The current stage of the World-Wide-Web development called Web 2.0 has a considerable effect on the online communication both inside and among businesses. Social media is the strongest trend in this area. Integration of these media into the internal and external communication strategy has become essential for businesses in order to attain a sustainable competitive advantage. The main objective of this thesis is to map the possibilities and technologies of contemporary corporate online communication with regard to the development of Web 2.0. The next goal is to provide recommendations on their use with their possible advantages and disadvantages. The thesis is divided into three main parts. The first part deals with the concept of Web 2.0, main characteristics, technologies, and possible future development. The next part is devoted to specific tools and technologies for the internal and external online communication of businesses. The final part of the thesis is practical and has been written in collaboration with the Microsoft Corporation. The goal of this part of the thesis is to conduct a survey about the use of Internet communication by young people in the Czech Republic. Based on this survey recommendations are set out on how to effectively reach and communicate with this target group through the Internet.

Web 2.0 is loosely defined as a set of interactive and social online tools. This thesis distinguishes between the terms Internet and Web, explains the evolution of the Web towards the Web 2.0 and describes the fundamental parts of this platform. The following chapter examines the network effects, virtual communities and the reason to participate in the online environment. It also investigates the user typology and identifies some serious concerns associated with the current Web. The paper analyses the changes to the consumer environment and identifies the key areas of change. The findings are supported with online research.

