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Cracking the Code: Exploring Disinformation through Social Network Analysis, Networked Individuality, and Social Contagion Theory.

When: Thursday, May 23, 2024, 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Where: MS Teams Meeting ID: 397 904 811 601 and Passcode: 2XuhHN

Speaker: Dr. Shalini R

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In this engaging talk, Dr. Urs will delve into the alarming rise of the disinformation crisis, exploring its multifaceted impacts on society. Drawing upon theories from diverse fields such as Social Network Analysis (SNA), Network Science, and Social Contagion theory, she will decode the underlying mechanisms of disinformation. 

In this engaging talk, Dr. Urs will delve into the alarming rise of the disinformation crisis, exploring its multifaceted impacts on society. Drawing upon theories from diverse fields such as Social Network Analysis (SNA), Network Science, and Social Contagion theory, she will decode the underlying mechanisms of disinformation. 
 
Key topics covered in the lecture include: 
  • Disinformation Deconstruction: Dr. Urs will explore the history, evolution, and theoretical underpinnings of disinformation, framing it within both Western and Indian epistemological constructs. 
  • Social Network Analysis (SNA): Grounded in Graph Theory, SNA offers insights into the network structures behind disinformation. Dr. Urs will demonstrate how applying Actor-network theory (ANT) can help visualize hidden connections. 
  • Networked Individuality: Dr. Urs will discuss Adolf and Deicke's concept of "Networked Individuality," exploring its relevance to understanding disinformation dynamics in networked societies. 
  • Crowd Psychology and Contagion Theory: Using Gustave Le Bon's contagion theory, Dr. Urs will explain how crowd behavior, facilitated by technology-mediated networks, spreads rapidly, framing disinformation as a social contagion. 
By transcending disciplinary boundaries and methodological frameworks, Dr. Urs will show how we can effectively detect and decode the disinformation phenomenon, paving the way for informed countermeasures and mitigation strategies. Don't miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights into one of the most pressing issues of our time! 
About the Speaker: 
Meet Shalini R. Urs, an esteemed academic leader, education entrepreneur, and a driving force behind innovative digital scholarship. With over four decades of experience, Shalini has left an indelible mark on the academic landscape, locally and globally. As the Founder and Trustee of MYRA School of Business since 2010, she has been instrumental in creating an institution dedicated to fostering excellence in business education. Prior to MYRA, she served as the Executive Director and Professor at the International School of Information Management, University of Mysore, where she played a pivotal role in its establishment and growth from 2006 to 2016. Shalini's expertise spans various domains, including digital libraries, eScience, and Social Network Analysis, making her a sought-after speaker and consultant. She is also the brains behind InfoFire, a groundbreaking interview series featuring conversations with visionaries such as Vint Cerf and NRN Murthy. Shalini's dedication has been recognized through numerous awards and honors, including being named Mortenson's Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2010. 
This is a talk organized by Borderlines – An Interdisciplinary Research Collective committed to social justice, radical, experimental and innovative methodologies and interdisciplinary pedagogies and alternative conceptual paradigms. The group aims to bring together diverse scholars resisting strict definition of fields and disciplines but thriving through differences and alternative vantage points. Committed to decolonizing of praxis and the problematization of the ‘normative’ through critical enquiry, it seeks to thwart the margins, peripheries, boundaries and notions of alterity, https://www.qmul.ac.uk/busman/research/research-centres/borderlines/
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Follow the Borderlines on LinkedIn and Twitter for more updates. 

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