This research contributes to the evolving field of New Media Studies through an empirical examination of social media design in real-time practice at the computer interface. In recent years questions of technology and design have started to figure more prominently in research into Social Network Sites (SNSs) but critical analysis of design in practice, at the interface remains under-researched. The interface is becoming an increasingly important analytical concept in the digital age as it is the space where machine readable code is translated into the cultural codes which are accessible to the everyday users of digital media technology. Furthermore, there have been recent calls for an expansion of the traditional media practice paradigm encouraging practice approaches to media which take seriously the mediating role of technologies in emergent forms of digital media practice. This thesis carries out empirical research into social media/ted practice; it critically examines sites and real-time interactions at the interface, to understand the interrelationships between the specific design of platforms and evolving forms of social media/ted practice. The thesis draws on Media Studies, New Media Studies, Sociology and Social Studies of Technology to explicate an original interdisciplinary analytical framework for studying people’s interactions with social media technologies at the interface. This framework is referred to as the triple articulation of social media/ted practice. The triple articulation of social media/ted practice acknowledges the interplay between the materiality of social media technologies, the cultural coding of social media technologies and active practice with social media technologies. The term social media/ted practice has been coined specifically to emphasise the mediating role of technology in social media use. Using SNSs as a case study the thesis combines critical site analysis with interviews at the interface which illuminate the interpretive and constructive elements of the micro-interactions between people and SNSs that underpin related forms of social media/ted practice. Whilst this thesis is focused on SNSs, the analytical framework has wider applicability in New Media Studies and media-orientated Sociology. The central argument of this thesis is that design matters for social media/ted practice. Site-specific ‘micro’ architectures, affordances and algorithmic processes continue to shape social media/ted practice at the interface. The user-interface works to render aspects of the technology visible, accessible, meaningful and useful. This thesis calls attention to the user-interface as a key site for: (1), mediating social practice (2), understanding emerging social trends (3), site governance and (4), developing critical digital media literacies.

This thesis explores anonymity as an aspect of identity construction within electronic dance music (EDM). Its specific focus is on the production and control of image within genres that have arisen since the development and expansion of the club scene in the UK from the latter part of the 20th century and, then situated in visual culture and performance research, its examination of anonymity represents an area that, to date, has been overlooked in EDM. As part of this investigation, the thesis’ chapters notably analyse elements that are external to music recordings including record sleeve design and press interviews: components that are essential elements in the development and distribution of these performative identities. Following Thornton (1995), Rietveld (1998), Hesmondhalgh (1998a) and Gilbert and Pearson (1999), the research critically reviews a range of issues that are determined as associated with these representations – including the influence of technologies, a resistance to mainstream assimilation and the impact of collective ‘scene’ – while explaining some of EDM’s distinctions and hierarchies within a post-subcultural setting. To do this it uses case studies focusing on the approaches of Daft Punk, Burial, Zomby and SBTRKT: examples that are presented as unique demonstrations of image construction within the field. It also places the role of identity within a more expansive history of electronic music by aligning contemporary practice with the earlier presented image of Kraftwerk. Ultimately, and while observing this lineage of often counterintuitive practices, the thesis argues that the EDM producer’s separation from the high visibility ‘star system’ model favoured by pop and rock performers reflects commitment to a marginal status: a commitment also communicated through its visual aesthetics that reinforce an underground cultural context to celebrate the peripheral whilst, simultaneously, highlighting the EDM producer’s perceived condition as that which is inferior to his or her rock counterpart.

Packaged software is pre-built with the intention of licensing it to users in domestic settings and work organisations. This thesis focuses upon the work organisation where packaged software has been characterised as one of the latest ‘solutions’ to the problems of information systems. The study investigates the packaged software selection process that has, to date, been largely viewed as objective and rational. In contrast, this interpretive study is based on a 2½ year long field study of organisational experiences with packaged software selection at T.Co, a consultancy organisation based in the United Kingdom. Emerging from the iterative process of case study and action research is an alternative theory of packaged software selection. The research argues that packaged software selection is far from the rationalistic and linear process that previous studies suggest. Instead, the study finds that aspects of the traditional process of selection incorporating the activities of gathering requirements, evaluation and selection based on ‘best fit’ may or may not take place. Furthermore, even where these aspects occur they may not have equal weight or impact upon implementation and usage as may be expected. This is due to the influence of those multiple realities which originate from the organisational and market environments within which packages are created, selected and used, the lack of homogeneity in organisational contexts and the variously interpreted characteristics of the package in question.

