Social Media, Research, and the Digital Humanities

Social media research is often associated with the fields of (new) media and communication studies, which have to a large extent laid the theoretical and methodological foundations for such research. Although recent years have seen an increasing interest in the role of social media in relation to Digital Humanities (DH) research, there remains an urgent need for the humanities as a whole to respond to the undeniable importance of social media in relation to contemporary cultural forms and practices. Building on earlier efforts to explore the intersections between media studies and DH, this essay aims to articulate what (digital) humanists bring to the study of social media and how social media research connects with more established approaches within DH. In doing so, it emphasises how expansive definitions of DH research in relation to both our methods and objects of study can further the field’s potential to make a vital contribution to wider understandings of the digital in contemporary society.