Pieter Verdegem

Conversations about the elections on Twitter: Towards a structural understanding of Twitter’s relation with the political and the media field

This study uses network analysis to examine Twitter’s level of autonomy from external influences, being the political and the media field. The conceptual framework builds upon Bourdieu’s field theory, appropriated on social media as mediated social spaces. The study investigates conversation patterns on Twitter between political, media and citizen agents during election times in Belgium. Through the comparison of conversational practices with the positions users hold as political, media or citizen agents, we understand how the former is related to the latter. The analysis of conversation patterns (based on replies and mentions) shows a decentralized and loosely knit network, in which primarily citizen agents are present. Nonetheless, the prominence of citizens in the debate, mentions or replies to political and media agents are significantly higher, placing them more centrally in the network. In addition, politicians and media actors are closely connected within the network, and reciprocal communication of these established agents is significantly lower compared to citizen agents. We understand different aspects of autonomy related to the presence, positions and practices of the agents on Twitter and their relative positions as politicians, media or citizens. To conclude, we discuss the promises of Bourdieu’s relational sociology and the limitations of our study. The approach proposed here is an attempt to integrate existing work and evolve towards a systematic understanding of the interrelations between political, media and citizen agents in a networked media environment.

E–deliberation 2.0 for smart cities: a critical assessment of two 'idea generation' cases

This paper elaborates on the importance of a user-driven approach in the design and development of innovative services and applications for smart cities. By reporting on two case studies situated in the city of Ghent (Belgium), that are part of larger projects, we illustrate how we have applied different user-centred innovation development methods and strategies in order to generate and evaluate innovative concepts and ideas for smart city applications. This paper discusses and compares the work conducted in these case studies by documenting for each case study (a) the policy context and strategy, (b) the problems addressed and the solutions achieved, and (c) the (e-)deliberation (2.0) approaches used. Furthermore, we assess the effectiveness and impact of both approaches and report on the results and the lessons learned.

With a little help from my friends: An analysis of the role of social support in digital inequalities:

This article reports an empirical study on the composition and socio-economic background of social support networks and their moderating role in explaining digital inequalities. It conceptually draws upon and empirically reaffirms Van Dijk’s multiple access model, acknowledging motivational, material, skill and usage divides, while focussing on the under-researched issue of social support as indispensible source of social learning. Besides a small group of self-reliants, the results indicate a pattern of relatively socially disadvantaged domestic support receivers, characterized by lower digital resources. A second social support pattern points to a relatively socially advantaged non-domestic support receivers (i.e. friends/colleagues), high in digital resources. Drawing upon the concept of homophily in social networks, the results indicate a link between offline and online exclusion, perpetuating digital inequalities.

What social media data mean for audience studies: a multidimensional investigation of Twitter use during a current affairs TV programme

Both practitioners and researchers embrace the increasing volume of digital data to measure and understand audiences. This study focuses on Twitter use during an eminent Belgian current affairs television (TV) programme to investigate how people talk about TV on Twitter. The main objective of the study is to understand how we can interpret these digital traces and, in extension, discuss its utility and value for audience studies. More specifically, we define two validity issues related to the use of social media data: that is, the technological bias of data analysis and the alleged objectivity of the data. These issues are addressed through the combination of Twitter data and user insights. In particular, we focus on interaction patterns and the content of Twitter messages in relation to TV content. We compliment these analyses with in-depth interviews with a selection of Twitter users. The results confirm the variations and complexities of the use of digital objects such as the @-sign and the hashtag. In addition, although Twitter messages are unobtrusive measures, they reflect performances in the sense that they entail interpretations as well as representations of the self and ones programme taste. Users predominantly feel the need to scrutinize the actions and utterances of politicians and experts. The use of irony and sarcasm exemplifies the playfulness and fun factor of these activities. To conclude, we elaborate on the results in relation to the validity issues we put forth and discuss methodological and epistemological concerns related to the use of social media data in audience studies.

