Dr Bernie Hogan

Profile

Bernie's research interests lie at the intersection of social networks and media convergence. That is, what medium do people use with their ties, and when? With new media, individuals simultaneously have more convenience but also more complexity, expenses and social pressure to adopt. Some individuals thrive in this new media ecology, while others feel it has isolated them. Within this framework, Bernie examines the eroding home-work boundary, the digital self, and the shift from public spaces to cyberpublics.

He is also working on a number of methodological issues, including reliable capture of online networks, efficient strategies for capturing networks in interviews, social science software development and the application of audit studies to online housing and job markets.

Bernie Hogan completed his BA(hons) at the Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada, where he received the University Medal in Sociology. Since then he has been working on Internet use and social networks at the University of Toronto under social network analysis pioneer Barry Wellman.

Bernie received his Masters of Arts at Toronto in 2003, and defended his PhD Dissertation in the Fall of 2008. His dissertation examines how the use of ICTs alters the way people maintain their relationships in everyday life. In 2005 he was an intern at Microsoft's Community Technologies Lab, working with Danyel Fisher on new models for email management.

Research interests

social networks, human-computer interaction, methodology, social informatics, quantitative analysis, everyday life, social accessibility

Positions held at the OII

• Research Fellow, October 2008 -

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Research

Current projects

• Who represents the Arab world online? Mapping and measuring local knowledge production and representation in the Middle East and North Africa

  April 2011 -

  Using Wikipedia to explore the participation gap between those who have their say, and those whose voices are pushed to the side, in representations of the Arab world online.

• Wikipedia's Networks and Geographies: Representation and Power in Peer-Produced Content

  November 2010 -

  This project brings together OII research fellows and doctoral students to shed light on the incorporation of new users and information into the Wikipedia community.

• Me, My Spouse and the Internet: Meeting, Dating and Marriage in the Digital Age

  January 2008 -

  The project uses survey data from Australian and UK couples to look at the significance and impact of the Internet on intimate relationships, including how people use ICTs to meet each other and maintain relationships, and how ICTs affect their behaviour.

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Publications

• Articles
• Chapters
• Conference papers
• Presentations
• Reports

Articles

• Brooks, B., Welser, H.T., Hogan, B. and Titsworth, S. (2011) Socioeconomic Status Updates: College Students, Family SES, and Emergent Social Capital in Facebook Networks. Information, Communication & Society 14 (4) 529-549.
• Hogan, B. and Berry, B. (2011) Racial and Ethnic Biases in Rental Housing: An Audit Study of Online Apartment Listings. City & Community 10 (4) 351-372.
• Hogan, B. (2010) Portable Communities: The Social Dynamics of Online and Mobile Connectedness, by Mary Chayko (Book Review). City & Community 9 (1) 134-136.
• Hogan, B. (2010) The Presentation of Self in the Age of Social Media: Distinguishing Performances and Exhibitions Online. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society 30 (6) 377-386.
• Hogan, B. and Quan-Haase, A. (2010) Persistence and Change in Social Media. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society 30(5), 309-315. doi: 10.1177/0270467610380012.
• Hogan, B. (2010) Pinwheel layout to highlight community structure. Visualization Symposium. Journal of Social Structure.
• Carrasco, J.A., Hogan, B., Wellman, B. and Miller, E.J. (2008) Agency in social activity interactions: The role of social networks in time and space. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 99 (5) 562-583.
• Carrasco, J.A., Hogan, B., Wellman, B. and Miller, E. (2008) Collecting social network data to study social activity-travel behaviour: an egocentered approach. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 35 (6) 961-980.
• Hogan, B. (2007) Using Information Networks to Understand Social Behavior. IEEE Data Engineering Bulletin 30 (2) 6-14.
• Hogan, B., Carrasco, J.A. and Wellman, B. (2007) Visualizing Personal Networks: Working with Participant-Aided Sociograms. Field Methods 19 (2) 116-144.
• Hogan, B. (2003) Book Review: Leonardo's Laptop. Information, Communication & Society 6 (2) 278-281.

Chapters

• Hogan, B. and Smith, M.A. (Forthcoming) Facebook: The World's Social Graph. In: G.Barnett (ed.) Encyclopedia of Social Networks. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• Hogan, B. and Wellman, B. (2011) The Immanent Internet Redux. In: P.H.Cheong, P.Fischer-Nielsen, S.Gelfgren and C.Ess (eds) Digital Religion, Social Media and Culture: Perspectives, Practices and Futures. Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang.
• Hogan, B. (2010) Analyzing Facebook Networks. In: D.Hansen, M.Smith and B.Shneiderman (eds) Analyzing Social Media Networks with NodeXL. Morgan Kaufman: New York, NY.
• Hogan, B. (2008) Analyzing Social Networks via the Internet. In: N.Fielding, R.Lee and G.Blank (eds) The Handbook of Online Research Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Veenhof, B., Wellman, B., Quell, C. and Hogan, B. (2008) Isolation, Cohesion or Transformation? How Canadians' Use of the Internet is Shaping Society. Connectedness Series 16. Statistics Canada.
• Wellman, B., Hogan, B., Berg, K., Boase, J., Carrasco, J.A., Côté, R., Kayahara, J., Kennedy, T. and Tran, P. (2006) Connected Lives: The Project. In: P.Purcell (ed.) Networked Neighborhoods. Berlin: Springer.
• Wellman, B. and Hogan, B. (2004) The Internet in Everyday Life. In: W.S.Bainbridge (ed.) The Berkshire Encyclopedia of Human Computer Interaction. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing, pp. 389-397.
• Wellman, B. and Hogan, B. (2004) The Immanent Internet. In: J.R.McKay (ed.) Netting Citizens. Edinburgh: St Andrew's Press, pp. 54-80.

