Social Media: Usage and Impact

Paul Martin is a Professor of Communications at University of Adelaide, Australia. After receiving an undergraduate degree in journalism he worked as a photojournalist for Australian Broadcasting Corporation for three years. He did his Master’s and a Ph.D. from University of Newcastle in mass communications. He has edited of: Visual Journalism: A Guide for New Media Professionals (with Christopher R. Harris).and, has given keynote speeches, and participated in several panel discussions, presentations and workshops throughout the United States and in Australia, Canada, South Africa, Spai, Swden, and the Netherlands. His areas of expertise include e-learning, photojournalism practice, mass media and professional ethics, desktop and Internet publishing, visual communications, and new communications technologies.

Thomas Erickson is an interaction designer and researcher whose approach to systems design is shaped by work in sociology, rhetoric, architecture, and urban design. He has designed several products and authored about ten publications on topics ranging from personal electronic notebooks to pattern languages and virtual community. Originally trained as a cognitive psychologist at the University of California, San Diego, he spent five years at a startup company, nine years at Apple Research, and finally joined IBM in 1997 as a research staff member. His primary aim is to study and design systems that support network mediated group interaction.