This study examines the impact of political information conveyed through social media. Using the popular social network site (SNS), Facebook, I conduct a quasi-lab experiment, survey experiment, and randomized field experiment involving undergraduate students to explore the extent to which peer-to-peer communication via social media can increase political knowledge, change political attitudes, and mobilize people to vote.

The terms social media and social networking have been under the spotlight in recent times due to enormous success of some of the social networking websites. Creating profiles and making friends are the prime activities on these sites. People upload pictures, videos and create events on these sites to share with their friends. Some people are more active than others when it comes to participating in online social activity. But more or less, most users; be it active or passive find time almost daily to log in and see what is happening on these sites. The aim of this paper is to propose a design for online profiles of researchers and teachers who work in a university environment based on ideas from existing social media and similar systems. In this research I a) identified elements of such a system by studying the already existing profiles of researchers in ten different Swedishuniversities b) interviewed researchers and students at different departments of UppsalaUniversity to get first hand knowledge on how such a system should look like c) propose design recommendations for online profiles of people involved in education in universities based on the requirements collected.

New technologies are changing the way entrepreneurs network. Internet Based Neworking  Websites (IBNWs) are re shaping the process in which we network and communicate with  one another, on a personal and also on a professional level. The biggest example of this is  the incredible rise of IBNWs such as Facebook and LinkedIn that together hold more than  300 million users.  This is a very new form of networking where individuals are able to  communicate and connect with an almost limitless amount of people, regardless of their  geographical location. The more traditional forms of  networking are seen as phone calls  and face to face communication, while in the last two decades email has also been  incorporated into a common and professional form of networking for the purpose of  business. Since IBNWs are a new form of maintaining relationships, for our thesis we have  decided to address the question of how IBNWs affect the process of networking during the  development of ventures.     In the thesis we explore the concepts put forward by authors such as; Granovetter, Hoang  and Antoncic, Aldrich and Zimmer, Deutsch, Sonnenberg among others. In addition we  used the structure used by Hoand and Antoncic to create a framework when analyzing the  networking process though IBNWs. This framework is split in to three categories: Network  structure, governance, and content. Using a qualitative interpretivist approach we have  developed an extensive case study and we have interviewed ten entrepreneurs from a wide  array of industries and locations. To help us analyze the data retrieved we have also  interviewed an expert in the field of business and internet landscaping. The aim of the study  is to generate a new framework for networking in the 21st century in light of the IBNW  boom.  The findings demonstrate that IBNWs are being used widely by entrepreneurs, but  mainly for advices and information or in other words, providing low commitment content.  We have concluded that IBNWs are perceived as an informal cold and weak form of  networking and maintaining business networks and if relationships where to progress to  higher levels of commitment then entepreneurs will turn to more traditional ways of  network maintenance such as face-to-face meetings.

Background Social Media is a communication tool employed nowadays not only by multinational or middle-size and small companies, but also by non-profit organizations and governmental institutions. Today, more than 60% of the Swedish municipalities are participating on Social Media platforms with the purpose of engaging with the citizens. Online Engagement is not radically different from traditional Engagement, just as Citizen Engagement has close similarities with Customer Engagement. All of the Engagement facets are comparatively discussed in the current research paper, and four Dimensions, each including several factors that might differentiate Engaged and Unengaged users are described and used in the empirical study, in order to fulfill the purpose of the research. Purpose This research paper investigates the factors that differentiate the users from different stages of engagment on public institution’s social media profiles. Method The factors differentiating users from different stages of Engagement were identified by using relevant theories and previous research, and by conducting a quantitative study on Trafikverket, Swedish Transport Administration, Facebook profile followers. Conclusion Five factors were tested throughout the statistical data analysis. Three of them were found to be signifcantly different for users that are engaged within the profile and users that are not engaged. These factors are Usefulness, Privacy & Security and Communicaion & Relationship. Based on the findings and literature review, several suggestions for engaging with citizens, were proposed.

