Hi there,
This month I’m handing over the intro of the newsletter to co-director Jessamy Perriam. But I also just wanted to check in quickly to thank you all for reading along and to wish you a happy December!
- Henriette
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Since our last newsletter, a lot has happened in relation to Twitter. Here in the lab, Twitter forms a part of our yearly rhythm. In the autumn term, we often encourage our students to come up with research questions that can be investigated through Twitter-based digital methods. We also problematize and discuss the ethics of gathering and analysing Twitter data, along with the impacts that our research has on society. Last year, we were excited about the possibility of scraping past tweets to allow us and our students to tell stories of technology and society in different ways. As the year now draws to a close, we reference twitter in conversations and lectures with a suffix of ‘if it’s even around this time next year.’ We recognize the space and potency that it has held in the academic space, but also now we realise that its ubiquity in the space hindered our imaginations to consider other modes of digital sociality and community-building.
Over email threads, in research seminars and over lunchtime conversations we find ourselves - both as lab members and part of the broader ITU community - talking about the possibilities of Mastodon, not to replicate what we had on Twitter, but to imagine how we could strengthen our communities of practice and solidarity. We’re still at the discussion and experimentation phase of thinking about Mastodon and other alternative platforms, but nevertheless, it’s a discussion that is exciting and enriching.
- Jess
We’d always love to hear your feedback on the newsletter. Reach us here: ethos@itu.dk