The Triple Articulation of Media Technologies in Audiovisual Media Consumption

This article departs from the concept of “double articulation” within domestication theory, which views media as both objects and texts. Unfortunately, its empirical application has been problematic because researchers tend to concentrate on the contextual, losing sight of specific meanings of objects and texts. Therefore, we subscribe to the concept of “triple articulation,” viewing the immediate sociospatial context of consumption as a specific articulation. Still, the practical relevance of this concept has been questioned. Therefore, we develop and test a methodology that explicitly incorporates this triple articulation in the field of convergent audiovisual media consumption. The results indicate that audiovisual media technologies are meaningfully articulated as objects, texts, and contexts. Moreover, the devised method, which allows the uncovering of articulation interactions, points out that each articulation is able to contribute independently to consumption meanings. Hence, the variation within objects, texts, and contexts raises questions about what we consider “television.”

Balancing Public and Private Value for the Digital Television Era

Abstract As the digital switchover is the result of the dynamic interplay between economic, social and political interests, this article reflects on the role of all stakeholders involved in the switch to digital television services. It aims to discuss the trade-off between public and private policy interests focussing on strategies for preparing the transition process and the digital take-off as well as on future opportunities that become available in the spectrum (digital dividend). Based on a comparative study amongst three European countries, it is demonstrated that government has played an important role in the development of the digital television landscape in the past, and it is argued why policy makers should continue to do this in the future. Instead of a solely market-driven approach, a strong plea is made for a better understanding of stakeholders’ expectations in deploying public policies and business strategies concerning the digitised media landscape.

The analog switch-off in a cable dominated television landscape. Implications for the transition to digital television in Flanders

Abstract Flanders will complete the migration from analog to digital terrestrial television by the end of 2008. Despite the cable dominated television landscape, the Flemish government is aiming at a smooth transition from analog to digital terrestrial television. Therefore, a multi-methodical study (quantitative survey and qualitative focus group interviews) has been set up by order of the Flemish government to understand the specific features and needs of analog antenna viewers and their expectations for the analog switch-off. The study shows that there are three distinctive types of analog antenna viewers. The results demonstrate that the antenna viewers are rather badly informed about the upcoming analog switch-off, which may lead to a negative attitude and may impede a smooth transition. Finally, antenna viewers seem to be rather conservative viewers: they wish to keep on watching the same television programs from the same channels. Moreover, digital terrestrial television is their preferred alternative.

The librarian 2.0: Identifying a typology of librarians’ social media literacy

This article reports on the identification of librarians’ social media literacy profiles. These profiles were developed through the construction of scales measuring social media competencies. An online questionnaire was developed and administered to a sample of 184 librarians working in Flemish public libraries. Cluster analysis revealed four social media literacy profiles: (1) social media workers; (2) social media laggards; (3) social media literates; and (4) social media spare-time users. This typology of social media literacy profiles is necessary information when developing a successful social media literacy strategy in libraries. Our research results further indicate that librarians who fit the social media literate or social media worker profiles are expected to play a central and facilitating role in the adoption and implementation of social media within public libraries.

An Intermedia Understanding of the Networked Twitter Ecology

The chapter will focus on the use of Twitter during the 2012 local elections in Belgium. Via a multi-method approach we aim to understand how the Twitter debate links up to mainstream media outlets and how political actors, media actors and citizens interact in this decentralized and interactive Twitter sphere. In doing so, we elaborate on the role of Twitter (as one of the most popular social media platforms) in the agenda setting and building processes between politicians, media and public opinion. Further, we discuss the role of social media, and Twitter in particular, in the rejuvenation of democracy.

Audiovisual consumption as the interplay of objects, texts and contexts

Recently, the choices to consume audiovisual content have increased steadily. Content is now delivered through various digital channels and is played back by an abundance of devices. Moreover, the number of spatial and social contexts that afford consumption is equally increasing. The question now arises how these three diversifying components(content, device and context) interact with each other. Therefore, we subscribe to the concept of a triple articulation of media technologies that is rooted within domestication theory. It postulates that media technologies are meaningful in their physical presence (object), their capabilities to transfer meaningful messages (media text) and their contextual encapsulation (context). However, the question remains whether such a three-fold approach is manageable and relevant. In this paper, based on an empirical multi-method study, we demonstrate the practical relevance of the triple articulation concept in audiovisual media consumption within the context of convergence. Moreover, we discuss its implications and formulate recommendations concerning the adoption of this perspective in future research on audiovisual media consumption. The results show that all three articulations bear specific meanings. Moreover, abundant evidence is found for all three articulations to contribute independently to the overall meaning of audiovisual consumption. We conclude that the triple articulation concept within domestication theory has the potential to serve as a framework to study relevant factors in the formation and exercise of media habits and everyday routines.