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CHI Conference Author Presentations

CHCI affiliated authors of papers accepted at the Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) 2020 conference presented their work at the Social Informatics Meetings during the month of April. The CHI conference (originally scheduled for April 15-30, 2020)  was cancelled due to coronavirus precautions. Authors, titles and abstracts are below, along with links to the recordings of the presentations and the CHI conference listings for these papers. Author presentations on April 29, 2020 were given by: Lindah Kotut and Shruti Phadke.

Lindah Kotut and Shruti Phadke
Lindah Kotut and Shruti Phadke

Lindah Kotut, Michael Horning, Timothy L. Stelter, Scott McCrickard. Preparing for the Unexpected: Community Framework for Social Media Use and Social Support by Trail Thru-Hikers.

ABSTRACT

A months-long hike of the Appalachian Trail often involve long-term preparation and life-altering decisions. Would-be hikers leverage institutional knowledge from literature and online forums to physically and mentally prepare for such an arduous hike. Their use of social platforms provide useful insights on motivations for undertaking the thru-hike, how they deal with unexpected conditions on the trail and understand choices made in conditions of scarcity. By analyzing over 100,000 Reddit posts and comments in r/AppalachianTrail and applying a Sense of Community theory, we sought to understand hikers' identity as community members, how their emotional and practical needs are met, and how they evolve. We found that the role and language of thru-hikers change as they progress from pre-hike, on-hike, and post-hike stages, from a questioner early on, to an expert post-hike. We conclude with design recommendations to support offline communities online.

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CHI Conference Author Presentations

Paper Presentation:

Authors: Lindah Kotut, Neelma Bhatti, Morva Saaty, Derek Haqq, Timothy L. Stelter, and D. Scott McCrickard.

Title: Clash of Times: Respectful Technology Space for Integrating Community Stories in Intangible Exhibits.

ABSTRACT

Emerging research in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) has considered the use of technology to preserve Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) while wrestling with the dilemma of local participation in the face of post-colonialism. There remains a need to understand how ICH is portrayed by museums and texts, how communities regard these representations, and how technology would affect preservation. We conducted a study in the North Rift region of Kenya to understand how ICH is preserved and disseminated by the museum in comparison with the community. The findings describe a respectful technology space where community needs and museum needs can co-exist. We also articulate social challenges that should be considered by designers when recommending or designing technological solutions. This paper concludes by recommending ways for researchers to smoothly integrate technology with ICH through community participation and an awareness of the respectful space.

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CHI Conference Author Presentations

Paper presentation:

Authors: Shruti Phadke and Tanushree Mitra

Title: Many Faced Hate: A Cross Platform Study of Content Framing and Information Sharing by Online Hate Groups.

ABSTRACT

Hate groups are increasingly using multiple social media platforms to promote extremist ideologies. Yet we know little about their communication practices across platforms. How do hate groups (or "in-groups"), frame their hateful agenda against the targeted group or the "out-group?" How do they share information? Utilizing "framing" theory from social movement research and analyzing domains in the shared links, we juxtapose the Facebook and Twitter communication of 72 Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) designated hate groups spanning five hate ideologies. Our findings show that hate groups use Twitter for educating the audience about problems with the out-group, maintaining positive self-image by emphasizing in-group's high social status, and for demanding policy changes to negatively affect the out-group. On Facebook, they use fear appeals, call for active participation in group events (membership requests), all while portraying themselves as being oppressed by the out-group and failed by the system. Our study unravels the ecosystem of cross-platform communication by hate groups, suggesting that they use Facebook for group radicalization and recruitment, while Twitter for reaching a diverse follower base.

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CHI Conference Author Presentations
CHI Conference Author Presentations