Paper short abstract:

The presentation proposes interventions inspired by data feminism as qualitative dimensions of digital methods, by linking them to strands of methodological reflection made in STS, using the case of lists in platform research.

Paper long abstract:

Taking listmaking as a starting point, the presentation explores the reflexive, inventive and critical potential of digital research methodologies by drawing attention to the qualitative decision making and interpretative dimension involved. Lists are essential elements of social media platforms: Lists of popular topics, accounts, followers, likes, clicks, views, search results or feeds, provide orientation, structure our attention and guide practices of content reception and production. Content, they suggest, is particularly relevant when it is noticed by many, shared by many, commented by many. At the same time, researchers employ platform data and create lists themselves to approach issues, users or platform dynamics. The platforms’ logic of the many has inscribed itself in empirical platform research. Thereby, perspectives that move beyond the top users, the most used hashtags, the most shared URLs or the most active accounts are increasingly receding into the background. Inspired by discussions in data feminism (D'Ignazio and Klein 2020), we develop an alternative approach to Twitter/X data that questions how the platform aggregates diverse user activity into extrapolations of the many, by focusing on data that is not prominently displayed by the platform itself or even made invisible. Doing so, we link the propositions made by data feminism to different strands of methodological reflection proposed in the context of STS, such as attentiveness to inscriptions, interface methods, interpretative flexibility or situated research and explicate them as qualitative dimensions of digital methods research.