Web pages take noticeably longer to load when accessing the Internet using high-latency wide-area wireless networks like 3G. This delay can result in lower user satisfaction and lost revenue for web site operators. By locating a just-in-time prefetching push proxy in the Internet service provider's mobile network core and routing mobile client web requests through it, web page load times can be perceivably reduced. Our analysis and experimental results demonstrate that the use of a push proxy results in a much smaller dependency on the mobile-client-to-network latency than seen in environments where no proxy is used; in particular, only one full round trip from client to server is necessary regardless of the number of resources referenced by a web page. In addition, we find that the ideal location for a push proxy is close to the servers that the mobile client accesses, minimizing the latency between the proxy and the servers that the mobile client accesses through it; this is in contrast to traditional prefetching proxies that do not push prefetched items to the client, which are best deployed halfway between the client and the server.

Despite the growing number of mobile devices equipped with multiple networking interfaces, they are not using multiple available networks in parallel. The simple network selection techniques only allow for single network to be used at a time and switching between different networks interrupts all existing connections. This work presents system that improves network connectivity in presence of multiple network adapters, not only through better network handovers, smarter network selection and failure detection, but also through increased bandwidth offered to the device over aggregated channels. The biggest challenge such a system has to face is the heterogeneity of networks in mobile environment. Different wireless technologies, and even different networks of the same type offer inconsistent link parameters like available bandwidth, latency or packet loss. The wireless nature of these networks also means, that most of the parameters fluctuate in unpredictable way. Given the intended practicality of designed system, all that complexity has to be hidden from both client-side applications and from the remote servers. These factors combined make the task of designing and implementing an efficient solution difficult. The system incorporates client-side software, as well as network proxy that assists in splitting data traffic, tunnelling it over a number of available network interfaces, and reassembling it on the remote side. These operations are transparent to both applications running on the client, as well as any network servers those applications communicate with. This property allows the system to meet one of the most important requirements, which is the practicality of the solution, and being able to deploy it in real life scenarios, using network protocols available today and on existing devices. This work also studies the most critical cost associated with increased data processing and parallel interface usage - the increase in energy usage, which needs to remain within reasonable values for this kind of solution being usable on mobile devices with limited battery life. The properties of designed and deployed system are evaluated using multiple experiments in different scenarios. Collected results confirm that our approach can provide applications with increased bandwidth when multiple networks are available. We also discover that even though per-second energy usage increases when multiple interfaces are used in parallel, the use of multi-interface connectivity can actually reduce the total energy cost associated with performing specific tasks - effectively saving energy.

<p>With the ever increasing demand for data communication methods, power line communication has become an interesting alternative method for data communication. Power line communication falls into two categories: one for data transmission between sites in the power grid and the other for home or office networking. When considering home or office networking, existing methods are either too slow for tasks other than simple automation, or are very fast with a higher cost than necessary for the desired function. The objective in this work is to develop a lower cost communication system with an intermediate data transmission rate.</p><p>At first glance, power line communication looks like a good option because of the availability of power outlets in every room of a building. However, the power conductors were installed solely for the purpose of distributing 60 Hz mains power and, for data signals, they exhibit very high attenuation, variable impedance and there is radio frequency shielding. Furthermore, many of the 60 Hz loads produce radio frequency interference that impedes data communication. Previous research has shown that much of the noise is time synchronous with the 60 Hz mains frequency and that the majority of data errors occur during these periods of high noise.</p><p> This work develops a power line communication protocol that coordinates transmissions and uses only the predictable times of lower noise. Using a central control strategy, the power line 60 Hz mains signal is divided into 16 timeslots and each timeslot is monitored for errors. The central controller periodically polls all stations to learn which timeslots have low noise and it then controls all transmissions to make the best use of these good timeslots. The periodic polling allows the system to adapt to changes in electrical loading and noise. This control strategy has been achieved with modest complexity and laboratory measurements have shown throughput approaching 70% of the modem bit rate.</p>

