Argumentation theory is the interdisciplinary study of how conclusions can be supported or undermined by premises through logical reasoning. With historical origins in logic, dialectic, and rhetoric, argumentation theory includes the arts and sciences of civil debate, dialogue, conversation, and persuasion. It studies rules of inference, logic, and procedural rules in both artificial and real-world settings. Argumentation includes various forms of dialogue such as deliberation and negotiation which are concerned with collaborative decision-making procedures. It also encompasses eristic dialogue, the branch of social debate in which victory over an opponent is the primary goal, and didactic dialogue used for teaching. This discipline also studies the means by which people can express and rationally resolve or at least manage their disagreements. Argumentation is a daily occurrence, such as in public debate, science, and law. For example in law, in courts by the judge, the parties and the prosecutor, in presenting and testing the validity of evidences. Also, argumentation scholars study the post hoc rationalizations by which organizational actors try to justify decisions they have made irrationally. Argumentation is one of four rhetorical modes (also known as modes of discourse), along with exposition, description, and narration. == Key components of argumentation == Some key components of argumentation are: Understanding and identifying arguments, either explicit or implied, and the goals of the participants in the different types of dialogue. Identifying the premises from which conclusions are derived. Establishing the "burden of proof" – determining who made the initial claim and is thus responsible for providing evidence why their position merits acceptance. For the one carrying the "burden of proof", the advocate, to marshal evidence for their position in order to convince or force the opponent's acceptance. The method by which this is accomplished is producing valid, sound, and cogent arguments, devoid of weaknesses, and not easily attacked. In a debate, fulfillment of the burden of proof creates a burden of rejoinder. One must try to identify faulty reasoning in the opponent's argument, to attack the reasons/premises of the argument, to provide counterexamples if possible, to identify any fallacies, and to show why a valid conclusion cannot be derived from the reasons provided for their argument. For example, consider the following exchange, illustrating the No true Scotsman fallacy: Argument: "No Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge." Reply: "But my friend Angus, who is a Scotsman, likes sugar with his porridge." Rebuttal: "Well perhaps, but no true Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge." In this dialogue, the proposer first offers a premise, the premise is challenged by the interlocutor, and so the proposer offers a modification of the premise, which is designed only to evade the challenge provided. == Internal structure of arguments == Typically an argument has an internal structure, comprising the following: a set of assumptions or premises, a method of reasoning or deduction, and a conclusion or point. An argument has one or more premises and one conclusion. Often classical logic is used as the method of reasoning so that the conclusion follows logically from the assumptions or support. One challenge is that if the set of assumptions is inconsistent then anything can follow logically from inconsistency. Therefore, it is common to insist that the set of assumptions be consistent. It is also good practice to require the set of assumptions to be the minimal set, with respect to set inclusion, necessary to infer the consequent. Such arguments are called MINCON arguments, short for minimal consistent. Such argumentation has been applied to the fields of law and medicine. A non-classical approach to argumentation investigates abstract arguments, where 'argument' is considered a primitive term, so no internal structure of arguments is taken into account. == Types of dialogue == In its most common form, argumentation involves an individual and an interlocutor or opponent engaged in dialogue, each contending differing positions and trying to persuade each other, but there are various types of dialogue: Persuasion dialogue aims to resolve conflicting points of view of different positions. Negotiation aims to resolve conflicts of interests by cooperation and dealmaking. Inquiry aims to resolve general ignorance by the growth of knowledge. Deliberation aims to resolve a need to take action by reaching a decision. Information seeking aims to reduce one party's ignorance by requesting information from another party that is in a position to know something. Eristic aims to resolve a situation of antagonism through verbal fighting. == Argumentation and the grounds of knowledge == Argumentation theory had its origins in foundationalism, a theory of knowledge (epistemology) in the field of philosophy. It sought to find the grounds for claims in the forms (logic) and materials (factual laws) of a universal system of knowledge. The dialectical method was made famous by Plato and his use of Socrates critically questioning various characters and historical figures. But argument scholars gradually rejected Aristotle's systematic philosophy and the idealism in Plato and Kant. They questioned and ultimately discarded the idea that argument premises take their soundness from