Abstract
The paper explores the potential and limitations of big data for researching racism on social media. Informed by critical data studies and critical race studies, the paper discusses challenges of doing big data research and the problems of the so called ‘white method’. The paper introduces the following three types of approach, each with a different epistemological basis for researching racism in digital context: 1) using big data analytics to point out the dominant power relations and the dynamics of racist discourse, 2) complementing big data with qualitative research and 3) revealing new logics of racism in datafied context. The paper contributes to critical data and critical race studies by enhancing the understanding of the possibilities and limitations of big data research. This study also highlights the importance of contextualisation and mixed methods for achieving a more nuanced comprehension of racism and discrimination on social media and in large datasets.
Highlights
Research based on large datasets extracted from different social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, has provided new studies on migration, the refugee crisis and the circulation of racism
Previous experience in migration research provided valuable insight when interpreting the topics and grouping them thematically (Isoaho et al, 2019). We found that both in the news media and on the social media, refugee issues were connected with negative connotations; the social-media debates had overtly negative, anti-immigrant framings that were characterised by racist discourse, hostile expressions and negative stereotypes
In a society that is structured by racial domination, the impact of racism needs to be explored by many different indicators at the same time
Summary
Research based on large datasets extracted from different social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, has provided new studies on migration, the refugee crisis and the circulation of racism. As a white woman, who works and lives in a predominantly white Nordic society, I am shaped by my privilege that reflects and limits my research in certain ways These reflections come out of the attempt to take situated knowledge seriously as part of big data research and to interrogate the attempts to expand the knowledge interest in big data research. I discuss the challenges posed by critical data studies and critical race studies to big data methods and I introduce the case study The paper discusses these issues in the context of social media studies
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