This PhD by Published Work aims to present a coherent programme of original radio research practice produced by the author and placed in an appropriate academic context that explores new approaches to mise-en-scène and auteur theory. The research methodology employs an interrogation of traditional definitions of mise-en-scène and auteur and then reframes and adopts redefinitions of these theories when used to contextualise broadcast radio. The portfolio consists of the scripts and broadcast recordings of a set of five original BBC Radio 4 plays, and includes reference to a set of related academic publications and conference papers in which critical reflection about the media and creative practice of writing the plays took place. The work draws on approaching four decades of experience as a professional freelance writer and performer. The practice-based research focuses on explorations of the inter-relationships between the form, content and production of the five original radio dramas he was commissioned to write. All of the plays were broadcast by BBC Radio 4, the major public service arena available for radio drama in the United Kingdom, from 2000 to 2012. These years constituted a period of significant change in creative and administrative protocols at the BBC, and form the context for exploration of auteur innovations. The dramas achieved considerable critical attention attracting favourable reviews and provoking public debate. For example, Bell in the Ball (2010) prompted a discussion concerning writing about disability on the BBC’s In Touch programme (2010). It is a significant marker of their quality that a number of the plays have been repeated on various BBC Radio channels, as well as broadcast overseas. As part of the critical interrogation of the author’s media and creative practice, excerpts of the plays have also been included in academic papers presented at national and international conferences.

The use of social network sites (SNSs) in Iran, where people's freedom of expression is limited, provides new opportunities of sociality to be explored. The introduction of SNSs and in particular Facebook, provided an opportunity for Iranians to experience a different way of life online while living with the restrictions and control of authorities in offline settings. Drawing on the perspectives of dramaturgy and networked publics this study examines how Iranians use Facebook and why people engage with it the way they do. It has undertaken a qualitative field study approach. The empirical data are sourced through semi-structured interviews and participant observations with 30 individuals. This study demonstrates that Iranians are using the SNSs and Facebook as an independent platform from offline life. This study found that Iranians are developing their own approaches and strategies to control privacy, arranging the privacy freatures of the Facebook to meet their needs and self-presentation goals. The constant engagement with overcoming Internet censorship and devising privacy control strategies to maintain privacy enabled this group of users to develop a particular set of digital skills. Facebok cannot be treated as an independent platform for communication in society, but as a technology that is shaped by people and their perceptions about privacy violation based on the impact of ongoing social and political forces in Iran.

As we emerge into an age of hyperconnectivity, technology becomes increasingly pervasive in our daily lives. And with this change, our behavior and values progressively shift towards instant access, constant availability and multi-tasking. Recent research studies in cognitive psychology have indicated a change in the wiring of our brain due to these behavior shifts.  In this thesis project, technology’s role in our lives was explored, particularly within the context of home, a traditionally restorative environment.  By identifying key problem areas from user research and drawing inspirations from slow technology and other relevant fields of expertise, key concepts were conceptualized. The result is a collection of computer-mediated objects designed to support downtime and reflective behavior, as well as, integrate into our everyday living.

This in-depth cases tudy examinest he troubled introduction of a new computerisedr eservation system at French Railways. Socrale, based on the American Airlines Sabre system, had a disastrous beginning.I t wasb adly receivedb y the Frenchp ublic, led to strikes andg overnmentin quiries,a nd had to be modified substantially.T he literatureo n information systemsf ailure is reviewedf rom functionalistt o social constructivista nd critical perspectivesa nd the thesis aims to challengeb eliefs and assumptions about technological success and failure. The notion of 'symmetry' from the sociology of technology emphasisetsh at failures expresst he samed ynamicsa s successess,h owingh ow technologicalc hoicesa re not obvious or unproblematic. Differences between air and rail transporý between American and European transport deregulation and between the needs of national identity, regional development and public access to transporta re all reflectedi n the questiono f yield managementY. ield managemenist a crucial component of computerisedre servations ystemsa nd was first adoptedd uring the deregulationo f the US air transport industry in the early 80s. It requires complex optimisation software designed to manage passenger revenues and control demand, by manipulating the availability of full and discounted fares according to monitoredd emanda nds tatisticaal nalysis. Latour and Callon's sociology of 'translation' helps analyse how the Socrate project was undertaken and interpreted as: borrowing from airline pricing, aiming to gain competitive advantage, associatingS ocrate to the successo f high-speedt rains, attemptingt o changep assengersb' uying and travelling behaviour, transformingt he organisationa nd helping identify profitable market segmentsA. non-essentialisst tanceh elpsu nderstandh ow social and technicald istinctionsa re socially constructeda nd how the differentiation between what is technical and what is social, for instance in the conception and application of yield managementi,s a mattero f power and politics. Clegg's circuits of power are usedt o complement the sociology of translation in examining how power and political factors contribute to information systemsb ecoming( or not) obligatoryp assagep oints. Politically controversialc hangesin Frenchr ail transporta re associatedw ith the role of computer technology in deregulated European and global electronic markets and its effects on the concept of nationali dentity and sovereigntyin transportp olicy-making.

