We the People, Social Media, and Qualitative Research

Today a small group of folks pulled together our existing resources and took on the innovative task of tweeting and blogging a local civic engagement event.  Using our laptops and cellphones, we live tweeted/blogged a local civic engagement event sponsored by AmericaSpeaks and the Public Life Foundation of Owensboro.

The event brought together nearly 300 locals to discuss local issues centered around Education and the Economy. (A participant guide from the event can be found here.)  This was the second We the People event held in my hometown of Owensboro, KY, the first one being in 2007.

Our local group consisted of four folks (me, Steve Metzger, Jessie Schartung, and Michelle Montalvo).  I set up an event of Cover it Live at the Owensboro Blog.  The interface was free, very easy to use.  After talking with Mary Lauran Hall with AmericaSpeaks the day before, we set everything up and organized ourselves to pull this off late in the afternoon the day before the event.  This came upon us quite spontaneously.

I'd like to devote the remainder of this blog post to addressing some insights from the process, with its implications on citizen journalism and qualitative research.

Qualitative insights

Social media and social networking tools are disruptive tools in the media-sphere.  Particularly in our local community, social media and social networking tools are still largely viewed as new and for entertainment purposes.  Social media and social networking tools are primarily open, accessible, and can be implemented by anyone with the initiative to learn how to do so.  Pulling together these tools to document and regard an event of this type is not entirely difficult, but it does take some thinking and planning.  I have been working in this fashion in various ways for several years.  We like to think that as a result of our process that we not only documented the event live, but we were able to give lasting insight into the minute-to-minute, stage to stage process of dialogue and deliberation of participants during this event.

Usually during We the People events the first draft of information received is the draft final report handed out at the end of the day.  During our project, we were able to document quotes, feelings, raw ideas and beliefs of participants as they shared those in the moment, in dialogue and discussion with other members at their particular tables.  While this information served as a social media component because it was live, the real benefit is that this information is also archived, giving organizers, staff, researchers of the process particular insight into the emotional give and take often experienced as participants delve deeply into local issues.

The AmericaSpeaks were nothing but extremely supportive of our work during the event.  We obtained a .pdf copy of the initial final reports immediately after they were distributed to participants.  We shared that online and made it publicly available to anyone.  Part one of the document can be found here, part two can be found here.

This is significant as it relates to qualitative assessment and analysis.  We live in a culture (societal and in the academic community) that largely focuses on quantitative information: giving us the overarching view with little attention to detail and the quality of feeling of individuals and small groups.  By organizing qualitative research as we did with this event, we now also have the added dimension that gives depth of context to the results from the day long town meeting.  Therefore, this process can be used not just for documenting a live event for those unable to be physically present, but this process should also been seen as adding another layer of context to the overall town meeting and the results derived by the participants.

In our particular effort we worked to provide rich media, including photos, audio, and video accounts of activities occurring in the moment.  There are variations of intensity that can be conducted in documenting an event live.  Given our very quick turnaround on organizing for this event, we were unable to strategically plan how we would do the live tweeting/blogging.  In future instances, this would be an aspect to have better control.  Some particular options are having members of the team focus on specific activities.  For example, one person document via photos, others via text, others recording and uploading video.  The beauty of the Cover it Live interface is that those moderating the interface can include content from the outside.  In our case we did pull in this rich media as we were able to, including tweets from not just our small staff, but tweets from the AmericaSpeaks and tweets from the few participants that were tweeting from time to time.  We also brought in other content on the web, relevant to the event.  So for example we posted the participant guide so online participants could follow what was being covered in the physical setting.

Reach
The Cover it Live web based software does include stats.  Given our limited time for marketing, we did not expect that our live event would garner a whole lot of outside participation.  But keep in mind we also approached this as an effort of documenting the day, so it will be hard to tell how often the event (which is archived on the Owensboro Blog) will be viewed later.  In fact we do expect that qualitative insight into the day can be had by viewing both the archived Cover it Live instance and the backed up tweets from the day (found here).

During the event it appears we had around 20 people actively engaged in commenting and viewing via the Cover it Live interface.  During this particular event there was not much effort of online participation in the event via our interface.  We were unable to design the interface in such a way this time around, but options are available where such an effort could gain more traction and significance for online participants if established and communicated well in advance of the day of the event.  AmericaSpeaks does have experience in linking several physical locations at the same time, incorporating a collaborative web component to do so (or like service).

Below is the archived event on Cover it Live


In our effort each of the team members tweeted to their followers and posted links to our information on Facebook.  In total we theoretically have a reach of at least 1500 followers; people from all over the world, national, statewide, and not just locally.  So there is some consideration that needs to occur about the impact of such a reach, the impact of the process as it ripples through social media.  How many folks will research this process?  How many will read recommendations on live tweeting/blogging an event and using the data for further qualitative analysis via this particular blog post?  These are very relevant in the face of the reach and impact of social media and its content, and the utilization of data for for research and ultimately procedural and policy implications.

Notes on process
We were mobile with our approach.  We established our "base of operations" on a back table, essentially sitting down and connecting with our laptops.  Although I haven't mentioned, it's hopefully obvious we had a local wifi network established via the technical capacity of the AmericaSpeaks folks.  This was a must for us to do our work.

Jessie, myself, and my mother as volunteer

Because we were pulling in tweets with a certain hashtag, we were able to take our mobile phones out amongst the tables and mobile blog/tweet.  I found it intimate to listen to quotes from tables and directly tweet those; these ended up in the Cover it Live interface and were backed up as previously mentioned.  It still is rewarding to go back and view the quotes that we pulled in from participants in the moment.  This data is from participants in deep conversation with others, considering ideas and sharing those perhaps in a very rare safe and inviting environment.

