Damien Spry

The University of Sydney, Media and Communications, Faculty Member

Hanyang University, Communication, Faculty Member

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Jonas Radl

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

C. Michael Hall

University of Canterbury/Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha

James Elkins

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

John P DiMoia

Seoul National University

Javier Díaz Noci

Pompeu Fabra University

danah boyd

Microsoft Research

Marcia Ochoa

University of California, Santa Cruz

Maurizio Forte

Duke University

David Seamon

Kansas State University

Remo Caponi

University of Cologne

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Papers by Damien Spry

NSW Healthy Children Initiative: Social Marketing to Young People - Report on Key Stakeholder Reviews of the Draft Social Marketing Plan

This report presents analysis of expert stakeholder reviews of the Draft Social Marketing Plan (D... more This report presents analysis of expert stakeholder reviews of the Draft Social Marketing Plan (DSMP) prepared by the University of Western Sydney (UWS) for the NSW Ministry of Health Healthy Children Initiative. The DSMP outlines a strategic approach to a social marketing campaign for young people aiming to improve their choices regarding diet and physical activity

Real Livewires: A Research Report on the Role of Chat Hosts in the Livewire Online Community for Young People Living with a Chronic Illness or Disability

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The wand and the wizard

How are we to make sense of the iPhone? It has been called a transformative networked multimedia ... more How are we to make sense of the iPhone? It has been called a transformative networked multimedia platform; a fetishised consumer brand; a superlative innovation by a genius inventor; the ruination of solitude; and the emblem of a radical shift in the relationship between those who produce media (including news and games) and those who consume it. Is that all it is? A recent&nbsp; book Moving Data: The iPhone and the Future of Media edited by Pelle Snickars and Patrick Vonderau raises some interesting comments, and if we move beyond brand fetishisation and a myopic Western gaze, we might see a bigger picture of how the smartphone is changing human lives. Read the full article in the Australian Review of Public Affairs. &nbsp; Image © Douglas Dickens | Dreamstime.co

Representations of Australia in South Korean online news: a qualitative and quantitative approach utilizing Leximancer and Korean keywords in context

Quality & Quantity, 2016

This article outlines original empirical research using a quantitative computerassisted big data ... more This article outlines original empirical research using a quantitative computerassisted big data approach to survey and evaluate the representation of Australia in popular South Korean online news media sources. This is an exploratory content analysis of news reporting (in Korean and English) on Australia in key Korean digital news media providers and distributors over a six-month-period during which certain key events occurred that drew Korean news media attention to Australia. The research aims to address the fundamental question: what forms and patterns of representation of Australia are present in South Korean online news media? It is designed in large part to understand how Australia is present as a theme in Korean online news, and how this theme is contextualized by associated topics, such as trade, security, or tourism. The quantitative analysis is augmented using a qualitative method: a series of key informant interviews conducted with editors and journalists responsible for the production and prioritization of news. Further, it is interpreted by locating the research in the context of the Australia-South Korea relationship. We summarize the complexities that arise when analyzing large amounts of textual content, especially from two very different languages, discuss the opportunities that arise from mixed methods-by combining big data (breadth) with contextual analysis (depth) and offer suggestions for aspiring researchers.

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Mobile Me: Approaches to mobile media use by children and young people

Due to the notable enthusiasm for mobile phones of teenagers, and the propensity for young mobile... more

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Critical Perspectives on Korean Digital and Social Mediascapes

In the last couple of decades, Korea’s digital and social media has become a major force in trans... more In the last couple of decades, Korea’s digital and social media has become a major force in transforming Korean society, where information and communication technologies are pervasive throughout. Some activists have been using digital and social media as an essential form of mobilization in the public sphere. Meanwhile, corporations driving the cultural industries have utilized digital and social media as a new outlet for the global prominence of Korean popular culture around the world in their myriad forms. The popularity of Korean cultural products, including K-pop, Korean dramas, and digital games in the domestic and global marketplace is evident in recent sensations such as the hit “Gangnam style,” which is still the most viewed YouTube video in history. These activities and practices have asked us to think over the primary role of digital and social media in what is consistently the world’s most networked society both socially and in terms of internet access. This panel conside...

Enhancing Parents' Knowledge and Practice of Online Safety: A Research Report on an Intergenerational 'Living Lab' Experiment

This report is published on the Young and Well CRC website. A special thank you goes to the seven... more

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Large data and small stories: A triangulation approach to evaluating digital diplomacy

Place Branding and Public Diplomacy

From Delhi to Dili: Facebook Diplomacy by Ministries of Foreign Affairs in the Asia-Pacific

The Hague Journal of Diplomacy

SummaryThis article uses digital research methods to explore the use of Facebook by ministries of... more SummaryThis article uses digital research methods to explore the use of Facebook by ministries of foreign affairs (MFAs) in several Asian locations. It contextualises this analysis by considering four factors that contribute to the growing complexity confronting public diplomacy: environmental factors (digitalised, networked media); institutional factors (diplomatic norms and traditions, and MFAs’ policies and practices); algorithmic factors (the programming that organises social media content); audience factors (social media users). The analysis shows most Facebook content posted by MFAs is driven by institutional factors. Yet this content is not the most appealing to digital publics, who are more likely to engage with content they find relevant and useful, or emotionally resonant. The article concludes that Facebook, and digital media generally, can provide multiple small opportunities for outreach, if due consideration is given to audiences’ needs and motivations. These audience ...

