In this book, Helen Kennedy argues that as social media data mining becomes more and more ordinary, as we post, mine and repeat, new data relations emerge. These new data relations are characterised by a widespread desire for numbers and the troubling consequences of this desire, and also by the possibility of doing good with data and resisting data power, by new and old concerns, and by instability and contradiction. Drawing on action research with public sector organisations, interviews with commercial social insights companies and their clients, focus groups with social media users and other research, Kennedy provides a fascinating and detailed account of living with social media data mining inside the organisations that make up the fabric of everyday life.
"One of the key features of the book is the way each chapter concludes with the pros and cons, the concerns and ethical issues, of the strategies, tactics, and issues raised within. Rather than glossing over ethical issues, the book continually reengages with the most pressing questions of data mining, keeping concerns specific and grounded in research tactics, a feature that will help the book maintain relevance for future researchers, regardless of changes to social media platforms and data relations." (Alisha Karabinus, Convergence, June 20, 2019)
"I am grateful that this book highlights so many aspects of social data mining, including the quantified self movement and the Seeing Data project that identify ways in which ordinary citizens can engage more with the politics of data mining ... . Media studies students and professors seeking a snapshot of scholarship on social media data mining will find this text incredibly helpful asan aggregator of a vast and ideological varied body of scholarship." (Daniel Keyes, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 61 (51), December, 2016)
"I am grateful that this book highlights so many aspects of social data mining, including the quantified self movement and the Seeing Data project that identify ways in which ordinary citizens can engage more with the politics of data mining ... . Media studies students and professors seeking a snapshot of scholarship on social media data mining will find this text incredibly helpful asan aggregator of a vast and ideological varied body of scholarship." (Daniel Keyes, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 61 (51), December, 2016)