Workshopping the relationship between digital theory and research

26 November 2015Coordinated by: Stefanie Duguay (@DugStef) & Carlos Estrada Grajales (@carlestrada87)

#TDCworkshop

Theorising Digital Change

THEORY• “A system of ideas intended

to explain something” – Google

• “Assumptions about how the world basically operates and about what knowledge is”

– Hadden, 2007• How we make sense of data

and how data fits into a larger picture

MarxismStructuralismPost-modernismCritical theoryLegal frameworksSymbolic interactionismPolitical economyFeminismRisk theoryQueer theoryActor Network TheoryMaterialismPhenomenologyCritical race theoryPublic sphere theoryOrientalismInstitutional theoryReception theoryFreudian theoryNarrative theoryLiterary theorySemioticsFrame theoryDemocracy theory

DATA• “Facts and statistics

collected together for reference or analysis”

– Google• “We associate reality

with empirical data” gathered through “perceptions”

– Sears, 2005

StoriesExperiencesStatisticsPhotosVideosInterviewsTextsObservationsField notesHistorical recordsMedia articlesOrganizational docsLegal proceedingsArtNews trendsGeo-coordinatesDiariesExperimentsPopulation trendsMarket fluctuationsCase studies

Image from Giphy

Digital Change• Shifting of people, relationships, institutions, geographies,

urban landscapes, and society in relation to new digital technologies

New & Different DataEmailsBlogsTweetsHyperlinksDigital designsSelfiesVlogsGIFsShares & LikesCommentsSoftware architectures

New & Different TheoriesComputational turn (Berry)Hashtag publics (Bruns, Burgess) Networked publics (boyd, etc)Memetics (Shifman, etc)Big data ethics (boyd & Crawford)Digital self-presentation (Goffman 2.0)Media life (Deuze)Post-panoptic surveillance (Lyon)Microcelebrity (Senft)Professional presence bleed (Gregg)Affect theory (Papacharissi, etc)

Photo from Urban Informatics

New & Different Syntheses

• Opportunities for creativity and innovation

• Linked with existing knowledge, identifying continuities

• Producing robust, insightful, applicable research into the future