New Media Cloud Computing

New Media is a generic term for the many different forms of electronic communication that are made possible through the use of computer technology. New media refers to on-demand access to content anytime, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community formation around the media content. Another important promise of new media is the “democratization” of the creation, publishing, distribution and consumption of media content along with real-time generation of new and user created content. Cloud computing, is a style of computing where scalable and elastic IT-related capabilities are provided as shared assorted services (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, DaaS). It is metered by use, to customers using internet technologies built on top of diverse technologies like virtualisation, distributed computing, utility computing, and more recently networking, web infrastructure and providing on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources. It represents a paradigm shift in how we think about our data, the role of our computing devices and on managing computing resources. Being an emerging service technology with promising novel and valuable capabilities it attracts industrial research community with main focus on standardisation and customised implementation in every segment of society. To meet out the ever growing popularity of the inevitable new media applications and services over the Internet and the way it overpowers mobile devices, there is a strong demand for cloud integration. This paper outlines the concepts of new media cloud computing and addresses the problem of handling exponential growth of online data. It presents a novel framework for New Media Cloud Computing. A preliminary simulation of the work on the proposed architecture shows that there is increase in the quality of computations done, despite the demand of constant updating of resources in New Media environment.

Marketing in an Interactive World

The focus of this chapter is to address emerging trends, opportunities, and key challenges facing managers in their communication processes in an increasingly interactive social media environment. A review of the current social media literature and two qualitative research studies provide insights into the changing nature of the communications process in social media, as opposed to more traditional, communications environments. These insights are drawn together to provide a number of managerial implications for social media marketers.

Is Social Media Marketing Really Working?

Online social networks have become the fastest growing phenomenon on the Internet and firms are beginning to take advantage of them as a marketing tool. However, the strategic importance of social media marketing is not yet clear, given the novelty and the difficulty of measuring its impact on business performance. This study uses data from 191 Spanish firms from several sectors to measure the impact of the intensity of use of social media marketing on the relationship between the dynamic capabilities of market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation, and business performance. The results provide evidence of the moderating effects of social media marketing intensity on the strength of the mentioned relations and the importance of a strong and committed marketing strategy on digital social networks for businesses.

Social Interactions and Automated Detection Tools in Cyberbullying

Face-to-Face bullying is a traditional form of bullying in which bullies attack victims through physical, verbal, or social attacks. Cyberbullying is a new form of bullying. Cyberbullies abuse digital media to attack victims (such as attacks through websites, social networking services, blogging, e-mail, instant messaging, chat rooms, and cell phones). Cyberbullying and face-to-face bullying share many similarities. For example, bullies achieve power over a victim in both cyberbullying and face-to-face bullying. On the other hand, cyberbullying has differences from face-to-face bullying that arise from characteristics of digital media such as anonymity and rapid spreading of attacks. This chapter highlights key concerns of cyberbullying stemming from the use of digital media and discusses existing models of face-to-face bullying which may aid in model cyberbullying. This chapter then introduces state-of-the-art research in automated tools to detect cyberbullying. Finally, this chapter concludes with future perspective of research in automated tools to detect cyberbullying.

Effects of Consumers' Social Media Participation on Consumer Behavior

Technological advancements have shaped and reshaped the marketing landscape from time to time. The digital revolution in particular has given rise to a new digital era that has changed this marketing landscape, perhaps permanently. One of the core technologies involved in defining this digital era is the Internet. The Internet has not only empowered the people by creating and disseminating information like never before but also has affected the way we conduct our businesses. Various business usages of the Internet in search engines, email, mobile, and social media have given rise to new ways of conducting marketing activities such as affiliate marketing, display advertisement, email marketing, search marketing, and social media marketing among others. The significance and the relevance of online social media marketing have made this particular digital channel a topical subject of the digital era. The effects of social media have been felt in influencing both seller and buyer behaviors. However, the focus of this chapter is to address two important aspects of consumer behaviors in an online digital social media environment. First, the authors propose a conceptual framework of consumers' social media participation. Second, the chapter discusses how this participation affects consumers' behaviors including their purchases. Finally, the authors present a few econometric challenges associated with modeling consumers' social media participation and quantifying its impact on their behaviors.

