As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m doing some research with the B31 Voices hyperlocal blog about how they operate and the network of citizens that help make B31 Voices the success it is.
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Category Archives: CCN
Social Media Surgeries in Longbridge – March 11 and 26
There are two Social Media Surgeries taking place in March that are part of the research project I am running partnership with B31 Voices and Podnosh. Here’s the blurb for them.
Social Media Surgeries for Longbridge, Northfield and the wider B31 area.
B31 Voices, Podnosh and Birmingham City University are running two Social Media Surgeries at The Factory in Longbridge in March. These informal drop-in events are aimed at readers of B31 Voices who want to know more about how the web works to help support a community event or cause you are working on.
What’s a Social Media Surgery?
A social media surgery is an informal gathering of people who want to learn how to use the web to communicate, campaign or collaborate. Surgeries are deliberately relaxed. No presentations, no jargon, noone telling people what they think they should know. Instead you will sit next to someone who understands good ways to use the internet, someone who will listen to what you do, and then show you free, useful tools. If you like what you see they can also help you set up your blog, Facebook page or Twitter account.
Who can come along?
Surgeries are generally aimed at helping voluntary or community organisations, local charities, clubs or societies. We also welcome individuals working on activities that are helping to support their community.
Can I help out?
A surgery needs ‘surgeons’, someone who knows enough about using social media to help someone else. Some surgeons have spent years understanding the internet, others started learning a few months ago but want to share what they know with other community groups and active citizens. You can sign up to be a surgeon using the links below.
Dates/times:
11th March 5:30pm – 7:00pm (use the link to sign up)
26th March 12:30pm – 2:00pm (use the link to sign up)
Location:
The Factory, 5 Devon Way (off Longbridge Lane), Longbridge, B31 2TS
More details about Social Media Surgeries can be found at: socialmediasurgery.com
New Knowledge Networks – active citizenship and hyperlocal publishing
I had some good news at the end of 2013. I was successful in applying to the Communities and Culture Network (CCN+) for some funding to run a project about how hyperlocal web publishers play a role in developing new networks of knowledge about their communities. Or to give it its grand title:
New Knowledge Networks in communities – the role of ‘hyperlocal’ media operations in facilitating everyday digital participation.
The project will enable me to spend some time understanding the operations of the B31 Voices blog which covers several suburbs in south Birmingham and is run by Sas and Marty Taylor with help from a small network of local writers. I’ve been interested for a while in how they operate across a range of digital platforms to gather up information from their readers and turn this into useful news and information. They seem really astute at tapping into citizens’ everyday use of social media. The new knowledge created offers a challenge, I think (and have mused on before), to ‘official’ knowledge.
The project forms a bit of a sidebar to the Creative Citizens project I’m part of and hopefully will feed into my PhD research.
In terms of method, I’ve become increasingly interested in the work of Sarah Pink. She argues for new approaches to Internet/Digital ethnographies. I’m much taken with this quote from from a paper about new forms of ethnography (co-written with John Postill):
“the movement of the digital ethnographer involves traversing interrelated digital and co-present contexts, for example, sharing a bus ride with activists, a Facebook collaboration or a smartphone image over coffee”
(Postill, J and Pink, S. Social media ethnography: The digital researcher in a messy web [online]. Media International Australia, Incorporating Culture & Policy, No. 145, Nov 2012: 123-134.)
In this project, the equivalent of ‘sharing a bus ride’ is to set up and run two Social Media Surgeries in B31’s patch. We’re being helped with this by Nick Booth’s company, Podnosh, who help coordinate volunteer-run social media surgeries across the UK. These take place in mid-March (I’ll write a separate ‘call to action’ post for those shortly).
Although the project is small in scope I hope it’ll have much to say about the intricate web that hyperlocals weave and the everyday active citizenship they promote. As the project progresses I’ll post occasional updates.
You can read the whole Case for Support (effectively the bid document) if you’re interested in some of the detail and academic rationale. Podnosh and B31 were brilliant in helping me bring together the bid.