Disinformation and Data Lockdown on Social Platforms

Shawn Walker

ISBN 10: 1032074485 / ISBN 13: 9781032074481

Published by Routledge, 2024

About this Item

nach der Bestellung gedruckt Neuware - Printed after ordering - This book addresses the question of how researchers can conduct independent, ethical research on mal-, mis- and disinformation in a rapidly changing and hostile data environment. The escalating issue of data access is thrown into sharp relief by the large-scale use of bots, trolls, fake news, and strategies of false amplification, the effects of which are difficult to quantify due to a corporate environment favouring platform lockdowns and the restriction of access to Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). As social media platforms increase obstacles to independent scholarship by dramatically curbing access to APIs, researchers are faced with the stark choice of either limiting their use of trace data or developing new methods of data collection. Without a breakthrough, social media research may go the way of search engine research, in which only a small group of researchers who have direct relationships with search companies such as Google and Microsoft can access data and conduct research. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue ofthe journal, Information, Communication & Society.

Seller Inventory # 9781032074481

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Disinformation and Data Lockdown on Social Platforms
• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication Date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1032074485
• ISBN 13: 9781032074481
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 246W x 174H x 8D millimeters 246 millimeters width by 174 millimeters height by 8 millimeters depth
• Weight: 284 grams

About this title

Synopsis

This book addresses the question of how researchers can conduct independent, ethical research on mal-, mis- and disinformation in a rapidly changing and hostile data environment.

The escalating issue of data access is thrown into sharp relief by the large-scale use of bots, trolls, fake news, and strategies of false amplification, the effects of which are difficult to quantify due to a corporate environment favouring platform lockdowns and the restriction of access to Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). As social media platforms increase obstacles to independent scholarship by dramatically curbing access to APIs, researchers are faced with the stark choice of either limiting their use of trace data or developing new methods of data collection. Without a breakthrough, social media research may go the way of search engine research, in which only a small group of researchers who have direct relationships with search companies such as Google and Microsoft can access data and conduct research.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal, Information, Communication & Society.

About the Author

Shawn Walker is Assistant Professor of Data & Society in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Arizona State University.

Dan Mercea is Reader in the Department of Sociology at City, University of London.

Marco Bastos is the University College Dublin Ad Astra Fellow at the School of Information and Communication Studies.