Conference papers

• Hogan, B. (2010) Face Validity? A Commentary on Walther et al.'s "The Role of Friends' Appearance and Behavior on Evaluations of Individuals on Facebook: Are We Known by the Company We Keep?". Proceedings of the International Communication Association's Virtual Conference.
• Fisher, D., Brush, A.J., Hogan, B., Smith, M. and Jacobs, A. (2007) Using Social Metadata in Email Triage: Lessons from the Field. Proceedings of the 2007 Human Computer Interaction International Conference, Beijing, 22-27 July 2007.

Presentations

• Hogan, B., Wigdor, D., Suhonos, M.J. and Josephy, M. (eds) (2004) Multimedia Proceedings. Open Source and Free Software: Concepts, Controversies and Solutions. Knowledge Media Design Institute, 9-11 May 2004.

Reports

• Hogan, B., Li, N. and Dutton, W.H. (2011) A Global Shift in the Social Relationships of Networked Individuals: Meeting and Dating Online Comes of Age. Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford.
• Fisher, D., Hogan, B., Brush, A.J., Jacobs, A. and Smith, M. (2007) Using Social Sorting to Enhance Email Management. Microsoft Research Technical Report. MSR-TR-2007-19.
• Hogan, B. and Fisher, D. (2006) A Scale for Measuring Email Overload. Microsoft Research Technical Report, MSR-TR-2006-65.

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Teaching

Courses taught at the OII

• Digital Social Research

  This course will familiarize students with a variety of methods for capturing online data in a host of formats (.json, .xml, .graphml, .csv) and techniques for answering research questions based on data from the web.

• Social Research Methods and the Internet I: Methods Core

  This course provides students with the opportunity to engage with the methodological, ethical and philosophical underpinnings of quantitative and qualitative social science research practices.

• Social Research Methods and the Internet I: Statistics Core

  This course introduces students to statistics for the social sciences, with an emphasis on application to research on the Internet and society.

• Social Research Methods and the Internet II: Advanced Quantitative Analysis

  This course introduces students to statistics for the social sciences, with an emphasis on application to research on the Internet and society.

• Social Research Methods and the Internet II: Methods Core

  This course provides students with the opportunity to engage with the methodological, ethical and philosophical underpinnings of quantitative and qualitative social science research practices.

DPhil students supervised at the OII

Current students

• Joshua Melville

  Thesis title to be confirmed.

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Webcasts

• 

  Interview with Erina Lee: Partner Compatibility and Online Dating Sites

  Recorded on: 10 December 2011 Duration: 00:04:37

  Erina Lee discusses the importance of similarity between partners in terms of long-term relationship satisfaction. She discusses some compatibility dimensions that have been considered by eHarmony, as well as future directions for research.

• 

  Interview with Monica Whitty: Scammers on Online Dating Sites

  Recorded on: 10 December 2011 Duration: 00:06:04

  Monica Whitty discusses her recent work on dating scams, which has focused on attempting to identify a typology of victims, recognizing the techniques used by scammers, and also the psychological impact of the scams themselves.

• 

  Society and the Internet Series. 7: Online Social Networks and Everyday Life

  Recorded on: 22 November 2010 Duration: 00:04:06

  Bernie Hogan discusses the main themes of his lecture in the OII's "Society and the Internet" lecture series: how do individuals manage the blurring of public and private boundaries on general social network sites?

• 

  Relationships and the Internet (Public Panel)

  Recorded on: 4 December 2009 Duration: 01:22:22

  This forum looks at the state of the art of academic research on relationships and the Internet and how this research informs research on the social aspects of the Internet in general, such as issues of trust and identity.

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News

• Wikipedia world: an interactive guide to every language. Infographic map

  4 April 2012 The Guardian

  In 'Show and Tell' on the Guardian Data Store, Simon Rogers, winner of the OII award for best internet journalist in 2011, highlights the Mapping Wikipedia project which shows millions of articles worldwide in a variety of languages.

• Money can't buy me love - or can it?

  13 February 2012 Irish Times

  An article in the Irish Times timed for St Valentine's Day on the costs of dating refers to OII research on online dating.

• Trendfear: Do you ever feel you're being left behind?

  30 January 2012 BBC News

  Can rapid innovation in technology create 'trendfear', a concern that we are missing out on something important? When is the tipping point when we need to know? Bernie Hogan comments that social media can make you feel you're missing the party.

