[ecrea] Picturing the Social: Analysing Social Media Images Conference

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*Picturing the Social: Analysing Social Media Images Conference
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Thanks to smartphones, most people now carry a camera with them at all 
times and use it to document different aspects of their lives, sharing 
more than 750 million social media images daily. ‘Picturing the Social’ 
is the world’s first cross-platform academic research project into 
social media images, exploring the impact images of this kind have on 
society. A key aim of the project is to use the insight from both 
academia and industry to build a free research tool for the academic 
community.


This free one-day conference is aimed at policy makers, the business 
community, academics and third sector that focuses on researching social 
media images, paying specific attention to the developments of new 
methods and analytical approaches. The conference will also offer an 
opportunity to discuss the research tool the team is developing and 
offer early feedback.


The conference will include presentations from leading social science, 
policy and industry researchers as well as presentations from the 
interdisciplinary ‘Picturing the Social’ team, highlighting methods, 
theoretical underpinnings and early finding of the project, including 
early work on Twitter images shared around the death and funeral of 
Margaret Thatcher. The conference will consist of four panels 
specifically addressing the following areas:



(1) Key challenges and opportunities for research on social media images

(2) Developments in digital photography

(3) Politics and the nation-state

(4) Identity and the self


The conference will be particularly well suited to those with a strong 
interest in researching social media images. Confirmed speakers include: 
Gillian Rose, Peter Buse, Katrina Sluis, Adi Kuntsman, Ruth Deller and 
Shawn Walker. And from the Picturing the Social team: Simon Faulkner, 
Francesco D'Orazio, Mike Thelwall, Anne Burns and Farida Vis.


A small number of bursaries will also be made available for PhDs and 
early careers. To qualify for one of these, please email a short 
statement (no later than Friday 10 October), which highlights your 
interest in this conference to: (visualsocialmedialab /at/ gmail.com) 
<mailto:(visualsocialmedialab /at/ gmail.com)>. Please note that individual 
travel costs should not exceed £75.


Please note that registration is open from 9:30, with the first panel 
starting at 10:00. Lunch will be provided.