Dear colleagues, Please join us early in Tartu for our preconference workshop on "Analysing Visual Social Media"! https://aoir.org/aoir2017/preconworkshop/#AVSM Best Uta Analysing Visual Social Media Facilitators: * Uta Russmann, FHWien der WKW University of Applied Sciences for Management & Communication, Vienna, * Maria Schreiber, University of Vienna * Anne Burns & Alexandra Boutopoulou, Visual Social Media Lab, University of Sheffield * Tama Leaver, Internet Studies, Curtin University, Perth, Australia The preconference workshop is open to all AoIR registrants. We are suggesting a maximum of 30 participants to ensure everyone has adequate chance to actively engage in both the practical elements and discussions. Aims and Rationale Visual communication on digital and social platforms is on the rise. The sharing of images through platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Facebook is becoming an integral part of the vernacular online experience. For researchers the question arises how to study visual social media and communication. To date, research on digital communication/social media has primarily focused on text. The visual turn raises significant methodological questions, for example regarding * the selection, documentation and storage of data that is based on text, picture and/or video; * the analysis of interaction between visual and textual elements (Russmann & Svensson, 2017); * the retrieval of (personal) visual contents and related privacy and ethical issues (Highfield & Leaver, 2015); * the complexity of multimodal media like memes, reaction gifs or emojis (Highfield & Leaver, 2016); * as well as the interpretation of such multifaceted data in differing vernacular contexts, including on mobile devices. The focus of the proposed preconference workshop therefore will be to add to our understanding of methodological approaches to analysing visual digital data. Methods are entangled with theoretical frameworks, the data we use and the questions we ask. It is crucial to be transparent about these complex conditions in any empirical work, no matter if qualitative or quantitative, small or big data. Many methods have not yet been adapted sufficiently for the vernacular contexts of social media. This workshop aims to address these gaps and galvanise new discussions about visual social media research methods. The workshop will enable participants to get to know a variety of different methodological approaches, reflect on their strengths and limitations, and discuss the further work needed in refining the methods. Part 1. Visual Social Analysis Methodology Showcase To kick off the workshop, four methodological approaches will be introduced in presentations (time will be allowed for questions). The introductions of the approaches will already be using examples of the material that will be analysed (together with all participants) in the second part of workshop: the visual social media accounts of Donald Trump (both as an individual and president). To facilitate some methods, we will scrape the data from www.instagram.com/realdonaldtrump/ in August 2017, so a pre-populated corpus is available. Methods presented will include: - Content Analysis: Content analysis can ask how visual social media are used to share one-way information, focusing on disseminating information and self-presentation as well as used for two-way communication to establish and cultivate relationships with the users. Uta Russmann will introduce how pictures/videos and their captions can be analysed with a specific focus on their perception, image management, integration on other social media, and interactivity (Filimonov, Russmann, & Svensson, 2016; Russmann & Svensson, 2016, 2017). - Iconographic/Iconologic Interpretation, Analysis of Image Types and Visual Frames: Maria Schreiber and Petra Bernhardt will introduce these approaches as useful methods for in-depth comparative readings of photos, especially in regard to embodied performances, the detection of dominant motifs and strategic frames, and their specific meanings for political image management across platforms (Bernhardt/Liebhart 2017; Schreiber & Kramer, 2016). - Cross-Platform Analysis: Visual social media rarely operate in isolation today. Visual layers either exist on one platform (eg Instagram including emoji in titles and comments) or, more often, across platforms (similar visual material appearing in different forms across platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat). Tama Leaver will introduce the challenges in 'following' images across platforms, building on work co-authored with Tim Highfield (Highfield & Leaver, 2016). - Discourse analysis and compositional interpretation: Discourse analysis enables the identification of "what was said in what was said" (Foucault, 1972), in terms of the broader cultural norms and understandings that are represented through individual statements. Anne Burns and Alexandra Boutopoulou will demonstrate how a combination of discourse analysis and compositional interpretation (Rose, 2001) can be applied to the study of visual social media, drawing on their own work with the Visual Social Media Lab. Part 2. Small Group Methods Race In the second part of the workshop, we will be analysing the data in smaller groups, so participants can experience and practice the different methods. Groups will choose one or two methods (depending on time) and apply them to the same corpus - Donald Trump's Instagram output. In applying the various methods, their utility can be measured first-hand. Similarly, the application of these approaches will reveal the challenges of limitations of their use. Part 3. Methodological Discussion The workshop will end with a robust discussion of the utility and limits of the methods, as well as mapping what other tools, methods and approaches are needed in the visual social media research field. We aim to capture these discussions and potentially shape them into the rationale for a future special issue of a journal on this topic. Prof. Mag. Dr. Uta Russmann Department of Communication, Marketing & Sales FHWien der WKW University of Applied Sciences for Management & Communication Waehringer Guertel 97 1180 Vienna, Austria T: +43 1 476 77-5848 F: +43 1 476 77-5704 uta.russmann@fh-wien.ac.at<mailto:uta.russmann@fh-wien.ac.at> www.fh-wien.ac.at/kommas<http://www.fh-wien.ac.at/kommas> Diese E-Mail ist vertraulich und kann rechtlich gesch?tzte Informationen beinhalten. Sollten Sie diese E-Mail irrt?mlich erhalten haben, ist jede Offenlegung, Weitergabe oder sonstige Verwendung, auch teilweise, nicht gestattet. In diesem Fall ersuchen wir Sie, uns per Antwort-Mail umgehend zu verst?ndigen und die E-Mail (einschlie?lich angeschlossener Dateien) zu vernichten. Danke! This e-mail is confidential and may contain privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, you are not authorized to disclose, disseminate or use this message in any way. 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