SGER: Exploratory Research on an Internet Framework to Improve a Social Network Structure

University Of California-Irvine, Irvine CA

Investigators

Abstract

This research considers a class of social problems represented by cyber bullying and creates a sociology-based network framework to consider two new questions,in an initial study: does the network framework (where network and applications are both included) allow identification of cyber bullying within networked social groups? And if it does, can the framework lead to ways of mitigating cyber bullying? What are the representations of information in the network that preserve privacy? What are the tradeoffs between the goals of the research and ensuring that eventual users have protected privacy and have enough transparency into a framework that affects them? In the mitigation area, the project will explores the insight that network interventions such as lessening the frequency of deliveries from an aggressive poster can affect social peers positively. The project will research will develop an approach called deriving structures, so the mitigations / interventions could be in the applications or could be in deeper structures or both together. In the one-year exploratory research of this project, the PI is working with a number of unpaid collaborators in Japan: 1) with several sociologists in order to develop definitions and tests for cyber bullying; 2) with educators to develop a case-based classroom social net study, including approaches to mitigation that seem realistic to them; 3) with researchers from the Japanese telecommunications company, KDDI, who are sharing the research exploration and also providing experimental infrastructure in Japan. The project has broader impacts on society: social experiences on the net loom large in young peoples' development in many countries now. Cyber bullying of various forms is a risk for many people, young and old. Innovations in understanding this phenomenon are very important to society; the sooner the better. This angle, the sociometric use of the network and the careful analysis of network based mitigations by not only the computer scientist PI, but also by sociologist, educator and network operator collaborators, will open new doors.