Nigeria's Core Values and the Use of Social Media to Promote Cultural Values

This article examines how Nigeria's core values are being redefined in the face of the new media and cultural globalisation era; it identifies Nigeria's core values to include age, greeting, dressing, among others. The questionnaire was used as an instrument to elicit data from the sampled population (Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State). Findings show that the Internet, especially, is changing Nigeria's core values. Based on the findings, the paper concludes that Nigerians, especially the youths no longer have regards for their culture; rather, they value foreign culture. Also, the paper concludes that globalisation and global culture is gradually eroding Nigeria's core values as people no longer have regards for their local culture; rather they value the foreign culture. The paper, among others, recommends that the media in Nigeria should adequately transmit local programmes in order to genuinely reflect indigenous culture. The media no doubt, plays a significant role in projecting and reflecting culture. In doing so, indigenous culture should be adequately reflected through sufficient airing of programmes with local content to prevent dominance of Western values over indigenous values and the local languages be instituted in Nigerian school system and monitored to ensure local dialects are learnt and spoken. In this way, the youths will learn to attach value to their culture right from their formative years.

Communities of Communication

This chapter discusses the potential of social media use as an access to interpersonal relationships for teachers. Society has been forever altered by the shifts in the intellectual landscapes of learning and knowing through the Internet. By utilizing mobile communication technologies, Internet pathways allow growth in personal and professional relationships in real time, providing opportunity for open and profound dialogues, learning, and global perspectives. Yet even with the strong social presence of Internet communications in today's society, our teachers continue to struggle with building interpersonal relationships with colleagues. Drawing from the literature as well as from personal experiences and relationships, this chapter explores some of the interpersonal challenges teachers face at work due to physical and abstract barriers, as well as the possible solution found in social media. This perspective hopefully adds to understanding regarding the interpersonal challenges teachers may experience at work, the importance of meeting those challenges, and the potential inter-relational benefits resulting from social media use.

Stepping into the (Social Media) Game

This chapter explores how rookie athletes in Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), and National Hockey League (NHL), used Twitter as an identity expression tool. A representative sample of tweets from athletes selected in the first round of the 2011 amateur draft of each sports league was selected for analysis. Results revealed that identity manifested in the following ways: (a) Athletes as dedicated workers; (b) Athletes as pop culture consumers; (c) Athletes as sports fans; (d) Athletes as motivators; (e) Athletes as information seekers; and (f) Athletes as everyday people. Through social media, athletes can more actively and diversely assert their identity. This action fosters identification, liking, and parasocial interaction with fans as athletes appear more approachable and similar. The ability to construct and disseminate a variety of identities holds important implications for athletes, which are discussed in the concluding section of the chapter.

Access Control Models for Online Social Networks

Access control is one of the crucial aspects in information systems security. Authorizing access to resources is a fundamental process to limit potential privacy violations and protect users. The nature of personal data in online social networks (OSNs) requires a high-level of security and privacy protection. Recently, OSN-specific access control models (ACMs) have been proposed to address the particular structure, functionality and the underlying privacy issues of OSNs. In this survey chapter, the essential aspects of access control and review the fundamental classical ACMs are introduced. The specific OSNs features and review the main categories of OSN-specific ACMs are highlighted. Within each category, the most prominent ACMs and their underlying mechanisms that contribute enhancing privacy of OSNs are surveyed. Toward the end, more advanced issues of access control in OSNs are discussed. Throughout the discussion, different models and highlight open problems are contrasted. Based on these problems, the chapter is concluded by proposing requirements for future ACMs.

The AIDLET Model

Smartphones and other mobile devices like the iPhone, Android, Kindle Fire, and iPad have boosted educators' interest in using mobile media for education. Applications from games to augmented reality are thriving in research settings, and in some cases schools and universities, but relatively little is known about how such devices may be used for effective learning. This article discusses the selection and potential use of electronic games, simulations and augmented reality in mobile learning supported by an operational model called AIDLET. After analyzing the different approaches to the use of digital technology and games in education, and discussing their benefits and shortcomings, a framework was developed to facilitate the selection, repurposing, design and implementation of games, simulations and augmented reality, with focus on the practical aspects of the processes used in mobile learning. It is apparent that these devices for learning are valued by students and teachers alike, and that they may be used as personalized devices for amplifying learning, specifically through amplifying access to information, social networks, and ability to participate in the world. Furthermore, whereas traditional learning is based on knowledge memorization and the completion of carefully graded assignments, today, games, simulations and virtual environments turn out to be safe platforms for trial and error experimentation, i.e. learning by doing or playing. In this context, the AIDLET model was set out and verified against a taxonomy representing the main categories and genres of games, and the article concludes with implications for how teachers, instructional designers and technologists might best capitalize on the affordances of mobile devices when designing for blended learning and e-learning courses.