formal philosophical systems. The field thus broadened. One of the original contributors to this trend was the philosopher Chaïm Perelman, who together with Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca introduced the French term la nouvelle rhetorique in 1958 to describe an approach to argument which is not reduced to application of formal rules of inference. Perelman's view of argumentation is much closer to a juridical one, in which rules for presenting evidence and rebuttals play an important role. Karl R. Wallace's seminal essay, "The Substance of Rhetoric: Good Reasons" in the Quarterly Journal of Speech (1963) 44, led many scholars to study "marketplace argumentation" – the ordinary arguments of ordinary people. The seminal essay on marketplace argumentation is Ray Lynn Anderson's and C. David Mortensen's "Logic and Marketplace Argumentation" Quarterly Journal of Speech 53 (1967): 143–150. This line of thinking led to a natural alliance with late developments in the sociology of knowledge. Some scholars drew connections with recent developments in philosophy, namely the pragmatism of John Dewey and Richard Rorty. Rorty has called this shift in emphasis "the linguistic turn". In this new hybrid approach argumentation is used with or without empirical evidence to establish convincing conclusions about issues which are moral, scientific, epistemic, or of a nature in which science alone cannot answer. Out of pragmatism and many intellectual developments in the humanities and social sciences, "non-philosophical" argumentation theories grew which located the formal and material grounds of arguments in particular intellectual fields. These theories include informal logic, social epistemology, ethnomethodology, speech acts, the sociology of knowledge, the sociology of science, and social psychology. These new theories are not non-logical or anti-logical. They find logical coherence in most communities of discourse. These theories are thus often labeled "sociological" in that they focus on the social grounds of knowledge. == Kinds of argumentation == === Conversational argumentation === The study of naturally occurring conversation arose from the field of sociolinguistics. It is usually called conversation analysis (CA). Inspired by ethnomethodology, it was developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s principally by the sociologist Harvey Sacks and, among others, his close associates Emanuel Schegloff and Gail Jefferson. Sacks died early in his career, but his work was championed by others in his field, and CA has now become an established force in sociology, anthropology, linguistics, speech-communication and psychology. It is particularly influential in interactional sociolinguistics, discourse analysis and discursive psychology, as well as being a coherent discipline in its own right. Recently CA techniques of sequential analysis have been employed by phoneticians to explore the fine phonetic details of speech. Empirical studies and theoretical formulations by Sally Jackson and Scott Jacobs, and several generations of their students, have described argumentation as a form of managing conversational disagreement within communication contexts and systems that naturally prefer agreement. === Mathematical argumentation === The basis of mathematical truth has been the subject of long debate. Frege in particular sought to demonstrate (see Gottlob Frege, The Foundations of Arithmetic, 1884, and Begriffsschrift, 1879) that arithmetical truths can be derived from purely logical axioms and therefore are, in th
Kernel (image processing)
In image processing, a kernel, convolution matrix, or mask is a small matrix used for blurring, sharpening, embossing, edge detection, and more. This is accomplished by doing a convolution between the kernel and an image. Or more simply, when each pixel in the output image is a function of the nearby pixels (including itself) in the input image, the kernel is that function. == Details == The general expression of a convolution is g x , y = ω ∗ f x , y = ∑ i = − a a ∑ j = − b b ω i , j f x − i , y − j , {\displaystyle g_{x,y}=\omega f_{x,y}=\sum _{i=-a}^{a}{\sum _{j=-b}^{b}{\omega _{i,j}f_{x-i,y-j}}},} where g ( x , y ) {\displaystyle g(x,y)} is the filtered image, f ( x , y ) {\displaystyle f(x,y)} is the original image, ω {\displaystyle \omega } is the filter kernel. Every element of the filter kernel is considered by − a ≤ i ≤ a {\displaystyle -a\leq i\leq a} and − b ≤ j ≤ b {\displaystyle -b\leq j\leq b} . Depending on the element values, a kernel can cause a wide range of effects: The above are just a few examples of effects achievable by convolving kernels and images. === Origin === The origin is the position of the kernel which is above (conceptually) the current output pixel. This could be outside of the actual kernel, though usually it corresponds to one of the kernel elements. For a symmetric kernel, the origin is usually the center element. == Convolution == Convolution is the process of adding each element of the image to its local neighbors, weighted by the kernel. This is related to a form of mathematical convolution. The matrix operation being performed—convolution—is not traditional matrix multiplication, despite being similarly denoted by . For example, if we have two three-by-three matrices, the first a kernel, and the second an image piece, convolution is the process of flipping both the rows and columns of the kernel and multiplying locally similar entries and summing. The element at coordinates [2, 2] (that is, the central element) of the resulting image would be a weighted combination of all the entries of the image matrix, with weights given by the kernel: ( [ a b c d e f g h i ] ∗ [ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ] ) [ 2 , 2 ] = {\displaystyle \left({\begin{bmatrix}a&b&c\\d&e&f\\g&h&i\end{bmatrix}}{\begin{bmatrix}1&2&3\\4&5&6\\7&8&9\end{bmatrix}}\right)[2,2]=} ( i ⋅ 1 ) + ( h ⋅ 2 ) + ( g ⋅ 3 ) + ( f ⋅ 4 ) + ( e ⋅ 5 ) + ( d ⋅ 6 ) + ( c ⋅ 7 ) + ( b ⋅ 8 ) + ( a ⋅ 9 ) . {\displaystyle (i\cdot 1)+(h\cdot 2)+(g\cdot 3)+(f\cdot 4)+(e\cdot 5)+(d\cdot 6)+(c\cdot 7)+(b\cdot 8)+(a\cdot 9).