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Oxford Internet Institute

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The Oxford Internet Institute—founded in 2001—is a multidisciplinary research and teaching department of the University of Oxford, dedicated to the social science of the Internet. Our academic faculty and graduate students are drawn from many different disciplines: we believe this combined approach is essential to tackle society’s ‘big questions’. Together, we aim to positively shape the development of our digital world for the public good. In 2025, the OII will take up residence in the new Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, moving from our current location across three sites on St Giles.

Series associated with Oxford Internet Institute

Geographies of the World's Knowledge
ICT for Development Seminar Series
OII Bellwether Lectures
Oxford Internet Institute - Lectures and Seminars
The Fairwork Podcast
The OII Podcast (Oxford Internet Institute)
# Episode Title Description People Date
45 Facebook Resistance? Understanding the Role of the Internet in the Arab Revolutions Revolutions are currently sweeping the Arab world, from Tunisia to Egypt and Libya to Bahrain. The Internet has been reported as a key factor, but we in fact know little of its role in these revolutions. Miriyam Aouragh, Noha Atef, Khaled Hroub, George Weyman 12 Mar 2012
44 Visualisation in the Age of Computerisation Professor Steve Woolgar introduces and discusses the main themes of the Visualisation in the Age of Computerisation conference, by reflecting on recent changes in visualisation media and considering some of the implications of these changes for research. Steve Woolgar 28 Feb 2012
43 Does the Mind have a Future? Baroness Greenfield discusses how Information Technology is changing the way humans think and feel. Whilst there are clear benefits, she also highlights the less desirable consequences, and suggests how best to minimise these threats. Susan Greenfield 28 Feb 2012
42 The Need for Achieving Appropriate Information Sharing and Information Protection David Bray describes the Information Sharing Environment, exploring post-9/11 information sharing in the United States, and the efforts being made towards information sharing and national security. David Bray 28 Feb 2012
41 Innovations and Journalism: Finally Together? Turo Uskali argues that, thanks to the Internet, there has never been a better time for innovative journalism and innovations in journalism. Turo Uskali 28 Feb 2012
40 Scammers on Online Dating Sites Monica Whitty discusses her recent work on dating scams, which has focused on attempting to identify a typology of victims, recognizing the techniques used by scammers, and also the psychological impact of the scams themselves. Monica Whitty, Bernie Hogan 28 Feb 2012
39 Presentation and Perception on Online Dating Sites Joseph Walther describes the hyperpersonal model and its relevance to the study of online dating. 'Idealisation' of perception and presentation online can facilitate the selection process, but may have unforseen consequences when people eventually meet. Joseph Walther, Nicole Ellison 28 Feb 2012
38 Partner Compatibility and Online Dating Sites Erina Lee discusses the importance of similarity between partners in terms of long-term relationship satisfaction. She discusses some compatibility dimensions that have been considered by eHarmony, as well as future directions for research. Bernie Hogan, Erina Lee 28 Feb 2012
37 Information Technologies and Marginalization in African Market Economies Laura Mann summarises her lecture on information technologies and marginalization in African market economies, part of the OII's Society and the Internet Lecture Series. Laura Mann 28 Feb 2012
36 Next Generation Internet Users: Digital Divides, Choices, and Inequalities Grant Blank summarises his lecture on how a new pattern of Internet access is developing through the use of a growing variety of devices than enable increasing mobility: these people are "Next Generation Internet Users". Grant Blank 28 Feb 2012
35 What Will A Companionable Computational Agent Be Like? (Lovelace Lecture 2010) Yorick Wilks explores the state of the art in modelling realistic conversation with computers over the last 40 years, and asks what we would want in a conversational agent (or 'Companion') designed for a long-term relationship with a user. Yorick Wilks 20 Jul 2010
34 Don't Hate the Player, Hate the Game: Internet Games, Social Inequality and Racist Talk as Griefing This talk recaps the history of racist griefing online and link the current crisis in racial discourse in the US with this practice, exploring the implications for digital games as a transnational public sphere. Lisa Nakamura 20 Jul 2010
33 The Internet Turns 40: Midlife Crisis or Grand Challenge for Computer-Mediated Communication? This talk discusses research being undertaken at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago and its consequences for future forms of computer-mediated communication and for the Internet. Steve Jones 18 May 2010