These are some initial thoughts that seem to be bubbling up as I continue to reflect on this process.  Below was the initial debrief that our local tweet/blog team shared.

Social Interaction and Technology

Due to broken links, the following post has been updated in November 2019.

Just made this post over at The Social Lens: Social Interaction and Technology.

I authored a blog post in early January entitled Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. That post addressed the influence of technology on the current generation, using terms to identify the younger generation such as “Wired, Wireless, Mobile, Open, Participatory, and Empowered”.

We tend to have informal conversations in my department from time to time around the use of web 2.0 technologies, particularly Facebook and Twitter. It is obvious, as was reflected in the the Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants post, that there is a very large gap regarding the use of information technology and devices between the younger and older generations in the United States.

Part of those informal discussions we have around our department involve the environment of the classroom versus the environment of the virtual classroom. Does online learning (learning through the internet, using Facebook and Twitter) meet the same standards and achieve the same results as the traditional classroom setting? There are a variety of issues to be addressed regarding online learning, some of which can be found here.

This is a topic of much consideration of faculty and students at varies institutions across the United States, and the world. Taking that notion one step further, if young people are using the internet so frequently, along with social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace (see this report providing indication that teens don’t tend to use Twitter that much), then we begin to need to address this fundamental change in a new form of social interaction, forming new communities.

This is the basis of social networking sites: networking through interaction, encouraging negotiation, communication, and collaboration.

During our informal discussion today, I mentioned the community or personal learning network I had established through my use of Facebook and Twitter. A colleague replied, “But that’s not community.”

Can we have meaningful social interactions without physical appearance? How does current internet technology facilitate better social interaction? Does the technology hinder social relationships? How do the changes wrought by recent technologies differ than say the invention of the telephone? In your opinion, do our relationships benefit or suffer as a result of the use of technology? Can we have community through online interaction?

State of the Internet Explained In One Giant Infographic [PIC]

Came across this graph via Twitter today. A good breakout of the demographics of Internet use.

State of the Internet Explained In One Giant Infographic [PIC]

Networked Learners-from the Pew Internet Project

A look at the demographic profile of digital natives in the U.S.

Networked Learners (MVU Keynote)

View more presentations from Pew Internet & American Life Project, Pew Research Center.

Social Isolation and New Technology

The following report contains a reassessment of the role of technology

in fostering connections and social networks.

Appears the use of technology has exceeded normalization, and is
becoming an important aspect of communication and ongoing connection?

https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2009/11/04/social-isolation-and-new-technology-2/

False Advertising

Since when did vehicles "Improve the Environment"? Do they repair the ozone, clean up the rivers, reduce pollution?

Smartphones, Social Media, and Sociological Research

Social media is obviously changing the landscape of the production of information in our world.

What has not been discussed much in the sociology is the role that information technology, particularly mobile technology, can and will play in sociological research.

I have experimented with the use of smart phones in my personal and professional life substantially over the past six months. I started out with the LG Vu and then upgraded to the iPhone 3G. What I will discuss below can largely be applied to current smart phones on the market (obviously combined with the appropriate data plan) that allow the following:

* the function to take photos
* the ability to text message (SMS)
* the ability to record audio and/or video

The sharing of such information/or research depends on the user's capacity to upload that information to be shared with others. A smart phone along with a the proper data plan can unleash the sociological imagination in anyone's world.

I particularly have used images and texts across a number of platforms, and have integrated nearly all of these platforms to be accessible at any one point. For example, I currently actively use The Sociology Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Del.icio.us, and YouTube. At the same time, I have each of these linked to the other through a Netvibes website.

The real beauty of using the smart phone for exploratory sociological research and the cross platform of sharing information is the role the smart phone can play in the daily living of the researcher, student, or simply out of freelance interest.

There have been several examples where I have been able to bring a current, real time experience to bear via the social networking/media sites mentioned above. These in turn have been brought into the classroom and have given students a very real connection of applying the sociological imagination in real life, providing an example of using mobile technology for research, sharing that information across many channels and amongst many potential audiences, and reflecting with others (in and outside the classroom) regarding individual/group behavior and it's particular role in the social setting.

Social Networking and Connection

Came across this article today, and was quite intrigued by the suggestion of division of social networking tool use based on social class and possibly race.

Does Social Networking Breed Social Division? - Gadgetwise Blog - NYTimes.com

Social connection and the formation of virtual identity

The New Socialism: Global Collectivist Society Is Coming Online
http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/magazine/17-06/nep_newsocialism
Reading: interesting article on the emergence of social order online.

This Blog tag/word cloud

This is a word cloud created from all the words appearing in this blog. This was created at Wordle. Very cool.

To Tweet or Not to Tweet Presentation

Keep in mind I have been sick with the flu the past three weeks. So cut me some slack! The video watched in this presentation can be found here: Michael Wesch's Information R/evolution

Social Media is About Sociology not Technology

In light of the changes in society we've recently discussed in the Intro classes, this blog post from Brian Solis provides a clear understanding about the significance of Twitter, Facebook, etc...relationships between people.

Question:  Do you think social networking tools such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Blogs, and others will become important parts of our lives?  What function do they serve?

Did You Know Resources

I received a question today about whether the information in the Did You Know video were facts.

Here are some interesting links to the authors of the presentation. They are reputable folks, and yes I take the data to be accurate.

Karl Fisch

Scott McLeod

Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us

This is who I got to hear speak today. Dr. Morris sent me a link to his work last year.

Got any creative ideas as to how to get students engaged using Web 2.0?

Did You Know

While watching, or when you've finished, what comes to mind? What does this make you consider, to think about, to wonder?