} The other entries would be similarly weighted, where we position the center of the kernel on each of the boundary points of the image, and compute a weighted sum. The values of a given pixel in the output image are calculated by multiplying each kernel value by the corresponding input image pixel values. This can be described algorithmically with the following pseudo-code: for each image row in input image: for each pixel in image row: set accumulator to zero for each kernel row in kernel: for each element in kernel row: if element position corresponding to pixel position then multiply element value corresponding to pixel value add result to accumulator endif set output image pixel to accumulator corresponding input image pixels are found relative to the kernel's origin. If the kernel is symmetric then place the center (origin) of the kernel on the current pixel. The kernel will overlap the neighboring pixels around the origin. Each kernel element should be multiplied with the pixel value it overlaps with and all of the obtained values should be summed. This resultant sum will be the new value for the current pixel currently overlapped with the center of the kernel. If the kernel is not symmetric, it has to be flipped both around its horizontal and vertical axis before calculating the convolution as above. The general form for matrix convolution is [ x 11 x 12 ⋯ x 1 n x 21 x 22 ⋯ x 2 n ⋮ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ x m 1 x m 2 ⋯ x m n ] ∗ [ y 11 y 12 ⋯ y 1 n y 21 y 22 ⋯ y 2 n ⋮ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ y m 1 y m 2 ⋯ y m n ] = ∑ i = 0 m − 1 ∑ j = 0 n − 1 x ( m − i ) ( n − j ) y ( 1 + i ) ( 1 + j ) {\displaystyle {\begin{bmatrix}x_{11}&x_{12}&\cdots &x_{1n}\\x_{21}&x_{22}&\cdots &x_{2n}\\\vdots &\vdots &\ddots &\vdots \\x_{m1}&x_{m2}&\cdots &x_{mn}\\\end{bmatrix}}{\begin{bmatrix}y_{11}&y_{12}&\cdots &y_{1n}\\y_{21}&y_{22}&\cdots &y_{2n}\\\vdots &\vdots &\ddots &\vdots \\y_{m1}&y_{m2}&\cdots &y_{mn}\\\end{bmatrix}}=\sum _{i=0}^{m-1}\sum _{j=0}^{n-1}x_{(m-i)(n-j)}y_{(1+i)(1+j)}} === Edge handling === Kernel convolution usually requires values from pixels outside of the image boundaries. There are a variety of methods for handling image edges. Extend The nearest border pixels are conceptually extended as far as necessary to provide values for the convolution. Corner pixels are extended in 90° wedges. Other edge pixels are extended in lines. Wrap The image is conceptually wrapped (or tiled) and values are taken from the opposite edge or corner. Mirror The image is conceptually mirrored at the edges. For example, attempting to read a pixel 3 units outside an edge reads one 3 units inside the edge instead. Crop / Avoid overlap Any pixel in the output image which would require values from beyond the edge is skipped. This method can result in the output image being slightly smaller, with the edges having been cropped. Move kernel so that values from outside of image is never required. Machine learning mainly uses this approach. Example: Kernel size 10x10, image size 32x32, result image is 23x23. Kernel Crop Any pixel in the kernel that extends past the input image isn't used and the normalizing is adjusted to compensate. Constant Use constant value for pixels outside of image. Usually black or sometimes gray is used. Generally this depends on application. === Normalization === Normalization is defined as the division of each element in the kernel by the sum of all kernel elements, so that the sum of the elements of a normalized kernel is unity. This will ensure the average pixel in the modified image is as bright as the average pixel in the original image. === Optimization === Fast convolution algorithms include: separable convolution ==== Separable convolution ==== 2D convolution with an M × N kernel requires M × N multiplications for each sample (pixel). If the kernel is separable, then the computation can be reduced to M + N multiplications. Using separable convolutions can significantly decrease the computation by doing 1D convolution twice instead of one 2D convolution. === Implementation === Here a concrete convolution implementation done with the GLSL shading language :
Codebook
