and social media have opened up new vistas for people to share preferences in films, books and music. Services such as Spotify and the Washington Post Social Reader already integrate reading and listening into social networks, providing what Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg calls “frictionless sharing.” “But there’s a problem. A world of automatic, always-on disclosure should give us pause,” says Neil M. Richards, JD, privacy law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis.
A new study by a Georgia Tech researcher shows that capped broadband pricing triggers uneasy user experiences that could be mitigated by better tools to monitor data usage through their home networks.
Stephen B. Wicker, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University, conducts research in wireless information networks and how regulation can affect privacy and speech rights. Wicker comments on the recent WikiLeaks releases, how those releases connect to SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act), and the need to balance Internet freedom.
Lee Humphreys, Cornell assistant professor of communication, offers insight into the new privacy rules going into effect on Google websites on March 1, 2012
Members of the modern workforce might be surprised to learn that if they use the word “weekend” in a workplace email, chances are they’re sending the message up the org chart. The same is true for the words “voicemail,” “driving,” “okay”—and even a choice four-letter word that rhymes with “hit.” However a new study by Georgia Tech’s Eric Gilbert shows that certain words and phrases indeed are reliable indicators of whether workplace emails are sent to someone higher or lower in the corporate hierarchy.
Connecting the elderly to friends and family online reduces depression, a UAB professor discovers.
Though most organizations have policies and guidelines to protect their information systems from unauthorized access, research has shown that employee compliance is often a problem.
In the study, researchers found that almost 22 percent of college students reported being cyberbullied while 15 percent reported being bullied.
Teens bully each other through text messages, Facebook and videos because they don’t see the immediate consequences, says Brandie Oliver, Butler University faculty in school counseling.
Internet law and copyright expert Ned Snow is available to comment on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision yesterday to not review the appeal of a lower court’s ruling that downloading sound recording does not constitute public performance of the recorded work under federal copyright law.
On the 20-year anniversary of the World Wide Web, a computer scientist has published a two-page commentary in the journal Nature that calls on the international academic and business communities to take a bolder approach when designing how people find information online.
Should businesses monitor the social media activities of their employees? A Kansas State University business ethics expert says the practice can be a double-edge sword.
In this special issue, IEEE Spectrum analyzes the many dimensions and facets--financial, personal, and technological--of the epic battle for the future of the Web.
For years, the relationship between Internet service provider and home user has been a simple, all-you-can-eat model. Now, as the nation’s largest providers prepare to implement usage-based pricing plans, a tool created by Georgia Tech researchers could empower consumers to ensure they are getting the service they are paying for.
A Virginia Tech team has developed an innovative network security and privacy tool for the new Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), an Internet address system that will replace the 20-year-old IPv4.
With ubiquitous social media sites like Facebook and Twitter blurring private and professional lines, there is an increasing need for physicians to create a healthy distance between their work and home online identities, two Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center physicians assert.
Criminal Law Professor Brian Gallini is available to answer questions and provide expert commentary regarding the Department of Justice’s recent indictment of the principals of the three largest internet poker companies.
With increasing concern about online predators, Southeastern nursing students have developed a teaching module to instruct teenagers on Internet safety.
College students around the world report that they are 'addicted' to media, describing in vivid terms their cravings, their anxieties and their depression when they have to abstain from using media - even for one 24 hour period.
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