Para que os pais consigam dar o suporte necessário à criança com deficiência auditiva, é preciso que estes lidem com sentimentos e situações novas, dúvidas e expectativas, as quais podem gerar estresse. A participação em grupos de pais pode possibilitar apoio a estes indivíduos. Neste estudo clínico randomizado controlado, foi criada a rede social online Portal dos Bebês para pais e/ou cuidadores de crianças com deficiência auditiva, candidatas ao implante coclear, sendo avaliada sua eficácia como apoio a estes pais. Participaram 22 mães, com idades entre 18 e 39 anos, residindo nas regiões Sudeste (n=10), Sul (n=5), Centro Oeste (n=3), Norte (2) e Nordeste (2) do país, as quais foram divididas randomicamente em grupos experimental (n=11) e controle (n=11). As participantes preencheram um formulário online com perguntas sobre dados demográficos, uso da internet e o Índice de Estresse Parental versão reduzida (PSI-SF). O PSI-SF avalia o estresse geral a partir de um modelo com três fatores (subescalas): Sofrimento Parental, Criança Difícil e Interações Disfuncionais Pais-Criança. Apenas o grupo experimental teve acesso à rede social online. Ambos os grupos preencheram novamente o PSI-SF, três meses após a primeira aplicação, sendo que grupo experimental também respondeu questões sobre a avaliação de uso e participação na rede social. As postagens na rede social foram classificadas por dois juízes independentes com relação aos temas e mecanismos de auto-ajuda. Verificou-se que 72% das participantes acessavam a internet várias vezes na semana, sendo o acesso realizado majoritariamente em seus domicílios. Na primeira aplicação, o grupo experimental apresentou escores médios menores do que o grupo controle em todas as subescalas e na pontuação total do PSI-SF, contudo, tais diferenças entre os grupos não foram significativas. Em média, os níveis de estresse, para ambos os grupos, foram similares aos encontrados na literatura para pais de crianças com desenvolvimento típico e sem queixas auditivas. No entanto, para 22% dos participantes os níveis de estresse encontrados foram altos, sugerindo necessidade de intervenção. O mesmo padrão de resultados foi obtido na segunda aplicação do PSI-SF. A análise intra-grupos mostrou que não houve diferença nos resultados totais e das subescalas do PSI-SF entre as duas aplicações, para ambos os grupos, com exceção da subescala Resposta Defensiva em que houve diminuição da pontuação para o grupo controle - no entanto, esta diferença não foi clinicamente significante. Um coeficiente Kappa de 0,89 foi obtido entre as análise das postagens realizadas pelos juízes. Os temas mais frequentes das postagens foram relacionados à dimensão outros comentários (43,8%), com informações pessoais e expressões de crença em Deus, seguidos da experiência com a deficiência auditiva (39,6%), sobretudo em relação aos dispositivos utilizados pela criança. Quanto aos mecanismos de auto-ajuda, observou-se maior frequência de postagens com trocas de experiências (29,2%) e expressão de gratidão (18,6%). Embora tenham sido observadas postagens frequentes com informações de saúde, estas não foram imprecisas ou de natureza negativa. Os participantes do grupo experimental relataram que gostariam de ter participado mais da rede social, pois consideram este tipo de ferramenta importante pela possibilidade troca de informações e experiências com outras mães e profissionais da saúde. A pouca disponibilidade de tempo foi o fator mais apontado como obstáculo para participação. Os tipos de participação preferenciais foram escrever sobre o assunto em discussão e observar o que as outras pessoas escreviam. A participação na rede social Portal dos Bebês não diminuiu o estresse parental geral. Contudo, o teor das postagens e a avaliação dos participantes indicaram o potencial desta rede para fornecimento de apoio aos pais de crianças deficientes auditivas candidatas ao implante coclear. Outros estudos com um maior número de participantes e que avaliem o efeito de participação na rede social online sobre o estresse contextualmente relacionado à deficiência auditiva são necessários. / For parents to be able to provide the necessary assistance for their hearing impaired children, they must deal with new situations and feelings, doubts and expectations, which in turn can create stress. Participation in parent groups can propitiate support for these individuals. In this randomized controlled trial, the online social network \"Babies\' Portal\" was created for parents or caregivers of hearing impaired children, cochlear implant candidates, and its efficacy in supporting theses parents was evaluated. Participants were 22 mothers, aged between 18 and 39 years, residing in the Southeast (n=10), South (n=5), Midwest (n=3), North (n=2) and Northeast (n=2) of the country, which were randomly divided into experimental (n=11) and control (n=11) groups. The participants filled out an online form with questions about demographics, Internet usage and the Parental Stress Index short form (PSI-SF). The PSI-SF assesses the parental general stress from a model with three factors (subscales): Parental Distress, Difficult Child and Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interactions. Only the experimental group had access to the online social network. Both groups filled the PSI-SF a second time, three months after the first application, and the experimental group also answered questions evaluating utility and participation in the social network. The posts on the social network were rated by two independent judges regarding general themes and mechanisms of self-help. It was found that 72% of participants accessed the internet several times a week, with access done mostly in their homes. In the first application, the experimental group had lower mean PSI-SF scores than the control group, however, such differences between groups were not significant. On average, the stress levels for both groups were similar to those found in the literature for parents of children with typical development and normal hearing. However, for 22% of the participants stress levels were high, suggesting the need for intervention. The same pattern of results was obtained in the second application of the PSI-SF. The intra-group analysis showed no difference in total scores and subscales of the PSI-SF between the two applications, for both groups, except for the subscale \"Defensive Response\" in which there was a decrease in score for the control group. However, this difference was not clinically significant. A Kappa coefficient of 0.89 was obtained from the analysis of the postings made by judges indicating high concordance between them. The most frequent posts themes was related to dimension \"other commnets\" (43.8%), with personal information and expressions of belief in God, followed by experience with hearing loss (39.6%), especially in relation to devices used by the child. Regarding the mechanisms of self-help, it was observed a higher frequency of posts with exchanges of experiences (29.2%) and expression of gratitude (18.6%). Although there were many postings with health related information these were not imprecise or of negative nature. Participants in the experimental group reported that they would like to have a greater participation in the social network since they considered it an important mean of exchanging information and experiences with other parents and health professionals. The limited availability of time was often cited as an obstacle to participation. The preferred types of participation were writing about the subject under discussion and reading other people\'s postings. Participation in social networking \"Babies` Portal\" did not diminish the overall parental stress. However, the content of posts and evaluation of participants indicated the potential of this network to provide support for parents of hearing impaired children cochlear implant candidates. Further studies with a larger number of participants, assessing the effects of social networks on the stress contextually related to hearing impairment are needed.

