researching online communities and cyberactivism methodology
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Researching Online Communities
and Cyberactivism
Methodology
Shadi Abu-Ayyash
Research Questions
Examining:
Online Collective Unified Discourse
Identity
Bonds & Ties
Study Case: pro-Palestine Activists and Solidarity Groups
1. Geographical basis: Ireland, Scotland & England
2. Groups in Major Cities
• Example: Groups in Ireland
3.On & Off-Campus Groups
4. Online Activity
websites, blogs, email lists & social media
Interviews-Semi-Structured-
• First Stage:
Pilot Interviews- September 2012: 8 Irish, Scottish and English Activists
• Second Stage:
Large Scale Interviews-October 2012-Feb.2013
Questions Focus
- Offline Activism Element- Online Activism Involvement- Nature of Online Content- Relation Among Cyber Activists- Expressing Self-Identity and Collective
Identity Online
Online Surveys
• Participants:
Targeting university groups and activists who are much more active online.
• Selection of participants will be based on:
- Internet Activity- Gender- Ethnic Background- Level of University Education* Using SurveyMonkey
Survey Questions
• Constancy of Online Activism
• Time & Effort Contributed to the Cause Online
• Type of Online Content Posted:- Organising offline/on ground activities?- Exchange of Information?
Online Content Analysis
• Analysing content of:- Groups Official Websites
- Content of Newsletter/Press Releases
- Social Media network Groups
- Activists Blogs
Online Content Analysis
• Selected Content posted in 2011, 2012 and 2013
• Considering:- Major Political Events- Level of Online and Offline Activities
Analysing Text, Image and Video
• Terms Used• Source of Contents: Original, Shared or
Copied from Other Sources• Does it express all members’ position(s)?• Comments/replies: - Positive- Negative- Neutral
Nvivo
• For organising qualitative data collected from interviews (text & audio content) online, and questionnaires
• Nvivo 10 would analyse social media and webpages content
Visualising Data
• Mapping Major Groups in Ireland and Britain
• Online Connectivity Among Transnational Activist
• Online Relation Among Activists in Social Media Networks
• Groups/Activists Level of Online Involvement
NodeXL* Examining information exchange among activists who are twittering /tweeting trending topics on Twitter
*Example of connection among users tweeting the phrase welcome2palestine
Gephi to visualise ties among FB group
members using Netvizz application
Example of Connectivity among Westminster University-Palestine solidarity group members on Facebook
Expected Outcomes
• Emergence of Cyber Groups Collective Identity
• Effect of Online Involvement on Offline/Ground Activism
• What Decides the Strength of Ties Among Online Activists: Topic, Geography, Political Position, Level of Participation?
In short
RQs Bonds, Identity & Discourse
Data Interviews, Online Surveys & Online Content Analysis
Focus Groups Offline and Online Activity & Geography
Software Nvivo, SurveyMonkey, Gephi, Netvizz &
NodeXl
Results 2014/2015
Useful Links
• Gephi: https://gephi.org/
• Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/
• Nvivo:http://www.nuigalway.ie/cs/staff/software/nvivo.html
• Netvizz: http://apps.facebook.com/netvizz/• NodeXl : http://nodexl.codeplex.com/
Thank You
Shadi Abu-AyyashHuston School of Film & Digital Media, NUIGshadi.abu-ayyash@nuigalway.ie http://actdigital.wordpress.com/
@shadi3000
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