Marina Svensson
Professor
The Networked China Researcher: Challenges and Possibilities in the Social Media Age
Author
Summary, in English
In this paper I will discuss how digital technologies, in particular social media platforms, have changed the ways many of us conduct research, gather information, and interact with informants, and the possibilities and challenges, including the new ethical issues that arise as a result of our digital connectivity. It is also worth remembering that the researcher herself/himself leave many digital footprints on the Internet and social media. Our informants are not only able to read about us online, finding information about both our professional and private lives, and befriend us on social media, but they can also publish information about us and our research. These new developments opens up for more visible and easily accessible research(-ers), which can make research more participatory and democratic in nature. Researchers however need to be aware of and learn how to navigate this new visibility as it not only has consequences for researcher-researched relationships but also pose challenges and possible dangers in an authoritarian research context. This paper aims to address the lack of a systematic discussion in the literature on how digital technologies change research practices in and on China.
Department/s
- Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University
Publishing year
2016
Language
English
Document type
Conference paper: abstract
Topic
- Media and Communications
- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Keywords
- Asian Studies
Conference name
Digital Dispruption in Asia: Methods and Issues
Conference date
2016-05-24 - 2016-05-25
Conference place
Leiden, Netherlands
Status
Published
Project
- Digital China