A presente tese almejou investigar o uso abusivo de álcool e outras drogas nos domicílios onde hoje vivem jovens cujos pais (um ou ambos) morreram em decorrência da Aids, e compõe um subprojeto de seguimento da pesquisa intitulada Estigma e Discriminação Relacionados ao HIV/AIDS: Impactos da Epidemia em Crianças e Jovens na Cidade de São Paulo. O estudo de seguimento foi de natureza exploratório-descritiva e incluiu dez jovens (de idade entre 15 a 24 anos) de ambos os sexos, cujas famílias são residentes nas Zonas Noroeste e Oeste e que participaram da pesquisa anterior. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio de entrevistas com base em questionários. Como resultado, observou-se que o contexto e a rede de relações em que os jovens participantes estavam inseridos conseguiram preservá-los de fazerem o consumo prejudicial de bebida alcoólica e de usarem outras drogas. Portanto, a orfandade em si não se destacou como um fator determinante para o aumento da vulnerabilidade a este agravo no grupo estudado. Nos domicílios visitados, apenas uma jovem poderia ser considerada usuária abusiva de bebida alcoólica que foi, então, convidada a participar de um estudo de caso. No total, cinco entrevistas semi-estruturadas foram realizadas com ela tomando como ponto de partida a construção de seu Mapa de Redes. Para a análise dos dados foi utilizado quadro da Vulnerabilidade e da Abordagem Psicossocial e a teoria de Redes de Apoio Social. No estudo de caso, pode-se observar que a orfandade de pai e de mãe, somada ao afastamento dos integrantes de sua rede familiar; ao receio do estigma e da discriminação por ter pais que morreram devido à Aids; a impossibilidade de acessar um apoio psicossocial para lidar com sua solidão; ao desemprego, entre outras situações, serviram para ampliar a vulnerabilidade da jovem ao uso prejudicial de bebida alcoólica. Observou-se que os encontros e as conversas estimuladas pela compreensão da rede de apoio social de um indivíduo podem contribuir para o esclarecimento de contextos raramente incluídos em outros quadros conceituais que tratam do consumo prejudicial de álcool e outras drogas. O uso do Mapa de Redes permitiu à jovem entrevistada resgatar e reforçar o vínculo com os integrantes da rede de apoio social (rede familiar, de amigos, vínculos no novo emprego) considerados como importantes mediações para concretizar seus planos para o futuro. Contribuiu, ainda, para mitigar sua vulnerabilidade individual ao uso prejudicial de bebida alcoólica nos momentos de sofrimento. Em acréscimo a outras metodologias desenvolvidas com base no quadro da vulnerabilidade e dos direitos humanos, acredita-se que a referida abordagem estimula o desenvolvimento de reflexões relevantes para a formulação de políticas públicas condizentes com as necessidades expressas pelos jovens estudados. Desse modo, espera-se que a continuidade desse esforço permita construir ações que previnam e suprimam as circunstâncias que expõe as pessoas a situações de vulnerabilidade ao uso prejudicial e à dependência de bebida alcoólica e outras drogas, e que forneça subsídios importantes para os profissionais que atendem aquelas que buscam e se encontram em tratamento / The present doctoral thesis was aimed at investigating the overuse of alcohol and other drugs in houses where youngsters live today, whose parents (one or both) have died as a consequence of Aids, and consists of a subproject belonging to a broader research entitled Stigma and Discrimination Related to HIV/AIDS: Impacts of the Epidemic on Children and Youngsters in the city of São Paulo. The study had an exploratory-descriptive nature. Ten male and female youngsters participated in the study (with an age range of 15 to 24 years old), whose families live in the Northwest and West areas of the city and who participated in previous research. Data was collected through questionnaire-based interviews. Results pointed out to the fact that the context and the relations network in which the young participants were inserted succeeded in preventing them from overusing alcohol and other drugs. Moreover, being an orphan per se only was not seen as a key factor to the increase in terms of vulnerability in the group studied. In the houses visited, one female youngster could be considered an abusive alcoholic, upon which a case study was built. Overall, five semi-structured interviews were carried out, which have allowed to build up her network map. For content analysis purposes, interpretation of the framework of Vulnerability and Psychosocial Approach and Social Support Network Theory was used. In the case study, being orphan per se, as well as the detachment from her family, the fear of stigma, the discrimination for having parents who died of Aids, the lack of access to support, unemployment, among others, were seen as determining factors to increase her vulnerability and abusive use of alcohol. It was evident that the meetings and the talks stimulated by the social support network can contribute to contexts that are often times not included in other theoretical frameworks dealing with overuse of alcohol and other drugs. The Network Map allowed the female youngster to recover and strengthen the attachment with the members of her social support network (family, friends, and attachments in her new job), which are important mediations to help make her future plans come true. It also mitigated her individual vulnerability in relation to the overuse of alcohol in grieving moments. In addition to other methodologies developed on the basis of the framework of vulnerability and human rights, it is believed that such an approach fosters the development of relevant reflections as regards public policies that can tackle the reality of those studied youngsters. Thus, it is hoped that such an effort be everlasting so as to take actions that can prevent and suppress circumstances that are capable of increasing their vulnerability in terms of drug overuse and their dependence on alcohol and other drugs, thus providing important foundation for professionals that deal with people seeking or in treatment