A codebook is a type of document used for gathering and storing cryptography codes. Originally, codebooks were often literally books, but today "codebook" is a byword for the complete record of a series of codes, regardless of physical format. == Cryptography == In cryptography, a codebook is a document used for implementing a code. A codebook contains a lookup table for coding and decoding; each word or phrase has one or more strings which replace it. To decipher messages written in code, corresponding copies of the codebook must be available at either end. The distribution and physical security of codebooks presents a special difficulty in the use of codes compared to the secret information used in ciphers, the key, which is typically much shorter. The United States National Security Agency documents sometimes use codebook to refer to block ciphers; compare their use of combiner-type algorithm to refer to stream ciphers. Codebooks come in two forms, one-part or two-part: In one-part codes, the plaintext words and phrases and the corresponding code words are in the same alphabetical order. They are organized similar to a standard dictionary. Such codes are half the size of two-part codes but are more vulnerable since an attacker who recovers some code word meanings can often infer the meaning of nearby code words. One-part codes may be used simply to shorten messages for transmission or have their security enhanced with superencryption methods, such as adding a secret number to numeric code words. In two-part codes, one part is for converting plaintext to ciphertext, the other for the opposite purpose. They are usually organized similarly to a language translation dictionary, with plaintext words (in the first part) and ciphertext words (in the second part) presented like dictionary headwords. The earliest known use of a codebook system was by Gabriele de Lavinde in 1379 working for the Antipope Clement VII. Two-part codebooks go back as least as far as Antoine Rossignol in the 1800s. From the 15th century until the middle of the 19th century, nomenclators (named after nomenclator) were the most used cryptographic method. Codebooks with superencryption were the most used cryptographic method of World War I. The JN-25 code used in World War II used a codebook of 30,000 code groups superencrypted with 30,000 random additives. The book used in a book cipher or the book used in a running key cipher can be any book shared by sender and receiver and is different from a cryptographic codebook. == Social sciences == In social sciences, a codebook is a document containing a list of the codes used in a set of data to refer to variables and their values, for example locations, occupations, or clinical diagnoses. == Data compression == Codebooks were also used in 19th- and 20th-century commercial codes for the non-cryptographic purpose of data compression. Codebooks are used in relation to precoding and beamforming in mobile networks such as 5G and LTE. The usage is standardized by 3GPP, for example in the document TS 38.331, NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocol specification.
Factorization of polynomials over finite fields
In mathematics and computer algebra the factorization of a polynomial consists of decomposing it into a product of irreducible factors. This decomposition is theoretically possible and is unique for polynomials with coefficients in any field, but rather strong restrictions on the field of the coefficients are needed to allow the computation of the factorization by means of an algorithm. In practice, algorithms have been designed only for polynomials with coefficients in a finite field, in the field of rationals or in a finitely generated field extension of one of them. All factorization algorithms, including the case of multivariate polynomials over the rational numbers, reduce the problem to this case; see polynomial factorization. It is also used for various applications of finite fields, such as coding theory (cyclic redundancy codes and BCH codes), cryptography (public key cryptography by the means of elliptic curves), and computational number theory. As the reduction of the factorization of multivariate polynomials to that of univariate polynomials does not have any specificity in the case of coefficients in a finite field, only polynomials with one variable are considered in this article. == Background == === Finite field === The theory of finite fields, whose origins can be traced back to the works of Gauss and Galois, has played a part in various branches of mathematics. Due to the applicability of the concept in other topics of mathematics and sciences like computer science there has been a resurgence of interest in finite fields and this is partly due to important applications in coding theory and cryptography. Applications of finite fields introduce some of these developments in cryptography, computer algebra and coding theory. A finite field or Galois field is a field with a finite order (number of elements). The order of a finite field is always a prime or a power of prime. For each prime power q = pr, there exists exactly one finite field with q elements, up to isomorphism. This field is denoted GF(q) or Fq. If p is prime, GF(p) is the prime field of order p; it is the field of residue classes modulo p, and its p elements are denoted 0, 1, ..., p−1. Thus a = b in GF(p) means the same as a ≡ b (mod p). === Irreducible polynomials === Let F be a finite field. As for general fields, a non-constant polynomial f in F[x] is said to be irreducible over F if it is not the product of two polynomials of positive degree. A polynomial of positive degree that is not irreducible over F is called reducible over F. Irreducible polynomials allow us to construct the finite fields of non-prime order. In fact, for a prime power q, let Fq be the finite field with q elements, unique up to isomorphism. A polynomial f of degree n greater than one, which is irreducible over Fq, defines a field extension of degree n which is isomorphic to the field with qn elements: the