The original testing ground for new possibilities
The easy availability of tools through which to analyse data is creating many exciting opportunities for the digital humanities to explore the available data in new interdisciplinary methods which compliment existing approaches. These are my slides from a really interesting session at SOAS:
Many of the challenges of analysing social and other forms of digital media can be summed up as features of volume, speed, and credibility. The challenges of volume, speed and credibility often require analysis which focuses on the aggregate of human actions, habits of engagement, and the concept of emergent behaviour. Below a presentation showing how … Read More “Non-textual data and new media sources” »
In our earlier post, together with Ali Fisher we detailed and assessed 66 accounts listed by Shumukh al-Islam jihadi Forum member Ahmad ‘Abdallah as ‘important jihadist’ members on twitter. We looked primarily at the users individually, using the data of these 66 accounts to create this infographic to give our readers an overview of these users. In this … Read More “66 Important Jihadist Twitter Accounts (part 2)” »
This article, published in the CTC Sentinel, a journal published by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, discusses the emergence of jihadist social media strategies. The article shows how the Syrian jihadist group Jabhat al-Nusra (JN) has used Twitter to disseminate content, and analyzes content shared by JN. Using an interdisciplinary approach to the … Read More “New Article – Twitter as beacon for Jihadi Zeitgeist” »
I recently recently exchanged thoughts and data with Nico Prucha regarding the increasing Jihadi use of Twitter. By taking an interdisciplinary approach of social-media analysis and cluster network assessment, we decided to start a series on Jihadica on the parts of the overall jihadi, primarily Arabic language propaganda resonating among the audiences online. Read our first … Read More “Jihadi Twitter activism” »
I had the pleasure of presenting via videoconference to Daryl Copeland’s MA class at Ottawa University on October 10. The guest post on his blog, Guerrilla Diplomacy,  approximates the thoughts I presented. Tools for a more resilient public diplomacy With the right tools, smarter networks and collaborative strategies there is potential to deliver a more resilient … Read More “Guest post on Guerrilla Diplomacy: Tools for a more resilient public diplomacy” »
“The True Measures of Success” by Michael J. Mauboussin in the Harvard Business Review this month is well worth a read for many things, not least of all is an anecdote: What happened? We made a mistake that’s exceedingly common in business: We measured the wrong thing The article is available here and while it is naturally … Read More “The True Measures of Success” »
Social intelligence signals for identifying impact in public diplomacy and philanthropy. “Defo feeling a duvet day with lots of movies†– one of many popular sentiments expressed on Twitter last Monday as the UK’s disappointing summer entered autumn. Unlike many ideas about large social movements and information sharing networks, there are events which numerous individuals … Read More “Was Monday the first “duvet day†of autumn?” »
We’ve all heard of the idea that there are six degrees of separation between any two individuals. Now, through relationships on FaceBook researchers have produced the biggest ever study to analyse the concept. The results show a “world smaller than we thoughtâ€. The publication of this research provides important insight for strategy and measurement within … Read More “Facebook research highlights need for collaborative approach to Public Diplomacy” »
I wrote this article with the COO of InterMedia Susan Gigli. InterMedia has offices in London, Washington DC and after 15 years of working throughout Africa also recently opened a regional office in Nairobi. It appeared in The Channel (Association of International Broadcasters), Issue 2, 2011 Over these 15 years, the need for international broadcasters … Read More “10 rules for engagement” »