Researching through design, this thesis explores the implementation of an online kit as a means through which the postmodern individual can participate in the creative processes of home sewing. Through the development of a knowledge network that is built on co-creation, a new approach to the traditional producer/consumer relationship is investigated. This network is used to encourage the fulfilment of self through the process of re-creation, while targeting the contemporary consumer by combining electronic resources and social networking with the hands-on nature of creative process.

<p>This paper, the corresponding wireframe documentation including the functional prototype and flowchart document the evaluation and redesign of the beta version of the social networking platform ModernFamilies.net. In order to reveal possible usability flaws for people of different generations, in particular the elderly, a user-centered design approach including an expert review, diary studies and interviews were conducted. The findings reflected the need for consistency and feedback in general. For young children, the concept of the site appeared to behard to grasp. Experienced users found the access and management of relatives cumbersome. Most importantly, the elderly, novice computer users had a hard time getting started with the site on their own because they did not have access to a PC nor internet at their home. The latter and the fact, that some issues might never be solved by traditional usability testing because the user just feels overwhelmed by the vast amount of communication features he is faced with today calls for alternative, more intelligent, ambient interfaces. However, we came to the conclusion that although evaluation of such new technologies with elderly people is not alwayseasy, it is best to be conducted in the participants home or a similar environment.</p> / AGNES

Education in knowledge society is challenged with a lot of problems in particular the interaction between the teacher and learner in social networking software as a key factor affects the learners’ learning and satisfaction (Prammanee, 2005) where “to teach is to communicate, to communicate is to interact, to interact is to learn” (Hefzallah, 2004, p. 48). Analyzing the relation between teacher-learner interaction from a side and learning outcome and learners’ satisfaction from the other side, some basic problems regarding a new learning culture using social networking software are discussed. Most of the educational institutions pay a lot of attentions to the equipments and emerging Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in learning situations. They try to incorporate ICT into their institutions as teaching and learning environments. They do this because they expect that by doing so they will improve the outcome of the learning process. Despite this, the learning outcome as reported in most studies is very limited, because the expectations of self-directed learning are much higher than the reality. Findings from an empirical study (investigating the role of teacher-learner interaction through new digital media wiki in higher education and learning outcome and learner’s satisfaction) are presented recommendations about the necessity of pedagogical interactions in support of teaching and learning activities in wiki courses in order to improve the learning outcome. Conclusions show the necessity for significant changes in the approach of vocational teacher training programs of online teachers in order to meet the requirements of new digital media in coherence with a new learning culture. These changes have to address collaborative instead of individual learning and ICT wiki as a tool for knowledge construction instead of a tool for gathering information. / Bildung in der Wissensgesellschaft ist mit einer Vielzahl von Herausforderungen verbunden. Insbesondere die Interaktion zwischen Lehrenden und Lernenden ist in sozialen Netzwerken durch Software bestimmt, die als ein wesentlicher Faktor den Lernerfolg der Lernenden und ihre Zufriedenheit bestimmt (Prammanee, 2005), da “to teach is to communicate, to communicate is to interact, to interact is to learn” (Hefzallah, 2004, S. 48). Die Analyse der Art der Lehrer-Schüler-Interaktion auf der einen Seite und das Lernergebnis und die Zufriedenheit der Lernenden auf der anderen Seite, sind einige grundlegende zu diskutierende Herausforderungen hinsichtlich einer neuen Lernkultur mit Social-Networking-Software. Eine Vielzahl der Bildungseinrichtungen achten daher auf die Ausstattung mit Ausrüstungen und zugehörigen Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien (IKT) zur Gestaltung von Lernsituationen. Sie versuchen die IKT in ihren Institutionen als Lehr-und Lernumgebungen zu integrieren, da sie damit einen positiven Effekt auf den Ausgang des Lernprozesses verbinden. Trotzdem sind die Lernergebnisse, die in den meisten Studien untersucht wurden, sehr begrenzt. Es zeigt sich, dass die Erwartungen der Lehrkräfte an selbstgesteuertes Lernen viel höher sind, als die Ergebnisse der Studien repräsentieren. Auf Grundlage dieser Ausgangssituation wurde eine empirischen Studie (Untersuchung der Rolle der Lehrer-Schüler-Interaktion durch neue digitale Medien Wiki in der Hochschulbildung und des Lernerfolgs und der Zufriedenheit der Lernenden) durchgeführt. Aus den Ergebnissen wurden Empfehlungen über die Notwendigkeit der pädagogischen Interaktionen zur Unterstützung von Lehr-und Lernaktivitäten in Wiki Kursen abgeleitet, um den Lernerfolg zu verbessern. Die Schlussfolgerungen zeigen die Notwendigkeit für deutliche Änderungen in der Herangehensweise der beruflichen Bildung der Online-Lehrer, um die Anforderungen der neuen digitalen Medien im Einklang mit einer neuen Lernkultur zu erfüllen. Diese Veränderungen beeinhalten im Kern kooperatives statt individuelles Lernen und den Einsatz von IKT-Wiki als ein Werkzeug für die Wissenskonstruktion statt für das Sammeln von Informationen.