elements of this extension are the polynomials of degree lower than n; addition, subtraction and multiplication by an element of Fq are those of the polynomials; the product of two elements is the remainder of the division by f of their product as polynomials; the inverse of an element may be computed by the extended GCD algorithm (see Arithmetic of algebraic extensions). It follows that, to compute in a finite field of non prime order, one needs to generate an irreducible polynomial. For this, the common method is to take a polynomial at random and test it for irreducibility. For sake of efficiency of the multiplication in the field, it is usual to search for polynomials of the shape xn + ax + b. Irreducible polynomials over finite fields are also useful for pseudorandom number generators using feedback shift registers and discrete logarithm over F2n. The number of irreducible monic polynomials of degree n over Fq is the number of aperiodic necklaces, given by Moreau's necklace-counting function Mq(n). The closely related necklace function Nq(n) counts monic polynomials of degree n which are primary (a power of an irreducible); or alternatively irreducible polynomials of all degrees d which divide n. === Example === The polynomial P = x4 + 1 is irreducible over Q but not over any finite field. On any field extension of F2, P = (x + 1)4. On every other finite field, at least one of −1, 2 and −2 is a square, because the product of two non-squares is a square and so we have If − 1 = a 2 , {\displaystyle -1=a^{2},} then P = ( x 2 + a ) ( x 2 − a ) . {\displaystyle P=(x^{2}+a)(x^{2}-a).} If 2 = b 2 , {\displaystyle 2=b^{2},} then P = ( x 2 + b x + 1 ) ( x 2 − b x + 1 ) . {\displaystyle P=(x^{2}+bx+1)(x^{2}-bx+1).} If − 2 = c 2 , {\displaystyle -2=c^{2},} then P = ( x 2 + c x − 1 ) ( x 2 − c x − 1 ) . {\displaystyle P=(x^{2}+cx-1)(x^{2}-cx-1).} === Complexity === Polynomial factoring algorithms use basic polynomial operations such as products, divisions, gcd, powers of one polynomial modulo another, etc. A multiplication of two polynomials of degree at most n can be done in O(n2) operations in Fq using "classical" arithmetic, or in O(nlog(n) log(log(n)) ) operations in Fq using "fast" arithmetic. A Euclidean division (division with remainder) can be performed within the same time bounds. The cost of a polynomial greatest common divisor between two polynomials of degree at most n can be taken as O(n2) operations in Fq using classical methods, or as O(nlog2(n) log(log(n)) ) operations in Fq using fast methods. For polynomials h, g of degree at most n, the exponentiation hq mod g can be done with O(log(q)) polynomial products, using exponentiation by squaring method, that is O(n2log(q)) operations in Fq using classical methods, or O(nlog(q)log(n) log(log(n))) operations in Fq using fast methods. In the algorithms that follow, the complexities are expressed in terms of number of arithmetic operations in Fq, using classical algorithms for the arithmetic of polynomials. == Factoring algorithms == Many algorithms for factoring polynomials over finite fields include the following three stages: Square-free factorization Distinct-degree factorization Equal-degree factorization An important exception is Berlekamp's algorithm, which combines stages 2 and 3. === Berlekamp's algorithm === Berlekamp's algorithm is historically important as being the first factorization algorithm which works well in practice. However, it contains a loop on the elements of the ground field, which implies that it is practicable only over small finite fields. For a fixed ground field, its time complexity is polynomial, but, for general ground fields, the complexity is exponential in the size of the ground field. === Square-free factorization === The algorithm determines a square-free factorization for polynomials whose coefficients come from the finite field Fq of order q = pm with p a prime. This algorithm firstly determines the derivative and then computes the gcd of the polynomial and its derivative. If it is not one then the gcd is again divided into the original polynomial, provided that the derivative is not zero (a case that exists for non-constant polynomials defined over finite fields). This algorithm uses the fact that, if the derivative of a polynomial is zero, then it is a polynomial in xp, which is, if the coefficients belong to Fp, the pth power of the polynomial obtained by substituting x by x1/p. If the coefficients do not belong to Fp, the pth root of a polynomial with zero derivative is obtained by the same substitution on x, completed by applying the inverse of the Frobenius automorphism to the coefficients. This algorithm works also over a field of characteristic zero, with the only difference that it never enters in the blocks of instructions where pth roots are computed. However, in this case, Yun's algorithm is much more efficient because it computes the greatest common divisors of polynomials of lower degrees. A consequence is that, when factoring a polynomial over the integers, the algorithm which follows is not used: one first computes the square-free factorization over the integers, and to factor the resulting polynomials, one chooses a p such that they remain square-free modulo p. Algorithm: SFF (Square-Free Factorization) Input: A monic polynomial f in Fq[x] where q = pm Output: Square-free factorization of f R ← 1 # Make w be the product (without multiplicity) of all factors of f that have # multiplicity not divisible by p c ← gcd(f, f′) w ← f/c # Step 1: Identify all factors in w i ← 1 while w ≠ 1 do y ← gcd(w, c) fac ← w / y R ← R · faci w ← y; c ← c / y; i ← i + 1 end while # c is now the product (with multiplicity) of the remaining factors of f # Step 2: Identify all remaining factors using recursion # Note that these are the factors of f that have multiplicity divisible by p if c ≠ 1 then c ← c1/p R ← R·SFF(c)p end if Output(R) The idea is to identify the product of all irreducible factors of f with the same multiplicity. This is done in two steps. The first step uses the formal d