• Oxford University Teaching Awards for OII Faculty

  3 November 2011 Oxford Internet Institute

  We are extremely pleased to announce that three members of the OII teaching faculty are to receive awards from the University of Oxford, in recognition of their excellent contributions to the department's teaching over the past year.

• 60 seconds with Bernie Hogan

  31 October 2011 Oxford Today

  The Oxford Alumni magazine interviews Bernie Hogan about social network sites and online relationships. He says the next step is to make the online world as natural as walking into a room full of friends.

• Internet dating increasingly used by middle-aged

  28 October 2011 BBC Radio West Midlands

  Bernie Hogan was interviewed by BBC Radio West Midlands morning news show about his study into online dating as part of the BBC "Give an Hour" initiative to help people online (from 42:00 on the iPlayer clock).

• The Plankton Generation

  4 August 2011 Daily Mail

  Bernie Hogan references OII research on online dating in an article on the dating prospects of middle-aged women and the partner choices of middle-aged men.

• Why trust logging on when you can talk to friends face to face?

  19 June 2011 The Independent

  Why have over 100,000 UK users of Facebook left the social network? In an article exploring possible reasons, Bernie Hogan suggests the site may be a victim of its own success.

• Gender-spotting tool could have rumbled fake blogger?

  17 June 2011 New Scientist

  Could specialist gender checking software have revealed the author of the Gay Girl in Damascus blog to be a man? Bernie Hogan tells New Scientist that there is a useful role for this technology.

• Bernie Hogan interviewed on Radio Kent

  14 February 2011 BBC Radio Kent

  Bernie Hogan discusses the findings of an OII report on online dating

• Bernie Hogan interviewed on Radio Oxford

  14 February 2011 BBC Radio Oxford

  Bernie Hogan discusses the findings of an OII report on online dating

• Internet makes matches made in heaven

  14 February 2011 The Scotsman

  Coverage of an OII report on changes in online dating, part of the 'Me, My Spouse and the Internet' project.

• Internet playing Cupid for middle-aged people:study

  14 February 2011 Daily News and Analysis (India)

  Coverage of an OII report on changes in online dating, part of the 'Me, My Spouse and the Internet' project.

• Middle aged most likely to seek love on the web

  14 February 2011 Reuters

  Coverage of an OII report on changes in online dating, part of the 'Me, My Spouse and the Internet' project.

• Middle-aged 'look online for love'

  14 February 2011 Press Association

  Coverage of an OII report on changes in online dating, part of the 'Me, My Spouse and the Internet' project.

• Middle-aged are most likely to look for love online and a THIRD say they found partner on web

  14 February 2011 Daily Mail

  Coverage of an OII report on changes in online dating, part of the 'Me, My Spouse and the Internet' project.

• Middle-aged most likely to seek love on the web

  14 February 2011 Toronto Sun

  Coverage of an OII report on changes in online dating, part of the 'Me, My Spouse and the Internet' project.

• Middle-aged people looking for love online

  14 February 2011 The Times of India

  Coverage of an OII report on changes in online dating, part of the 'Me, My Spouse and the Internet' project.

• Study: a third of us have used dating websites

  14 February 2011 University of Oxford

  An Oxford University study suggests that nearly one in three of us who use the Internet have visited online dating sites.

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Blog

• Craigslist Discrimination paper accepted for City & Community

  Bernie Hogan on 12 Jun 2011 18:18PM

  What’s in a name? Is Bernie more likely to get a call back for an apartment than Jamal or Abdul? The answer is most likely, at least on Craigslist (and we have just as much reason to believe elsewhere as well) . We explore this issue in a new paper [...]

• NodeXL / Network Workshop at UKSNA

  Bernie Hogan on 9 Jun 2011 21:39PM

  I’m giving a one day workshop at the upcoming UK Social Networks Association conference in Greenwich. The workshop is on Wednesday, July 6th. Registration is still open. Here’s the write up from the page on short course : From data to [...]

• OII Network course 2011: A Showcase

  Bernie Hogan on 3 Jun 2011 17:19PM

  For the second year in a row, I co-taught the OII’s Online Social Networks course with Dr. Sandra Gonzalez-Bailon. Again this year we had some excellent studies and some excellent students. But I thought the graphs were so visually interesting, and [...]

• What you can and can’t get from Facebook

  Bernie Hogan on 25 Nov 2010 15:42PM

  I have had several interesting requests for my NameGen program, including the much maligned desktop application that is not really active development (pending future grant money). What is interesting is the sorts of requests that come in based on [...]

• Facebook’s “Download your Information” reviewed

  Bernie Hogan on 10 Nov 2010 20:56PM

  As part of Facebook’s march to capture as much of your life as possible while making you feel okay about it, last month they announced a “Download your Data” feature. This feature has been rolled out in waves, and happily, that wave lapped up on my shores [...]

• (Face)Book week for Bernie

  Bernie Hogan on 16 Sep 2010 20:52PM

  Wow, what a week for Facebook and me! Nevermind the fact that results from the “So you want to be a scientist” project with Nina Jones went massive on BBC’s website (as the top story two days running with almost a million views). But [...]