This study is an empirical analysis of adolescents' risk management on internet social network sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Using a survey of 935 U.S. adolescents gathered by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, I investigate the influence of offline social networks on online socialization, as well as the impact of parental and self mediation tactics on risky online information-sharing practices. Overall, the relationship between offline social network strength and online communications methods was inconclusive, with results suggesting that most teens use online communications in similar ways, regardless of offline connectedness. Some relationships were discovered between parental and individual mediation tactics and risky online information sharing, largely supporting the use of active mediation techniques by parents and informed control of shared information by individual users. User demographics had a strong effect on risky information sharing, with gender and age playing a significant role. This study also offers some suggestions for parents and policy-makers interested in the topic.

x, 89 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Alternative forms of memorialization offer a sense of empowerment to the mourner, bringing the act of grieving into the personal sphere and away from the clinical or official realm of funeral homes and cemeteries. Constructing a spontaneous shrine allows a mourner to create a meaningful narrative of the deceased's life, giving structure and significance to a loss that may seem chaotic or meaningless in the immediate aftermath. These vernacular memorials also function as focal points for continued communication with the departed and interaction with a community of mourners that blurs distinctions between public and private spheres. I focus my analysis on MySpace pages that are transformed into spontaneous memorials in the wake of a user's death, the creation of "ghost bikes" at the sites of fatal bicycle-automobile collisions, and memorial tattooing, exploring the ways in which these practices are socially constructed innovations on the traditional material forms of mourning culture. / Committee in Charge: Dr. Daniel Wojcik, Folklore, Chair; Dr. Philip Scher, Anthropology; Dr. Doug Blandy, Arts and Administration / 2016-05-28

À partir d’observations personnelles sur l’importance de la technique et des technologies dans la production musicale, le projet de ce mémoire fut élaboré autour de la sociologie de la musique de Weber. En premier lieu, un questionnement du rapport entre musique, technologie et société permet d’établir de nombreuses voies pour la recherche concernant les médiations techniques de la musique. Ces médiations sont maintenant caractérisées par les changements issus de l’implantation de l’informatique dans de nombreuses sociétés et la modification des rapports de pouvoir et des rapports sociaux par les possibilités nouvelles offertes par le médium numérique. Si Internet semble avoir bouleversé l’industrie de la musique, de nouvelles possibilités de dépasser les limitations des technologies traditionnelles de la musique sont toutefois aussi apparues au sein de ce « système sociotechnique ». Ces modifications prennent la forme de philosophies, mais aussi de pratiques sociales qui se répandent, avant tout, auprès de la jeune génération, ce qu’il est possible d’observer par les changements dans les pratiques musicales. À partir des outils conceptuels de Weber, deux idéaltypes seront créés qui représentent autant de modes de diffusion de musique sur Internet. L’accent est mis sur la différence entre les pratiques sociales et musicales de ces modes de diffusions : l’un est basé sur des pratiques traditionnelles et greffé sur la nouvelle plateforme Internet, l’autre emprunte les caractéristiques de la diffusion de l’information en réseau caractéristique de la culture Internet et se caractérise par des pratiques dites réflexives. Ces idéaltypes, ainsi que les cas qui les constituent et qu’ils mettent en lumière, sont mis à profit pour discuter des motifs de l’action chez différents agents au cœur des pratiques de diffusion et, finalement, des modalités variées que prend la rationalisation de la diffusion de la musique à partir du médium numérique. / Starting from personal observations on the place hold by techniques and technologies in the production of music, this thesis project was created around Max Weber’s Sociology of Music. First, the relations between music, technology and society are critically questioned in order to underline the possible ways of further research concerning the technical mediation of music. The latter are now characterized through the changes brought by the implementation of Informatics in many societies and the modification of the social or power relationships by the new possibilities of the digital medium. It seems that the Internet has shaken the music industry. However, in this socio-technical system new ways are being shaped allowing the overcome the traditional limitations of the music technologies. These ways takes the form of philosophies but also of social popular among the younger generations observable through changes in social practices. Using the Weber’s conceptual tools, two ideal types are created—representing as many diffusion modes of music on the Internet. Two dimensions regarding the difference between these social and musical practices are stressed: the perpetuation of traditional diffusion practices integrated on the Internet platform and the reflexives practices characterized by a diffusion mode expressing the network type of information circulation of the Internet culture. These ideal types, and the related cases chosen to construct and describe them, serve to discuss the multiple motives of action of different social agents relevant for the diffusion practices, and, finally, the various modalities of the rationalization of music diffusion through the digital medium.