Social networking applications that are developed using traditional software and architecture have scalability issues. One way to overcome the high cost of scaling social applications is to use Cloud Computing (CC). There are various cloud computing platforms available. One very interesting CC platform is Google App Engine (GAE). This research focuses on using the free GAE as a way to re-implement existing social networking applications.<p> The research focuses on how to move social applications into the cloud and on the evaluation of their performance. The thesis investigates the GAE platform, and its features. The study shows how to re-implement a social networking application using GAE cloud with limited code approximately 600 lines and evaluates the scalability of the applications.

Title: By what strategies is the old media using the new media? A qualitative essay on TV: s use on social media Number of pages: 54 Authors: Marie Magnusson och Sabina Karlsson Tutor:  Karin Fast Course: Media and Communication Studies C Period: Spring 2011 University: Karlstad University Purpose/Aim: Our purpose is to examine which strategies and why two TV-channels, SVT and TV4, are using social media. Our anticipated view is that SVT as a public service organization and TV4 as a commercial operator may have different motives with its use of social media. Material/Method: A qualitative method consisting of interviews by informants from SVT and TV4. Main results: Our result is that there isn’t any big difference between SVT and TV4 in the way they’re using social media. However, that SVT has to more specifically make sure no commercialism exists, while TV4 don’t have to think about it. Keywords: Social networking, convergence, commercialism, communication, Internet, public service, television. / Titel: Genom vilka strategier använder gamla medier de nya? En kvalitativ studie om TV:aktörernas användande av sociala medier Antal sidor: 54 Författare: Marie Magnusson och Sabina Karlsson Handledare: Karin Fast Kurs: Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap C-nivå Period: Våren 2011 Universitet: Karlstads Universitet Syfte/Mål: Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka vilka strategier och varför två svenska TV-aktörer, SVT och TV4, använder sig av sociala medier. Vår förtida uppfattning är att SVT som public servicebolag och TV4 som kommersiell aktör kan ha olika syften med sitt användande av sociala medier. Metod: Kvalitativa intervjuer har gjorts med informanter från SVT och TV4. Resultat: På vilket sätt och vilka sociala medier man använder sig av verkar i grunden vara det samma hos båda aktörerna, SVT och TV4. Men SVT måste mer specifikt se efter att reklam inte existerar, medan TV4 som är kommersiella inte behöver rätta sig efter det. Nyckelord: Sociala medier, konvergens, kommersialisering, kommunikation, Internet, public service, television.

Social networking applications that are developed using traditional software and architecture have scalability issues. One way to overcome the high cost of scaling social applications is to use Cloud Computing (CC). There are various cloud computing platforms available. One very interesting CC platform is Google App Engine (GAE). This research focuses on using the free GAE as a way to re-implement existing social networking applications.<p> The research focuses on how to move social applications into the cloud and on the evaluation of their performance. The thesis investigates the GAE platform, and its features. The study shows how to re-implement a social networking application using GAE cloud with limited code approximately 600 lines and evaluates the scalability of the applications.