:: Netwoman ::

:: Sunday, August 15, 2004 ::

American Sociology Association

I am at the ASA conference in San Francisco right now so there will be light blogging. I have the Internet access, but it seems little time to blog...

But there are some very interesting sessions, and lots to think about as always.


:: TK 4:25 PM [+] ::
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Technology causes more stress

Working women in the UK think new technology makes their lives even more hectic, according to a new report.

The advent of mobile phones and email have left women feeling under greater pressure to juggle work and home commitments, leaving less time for themselves.

As a result, a growing number of career women are suffering from what has been dubbed "frantic life syndrome".

Research conducted for Good Housekeeping magazine found 30 per cent of working females had regularly been driven to exhaustion by work and home commitments.

The problem is even more acute for those living in London, where the figure rises to 47 per cent.

Some of the biggest gripes are on the subject of technology designed to make life easier.

Twenty-nine per cent of working women said they could not live without their mobile phone for more than a day, although the figure soared to 56 per cent among 16 to 24-year-olds.

However 12 per cent complain the phones meant "my life is no longer my own", while 10 per cent said having a mobile meant their employer regularly called them with out-of-hours work queries.

The arrival of email is largely welcomed by workers but some believe it has increased their stress levels.

One in 10 of those surveyed felt their boss put more demand on them by email than they would face-to-face, rising to 23 per cent of working women in East Anglia.

The daily commute is one of the biggest complaints for career women in the poll, with almost a third angry about the government's handling of transport issues.

The figure rises to 40 per cent of working women in London but the situation appears to be even worse in Scotland, where 47 per cent complain about their commute.

The problem was so bad for 7 per cent of those questioned that they had given up their job, while a further 10 per cent were considering doing the same.

Pressure to succeed at work means many women are working through their lunch hour, but the survey found 17 per cent had felt dizzy and sick as a result.

June Walton, deputy editor of Good Housekeeping, said: "Women are doing more than ever before and society demands standards of human output synonymous with huge advances in technology.

"It's time for us to take stock and reclaim our lives."

The survey, carried out in May, questioned 1,104 women aged 16 to 56 of whom 617 worked either full or part-time.


:: TK 11:34 PM [+] ::
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Fear and Online Dating

Fear of unknown dominates online dating services, new survey indicates
Nelson Wyatt - Canadian Press

Eighty per cent of Canadians believe chat rooms and online dating are dangerous because they don't know who they are dealing with, a poll suggests.

As well, 69 per cent of respondents indicated they reject using the Internet as a way to meet people and 47 per cent would completely rule out using the Internet to meet new friends.

Women (56 per cent) are the least likely to use the Internet to meet new people, compared with men (38 per cent).

The Leger Marketing survey, which was provided to The Canadian Press, indicated 83 per cent of women respondents did not trust chat rooms compared with 77 per cent of men.

Canadians between 55 and 64 years old (90 per cent), employees in sales, services or office workers (86 per cent) and homemakers (90 per cent) are among the most likely to distrust these websites.

Regional breakdowns for those who distrust chat rooms and online dating was Atlantic provinces 86 per cent; Quebec 83; Ontario, the Prairies and Alberta, all with 80 per cent; and British Columbia, 74.

Respondents were replying to the question: "Chat rooms and online dating are dangerous, you don't know with whom you are dealing?"

Close to two out of three - 65 per cent - of Canadians said they think the Internet makes it easier to meet people, although 26 per cent disagreed and nine per cent did not express an opinion.

Seventy-five per cent of respondents between 25 and 34 years old and manual workers (73 per cent) said they believe the Internet makes it easier to meet people.

Regionally, the Atlantic provinces had the highest percentage of people who said the Internet helps people to meet (70 per cent); followed by the Prairies, 68; Alberta, 67; Quebec, 66; Ontario, 64; and British Columbia 63.

The survey indicated that almost three-quarters of respondents (71 per cent) used the Internet for personal or professional reasons in June, with Ontarians logging on the most (75 per cent).

They were followed by British Columbians at 73 per cent; Albertans (72 per cent); the Atlantic provinces (70 per cent) and the Prairies (66). Quebec had the lowest number of surfers at 63 per cent.

The telephone survey of 1,500 Canadians, conducted between July 6 and July 11, is considered accurate within 2.6 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.


