Research Protocols and Data: The Public Space of Social Media

Tierney, Thérèse F.

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/43983 Copy

Description

Title

Research Protocols and Data: The Public Space of Social Media

Author(s)

Tierney, Thérèse F.

Issue Date

2013

Keyword(s)

• Social media
• Public space
• Public sphere
• Online Relationships
• Networked publics
• Online activism
• Social activism

Abstract

Social media is restructuring urban practices–through ad-hoc experimentation, commercial software development, and communities of participation. This book is the first to situate social media within a larger genealogy of public space, including theories of communal identity, civitas and democracy, the fete, and self-expression. Through empirical research, the actual social practices of participants of networked publics are described and analyzed. Between 2008 and 2012, I completed an Internet ethnography study that not only served as a test of concepts, but also revealed unexpected complexities. The data was derived from a multi-phase study called “Situated Networks: in search of the public” initiated at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada. First a pilot study was conducted from April 29 to May 30, 2008, and a second, primary study was conducted at the University of California at Berkeley from September 24, 2008 – June 1 2009, with an informal follow-up study completed in April 2, 2012. All data was anonymized. In this multiphase study, I collected 210 surveys: 67 surveys from phase 1 pilot study, 107 surveys from phase 2 primary study, and 36 surveys from the follow-up study. Out of the total number of participants of the online survey, 80 individuals also agreed to participate in an optional interview: 6 from the pilot study and 74 from the primary study. Note that the quantitative data from the multiple choice survey questionnaires of the studies was not merged. This is because the pilot study was set up to test the instruments, and as a result, the some of the multiple choice questions changed or were reworded between phase 1, phase 2 and phase 3. An unpredictable outcome of the study suggested a counterpublic presence within social media sites. In transitioning from digital to non-digital political participation, networked publics represent a significant intervention and socio-spatial formation in an era where online and offline possession of space and spatial presence has become increasingly critical.

Type of Resource

• text
• dataset / spreadsheet

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/43983

Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)

• University of Illinois Campus Research Board
• Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2013 Thérèse F. Tierney

Owning Collections