"Intensifier of the digital and crash course on hybrid research: Reflections on the pandemic imagination" (OC1.05)

Dr Emiliano Treré, Reader in Data Agency and Media Ecologies at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Culture. He is a widely cited author in digital activism, critical data studies and digital disconnection with a focus on the Global South. He co-founded the ‘Big Data from the South’ Initiative and co-directs the Data Justice Lab. His book Hybrid Media Activism (Routledge, 2019) won the Outstanding Book Award of the ICA Interest Group ‘Activism, Communication and Social Justice’. His forthcoming book with Tiziano Bonini (MIT Press, 2023) explores algorithmic power, agency and resistance in the platform society.

Abstract: In this opening keynote, I reflect on the different lines of research I pursued during the Covid-19 pandemic. I illustrate how the pandemic has intensified and magnified many aspects of our digital research. I address the use and reliance on visual maps, the issue of over-connection and the need for new forms of disconnection, along with the increasing role of algorithms and the digital inequalities that emerge. Finally, I ponder on the pandemic as a crash course on hybrid research and as a key moment in the fostering of the methodological imagination.

Panel 1 - Machine, Human and the Social (OC1.09Link opens in a new window)

• "How digitalisation reshapes Decision making process and driving innovation: From the perspective of mechanism construction for effective human-machine collaboration" by Dongdi Chen
• "A Usability Evaluation of Artificial Intelligence-Powered Physician Consultation during the COVID-19 pandemic" by Aswini Misro (online)
• "An Empirical Study of XAI explanations with different levels of interactivity" by Zibin Zhao
• "Application Market Discourse Analysis: On the Joint-Construction of Cloud Discourse and Its Mechanism" by Erkang Fu

Panel 2 - Social media, Memes and Conspiracies Link opens in a new window(OC1.08Link opens in a new window)

• "Meme in Digital World: How Digital Meme Facilitate Orientalism" by Yanbo Huang
• "The moderating effect of users’ well-being on discontinuous usage intention on social media" by Haiyue Luo
• "Trends in the pervasiveness of Central Bank conspiracy theories and their consequences for monetary policy: Mining 'Bank of England' Twitter" by James Sanders
• "How to ‘Do Your Own Research’: QAnon’s Archives" by Jack Wilson

Panel 3 - Moving Online (OC1.09Link opens in a new window)

• "Post-pandemic trend: digitalised medical contributions of UK-based Nigerian doctors to their home country" by Mohammed Abdullahi & Abdul-lateef Awodele (online)
• "Digital innovation in virtual classroom--how digital tools improve teaching performance of Project-Based Learning within a virtual classroom" by Peiwei Ren
• "Impact of Digital Education on the Mental Health of Students" by Anusha Sharma
• "Covid-19 Lockdown, (Un)Employment and Mental Health: Evidence from UK" by Subhasish Dey, Srinjoy Sen & Atisha Gosh

Panel 4 - Risk and Resilience in the DigitalLink opens in a new window (OC1.08Link opens in a new window)

• "A multidisciplinary approach about Sustainability and Cultural impact on the current Climate Crisis via New Media" by Cecilia Yu
• "Hierarchical clustering of MSMEs to reduce risk in high Non-Performing Loans" by Sheila Sakkyananda
• "Humans as Infrastructure: A Case Study of Meituan Delivery Riders During the Pandemic Era" by Mengxuan Zhang
• "The impact of Digital servitization on employee well being and productivity in manufacturing sector: A microfoundational perspective" by Yifan Wu

Experimental SessionLink opens in a new window (OC1.07)

• "Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies in smart cities' immigration services" by Shu Cheong Tang (online)
• "#digitalnomad: a multimodal analysis of the self-presentation of digital nomads on Instagram" by Jazmine Zhu
• "Chatbot application" by Xu Yuan
• "Doing What Instagram Can't? A Study of the Anti Diet Riot Club" by Carys Hill