1st Edition

Methods for Analyzing Social Media

Edited By Klaus Bredl, Julia Hünniger, Jakob Linaa Jensen Copyright 2014

    Social media is becoming increasingly attractive for users. It is a fast way to communicate ideas and a key source of information. It is therefore one of the most influential mediums of communication of our time and an important area for audience research. The growth of social media invites many new questions such as: How can we analyze social media? Can we use traditional audience research methods and apply them to online content? Which new research strategies have been developed? Which ethical research issues and controversies do we have to pay attention to? This book focuses on research strategies and methods for analyzing social media and will be of interest to researchers and practitioners using social media, as well as those wanting to keep up to date with the subject.

    This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Technology in Human Services.

      1. Methods for Analyzing Social Media: Introduction to the Special Issue Klaus Bredl, Julia Hünniger and Jakob Linaa Jensen

      2. The Open Laboratory: Limits and Possibilities of Using Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube as a Research Data Source Fabio Giglietto, Luca Rossi, and Davide Bennato

      3. Quantitative Approaches to Comparing Communication Patterns on Twitter Axel Bruns and Stefan Stieglitz

      4. Communities of Communication: Making Sense of the "Social" in Social Media Pascal Jürgens

      5. Talking of Many Things: Using Topical Networks to Study Discussions in Social Media Tim Highfield

      6. Researching Communicative Practice: Web Archiving in Qualitative Social Media Research Stine Lomborg

      7. Social Navigation on the Internet: A Framework for the Analysis of Communication Processes Marco Lünich, Patrick Rössler, and Lena Hautzer

      8. Employing Creative Research Methods with Tweens in Estonia and Sweden: Reflections on a Case Study of Identity Construction on Social Networking Sites Andra Siibak, Michael Forsman, and Patrik Hernwall

      9. Social Media Use in the Bronx: New Research and Innovations in the Study of YouTube’s Digital Neighborhood Matthew Crick

      10. Digital Media Stories Through Multimodal Analysis: A Case Study of Erahoneybee’s Song About a Child Welfare Agency Tara La Rose

      11. Mark My Words: The Design of an Innovative Methodology to Detect and Analyze Interpersonal Health Conversations in Web and Social Media Martine P. A. Bouman, Constance H. C. Drossaert, and Marcel E. Pieterse

      Biography

      Dr Klaus Bredl is Professor of Digital Media at the Institute of Media and Education, at the University of Augsburg, Germany. His research interests include activity streams, immersion and new technologies in communication and education. He has worked and published in the field of technology enhanced learning, social media, knowledge communication and competence development.

      Julia Hünniger, M.A. is Research Assistant in the Department of Digital Media at the Institute of Media and Education at the University of Augsburg, Germany. From 2009 to 2010 she was a consultant for e-learning at the Georg Simon Ohm University of Applied Sciences, Nuremberg, Germany. Her research interest include computer-mediated communication and the psychology of the internet and how it affects mental health. She is YECREA representative for the Audience and Reception Studies Section.

      Jakob Linaa Jensen, Ph.D. is Associate Professor at the Department of Aesthetics and Communication, Media Studies and The Center for Internet Studies, at the University of Aarhus, Denmark. His research interests include democratic participation online, social media use and online methodologies. He is leading a European taskforce on methodological approaches to studies of social media.