Opening up the black box: New tools and methods for studying digital platforms and social data
Nicholas Carah1,4, Daniel Angus2,4, Jean Burgess2,4, Abdul Obeid2 Julian Thomas3,4, Amanda Lawrence3,4
1University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
2Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
3RMIT University, Melbourne, Vic, Australia
4ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making +Society (ADM+S) Australia
Abstract
Online platforms, including search engines, social media platforms, databases and online services, may be used for both harmful and beneficial ends, however much of what goes on within digital platforms is invisible. Opening up the ‘black box’ of digital platforms and their algorithms is essential for an expanding digital economy and society, for effective regulation and legislation to protect and enhance the digital experience for consumers, businesses, government and the community, and to ensure we have responsible, ethical and inclusive online spaces for all. In recent years, researchers in Australia and internationally have been going beyond APIs and web scraping methods and exploring new ways to study digital platforms and social data such as partnering with users through data donation projects to collect real-time or existing digital trace data and setting up cyber ranges and test environments to emulate digital platforms using generative AI. Australian researchers are at the forefront in developing and experimenting with these new methods and are now developing models and collaborations to enable national and cross-sector applications. In this presentation we provide an overview of the tools, infrastructure, methods and governance required to collect, generate and analyse social data, digital platforms and online user experience data, algorithms and interactions. We will discuss current projects and tools and our plans for the next generation of national research infrastructure, an Australian Social Data Observatory, to support critical research into digital platforms and their influence on Australia’s digital economy and society over the coming decade.
Biography
Nicholas Carah is a Associate Professor in the School of Communication and Arts and Director of Digital Cultures & Societies at The University of Queensland and a CI at ADM+S. His research examines the algorithmic and participatory advertising model of digital media platforms, with a focus on the digital alcohol marketing.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0378-1303
Dr Amanda Lawrence is Research Fellow, Open Knowledge Systems at RMIT University and ADM+S. She has a background in information management and research infrastructure for the humanities and social sciences. Her research focuses on public interest research infrastructure, knowledge commons, research communication, Wikimedia and public policy.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2194-8178
Dr Abdul Obeid is Data Engineer at ADM+S at the QUT node.