What is it about?
This article explores "counter-archiving" as a way for researchers to study Facebook's influence on public discourse, even as the platform limits access to its data. Counter-archives are independent collections created to preserve and analyze digital traces that might otherwise be lost or inaccessible. By positioning these efforts within broader debates about control, access, and the politics of digital platforms, the article highlights the importance of rethinking archival practices to ensure diverse and critical perspectives on the role of social media in shaping collective memory.
Featured Image
Photo by Sven Finger on Unsplash
Why is it important?
This study confronts the growing challenge of critically engaging with platforms like Facebook, which increasingly restrict access to their data while playing a central role in shaping public discourse and collective memory. By introducing the concept of "counter-archiving," the article provides a methodological framework for constructing alternative archives that preserve digital traces otherwise inaccessible to researchers. This approach not only safeguards the diversity and plurality of perspectives essential for understanding the socio-political impacts of such platforms but also contributes to broader debates on the power dynamics of digital platforms, data control, and archival practices. In doing so, the study underscores the necessity of innovative methodologies for interrogating the role of social media in the construction of public knowledge and digital history.
Perspectives
This work highlights the need to confront the structural power of platforms that determine what is archived, studied, and remembered. By proposing methods to create counter archives of social media platforms, I hope to encourage researchers to rethink how we engage with social media as both a source of data and a site of contested narratives, ensuring that these platforms' historical and cultural impacts can be rigorously examined.
Prof. Anat Ben-David
Open University of Israel
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Counter-archiving Facebook, European Journal of Communication, May 2020, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0267323120922069.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
