Digital Enclaves: A Case Study of The Root

1. Digital Enclaves:A Case Study of The Root Roderick Graham, Rhode Island College

2. Context of Study • A part of a larger work that develops an approach to studying sociological processes in the digital environment • Discusses new “Digital Practices” in the “Digital Environment” • Uses the African American experience as an illustration

3. Theoretical Background Two Views of Political Discourse in the Physical Environment

4. Theoretical Background From Physical Environment to the Digital Environment

5. Theoretical Background Two Views of Political Discourse in the Digital Environment

6. Theoretical Background • Cultural precedent for building counterpublics online • In physical environment, faced punishment for developing black rhetorics and public agendas • Developed “hidden transcripts” (Scott 1990)

7. Theoretical Background

8. Theoretical Background • Digital Enclaves perform the same function as subaltern counterpublics in the PE • They are, by design, places of segmentation and polarization

9. Case Study of The Root • Purpose of study is to explore a probable “digital enclave” • The Root is one possible enclave • African American newsmagazine • Alexa.com Stats • Rank of 3298 • Skews African American and Caucasian; users above 35

10. Case Study of The Root Research Questions: • Does TheRoot occupy a separate space in the digital environment? [Network Analysis] • What are some of the ways in which the users of The Root discuss societal issues? [Content Analysis]

11. Case Study of The Root Network Analysis Content Analysis URL Citations Ex. www.theroot.com Inlinks show popularity Outlinks show connections Explore structural distance from public sphere Discussion board of politics section Explore content of articles and user comments Explore degree of segmentation/polarization

12. Network Analysis Sample and Method • Sample of 40 top websites plus The Root (41 total) • Web traffic data as measured by Alexa • 20 African American websites ;10 news sites; 10 opinion sites • URL citations are collected and analyzed using the software Webometric Analyst (http://lexiurl.wlv.ac.uk/index.html)

13. Network Analysis Sample and Method • A total of 87, 629 URL Citations (links) • Two algorithms derive conclusions from raw data • Newman's Community Algorithm (2006) – Shows which websites cluster together • Fruchterman-Rheingold Algorithm – Helps construct the layout of a network diagram

14. Red = AA Digital Enclave Blue= Mainstream/AA Yellow= Mainstream Green = Opinion

15. Network Analysis Key Insights • 4 clusters formed – one cluster can be considered a digital enclave • The Root is a part of the enclave cluster • Digital enclave cluster is composed of only African American sites, and is positioned towards the periphery of the diagram • Note: African American itself site is not the deciding factor – several African American sites are in the core and are a part of other communities

16. Content Analysis • One month of articles: January 1st 2013 to January 31st, 2013; 25 articles total • Discussion boards for each article • Prominent news items of the month: • Obama’s inauguration speech • Gun policy in the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut shootings • The 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade • The birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.. • The Root ran a special series on education

17. Content Analysis Key Findings • Counterhegemonic Interpretations of Societal Events • One of the primary functions of counterpublics • Emphasizing History • Uniquely African American? • America’s Conscious • Uniquely African American?

18. Content Analysis Counterhegemonic Interpretations “The problem with the Acting White Theory is that it promotes the misconception that black students underachieve because of their corrupted attitudes. Meanwhile, many black students are relegated to under-resourced schools, and they lack motivation because of low expectations from teachers and school leaders, unfair discipline and fewer opportunities for academic enrichment.” – Ivory Toldson* *“The Acting White Theory Doesn’t Add Up” - http://www.theroot.com/views/acting-white-theory-doesnt-add

19. Content Analysis Emphasizing History “Now, 150 years later, as we commemorate the sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, I can't help thinking of Annie and all our ancestors. I reflect on how they agitated for their own freedom through protest, revolt, escape, prayer and petition. I am reminded that this observance is about not only the stroke of Lincoln's pen but also the vision of Harriet Tubman, the appeal of abolitionist David Walker and the genius of Frederick Douglass…” - A’Lelia Bundles* *“Slave’s Letter Reveals Pace of Freedom” - http://www.theroot.com/views/slaves-letter-reveals-pace-freedom

20. Content Analysis Emphasizing History “I mean, I know that racism is a problem, just like theft is a problem, but we have more recourses to recover from any ill effect of racism than we do against the common thief. So why is that such a big spot on the black agenda, rather than actually bringing up all of our people to a level that our ancestors would be proud of?” – Logical Leopard* *“Are We Black No More – Not Quite” -http://www.theroot.com/views/are-we-black-no-more-not-quite

21. Content Analysis America’s Conscious “Until the problems of black America--to the degree that they exist--are seen as America's problems, and not just a black problem, and black children are seen as America's children, and a black future is seen as America's future, the problems that you find vexing will continue and persist. In short, the problems of the black community are not just a black problem, but a national problem, and it will take the whole nation to address those problems and repair what's broken.” – Black Diaspora* *http://www.theroot.com/views/are-we-black-no-more-not-quite

22. Conclusion • The Root is an example of a subaltern counterpublic space in the digital environment – a digital enclave for the production of African American rhetoric • Structurally, it is a part of adistinct community - based on links - in the digital environment • The Root is a space for the production and circulation of uniquely African American rhetoric

23. Future Directions • Network analysis is relatively small (although links wereplentiful) • Different algorithms produce different results? • Future studies may decide to look at a cluster of sites and look for commonalities across sites

24. References Benkler, Yochai. 2007. The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Dawson, Michael. 1995. “A Black Counterpublic?: Economic Earthquakes, Racial Agenda(s), and Black Politics”, pp. 199 – 228 in The Black Public Sphere: A Public Culture Book, edited by The Black Public Sphere Collective. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Dawson, Michael. 2001. Black Visions: The Roots of Contemporary African-American Political Ideologies. Chicago, Il: The University of Chicago Press. Fraser, Nancy. 1990. “Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy,” Social Text 25/26: 56 – 90. Fruchterman, Thomas M. and Edward Reingold. 1991. “Graph Drawing by Force-Directed Placement”, Software – Practice and Experience 21(11):1129–1164. Habermas, J. (1989 [1962]) The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: AnInquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. Cambridge: Polity Press. Newman, Mark. E. J. 2006. “Modularity and Community Structure in Networks”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103(23): 8577 – 8582. Scott, James C. 1990. Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Sunstein, Cass. 2001. Republic.com. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.