This research explores the development of discourses of information society and the claims which have been made as to the transformative capacities of information and communication technologies (ICT) in particular. It explores the experiences of groups affiliated to two women's centres in the city of Salford, England. These centres, and associated groups, are situated within two economically disadvantaged areas which could be said to be peopled with "the information poor". The research argues that the enthusiasm with which technology has often been placed before such communities has been inspired by debates which have largely taken place at a high level of abstraction and generalisation and have not been grounded and connected to the needs of the residents of "real world", physically based localities. The importance of locality, of "situated knowledge", of networks built around trust and shared experience it suggests, have been largely disregarded and the global, the expert and disembodied community unconstrained by the limits imposed by place have been perceived as the most significant relationships in contemporary western societies. This has distorted perceptions of more traditional and locally-based, face-to-face interaction which has been considered limiting, insular and in many ways as looking backward rather than forward. From these perceptions have arisen a terminology which places responsibility for success or failure on the individual and the community (the digital underclass) and which suggests that a need for experts and professionals to enlighten and educate certain groups (the information poor) in order that they can be enabled and empowered in the new digital age. The research argues that this discourse, and the assumptions which lie behind it, have infused policy agendas around widening access to technology and informed many models which aim to introduce these technologies into such communities. The research concludes that there has been a disproportionate interest in technology and its powers to transform and a concomitant disregard of the human potential and abilities which enable technology to work and the personal and social relationships which will facilitate its use.

As computers absorb an ever-increasing proportion of corporate resources, and spread into every sphere of business activity, the issue of achieving benefits from investments in information technology (IT) is assuming major importance. Research evidence to hand suggests that IT investments are failing by orders of magnitude to provide appropriate levels of payback. A major part of the difficulty lies in the fact that management appears to lack a framework or even a language for addressing the issues, and are bewildered by the speed and impact of the changes that are taking place. This is particularly apparent in smaller and medium-sized organisations. This thesis examines the causes of the problem, and suggests that it stems mainly from an undue emphasis being placed by management on finance-based techniques, a legacy from an earlier and much different environment. It seeks to establish that such techniques are not only inadequate, but potentially counter-productive. Using established research methodologies, a framework is developed which seeks to address the key issues involved in achieving business benefits from IT, yet which is understandable to, and applicable by, managers in medium-sized organisations. Uniquely among IT investment frameworks, the concept of business reengineering or business process redesign is introduced as a formal evaluation criterion, reflecting the degree of business transformation currently being experienced, and the central role of IT in that transformation. The framework is then validated and refined through being applied in actual investment decision making processes undertaken by five organisations covering a range of business arenas.

The role of information and communications technology, which has been mostly limited to use within business and government organisations, is now moving through society and touching all sections, groups and individuals therein. Information and communications technology is now pervading physical, or real, communities, as opposed to communities created through information technology, virtual communities. For the purposes of this research study, a traditional view of community is taken and defined as people sharing experiences and interrelations with others living in a physical locality, comprising all residents, workforce, official bodies and authorities that exist or have business within a defined physical area. There is potential for positive change within physical communities through the use of such technology to change the way people work, interact with local government, and the way people access information. There are also potential dangers that cannot be ignored. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the technology and the speed of advances in the technology, some dangers may be overlooked. Much of the research work concerning these issues tends to be focused on the technological aspects of the phenomenon, or takes a utopian view of the implementation of technological advances within communities. This research study takes a more critical view of the issues involved and is based upon an exploration of the issues associated with the introduction of information and communication technologies within the physical community. The study uses an ethics-based framework to explore these issues, together with a unified conceptual framework covering all aspects of the research study. An ethics-based approach was chosen because of its applicability to issues that have potentially harmful social effects, and was closely related to prior research work. An action case research method was employed to engage with a selected research subject. This allowed the researcher to conduct the study while acting close to the main participants within a community. Research uncovered a number of research findings or lessons, including, but not limited to, the finding that: the introduction of ICT into physical communities has divergent issues that stem from a broad spectrum of domains; arguments portraying aspects of projects as being amoral must be countered, that ethics is not just about big questions; that ethical analysis is important, both to the subject area of this research and others; the contingent nature of IS research in context means IS research cannot follow the waterfall model. Research also led to the formation of two important ideas, the notion engagement and in-situ ethical analysis.