36. Doing Your Own Research: Legitimacy, Authority and Credibility within Resistant Research Communities
Stacy Wood, University of California Los Angeles; Yvonne Melisande Eadon, Department of Information Studies, UCLA
Posted: February 28, 2022 Accepted Languages: English/Inglés/Inglês
In recent years, a growing body of research has focused on mis- and disinformation spreading at scale via social media platforms (Starbird 2019). Small groups can have impact at scale via recommender systems and algorithmic amplification (Krafft and Donovan 2020). The phrase “do your own research” has become a persistent and recognizable call that flattens the distinctions between research methodologies and approaches to searching for information, at once resting on independent critical thinking and fostering community formation.
This panel seeks to explore the social construction of legitimacy, authority and credibility within resistant research communities. We define resistant research communities as communities of researchers whose methodologies, qualifications or object of study are explicitly antagonistic to established research infrastructures, institutions and credentials. This might include areas of study that are counter to scientific method and consensus (e.g. anti-vaccination, flat-earth, areas of ufology) or areas of study that are counter to contemporary and/or historic documentation (e.g. QAnon bakers).
While there are a suite of methodologies used to track the scale and spread of mis- and disinformation, significant work needs to be done regarding the social and cultural production of knowledge within resistant research communities and the socio-technical configurations within which this production occurs. We welcome all methodologies and frameworks.
Possible questions and topics include: How do resistant research communities influence or affect the wider scientific research community? What are gatekeeping functions in resistant research communities? How do community dynamics affect outcomes? What platforms are used in the formation of such communities, and how do the affordances of such platforms influence research outcomes?
Krafft, P. M., and Joan Donovan. “Disinformation by Design: The Use of Evidence Collages and Platform Filtering in a Media Manipulation Campaign.” Political Communication 37, no. 2 (March 3, 2020): 194–214. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2019.1686094.
Starbird, Kate. “Disinformation’s Spread: Bots, Trolls and All of Us.” Nature 571, no. 7766 (July 1, 2019): 449–50.
