Workshop: Situating & Doing Digital Methods

The lecture historicises and theorises digital methods, situating them as a part of the computational turn in internet-related research, however distinct from big data, and contrasts them ontologically and epistemologically from virtual methods, or the importation of methods from the humanities and the social sciences onto the web. It subsequently introduces the study of the ‘natively digital’ (and the notion itself) and discusses the prospects of making findings or having research outcomes that may be grounded in the online, putting forward the notion of ‘online groundedness’.

The workshop is practical, introducing how to do digital methods through discussions of how to study Wikipedia, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, 4chan as well as Telegram. We’ll discuss the research questions as well as the outputs of such methods as cross-lingual analysis (for Wikipedia), audience segmentation (Twitter), misinformation engagement (Facebook), geolocation and antagonistic hashtag analysis (Instagram), subscription networks and algorithmic excitability (YouTube), national subreddits (Reddit), general posts and the politics of deletion (4Chan) and deplatforming and cross-platform analysis (Telegram).

Schedule 

12.00 - Welcome and introduction

 

12.05 - Digital methods theory - short lecture

 

12.30 - Q&A

 

12.45 - Digital methods critique - short lecture

 

13.15 - Q&A

 

13.30 - Break

 

13.45 - Doing digital methods - techniques for studying 8 social media platforms - screenshare talk

 

14.45 - Q&A