:: TK 6:04 PM [+] ::
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Women Go Blogging and Find Freedom of Speech

08/02/04 By Karen Trimbath

Many more women than men start and maintain personal online journal postings known as Web logs, or blogs for short. Female bloggers of all ages say they provide a great means of self-expression and forum for social-policy discourse.

Elaine Frankonis

(WOMENSENEWS)--Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, is a "major American crone." That's according to Elaine Frankonis in her blog.

Frankonis is a 64-year-old grandmother from Albany, N.Y., who describes herself as the "self-proclaimed crone of blogging." Her brief praise--and plea for readers to vote for John Kerry--was posted the day after Heinz Kerry addressed the Democratic National Convention in Boston on July 27.

Frankonis is one of millions of women who sit in front of computers, posting their opinions, photos and links onto online journals called blogs, or Web logs. While most blogs are created by the under-30 crowd, particularly teens, women of all ages are enthusiastically blogging, says fellow blogger Jeneane Sessum of Atlanta.

"Blogs make it really easy to express yourself," says Sessum, a public relations writer. "It's an amazing tool to help you figure out who you are, what you care about and to connect with other human beings. Plus, it's a place for me to exercise my voice. I've been so busy writing for clients that I've never kept up with my personal writing. Blogging has really helped me refine my voice."

Sessum is the founder of Blog Sisters, a group blog with more than 100 female members from around the world who discuss everything from gender and international politics to family life and career quandaries, without fear of being censored. For instance, Shelley Powers, a computer writer from St. Louis who posts photographs on her site, enjoys discussing her images with professional photographers.
More Women Start Blogs

More women than men start blogs and they're also more likely to keep them, according to a study conducted by Perseus Development Corp., a Web-based market research firm based in Braintree, Mass. The study notes that the number of hosted blogs is expected to exceed 10 million by the end of 2004. It also found that women created 56 percent of surveyed blogs.

Opinion pages in most newspapers are dominated by male voices. With so few women editorial or opinion writers, blogs have become many women's method of choice to get their opinions heard.

"My fascination with blogging lies in my voice informs someone else's voice," notes Sessum. "I can push out thoughts, opinions and ideas."

All a blogger needs to get started is a computer and an Internet connection. Then she chooses a blog service provider. Blogger, headquartered in San Francisco, offers free templates and services. TypePad of San Mateo, Calif., offers a 30-day free trial of its services with monthly fees ranging between $4.95 to $14.95 per month. LiveJournal of Portland, Ore., enables people to join for free. Users can upgrade their accounts for extra features that cost between $5 to $25 per month. Motime of New York City has not yet determined the fees for upgraded accounts.

Part of the set-up process includes deciding on the level of privacy. Bloggers can choose whether to use a screen name to conceal their identities and whether readers can post comments. While many women use pseudonyms, others like Sessum and Frankonis openly use their real names.

Bloggers can update their sites as often as they want, although the Perseus survey did find that active blogs are updated on average only every 14 days. Most of the writing is informal in style and typically rife with misspellings, slang and grammatical errors.
Self-Proclaimed Crone of Blogging

Helping Sessum maintain the Blog Sisters site is Frankonis, a life-long activist. She began blogging after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in order to share her views about world events. Her son helped her set up her own site, called "Kalilly Time."

She says that her posts are a way for her to share her perspectives on feminism, spirituality and politics with readers from all over the globe.

"Women are very articulate in their blogs," she adds. "They're in their best face, using their best words. In many cases, women don't get the chance to express themselves this way" in face-to-face relationships.

Standing on a soapbox carries risks, as Frankonis has found, for readers can sometimes leave negative comments. She believes that women and men respond to blogs differently. "When commenting, women tend to be more considerate of each other, while men tend to be more ruthless," she says.

Even she admits, though, that this generalization isn't always true. She and Sessum, for instance, have "had a few tussles. There's a risk, because we're not face to face, that you could get hurt or make enemies. But we get over it."
Connections Are Crucial

With blogging, as in real life, connections are the name of the game.

Most blogs contain links to other blogs, news sources and other sites. Technorati is an online company in San Francisco that ranks the world's top 100 blogs according to how many other blogs link to them. It lists only a few sites supposedly run by women, and these tend to feature images of large-breasted models, according to Powers, who's tired of seeing such blogs. She says these soft-porn sites conform to men's expectations.

