Elisa Bertino

Sorin Adam Matei

Knowledge and expertise, especially of the kind that can shape public opinion, have been traditionally the domain of individuals holding degrees awarded by higher learning institutions or occupying formal positions in notable organizations. Expertise is validated by reputations established in an institutionalized marketplace of ideas with a limited number of “available seats” and a stringent process of selection and retention of names, ideas, topics and facts of interest. However, the social media revolution, which has enabled over two billion Internet users not only to consume, but also to produce information and knowledge, has created a secondary and very active informal marketplace of ideas and knowledge. Anchored by platforms like Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, this informal marketplace has low barriers to entry and has become a gigantic and potentially questionable, knowledge resource for the public at large. Roles, Trust and Reputation in Social Media Knowledge Markets will discuss some of the emerging trends in defining, measuring and operationalizing reputation as a new and essential component of the knowledge that is generated and consumed online. The book will propose a future research agenda related to these issues. The ultimate goal of research agenda being to shape the next generation of theoretical and analytic strategies needed for understanding how knowledge markets are influenced by social interactions and reputations built around functional roles. The authors, including leading scholars and young innovators, will share with the readers some of the main lessons they have learned from their own work in these areas and will discuss the issues, topics and sub-areas that they find under-studied or that promise the greatest intellectual payoff in the future. The discussion will be placed in the context of social network analysis and “big data” research. Roles, Trust and Reputation in Social Media Knowledge Markets exposes issues that have not been satisfactorily dealt with in the current literature, as the research agenda in reputation and authorship is still emerging. In a broader sense, the volume aims to change the way in which knowledge generation in social media spaces is understood and utilized. The tools, theories and methodologies proposed by the contributors offer concrete avenues for developing the next generation of research strategies and applications that will help: tomorrow’s information consumers make smarter choices, developers to create new tools and researchers to launch new research programs.

Theory and Methods

Roles, Trust, and Reputation in Social Media Knowledge Markets

Mona Momescu

Volumul reuneste opiniile a cincisprezece tineri eseisti care incearca sa explice de ce pare Romania blocata intr-un model cultural revolut, punand in discutie rolul intelectualilor nostri publici cu formatie enciclopedica in societatea actuala. Autorii pleaca de la ideea ca in Romania, ca si in societatile paramoderne, intelectualul public fara o anume specializare isi face iluzia – si publicul ii acorda uneori credit – ca este capabil sa ofere modele sociale. O privire atenta, din tot atatea unghiuri cati autori sunt, ofera cititorului invitatia la dialog despre rolul si viitorul intelectualitatii romanesti, comportamentul acesteia, valorile pe care trebuie sa le promoveze, contributia la formarea unor noi generatii de tineri. Eseistii pledeaza pentru o clasa de mijloc a spiritului dominata de intelectualii specialisti in diverse domenii de activitate si nu pentru intelectualii elitisti, a caror parada pentru cultura de tip enciclopedic, eclectica, sterila nu ofera solutii. Tonul decent, critica ideilor si a mentalitatilor si nu a persoanelor fac din acest volum de eseuri un model de reflectie asupra modului cum trebuie dezbatute problemele Romaniei actuale.

Idolii forului

Cum se organizeaza intelectualii in jurul puterii? Care sunt relatiile sociale si ideologiile produse de grupurile de intelectuali care urmaresc si cucereasc puterea? Teza principala a lui Sorin Matei este ca intelectualii romani se structureaza in "grupuri de prestigiu" care duc mai departe domnia lumii traditionale, aristocratice si instaureaza o stare sociala pe care le numeste "paramoderne. Una din concluziile fulminante ale cartii este ca aceasta combinatie "paramoderna" zadarniceste remodernizarea Romaniei dupa 1989. Ciprian Siulea, Scheletul din biblioteca, Adevarul Literar si Artistic The Mind Boyars analyzes the manner in which Romanian intellectuals are organized, as well as the social relationships and the ideologies produced by the intellectual groups interested in gaining access to power.

Sorin Adam Matei

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