The SRA is pleased to announce the 4th annual conference on Social Media in Social Research. This one-day event at the British Library in central London will feature these presentations:

• Uninformed consent and social media research.  Dan Nunan, Henley Business School. In social media research, is informed consent possible without limiting access to the most valuable data? Do we rely on a set of ethical norms that are outdated in the internet era, and are there alternative and more effective approaches to consent?

• Using social network analysis for social media in social research.  Dhiraj Murthy, Goldsmiths, University of London. This presentation will explore the use of mixed-method Social Network Analysis (SNA) to interpret social media in social research contexts. Methods of visualization will be discussed using Twitter and other social media data.

• The Collaborative Online Social Media ObServatory: a progress report.  Rob Procter, University of Warwick. Rob will outline the main features of the Collaborative Online Social Media ObServatory (COSMOS) and demonstrate their application through examples of current research by the COSMOS team. He will also give a brief overview of development plans.

• The ESRC’s social media agenda.  Samantha McGregor, ESRC. This presentation will outline the ESRC’s current thinking and future plans for social media data and research. This will also be an interactive session, with delegates encouraged to ask questions and discuss future priorities.

• A social media case study – Facebook and Scottish independence.  Preriit Souda and Alastair Graham, TNS BMRB. An analysis and graphical representation of the thousands of conversations and influencers of the two campaigns in the Scottish Independence debate, together with results of opinion polling on voting intentions and attitudes, relating these to the Facebook analysis.

• The social media challenge within the Food Standards Agency.Dr Joanna Disson and James Baker, FSA. The FSA’s communications and social science teams  are working together on the opportunities presented by social media. Where does communication end and research begin? When does ‘insight’ become ‘data’ and are the right skills in place to enter this new territory?

• Analysing digital activism: The use of multi-layered digital ethnography in the social sciences.  Suay Ozkula, University of Kent. A case study of digital activism based on research with Amnesty International, using online and offline ethnographic observation, and short-term and long-term social media monitoring, as well as interviews with Amnesty staff and online participants.

Panel discussion: The future of social media research

Date: May 1, 2014

Start Time: 10:30 am

End Time: 4:30 pm

Price: £105.00

Further details: http://the-sra.org.uk/event-registration/?ee=151