Social media and suicide
Since the rise of social media, there have been numerous cases of individuals being influenced towards committing suicide or self-harm through their use of social media, and even of individuals arranging to broadcast suicide attempts, some successful, on social media. Researchers have studied social media and suicide to determine what, if any, risks social media poses in terms of suicide, and to identify methods of mitigating such risks, if they exist. The search for a correlation has not yet uncovered a clear answer. == Background == Suicide is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and as of 2020, the second leading cause of death in the United States for those aged 15–34. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide was the third leading cause of death among adolescents in the US, from 1999 to 2006. In 2020, people in the US had a suicide rate of 13.5 per 100,000. Suicide was a leading cause of death in the United States accounting for 48,183 deaths in 2021. Suicide rates increased by 30 per cent from 2000 to 2018 and declined in 2019 and 2020. Suicide remains a significant public health issue worldwide, despite prevention efforts and treatments. Suicide has been identified not only as an individual phenomenon but also as being influenced by social and environmental factors. There is growing evidence that online activity has influenced suicide-related behavior. The use of social media throughout the 21st century has grown exponentially. For this reason, there are a variety of sources that are accessible to the public in various forms, especially social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok and many more. Although these platforms were intended to allow people to connect virtually, these platforms can lead to cyber-bullying, insecurity, and emotional distress, and sometimes may influence a person to attempt suicide. Bullying, whether on social media or elsewhere, physical or not, significantly increases victims' risk of suicidal behavior. Since social media was introduced some people have taken their lives as a result of cyberbullying. Furthermore, suicide rates among teenagers have increased from 2010 to 2022 as social media has become something that people interact with more throughout their day-to-day lives. Media algorithms tend to popularize videos and posts to inform the country of the rising trouble, which may create a popular appeal to the young and immature minds of teenagers. This is why, social media could provide higher risks with the promotion of different kinds of pro-suicidal sites, message boards, chat rooms, and forums. Moreover, the Internet not only reports suicide incidents but documents suicide methods (for example, suicide pacts, an agreement between two or more people to kill themselves at a particular time and often by the same lethal means). Therefore, the role the Internet plays, particularly social media, in suicide-related behavior is a topic of growing interest. == Cyberbullying == There is substantial evidence that the Internet and social media can influence suicide-related behavior. Such evidence includes an increase in exposure to graphic content. A research study conducted by Sameer Hinduja and Justin Patchin found a correlation between cyberbullying and suicide. According to their findings, cyber-bullying increases suicidal thoughts by 14.5 percent and suicide attempts by 8.7 percent. Particularly alarming is the fact that children and young people under 25 who are victims of cyberbullying are more than twice as likely to self-harm and engage in suicidal behavior. Overall, teen suicide rates have increased within the past decade.This presents a significant public health concern, with over 40,000 suicides in the United States and nearly one million worldwide annually. Adolescents involved in cyberbullying often downplay its seriousness by calling it a joke or blaming the victim. These moral disengagement strategies can normalize harmful behavior and reduce feelings of guilt. This normalization may increase emotional distress and contribute to risks like depression and suicidal thoughts. Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that 14.9 per cent of teenagers have experienced online bullying, while 13.6 per cent of teenagers have seriously attempted suicide. Both of these incidents are in increasing numbers in the United States. Furthermore, in numerous recent incidents, cyber-bullying led the victim to commit suicide; this phenomenon is now known as cyberbullicide. Many parents and children are unaware of the dangers and potential legal consequences of cyberbullying. As a response, anti-bullying regulations implemented by schools aim to prevent any form of bullying, including through technology, and protect students from online harassment. While some states have enacted laws against cyberbullying, there are currently no federal regulations addressing this issue. == Social media's influence on suicide == The media may portray suicidal behavior or language which can potentially influence people to act on these suicidal ideation. This may include news reports of actual suicides that have occurred or television shows and films that reenact suicides. Some organizations have proposed guidelines about how the media should report suicide. There is evidence that compliance with the guidelines varies. Some research showed that it is unclear whether the guidelines have successfully reduced the number of suicides. On the contrary, other research studies stated that the guidelines have worked in some cases. == Impact of pro-suicidal sites, message boards, chat rooms and forums == Social media platforms have transformed traditional methods of communication by allowing instantaneous and interactive sharing of information created and controlled by individuals, groups, organizations, and governments. As of the third quarter of 2022, Facebook had 266 million monthly active users, between Canada and the US. An immense quantity of information on the topic of suicide is available on the Internet and via social media. The information available on social media on the topic of suicide can influence suicidal behavior, both negatively and positively. The social cognitive theory plays a vital role in suicide attempts influenced through social media. This theory is demonstrated when one is influenced by what they see through various processes that form into modeled behaviors. This can be shown when people post their suicide attempts online or promote suicidal behavior in general. Contributors to these social media platforms may also exert peer pressure and encourage others to take their own lives, idolize those who have killed themselves, and facilitate suicide pacts. These pro-suicidal sites reported the following. For example, on a Japanese message board in 2008, it was shared that people can kill themselves using hydrogen sulfide gas. Shortly afterwards, 220 people attempted suicide in this way, and 208 were successful. Biddle et al. conducted a systematic Web search of 12 suicide-associated terms (e.g., suicide, suicide methods, how to kill yourself, and best suicide methods) to analyze the search results, and found that pro-suicide sites and chat rooms that discussed general issues associated with suicide most often occurred within the first few hits of a search. In another study, 373 suicide-related websites were found using Internet search engines and examined. Among them, 31% were suicide-neutral, 29% were anti-suicide, and 11% were pro-suicide. Together, these studies have shown that obtaining pro-suicide information on the Internet, including detailed information on suicide methods, is very easy. While social media has been prevalent in young adult suicide, some young adults find comfort and solace through these platforms. Young adults are making connections with people in like situations that are helping them feel less lonely. Although the public opinion is that message boards are harmful, the following studies show how they point to suicide prevention and have positive influences. A study using content analysis analyzed all of the postings on the AOL Suicide Bulletin Board over 11 months and concluded that most contributions contained positive, empathetic, and supportive postings. Then, a multi-method study was able to demonstrate that the users of such forums experience a great deal of social support and only a small amount of social strain. Lastly, in the survey participants were asked to assess the extent of their suicidal thoughts on a 7-level scale (0, absolutely no suicidal thoughts, to 7, very strong suicidal thoughts) for the time directly before their first forum visit and at the time of the survey. The study found a significant reduction after using the forum. The study however cannot conclude the forum is the only reason for the decrease. Together, these studies show how forums can reduce the number of
Taskworld
Taskworld is a cloud-based collaboration platform created by Fred Mouawad. The SaaS (software as a service) is designed to facilitate project and task management, collaboration, delegation, communication, knowledge management, measure progress and provide performance metrics for evidence-based evaluations within teams. It allows team members to assign and receive tasks, add followers, record comments, share and store unlimited files and organize projects. == Background == An initial version of Taskworld was custom-built by the IT team working for Mouawad in 2006. This was done as a way to try and overcome internal issues regarding delegation, accountability and time-management. The application was constructed to prevent tasks from falling through the cracks and make it easy to follow up on-going projects where many individuals throughout various departments of the organization were involved. Mouawad’s Synergia One group of companies later implemented the application internally as the ‘Task Management System’ and found a general improvement in execution across international offices and departments. This successful implementation led Mouawad to found the ‘My Taskworld’ website which later evolved into ‘Taskworld.' The company was officially founded in February 2012, and in June later that year, Mouawad presented a prototype of the Taskworld website to an Executive Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. == Reception == The launch of the app was covered by the media as an addition to the Synergia One group of companies founded by CEO Fred Mouawad. The mobile app is currently available on both android and iOS platforms. Google Play gives the app 3.8 out of 5 stars while the Apple App Store gave it 2.9 out of 5 stars. Alex Williams in a 2014 article for Tech Crunch said, “Taskworld’s technology plays to human emotions. As the feedback is continuous, people are compelled to engage with the service. But in some respects, Taskworld is fairly simple and still needing more to make it a potent competitor in the market.” == Features == Taskworld's main features include, but are not limited to: Project &Task Management - Taskworld includes up to five levels of hierarchy including Project Group, Project, Tasklist, Task and Checklist. Some features in this group are assigning tasks, setting due dates, adding followers, task comments, set repeating tasks, tasks in multiple locations, project templates, copy project, archiving, smart notifications, drag and drop Kanban boards, image preview boards, file management, people page and personnel directory, customizable tags and colored labels. Enterprise Messaging - The app includes a native chat application with channels and groups, private and direct messaging capabilities. Other communication features inside of the app include project chat, drag and drop file attachments, an email bridge to send and receive messages and @mentions. Overview & Analytics - Taskworld includes several features under this section including a dashboard, workspace snapshot, workspace filter, interactive calendar, project analytics and health status, project burndown chart, project burn-up chart and interactive timeline. == Languages and customers == Taskworld is used by 4,000 companies in 80 countries. The app is currently available in eight languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Mandarin, Portuguese, Thai and Korean. == Customer support == The Taskworld User Guide offers details on how to use features of the application. Customer support is offered inside of the application for questions and feedback regarding the software, and also via email. The Taskworld customer support team has received a 98% Customer Satisfaction Rating, according to customer ratings on its support platform Zendesk. Free, live demos are also offered for those companies who need assistance.
Customer data management
Customer data management (CDM) is the ways in which businesses keep track of their customer information and survey their customer base in order to obtain feedback. CDM includes a range of software or cloud computing applications designed to give large organizations rapid and efficient access to customer data. Surveys and data can be centrally located and widely accessible within a company, as opposed to being warehoused in separate departments. CDM encompasses the collection, analysis, organizing, reporting and sharing of customer information throughout an organization. Businesses need a thorough understanding of their customers’ needs if they are to retain and increase their customer base. Efficient CDM solutions provide companies with the ability to deal instantly with customer issues and obtain immediate feedback. As a result, customer retention and customer satisfaction can show marked improvement. According to a study by Aberdeen Group, "above-average and best-in-class companies... attain greater than 20% annual improvement in retention rates, revenues, data accuracy and partner/customer satisfaction rates." == Customer data management and cloud computing == Cloud computing offers an attractive choice for CDM in many companies due to its accessibility and cost-effectiveness. Businesses can decide who, within their company, should have the ability to create, adjust, analyze or share customer information. In December 2010, 52% of Information Technology (IT) professionals worldwide were deploying, or planning to deploy, cloud computing; this percentage is far higher in many countries. == Background == Customer data management, as a term, was coined in the 1990s, pre-dating the alternative term enterprise feedback management (EFM). CDM was introduced as a software solution that would replace earlier disc-based or paper-based surveys and spreadsheet data. Initially, CDM solutions were marketed to businesses as software, which were specific to one company, and often to one department within that company. This was superseded by application service providers (ASPs) where software was hosted for end user organizations, thus avoiding the necessity for IT professionals to deploy and support software. However, ASPs with their single-tenancy architecture were, in turn, superseded by software as a service (SaaS), engineered for multi-tenancy. By 2007 SaaS applications, giving businesses on-demand access to their customer information, were rapidly gaining popularity compared with ASPs. Cloud computing now includes SaaS and many prominent CDM providers offer cloud-based applications to their clients. In recent years, there has been a push away from the term EFM, with many of those working in this area advocating the slightly updated use of CDM. The return to the term CDM is largely based on the greater need for clarity around the solutions offered by companies, and on the desire to retire terminology veering on techno-jargon that customers may have a hard time understanding.