32 Authentic Assessment in the era of Social Media: ideas and applications from Internet Communications The emergence of Web 2.0-enabled social media online provides a new opportunity to develop assessments that match with, and draw upon students' engagement with online knowledge networking, creating new possibilities for 'authenticity' in assessment. Matthew Allen 18 May 2010
31 Delete! Viktor Mayer-Schönberger looks at the important role that forgetting has played throughout human history, the surprising phenomenon of perfect remembering in the digital age, and why we must reintroduce our capacity to forget. Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, Helen Margetts 10 May 2010
30 The Global Information Technology Reports: Lessons in Technology, Development and Competitiveness Professor Soumitra Dutta discusses the Global Information Technology Reports: the world's most comprehensive and authoritative international assessment of the impact of ICTs on the development process and the competitiveness of nations. Soumitra Dutta 10 May 2010
29 Giving in the Digital World For charitable organizations and initiatives, the Internet provides the opportunity to reach more people in more direct and personal ways. Are they grasping this opportunity? Lucy Bernholz 30 Apr 2010
28 We are the Web: The future of the social machine The Web 2.0 world is commonplace but the promise of massive scale human computing has barely been exploited. This seminar explores the potential, challenges, and promises for next-generation technologies that can empower humanity to address key problems. Jim Hendler 30 Apr 2010
27 Relationships and the Internet This forum looks at the state of the art of academic research on relationships and the Internet and how this research informs research on the social aspects of the Internet in general, such as issues of trust and identity. William Dutton, Nicole Ellison, Bernie Hogan, Joseph B. Walther 08 Mar 2010
26 Those Golden Eggs Come From Somewhere: Internet Regulation at a Crossroads A discussion of how largely well-intentioned political and legal reactions to the highest-profile risks of ICT creates a danger of perhaps killing the goose that is giving us golden eggs of innovation, decentralization, and personal empowerment. Michael Froomkin 08 Mar 2010
25 When the Audience Clicks: Buying Attention in the Digital Age Discussion of media buying and the attention-creation industry - showing how the fixation on audiences' click-like behaviour is a disruptive institutional force, and how buyers' new approaches to attention are creating new forms of social discrimination. Joseph Turow 08 Mar 2010
24 Net Neutrality on the Internet: A Two-sided Market Analysis A discussion of net neutrality regulation in the context of a two-sided market model. Nicholas Economides 08 Mar 2010
23 Peer to Peer and the Music Industry: The Criminalization of Sharing Examining technical, legal and cultural strategies by the recording industry to persuade people that file-sharing is impossible, immoral, un-cool or dangerous, and the failure of these strategies. Alternative business models are discussed. Matthew David 08 Mar 2010
22 National Broadband Policies: Perspectives from the US and Britain Robert Hahn discusses his recent paper responding to the US Federal Communications Commission's request for guidance in designing a national US broadband plan. Robert Hahn 13 Nov 2009
21 From Weblogs to Twitter: How Did We Get Where We Are Today and What Are the Main Impacts To Date? What are the most important milestones in the evolution of social media? What factors have shaped their successes and limitations? Kathryn Corrick, Dave Sifry, Bill Thompson, William Dutton 13 Nov 2009
20 Using the Web to do Social Science Duncan Watts discusses how the Internet is beginning to lift a long-time constraint of social science research on emergent collective behaviour: the difficulty of measuring interactions between people, at scale, over time, while also observing behaviour. Duncan Watts 09 Nov 2009
19 The crisis of global capitalism: towards a new economic culture? Manuel Castells draws on arguments from his book Communication Power in discussing the structural causes and implications of the 2008 economic crisis, and in claiming that we are moving, without much understanding, towards a new form of global capitalism. Manuel Castells 09 Nov 2009
18 The Growth of the Corporate Blog: 'Letting go' of Information Control or Maintaining the Official Line? What do companies expect to gain from maintaining an online 'social media' presence? What are the implications of these trends for the development of traditional public relations strategies and business journalism? Jonathan Silberstein-Loeb, Kara Swisher, Simon Hampton, Mark Rogers 09 Nov 2009
17 Blogging at 20? The Future and Potential of Social Media If social media are the defining advance of Web 2.0, whereby the network-as-platform enabled users not just to download content but to create it, tag it and share it ... what will the next decade hold? Will we continue to Tweet? William Dutton, Nigel Shadbolt, Dave Sifry, Richard Allan 09 Nov 2009
16 Internet Governance and Regulation: The Future of the Internet - and How to Stop It What lies around the corner for the Internet .. and how do we avoid it? How can we study and affect the future of the Internet using the distributed power of the network itself? This is Jonathan Zittrain's inaugural lecture at the University of Oxford. Jonathan Zittrain 09 Oct 2009
