Abstract
ABSTRACTAnalysis of social media using digital methods is a flourishing approach. However, the relatively easy availability of data collected via platform application programming interfaces has arguably led to the predominance of single-platform research of social media. Such research has also privileged the role of text in social media analysis, as a form of data that is more readily gathered and searchable than images. In this paper, we challenge both of these prevailing forms of social media research by outlining a methodology for visual cross-platform analysis (VCPA), defined as the study of still and moving images across two or more social media platforms. Our argument contains three steps. First, we argue that cross-platform analysis addresses a gap in research methods in that it acknowledges the interplay between a social phenomenon under investigation and the medium within which it is being researched, thus illuminating the different affordances and cultures of web platforms. Second, we build on the literature on multimodal communication and platform vernacular to provide a rationale for incorporating the visual into cross-platform analysis. Third, we reflect on an experimental cross-platform analysis of images within social media posts (n = 471,033) used to communicate climate change to advance different modes of macro- and meso-levels of analysis that are natively visual: image-text networks, image plots and composite images. We conclude by assessing the research pathways opened up by VCPA, delineating potential contributions to empirical research and theory and the potential impact on practitioners of social media communication.
Highlights
In this article we present visual cross-platform analysis (VCPA), defined as the study of still and moving images across two or more social media platforms, as a methodological W
While the focus of this article is on outlining the VCPA approach, we elaborate on some findings from our experimental research into climate change images
We have introduced VCPA as an approach to social media research addressing two emerging strands of literature
Summary
In this article we present visual cross-platform analysis (VCPA), defined as the study of still and moving images across two or more social media platforms, as a methodological. We argue that VCPA can enhance our understanding of ‘platform vernaculars’ (Gibbs, Meese, Arnold, Nansen, & Carter, 2015): the different narrative patterns that shape content and information flows across platforms. We do this by identifying visual vernaculars, drawing on two collaborative, international research projects examining large social media datasets related to climate change across five platforms: Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr, and Facebook. VCPA is distinctive in expanding such research across diverse social media platforms to identify visual vernaculars Such vernaculars are influenced by multiple platform affordances: for example, front-end and back-end structures, platform cultures, and commercial interests. We conclude with a review of the VCPA approach and identify opportunities for further research
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