thesis methodology

Framings

I’m working necessarily trans-disciplinary, or even anti-disciplinary, as my own (autistic) practise has never benefitted from the arbitrary way that disciplines ‘chop up the world of thought’ (Davis, 1998). I view disciplines as knowledges; live assemblages in a constant state of flux. I’m primarily aligned with an anti-capitalist, collectivist vision of networked technologies espoused by xenofeminism (Cuboniks, 2019) and explored variously through the indieweb, fediverse, small tech, postcolonial computing and more. This work is intended as the basis for wider work in Science and Technology Studies (STS) with support from Critical Data Studies (CDS). Much of the literature I found helpful was from digital humanities, library and archival sciences. The technical portion of my practise stems from modern web development tied with the Semantic Web and Linked Data.

Methods

I chose to analyse resistive assemblages found on Pinterest and Are.na to compare the use of these platforms. Much of the literature on Pinterest covers business applications and there is little literature on Are.na. I first performed an informal thematic analysis on Pinterest boards, loosely selected for themes casually observed, as modelled by Moger (2024). In analysis I focused on how the boards feature: a) future-building or inspiration b) actionable and non-actionable tasks c) mixed content types and multi-modal objects d) connectivity, provenance and further resources

I ended up with 32 boards suitable for analysis, 7 of which fit maximal criteria. For the themes I most wanted to discuss I created mock-ups in wireframing web-app Balsamiq (chosen for its minimal aesthetic), echoing the representative style chosen by Tiidenberg, Hendry, and Abidin (2021).

I followed a similar procedure with Are.na, working initially from the codes I’d established for Pinterest. I asked how boards focused on the same kinds of topics a) compare b) contrast c) extend themes established on Pinterest.

Finally, I performed a more rigorous thematic analysis on Are.na blocks collected from the open-publication channel ‘How do you describe Are.na at a party?’. I chose this channel for its concise characterisations of the platform by user-authors and its prominence on initial entry to the site. I interpreted the titular question subtextually as ‘what is good about Are.na?’, ‘what is unique about Are.na?’, ‘what characterises Are.na?’, and ‘how do you use it?’. I believe the responses here say a lot about both the current and idealised usage, often with techno-auto-archaeological accounts or metaphors of desired sociability.

I carried out mixture of inductive and deductive coding iteratively by descriptive (in vivo) coding followed by interpretative coding. I chose to directly embed Are.na blocks (where users consented) to facilitate hyperconnectivity, to acknowledge authorship and for “direct participation without representation or mediation” (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987: 471, cited by Fussell, 2022).

Justification of Format

Whilst this work can be read as a standard thesis, its full extent is realised through an experimental web interface of self-exemplification. I recognise the irony of forcing hyperconnected non-linear forms of knowledge into a thesis format. The linear prose is a gateway - its primary function is to extol the added value of the hypertextual form.

In its direct representation of embedded data and connectivity to its wider context, this thesis exists beyond the conventions of knowledge-making under an institution and shows a route to experimental publishing as collective struggle. This site exists as provotype, as in Smolicki’s (2017) para-archives, “provoking reflection on alternate modes of personal archives and post-digital memory practices,”. It makes explicit the liveness, open access and evolving form inherent to communal knowledges and exerts itself as a subversive academic practise. It makes sense to me to present a non-linear assemblage to discuss non-linear assemblage.

I understand that research is personal, the personal is political, and research is political; the elucidation of this work is inextricably tangled with the narrative of my professional journey and socio-political education, with how systematic factors have denied me my skills and my voice and my worth. It is crucial for me to be able to position minds like my own as Bush’s vision of a “new profession of trailblazers, [who] find delight in the task of establishing useful trails through the enormous mass of the common record,” (Rettburg, 2005). This work must be too personal and all-encompassing and far too long, as it’s an assemblage of roots from which more can grow.

Indexing Potential

An important insight from taking notes in this format is that blank pages in an index are still useful. Linking to any arbitrary fragment works both here in my current collection of markdown files or in a semantic data setup, and allows me easily identifiable starting points to ‘tend to’ my assemblage as ritual, a common pattern of self-actualisation through Are.na. Ted Nelson (Xanadu) described this potential of the red link as ‘lacuna’ or gap in which ideas can grow (Ted Nelson demonstrates Xanadu Space, 2008; Rettburg, 2005).

note: Throughout the Practise section of this thesis, elements in bold are codes/themes established in platform analyses.