richard rogers, otherwise engaged: critical analytics and the new meanings of engagement online

Otherwise EngagedCritical Analytics and the New Meanings of Engagement Online

Digital Methods WINTER SCHOOL 2016

11 - 15 JANUARY2016

Prof. Richard Rogers

Otherwise Engaged

1. Distracted modes of engagement & ‘solutions’ (interface)

2. Distracted engagement metrics & ‘solutions’ (analytics)


Structure of the opening ta lk

[image contextual to the content]

Otherwise EngagedThe story of an educated man trying to listen to opera music

Listening to Wagner’s Parsifal, Simon Hench is repeatedly interrupted by his tenant, his friends, family and aspiring writers, all of whom want something from him.

He appears to be the one and only sane character. Gradually, this façade is stripped away, and he is revealed as unable to connect emotionally with others, and unable to care.

- Adapted from Wikipedia plot summaryTheater, 1975

Otherwise Engaged DMI Winter School 2016


1. Distracted modes of engagementConditions associated with social media use:

‘Flickering man’ (Carr, 2007)

‘Ambient awareness’ (Thompson, 2008)

‘Continuous partial attention’ (Stone, 2008)

Simon Gray’s works



Solutions to distracted engagement: Interface work From the ‘excitement of interaction’ to ‘calm technology’

“A method for smoothly capturing a user’s attention only when necessary, while calmly remaining in the background” (Case, 2015)

“[calm technology] is that which informs but doesn't demand our focus or attention” (Weisner & Brown, 1976)

Goal: Encalm the interface Jodi, 2015


2. Distracted engagement metrics

Social media as social networks for the purposes of: ‘success theater’ (Wortham, 2012);productive ‘networking’; and ‘consumer futurism’

[Particular] statistics as forms of ‘wish fulfillment’ (J. Baudrillard, Cool Memories, 1990) aka ‘Vanity metrics’


Distracted engagement metrics

‘Vanity metrics’ (such as Klout) embody the valuation of measures such as:

Celebrity – well-known-nessInfluence – strategic in-between-nessTrend(ing) – rising relative novelty; coolhunting

Metrics follow from seeing social media as social networks for the purposes of ‘success theater’, productive ‘networking’ and ‘consumer futurism’


Solutions to distracted engagement metrics (aka vanity metrics)

‘Critical analytics’ (as alternative to ‘vanity metrics’)First, there is a shift from the study of self-presentation to the study of causes in authoritative or expert spaces

Engagement metrics: ~ dominant voice ~ concern ~ commitment ~ positioning ~ alignment


New Meanings of Engagement Online

Critical Analytics

Point of departure is the study of causes is the expert issue network or authoritative space rather than one’s social network or all big data

The study engagement metrics through: ~ dominant voice – source hierarchy as credibility measure ~ concern - actor presence or absence in the issue space ~ commitment - the longevity of concern; persistence ~ positioning - the purposive deployment of a keyword ~ alignment - the other company a keyword keeps


Critical AnalyticsDominant voice {Source hierarchy as credibility measure}

Given an authoritative space, which sources and terms are allowed to speak, and may dominate, and which are marginal?


US government awareness campaign,Aids.gov, HIV awareness day 2014

[full screen image]

Critical AnalyticsConcern {Actor presence or absence in the issue space}

To whom (and whom not) is it a matter of concern?

That is, given authoritative spaces, which ones give expression to an issue and which are silent or relatively quiet?


Fukushima water radiation spread, ASR, 2013

[full screen image]

Critical AnalyticsCommitment {the longevity of concern; persistence}

To whom (and whom not) is it a matter of concern, and for how long?That is, given authoritative spaces, which ones continue to give expression to an issue and which continue to be silent or relatively quiet?


Two Greenpeace issue areas (and banners), forest and nuclear from Indonesia (2014) and Jordan (2011), respectively.


Analysis by Anne Laurine Stadermann

Critical AnalyticsPositioning {The purposive deployment of a keyword}

Who joins the program, and who joins the anti-program? Who makes effort to cast oneself as neutral?

That is, given authoritative spaces, which ones position themselves using the language of one set of actors, which the language of another, and which neither?


Reactions to U.S. Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage, 2014


DMI Summer School ’15 project, ‘Does love win?’

Critical AnalyticsAlignment {The company a keyword keeps}

Who else is joining the program, and who else is joining the anti-program? Who additionally makes effort to cast oneself as neutral?

That is, given authoritative spaces, which sets of actors position themselves with others by using certain?


New Meanings of Engagement Online

Critical Analytics

Point of departure is the expert issue network or authoritative space rather than a social network or all big data

The study engagement metrics through: ~ dominant voice - source hierarchy as credibility measure ~ concern - actor presence or absence in the issue space ~ commitment - the longevity of concern; persistence ~ positioning - the purposive deployment of a keyword ~ alignment - the other company a keyword keeps


Otherwise Engaged1. Distracted modes of

engagement & encalming2. Distracted engagement

metrics & critical analytics


Concluding remarks

Otherwise EngagedCritical Analytics and the New Meanings of Engagement Online


11 - 15 JANUARY2016

Prof. Richard Rogers

richard rogers, otherwise engaged: critical analytics and the new meanings of engagement online

Data & Analytics