Sessum and Frankonis like rocking the boat through voicing their opinions. So does Powers, who isn't shy about voicing her opinions about the prevalence of sexism in technology in her blog titled "Burningbird."

For instance, Powers took on blog templates created for Blogger that she believed reflected gender stereotypes. One titled "Mr. Moto" features a taupe background and a photo of a skyscraper in a sample post, while the other, "Ms. Moto," featured a pink background and a photo of a Barbie doll in a sample post.

"What is the message from these templates?" writes Powers. "That men have professional-looking sites while women prefer pink and dolls?"

Powers adds that participants--both men and women--are influenced by society's gender expectations. For instance, she observes that bloggers of both sexes tend to give more credibility to men's opinions than women's.

"There tends to be sexism in technology," she says. "It's frustrating. When you're a writer and have something to say, you want to be treated with respect."

The solution to resolving the tension between the genders, says Frankonis, may lie in continuing to blog and to read other blogs, to keep the conversation going. "Blogging is a really good way to diminish isolation," she notes. "It makes you realize there is one planet. We Americans forget that so easily."

Karen Trimbath is a writer in Pittsburgh, Pa. She received her MFA in creative writing from Penn State.

For more information:

Kalily Time
Blog Sisters
Burningbird



:: TK 11:41 PM [+] ::
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Disability organisations failing in their own web site's accessibility

Surprise findings from a UK research survey 'Disability 50' by Ethical Media show that the majority of Disability organisations do not address accessibility needs sufficiently in their web and digital communications.

The research says that:
* Nearly 60% of leading disability websites fail basic accessibility checks
* Results indicate web accessibility is not yet embedded within the sector
* A handful of exemplary websites leading the sector

The research carried out by Ethical Media reveals the gap between the rhetoric and the reality of disability groups' communications activities and points to an urgent need to address web accessibility, usability and effective digital communications in the disability sector. Located here.

:: TK 11:50 AM [+] ::
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WSIS GENDER CAUCUS

Research Program: Engendering ICT Policy

The WSIS Gender Caucus is launching a program of small grants to support innovative research on gender and information communications technologies, during 2004-05. It is anticipated that there will be two rounds of calls for proposals and that the supported research will be completed in time to be presented on Gender Caucus panels at the second World Summit on the Information Society, slated for Tunis, Tunisia in November 2005.

The overall objective of the research program is to enlarge the knowledge base for gender-sensitive policy on information communications technologies. Projects, which can be related to activities anywhere in the world, are expected to fall into one of the following three general areas:

1. Documentation, analysis and evaluation of efforts to mainstream gender into ICT policy. This could include a critique of existing initiatives or the documentation of best practices, including the implementation of gender-sensitive ICT policy.

2. Applications and content. This could include case studies of cultural, social and technical perspectives on ICT policy or political economy-based studies of applications in education, health, e-governance, e-commerce, etc.

3. Theories and methodologies. This could include the development of conceptual frameworks and methodologies for better understanding and analyzing the relationship between ICTs and gender.

In each of the two rounds, 20 research grants will be made, each to a maximum of US$1000. This total is expected to cover all associated research costs and recipients would be expected to plan their projects accordingly. One half of the grants will be used to support young scholars (female or male) who are currently registered in a higher degree program (master’s or doctoral level). The remaining grants are intended to support university and research center based scholars. Projects that involve collaboration beyond national borders will be considered for slightly higher grants (to a maximum of US$2500).

Successful applicants will receive one half of their grant at the beginning of the project and the remainder when the final report has been received. There will be no exceptions.

Proposals must be submitted by e-mail and must meet the following requirements:

clear statement of the problem
objectives of the research
methodology
method of data analysis
time line
preliminary bibliography

Proposals should be a maximum of five pages. Proposals longer than five pages will automatically be rejected.

An international panel of experts will select the winning proposals and their decisions will be final. In addition to the criteria listed above, the panel will give consideration to regional balance.

To be considered for the first round of research grants, interested parties should submit their proposal here by August 15, 2004. It is anticipated that the first grants will be made by the end of September 2004.

:: TK 11:46 AM [+] ::
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Internet stalking

Seattle man is first to be prosecuted for Internet stalking

SEATTLE - The first man prosecuted under a federal Internet stalking law has pleaded guilty in Seattle. In a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, 38-year-old James Robert Murphy of Columbia, South Carolina, pleaded guilty to using the Internet with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass.

