Apr 14, 2021 Sarah Sinwell, Spring 2021 DM Faculty Grant
#Representation Matters: Mapping Gender, Race, and Sexuality on Twitter
Sarah E. S. Sinwell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Film and Media Arts at the University of Utah. She has published essays on Kickstarter, Green Porno, Riverdale, and Dexter in A Companion to American Indie Film, Women’s Studies Quarterly, Feminist and Queer Theory: An Intersectional and Transnational Reader, and Asexualities: Feminist and Queer Perspectives. Her recently published book, Indie Cinema Online (Rutgers University Press, 2020), examines shifting modes of independent film distribution and exhibition on YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, and SundanceTV as a means of redefining independent cinema in an era of media convergence.
Briefly describe your project and the challenges, lessons learned, and obstacles overcome in the execution of it. What were the professional, academic, and personal motivations underlying your project?
My second book project, #Representation Matters: Mapping Gender, Race, and Sexuality on Twitter, focuses on how audiences and fans of blockbuster films and franchises such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Black Panther, and Frozen use Twitter hashtags to create a space for alternative forms of representation in popular media. Pushing against the whiteness and heteronormativity of corporate-sponsored media culture, these Twitter campaigns draw attention not only to the absence of people of color and LGBTQIA+ characters within contemporary media, but also to alternative possibilities for more inclusive media representation and ultimately more visibility and acceptance in society more generally.
One of the challenges of this project is that the ethics and methods for analyzing Twitter data are constantly changing. For instance, it is no longer ethical to include Twitter handles as part of the data without permission in order to maintain the anonymity and privacy of those posting on Twitter. This has been particularly challenging for this project since I originally included the Twitter handles as part of my data. The other challenge of this project has been learning the best way to visualize my Twitter data. I am very new to data visualization and I have not yet learned the best practices for doing this. What I am learning is that this kind of work is an ongoing process that is constantly changing. Thus, as I continue to work on this project, I am discovering that I may need to embrace the mutability and unknowability of this data and the visualizations that accompany it.
How did the Digital Matters Faculty Grant dovetail with your academic pursuits? What interested you in applying for this grant?
It is only recently that I have had the chance to attend a workshop on using digital humanities tools for internet research through the NEH. Though I had already started working on this project before attending this workshop, the workshop changed my project quite significantly, not only by teaching me new tools for how to analyze and visualize Twitter data, but also new ways of looking at the ethical implications of my research. I applied for this grant so that I may have an opportunity to collaborate with others to visualize my data in new and exciting ways.
What insights have you gained in regard to your specific field as a result of your project and grant experience?
As a result of this experience, I have been learning more about the value of collaborating with others. I am learning that the data may not create the same meaning for others as it does for myself. I am also realizing how much the use of color, language, and imagery in these visualizations impacts my argument and how that relates to my understandings of the relationship between media culture and identity.
What would you tell potential faculty grant applicants to help them shape their own digital scholarship project?
I would encourage future applicants to think big and think outside the box. Think of this as an opportunity to explore your project and ideas and field in ways that you may not have had the time or funding to pursue in the past. And, don’t forget that it is a process that may take longer than just one semester.
What do you see as the upcoming important issues surrounding digital scholarship in your field? What areas/issues could students and scholars investigate to extend the knowledge in this area?
As I have been learning, the ethics of studying digital culture are also constantly shifting. Though it is hard to stay up to date with these changes, I think it is our responsibility to do the best we can to address these changes to create a more inclusive, just, and socially equitable culture. Looking at the work of scholars such as Andre Brock, Sarah Florini, Mary Gray, Safia Noble, and Zeynep Tufecki is certainly a great first step in this direction.
As I have been learning, the ethics of studying digital culture are also constantly shifting. Though it is hard to stay up to date with these changes, I think it is our responsibility to do the best we can to address these changes to create a more inclusive, just, and socially equitable culture.
–Sarah Sinwell, Spring 2021 DM Faculty Grantee