List of panels
(P138)
African studies and social media
Location B2.02
Date and Start Time 28 June, 2013 at 16:00
Convenors
Jos Damen (African Studies Centre, Leiden)
email
Mirjam de Bruijn (Institute of History)
email
Guy Thomas (mission 21 & University of Basel)
email
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Short Abstract
The importance of social media throughout the African continent is considerable, but research in this domain is limited. Operating within the broader framework of diverse and highly complex processes of development, the usage and effects of social media in Africa are undergoing continuous change.
Long Abstract
This panel intends to explore trends and processes at the interface of social and technological transformation by drawing upon a multi-stranded approach to document and analyse recent phenomena in the domain of African studies.
2.4 million people in Kenya are using Twitter. Social media played an important role in the Arab Spring in several North African countries. Cell phones are used to control the outcome of elections in rural areas. The Library of Congress archives all tweets in the world. Research outcome can be shared through Facebook groups. How should researchers use social media to look at changing societies in Africa? How can researchers use social media as a tool in spreading the outcome of their research or contact their informants? What is important for African researchers? Should all these ephemera be documented and archived, and if so: how?
The basic objective of the panel is to throw light on to the dynamics and patterns of interaction, outreach and networks via and within social media structures affecting distinct realms of African studies and research. While we do not intend to restrict the geographical scope of discussions which ensue from the panel, we decided to limit ourselves to case studies ranging from West to East Africa for practical illustrative and comparative purposes in the presentations. The key objective is, both on national and transnational scales, to map out relevant aims, types, and trends of usage of social media as well their broader impact on African studies.
This panel is closed to new paper proposals.
Papers
Giving one's voice a chance to be heard: conclusions on social media and their role in postcolonial field research
Short Abstract
The paper examines the role of social media in ethnographic research among the youth in the postcolonial context. It is based on author's field research conducted among young women in Nairobi, Kenya. It presents cases where tumblr, facebook, blogs etc. are crucial for women's narratives.
Long Abstract
The core premise of postcolonial methodology is the interviewee's right to narrate their own story using their own words. During the author's ethnographic research in Nairobi, the respondents were surprisingly often referring to social media as an important background of their actions. The stories based on facebook, blogosphere and tumblr underline the meaning of the social media sphere in creating one's own narrative. Some of them either inspired the respondents or precipitated them to action. Moreover, the social media give young Kenyan women a chance to express their views and emotions in a way they couldn't be expressed through different channels. It also creates opportunities for them to influence their environment and realize their aims. This should be concerned as a valuable ethnographic source, as social media are consisting of many unheard voices, sometimes crucial for one's indentity and life story.
The paper argues that without taking the respondents' actions in the social media into consideration, any postcolonial research is not fully legitimate. It is illustrated with actual quotes from the author's interviews.
Reconfigured social relations: sharing research findings on Facebook
Short Abstract
This paper offers some first insights in the sharing process of one's research findings with a previously built audience of Cameroonians through usage of the social media site Facebook.
Long Abstract
Social relations are being rigorously reconfigured through connectivity on social media. Increasing online interconnectivity between Africanist researchers and our informants calls for novel approaches to the exchange and dissemination of information and knowledge. Social media technologies have been employed to retrieve information, yet they too offer unique platforms on which research outcomes can be dispersed and shared with informants and other interested parties. This paper offers some first insights in this sharing process of research findings through a usage of Facebook media. Several academic papers relating to a wider research project have been made available for free on an open source repository. These papers have been advertised on a previously established personal Facebook page as well as several relevant Facebook groups, connecting to research informants as well as larger online communities. Links to the papers and a blog were accompanied by anecdotes and visual material. The papers which have been put forward have incited curiosity among a number of research informants and others, occasionally inspiring discussion. However, it has been observed that, in these publicly accessible spaces, ethical considerations -in particular the safeguarding of the anonymity of one's research participants- need to be taken into further consideration.
Réseaux sociaux et communication en temps de crises : cas de Facebook dans la crise malienne
Short Abstract
Le présent papier traite de la problématique de l’usage de Facebook par les internautes maliens dans la diffusion des informations sur la crise. Il s’intéresse aux groupes de discussions créés depuis le début des évènements, aux débats démocratiques et les analyses faites par les internautes.
Long Abstract
Parler des crises de façon générale en Afrique (Printemps Arabes, crise malienne etc.) sans parler du rôle prépondérant joué par les réseaux sociaux, Facebook surtout, relève de l'utopie.
Le présent papier traite de l'usage de Facebook par les internautes maliens dans la diffusion des informations sur la crise. Déclenchée en janvier 2012, la crise malienne s'escalade de nos jours à travers ; d'une part, les tensions politiques, manifestation des pro-putchistes, à Bamako réclamant la tenue de concertations nationales et la démission du gouvernement de transition. D'autre part, l'armée républicaine est confrontée aux islamistes d'AQMI, du MUJAO, d'Ansar dine etc. perdant ainsi ses positions stratégiques sur la ligne de front dans le centre du pays.
Ainsi Facebook est devenu le réseau social le plus utilisé par les internautes maliens et étrangers pour échanger, discuter et informer sur l'évolution de la crise au Mali. Des groupes de discussion, comme Anti MNLA au Mali, Sofas de la République, Journal Foufou, Douentza groupe etc. créés depuis le début des évènements sont de plus en plus dynamiques et véhiculent les informations en temps réel.
Au delà de son caractère informatif, Facebook est un vrai espace de débats démocratiques où les internautes discutent sans complaisance et font des analyses pertinentes sur la crise.
Nous allons focaliser notre analyse sur une dizaine de groupe de discussion sur Facebook au Mali, évoquer leur positionnement stratégique et les autres moyens de communication utilisés par leurs membres pour relayer sur Facebook les informations d'une localité non connectée.
The use of social media in Africanist research
Short Abstract
Social media is rapidly becoming an integral part of research. But what is the actual added value of this new environment? It is the goal of this paper to talk about our experiences with a social medium built to accomodate our research and what happens with this medium in an African setting.
Long Abstract
Along with the hype of Social Media and Web 2.0 tools, there is a growing tendency towards the virtualisation of the research field(s). But what is the actual added value of the extra dimension of cyberspace where research is concerned?
In line with the current Research 2.0 trend, our project is building its virtual research environment (VRE). It is a social medium to be used by the project staff as well as by the public. The major added value being that this environment can be reached anywhere anytime by anyone. But can everybody access it?
The major key in setting up our VRE is the permissions you give to individuals or groups. Who is allowed to see what. In this sense, not everybody can access everything. But more importantly and especially in the case of African collaboration, access can be hindered by other factors.
Where paper may perish through the ravages of time, so does the digitised research data and the media on which it is stored perish with each new technological paradigm. Technological innovations follow each other with an ever increasing acceleration. Software programs evolve or disappear and media used for storage become obsolete. How do we cope with the data then? When it becomes a question of available (and compatible) soft- and/or hardware; how accessible is our VRE?
It is the goal of this paper to talk about our experiences when building a social medium in limitless cyberspace and what happens when it is confronted with a bound real life.
This panel is closed to new paper proposals.