He admitted to sending dozens of uninvited and harassing e-mails and fax message to a former girlfriend and her co-workers. The Seattle woman (Joelle Ligon) broke up with him 14 years ago.

The US attorney's office says the harassment included making it appear that she was sending pornographic material to co-workers.

Murphy was arrested in April as the first person to face charges under a 1997 federal law that equates sending obscene e-mail to making obscene phone calls.

If convicted, he could have faced two years in prison and a fine of 250-thousand dollars.

Prosecutors agreed to accept a sentence of three-to-five years probation.

He'll be sentenced October 29.


:: TK 10:28 PM [+] ::
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Tech Consumers Confused

New PARADE Technology Study Finds Consumers Confused (30/7/2004)

Technology has provided us with more choices than ever-plasma, LCD and HDTV television; digital video recorders and cameras; online gaming and more. The result? We're confused!

A new study from PARADE magazine, conducted by The Yankee Group, has found 16% of consumers think they own a digital video recorder (DVR); 4% do.

71% percent say they understand and can explain the concept of a DVR to a friend; 36% understand and can explain the concept of TiVo. TiVo is a DVR.

Similarly, 40% of consumers say they understand and can explain an MP3 player to a friend; 35% understand and can explain an iPod. An iPod is an MP3 player.

Plasma televisions and computers are No. 1 on Americans' technology wish lists, at 26% each; 17% want HDTV; digital cameras, 16% and DVD players, 10%.

Online gaming is burgeoning, especially among women (70%), the biggest users of Web-based parlor games. Men take the edge in other entertainment- related applications, including e-mailing photos (75% vs. 67%), burning audio CDs (54% vs. 44%), watching DVDs on PCs (47% vs. 37%) and purchasing or downloading MP3 files (36% vs. 29%).

Compared to households without children, families (children 18 or younger) are more technologically advanced. They better understand concepts like DVR (79% vs. 66%), text messaging (78% vs. 60%), HDTV (61% vs. 50%), broadband (56% vs. 46%) and MP3 (47% vs. 35%).

Four profiles of head of the household, defined by the PARADE study:

* Gadget gurus are technologically advanced. They have a median age of 40, are affluent (average income of $87,500) and, most likely, parents (58%). Fifty-four percent are male. Gadget gurus comprise 15% of the population.
* Digital mainstreamers, or those with intermediate skills, are also around 40, with an average income of $62,500; 43% are parents, 52% are female. Thirty-six percent of us are mainstreamers.
* The tech-challenged are low adopters, largely female (61%), age 50, with an average income of $42,500. Thirty-one percent are parents. Thirty- four percent of Americans are tech-challenged.
* The technologically overwhelmed are slow adopters, age 60, with an average income of $30,000; 63% are female; 15% of Americans are overwhelmed.

Segments are based on product ownership and weighted by national penetration. The PARADE study was conducted in March/April 2004 among 2,000 households.

:: TK 10:01 PM [+] ::
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Internet paves the way in helping moms build careers

By ANNABELLE ROBERTSON 07/25/04 (Subscription needed)

Jennifer Elin Cole begins her mornings like many other mothers — with a group cuddle followed by breakfast with her family.

But while Mollie, 5, and twins Sophie and Alan, 3, eat, Cole checks her e-mail, glances at incoming faxes and pulls up the FedEx Web site. She prints shipping labels and applies them to two packages of books prepared the night before.
After helping the children dress, she loads the dishwasher, piles everyone into the car and drives them to preschool, making calls on her cellphone. She swings by a drop-off point and puts her packages into the box. She then drives to work.

In Cole's case, that means heading back to her home in Lawrenceville.

Like millions of women around the country, Cole juggles the responsibilities of full-time parenting and work. But in her case, her job is based in her house — a job she says she couldn't do without the Internet. A new generation of moms who want to work but also want more flexibility are using technology to set up home-based businesses.

"I don't have to choose between being home with my kids and what energizes me professionally," says Cole, a self-published author. "I can work on the time frame of parenting — in between pouring cereal, playing Barbies, learning to read — and the interruptions never disrupt the final project. Thanks to the Internet, my office is open all day and I'm present, even when I'm with my kids."

The number of women like her appears to be on the rise.