15 Breaking News: The Changing Relationship Between Blogs and Mainstream Media Among the traditional media, blogs and other contributions to citizen journalism have for a long time been regarded as posing a significant threat to 'quality' news reporting ... is this a valid view? What (if anything) can social media offer? David Levy, Richard Sambrook, John Kelly, Jonathan Ford 07 Oct 2009
14 Parties, Campaigns and Representation: The Political Impact of Blogs and Social Media Are social media tools likely to prove effective in engaging any voters except those who are already interested in politics? Is their apparent 'democratisation' of traditional party structures to be believed? Helen Margetts, Iain Dale, Andrew Rasiej, Matthew McGregor 07 Oct 2009
13 Social Media, So What? Assessing the Impact of Blogs and Social Media Can Web 2.0 tools (eg blogs, social networking and wikis) enhance our democratic freedoms? Or can we dismiss the socially egalitarian and politically democratic potential of these social media? Have any significant social impacts been ignored so far? Sandra Gonzalez-Bailon, Stefan Niggemeier, Evgeny Morozov, Richard Allan 07 Oct 2009
12 Making Science Public: Data-sharing, Dissemination and Public Engagement with Science How have social media changed the nature of the scientific debate among scientists? Are they challenging the supremacy of editors, reviewers and science communicators? How have they impacted on engagement with the public understanding of science? Felix Reed-Tsochas, Maxine Clarke, Ben Goldacre, Cameron Neylon 07 Oct 2009
11 Urban Informatics: The Internet, locative media and mobile technology for urbanites Marcus Foth overviews various urban informatics projects, exploring the communicative ecology of urban residents, community engagement using public history and digital storytelling, and social navigation for mobile urban information systems. Marcus Foth 03 Jul 2009
10 The Second Life of Urban Planning Marcus Foth demonstrates the value of various tools and services (eg Second Life) for engaging people in novel and participatory planning exercises, and for investigating how the public interpret and understand proposed urban designs and urban planning. Marcus Foth 03 Jul 2009
9 If Fiber is the Medium, What is the Message? Next-Generation Content for Next-Generation Networks By investigating price and capacity trends over the past century, Eli Noam shows that it is possible to predict the type, style, and genres of media content of a future ultra-broadband infrastructure, which allows a richer, more bit-intensive content. Eli Noam 03 Jul 2009
8 Negotiation and the Global Information Economy JP Singh discusses the role played by diplomacy and negotiations in economic globalization, exploring possibilities for transformational problem-solving through multilateral diplomacy, allowing an adjustment of positions so that mutual gains will result. JP Singh 03 Jul 2009
7 Regulating Technologies Roger Brownsword argues that the legal community should be concerned to contribute to debates about the implications and regulation of rapidly developing and converging technologies (eg ICTs, biotech / nanotech). Roger Brownsword 08 May 2009
6 The Changing Business of Software Michael Cusumano focuses on how both the enterprise and consumer software businesses have been changing over the past decade, building on observations made in his 2004 book, The Business of Software. Michael Cusumano 08 May 2009
5 Trusted Computing Rants, Regrets and Research How do we build trustworthy hardware, and how can we use that to increase the trustworthiness of broader distributed computation? Sean presents some things he's learned, some things he wishes he had done differently, and some things he'd still like to do. Sean Smith 08 May 2009
4 Trusted Computing: Questioning What You Think You Know Eugene provokes us to question some assumptions related to computer architecture, the definitions of security, and how best to build trusted systems. Are current methods of defining security appropriate? How might we better design a system to be secured? Eugene H. Spafford 08 May 2009
3 The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same: Online Audiences and the Paradox of Web Traffic Using three years of daily Web traffic data, and new models adapted from financial mathematics, this talk examines large-scale variation in Web traffic. Matthew Hindman 06 Mar 2009
2 Facebook: The Strength of Weak Ties Veronica Sartore interviews Dr Bernie Hogan about his research on the social networking site Facebook, differences between online and offline relationships, how personal boundaries are regulated and the strength of weak ties. Bernie Hogan, Veronica Sartore 06 Feb 2009
1 Through the Network (of Networks): The Fifth Estate The Internet and web are creating a new space for networking people, information and other resources: this has the potential to become an important 'fifth estate' to support greater accountability in politics, the media and other institutional arenas. William Dutton 12 Sep 2008