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Researching Online Communities and Cyberactivism Methodology

Researching Online Communities and Cyberactivism Methodology. Shadi Abu-Ayyash. Research Questions. Examining: Online Collective Unified Discourse Identity Bonds & Ties. Study Case: pro-Palestine Activists and Solidarity Groups.

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Researching Online Communities and Cyberactivism Methodology

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  1. Researching Online Communities and CyberactivismMethodology Shadi Abu-Ayyash

  2. Research Questions Examining: Online Collective Unified Discourse Identity Bonds & Ties

  3. Study Case: pro-Palestine Activists and Solidarity Groups 1. Geographical basis: Ireland, Scotland & England

  4. 2. Groups in Major Cities • Example: Groups in Ireland

  5. 3.On & Off-Campus Groups

  6. 4. Online Activity websites, blogs, email lists & social media

  7. Interviews-Semi-Structured- • First Stage: Pilot Interviews- September 2012: 8 Irish, Scottish and English Activists • Second Stage: Large Scale Interviews-October 2012-Feb.2013

  8. Questions Focus • Offline Activism Element • Online Activism Involvement • Nature of Online Content • Relation Among Cyber Activists • Expressing Self-Identity and Collective Identity Online

  9. Online Surveys • Participants: Targeting university groups and activists who are much more active online. • Selection of participants will be based on: - Internet Activity • Gender • Ethnic Background • Level of University Education *Using SurveyMonkey

  10. Survey Questions • Constancy of Online Activism • Time & Effort Contributed to the Cause Online • Type of Online Content Posted: • Organising offline/on ground activities? • Exchange of Information?

  11. Online Content Analysis • Analysing content of: • Groups Official Websites • Content of Newsletter/Press Releases • Social Media network Groups • Activists Blogs

  12. Online Content Analysis • Selected Content posted in 2011, 2012 and 2013 • Considering: • Major Political Events • Level of Online and Offline Activities

  13. AnalysingText, Image and Video • Terms Used • Source of Contents: Original, Shared or Copied from Other Sources • Does it express all members’ position(s)? • Comments/replies: • Positive • Negative • Neutral

  14. Nvivo • For organising qualitative data collected from interviews (text & audio content) online, and questionnaires • Nvivo 10 would analyse social media and webpages content

  15. Visualising Data • Mapping Major Groups in Ireland and Britain • Online Connectivity Among Transnational Activist • Online Relation Among Activists in Social Media Networks • Groups/Activists Level of Online Involvement

  16. NodeXL * Examining information exchange among activists who are twittering /tweeting trending topics on Twitter *Example of connection among users tweeting the phrase welcome2palestine

  17. Gephito visualise ties among FB group members using Netvizz application Example of Connectivity among Westminster University-Palestine solidarity group members on Facebook

  18. Expected Outcomes • Emergence of Cyber Groups Collective Identity • Effect of Online Involvement on Offline/Ground Activism • What Decides the Strength of Ties Among Online Activists: Topic, Geography, Political Position, Level of Participation?

  19. In short RQs Bonds, Identity & Discourse Data Interviews, Online Surveys & Online Content Analysis Focus Groups Offline and Online Activity & Geography Software Nvivo, SurveyMonkey, Gephi, Netvizz & NodeXl Results 2014/2015

  20. Useful Links • Gephi: https://gephi.org/ • Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/ • Nvivo:http://www.nuigalway.ie/cs/staff/software/nvivo.html • Netvizz: http://apps.facebook.com/netvizz/ • NodeXl : http://nodexl.codeplex.com/

  21. Thank You Shadi Abu-Ayyash Huston School of Film & Digital Media, NUIG shadi.abu-ayyash@nuigalway.ie http://actdigital.wordpress.com/ @shadi3000

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