"More and more people are jumping on the bandwagon," says Cheryl Demas, who runs an online magazine (www.wahm.com) for work-at-home mothers. "And as more people become aware of this trend and it becomes accepted, it will grow even more," she says.

Lesley Spencer, who founded the National Association of Home-Based Working Moms in 1995, says her membership, sales and advertising have jumped about 60 percent since last year.

"We have members from every field imaginable," Spencer says, "but the most popular jobs seem to be related to the Internet. It's flexible, and it allows women to work according to their children's schedules."

Cole is convinced that the success of her latest children's book, which has sold almost 25,000 copies, is directly related to technology. Not only did she write the story with her twin sister, Jessica Elin Hirschman, who lives in Buffalo Grove, Ill., but she also secured the printing company, which is based in China, through the Web. The two authors interviewed and negotiated a contract with their illustrator, Bonnie Bright, who lives in California, via e-mail. The three viewed drafts of the illustrations on a secure Web site, but the sisters have yet to meet Bright.

"The Internet is the only way that three people in three different states, in three different time zones, could conceive, produce and publish a book cost-efficiently, in a reasonable time frame," Cole says.

Now that the book has been published, Cole tracks down wholesalers, distributors, booksellers, reviewers and individual buyers through the Web. Her current distributor is based in New Zealand.

A corporate trend

The work-at-home trend has been growing in the corporate world as well. According to a recent study by the Society for Human Resource Management, 36 percent of the 459 companies surveyed offered part-time telecommuting to their employees. Nineteen percent offered full-time telecommuting, an increase from 17 percent last year. Additionally, 34 percent of the companies offered compressed workweeks, up from 31 percent a year ago.

Ayana Glaze of College Park created a virtual public relations agency after she became pregnant with her second child. After placing an ad on Google, she signed a contract with a client based in Canada. More work followed. Her company, Just Write PR, began to take off. Now Glaze, who previously worked in public relations and software testing, has clients as far away as Michigan and Toronto.

"Virtual for me means global," she says. "I can work anywhere, anytime. And if we ever need to move, it's not a problem. I take my business and my clients with me."

Glaze holds meetings with potential clients on the phone. She also networks online using special-interest groups. She holds virtual workshops and seminars via the Web and teleconferencing. Designated rings and caller identification on her home phone allow her to monitor incoming calls, which can be caught by voice mail if the baby is needing his bottle.

"There's a whole revolution out there — the virtual revolution — and it allows us to be home with our children," Glaze says.

Long hours, less money

Dawn Roberson of Lilburn relies heavily on technology in her home business as a consultant for Southern Living at Home. A former financial quality control manager for IBM, Roberson now holds up to 10 home decor parties a month. She maintains a Web site and networks with clients, hostesses and fellow consultants by e-mail.

Roberson also uses a detailed "consultant's workstation" at the company's Web site to enter orders, check on product status and learn about awards and other incentives for sales consultants.

Working at home isn't without its downsides. The women say they multitask like crazy and put in long hours. Roberson is out of the house several evenings a week. Glaze keeps her home office open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and often works late into the evening on client projects. And Cole says her most productive hours are between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. She sleeps just five hours a night.

In addition, their incomes may not be what they were in the corporate world.

Glaze says she earns less than she did as a software designer, but it evens out because she spends less on clothes, gas and food.

"We don't want to trade being full-time mothers and enjoying our kids for full-time work," Cole explains. "We're in the middle of the pendulum between our grandmothers and mothers. It's the '50s thing and the feminist thing all at once. We've blended the two."

So, does the Internet challenge or reinforce gender and domestic roles?


:: TK 9:50 PM [+] ::
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Light Blogging, Stay Tuned

Blogging will be light - I am in the middle of preparing course outlines for three courses I am teaching - Theories of Mass Culture, Media Analysis (both at Brock U) and Tech and Society (Co-taught with Prof. Barry Wellman at University of Toronto) - also dropping off 900 surveys for dissertation, and preparing for conference in San Fran in two weeks. Things are a little hectic right now.

Can I tell you how great Hillary was tonight? Hillary for Prez!!!

Clancy is writing her qual exams right now, let's wish her luck!!

I am envying my colleagues at the Oxford Internet Institute right now, but Kylie is blogging it with lots of pictures.


:: TK 1:01 AM [+] ::
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