As a result of the rapid globalization process and growth of competition, companies are fostered to expand in the international markets in order to maintain competitive advantages and keep on growing. The thesis focuses on the concepts of networking and environments which are perceived to be major factors for the internationalization process. The aim of this study is to examine the significance of networking and environmental issues for the internationalization process in the Lithuanian market. The study is carried out in the context of Born Global companies. The theoretical framework of this thesis focuses on three main points. The first approach considered within the literature review is the internationalization process. The following one is networking, considering formal and informal networks in particular. The last approach of importance for the thesis involves environmental factors regarding a particular country’s market. This theoretical framework guides the reader through the collection and analysis of empirical data, as well as concluding thoughts for the study. The single case study of the selected company from Halmstad was carried out by employing a qualitative research method. Semi-structured personal interviews enabled the author to collect the empirical data which was supplemented with the secondary data received by using web sites, documentation and scientific articles. The results of the case study indicate that networking and environmental issues influence to a considerable extent the internationalization processes. Moreover, the significance of informal networks was emphasized in particular. However, the study has not shown the obvious evidence that environmental factors affect a company’s performance within the Lithuanian market considerably. The single case study enabled me to give practical implications for a real case, considering the introduction of a particular product into the Lithuanian market.

Many studies have been conducted of different types of business networks in recent years. Despite this, there is a lack of research concerning industry-transcending formal networks which are limited to a specific region. We have conducted a case study of Örebro Promotion, which is an industry-transcending network including over 500 members. Örebro is a medium-sized city in the middle of Sweden. The purpose with our study is to create an understanding of why enterprises choose to be a part of the network and what they feel is the gain of their membership. This study is exploratory and should be viewed as the start of this much-needed field of research. The case study is based on observations of the activities of this network and others of similar character. We have interviewed a number of network facilitators, current members and members that have decided to leave the network during the last year. The study includes a literature review of general network research with a particular focus on research of different types of formal networks. Based on the literature review we have found seven factors that come as a result of being a member in a network. These factors are information/knowledge sharing, new business opportunities, a broadened network, regional development, lobbying, reduced costs and resource expenditure. Our study indicates that reduced costs, knowledge sharing and regional development cannot be viewed as important factors in Örebro Promotion. Instead our data shows that marketing and legitimacy are two factors that do have an impact. However, the most important factors for business enterprises in this type of networks differ depending on the characteristics of each enterprise. For small businesses new business opportunities was the single most important factor concerning why these actors choose to be members in this network. For larger enterprises lobbying, in the sense that Örebro Promotion creates an arena for meeting politicians, were seen as the most important factor. A broadened network was generally viewed as a reason for a membership. Concerning what the enterprises gain from their membership, information was something all respondents mentioned as the most concrete factor. The opportunity to market the company towards other businesses was also seen as an important factor. A majority felt that the membership in Örebro Promotion did not create new business opportunities to extent they were hoping for. Since our study is one of the first concerning this form of network, we believe that further research is needed. A start could be similar studies of networks with similar characteristics in Sweden. This would be important to find out if the factors that have been found to be important in Örebro Promotion could be applied to other networks.

The existence of informal male networks, sometimes referred to as "old boys' networks", tends to exclude women from top jobs. More and more women have come to realize that they need professional contacts for a successful career and that they also needed each other’s support. Therfore many women are joining women-only networks or trying to create there own informal networks. The purpose is to establish useful contacts, learn new things, and be able to share their concerns with other women in the same situation. For some it gives an opportunity to find a mentor who can guide them. The aim of this bachelor thesis is to study if women’s lacking access to male networks is an obstacle for career advancement and to give an insight into women-only networks and their effectiveness to support women leaders and managers and increase women's representation in senior positions. The empirical findigs were conducted in Växjö, Sweden; in the networks “Fröken” and “Rotary”, and one women-only network in Linz, Austria; the BPW, “Business &amp; Professional Women”.