À partir d’observations personnelles sur l’importance de la technique et des technologies dans la production musicale, le projet de ce mémoire fut élaboré autour de la sociologie de la musique de Weber. En premier lieu, un questionnement du rapport entre musique, technologie et société permet d’établir de nombreuses voies pour la recherche concernant les médiations techniques de la musique. Ces médiations sont maintenant caractérisées par les changements issus de l’implantation de l’informatique dans de nombreuses sociétés et la modification des rapports de pouvoir et des rapports sociaux par les possibilités nouvelles offertes par le médium numérique. Si Internet semble avoir bouleversé l’industrie de la musique, de nouvelles possibilités de dépasser les limitations des technologies traditionnelles de la musique sont toutefois aussi apparues au sein de ce « système sociotechnique ». Ces modifications prennent la forme de philosophies, mais aussi de pratiques sociales qui se répandent, avant tout, auprès de la jeune génération, ce qu’il est possible d’observer par les changements dans les pratiques musicales. À partir des outils conceptuels de Weber, deux idéaltypes seront créés qui représentent autant de modes de diffusion de musique sur Internet. L’accent est mis sur la différence entre les pratiques sociales et musicales de ces modes de diffusions : l’un est basé sur des pratiques traditionnelles et greffé sur la nouvelle plateforme Internet, l’autre emprunte les caractéristiques de la diffusion de l’information en réseau caractéristique de la culture Internet et se caractérise par des pratiques dites réflexives. Ces idéaltypes, ainsi que les cas qui les constituent et qu’ils mettent en lumière, sont mis à profit pour discuter des motifs de l’action chez différents agents au cœur des pratiques de diffusion et, finalement, des modalités variées que prend la rationalisation de la diffusion de la musique à partir du médium numérique. / Starting from personal observations on the place hold by techniques and technologies in the production of music, this thesis project was created around Max Weber’s Sociology of Music. First, the relations between music, technology and society are critically questioned in order to underline the possible ways of further research concerning the technical mediation of music. The latter are now characterized through the changes brought by the implementation of Informatics in many societies and the modification of the social or power relationships by the new possibilities of the digital medium. It seems that the Internet has shaken the music industry. However, in this socio-technical system new ways are being shaped allowing the overcome the traditional limitations of the music technologies. These ways takes the form of philosophies but also of social popular among the younger generations observable through changes in social practices. Using the Weber’s conceptual tools, two ideal types are created—representing as many diffusion modes of music on the Internet. Two dimensions regarding the difference between these social and musical practices are stressed: the perpetuation of traditional diffusion practices integrated on the Internet platform and the reflexives practices characterized by a diffusion mode expressing the network type of information circulation of the Internet culture. These ideal types, and the related cases chosen to construct and describe them, serve to discuss the multiple motives of action of different social agents relevant for the diffusion practices, and, finally, the various modalities of the rationalization of music diffusion through the digital medium.

With the widespread use of the Internet, grief has been extended in its representation. Specifically, social networking sites, like MySpace, have turned grief presentation from private expressions into public displays of mourning. This study utilizes the theoretical foundations of the grief presentation process of Kübler-Ross' (1969) five categories of bereavement (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance) to determine whether the grief presentation process is present in an online setting. In this study, the researcher conducted an empirical investigation of 4,931 comments, resulting in 22,263 bereavement themes outlined by Kübler-Ross, which were condensed into 2,288 time-point comparisons posted to 140 MySpace profiles of users who have passed-on. Results revealed noteworthy practices surrounding grief presentation on the MySpace profiles of the deceased. Specifically, bereaved commenters post a significantly greater number of bereavement narratives in the first three months post-mortem as opposed to months four through six. Additionally, race and sex of the deceased, as well as sex of the bereaved, did not prove to be mitigating factors in online grief presentation. Moreover, across observed races and sexes, the bereavement category of acceptance was found most often, followed by depression, denial, anger, and bargaining. Findings suggest that post-mortem commenting behavior blends current memorializing practices while also extending the space for communication and grief presentation. Additional implications for understanding grief communication on MySpace and future directions for research conclude this study.