Book Review: The Korean Popular Culture ReaderHyungKim, Kyung and YoungminChoe, (eds), The Korean Popular Culture Reader, Duke University Press, Durham, NC, 2014, ISBN 9 7808 2235 5014, 464 pp., AU$28.95

Media International Australia

In light of the 2008 election of President Barack Obama and the resulting suggestion (popular in ... more In light of the 2008 election of President Barack Obama and the resulting suggestion (popular in the American cultural imagination) that the United States is now a post-racial society, Ralina Joseph's critical work traces and problematises the notion that blackness is an obstacle that must be transcended in the twenty-first century. Building, in part, upon the concept of the tragic mulatto defined in Sterling A. Brown's 1982 Negro Character as Seen by White Authors, Joseph challenges the social and literary tradition that depicts the mulatta as deeply mired in pain, desperate to transcend her blackness but unable to escape the confines of her race. Similarly, Joseph also challenges the more modem conceptualisation ofthe mixed-race African-American as the exceptional multiracial, one whose success is determined by his ability to surmount the burdens and rhetoric of race. For Joseph, both depictions are utterly problematic in continuing a cultural conversation dating back to the days of the antebellum South and Thomas Dixon's The Clansman: An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan, which cast blackness as a perpetual problem a marker of inferiority that one must consistently strive to overcome. In other words, instead of moving toward a post-racial society, Joseph argues that issues of race, race politics and the stigmas of blackness are still just as prevalent, and that this tradition of 'transcending blackness is a terrible proposition' (p. 155). Throughout this work, Joseph weaves a particularly apt discussion, problematising this trend ofracial transcendence and the contentious belief that racial assimilation will usher in a society no longer defined by race. For Joseph, 'mixture is not a panacea for racial problems; rather, representations of mixture provide us with a lens into existing racial tensions' a fact that she attempts to illustrate through characters such as The L Word:Y Bette as well as films and television shows including Mixing Nia and Americas Next Top Model all works that present the new millennium mulatta (p. 170). By incorporating parallel dimensions of gender, Joseph argues that 'mixed-race African-American males have been embraced in American culture while the mixed-race black female hals] been derided ... as a tragic figure whose multiraciality is both cause for and effect of her erratic behavior, heart-breaking family background, and excessive sexuality' (p. 163). These perceptions stereotypes in their own right seem to suggest that race is very much alive in the supposedly post-racial United States, and that deeper examination into these more modem racial classifications is necessary in order to reach a more accurate and comprehensive understanding ofmultiraciality as it exists today. Centralising her discussion in the realm of popular media and culture, Joseph thus targets everyday Americans as her intended reader those whose awareness of race and racial affairs is invariably shaped by the depictions ofmixed and multiracial characters in television shows, movies and the mainstream media. In doing so, she creates a text well worth reading, offering critical examination of a relatively under-examined phenomenon with real-world implications for the twenty-first century and beyond.

Book Review: The Social Media ReaderMandiburgM. (ed.) The Social Media Reader, New York University Press, New York, 2012, ISBN 9 7808 1476 4060, 289 pp., A$34.95. Distributor: Footprint

Media International Australia, 2012

Book Review: New Tech, New Ties: How Mobile Communication is Reshaping Social CohesionLingRich, New Tech, New Ties: How Mobile Communication is Reshaping Social Cohesion, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2008, ISBN 9 7802 6212 2979, xv+224 pp., US$24.95

Media International Australia, 2009

Book Review: The Social Use of Media: Cultural and Social Scientific Perspectives on Audience ResearchBilandzicHelena, PatriarcheGeoffrey and TraudtPaul J. (eds), The Social Use of Media: Cultural and Social Scientific Perspectives on Audience Research, Intellect, Bristol, 2012, ISBN 9 7818 4150 ...

Media International Australia, 2014

More Than Data: Using the Netvizz Facebook Application for Mixed-Methods Analysis of Digital Diplomacy

Sage Research Methods, 2019

The role Facebook plays in international politics has been the subject of numerous studies over t... more The role Facebook plays in international politics has been the subject of numerous studies over the last decade. Initially, particular interest largely focused on the use of Facebook (and related social networking media platforms including Twitter and YouTube) by non-state actors. Foreign affairs ministries and diplomats were forced to take this seriously after they noted the success exploitation of social media of terrorist groups (such as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and civil society actors (such as during the “Arab Spring” uprisings in 2011). Since then, some world leaders and governments have become more engaged and new methods, known as digital diplomacy, have arisen. Data that can be used to evaluate diplomacy on Facebook have become accessible by using a Facebook application called Netvizz, which is freely available for non-commercial research purposes and easy to use. At present, there is no simple, freely available equivalent to Netvizz that enables quantitative analysis of engagement metrics and qualitative content analysis of public Facebook pages. However, the qualitative engagement data and online content to which Netvizz provides access must be analyzed considering the specificities of the cultural contexts in which they occur. This case study outlines how data analysis and content analysis can be combined to explore how social media sites are used, including how content can be categorized, and how levels of engagement with social media content can vary in relation to the types of content and the locations of the social media users.

Facebook diplomacy: a data-driven, user-focused approach to Facebook use by diplomatic missions

The utility of social media platforms as means for communication and engagement has become import... more The utility of social media platforms as means for communication and engagement has become important for those responsible for public diplomacy. This article addresses this nexus between social media studies and diplomacy studies using original empirical research based on Facebook pages published by the diplomatic missions of 8 nations in 22 host nations. Data from 161 pages from January to December 2016 were extracted using Netvizz. A multi-stage mixed-methods approach uses quantifiable engagement data and qualitative content. The analysis varies from many previous studies by foregrounding social media as a communication environment and by including audiences/users as active participants. The findings suggest Facebook diplomacy is more relevant in countries that are smaller, poorer and closer. They categorise content using a four-part taxonomy of diplomatic discourse: outward-facing publicity, inward-facing publicity, engagement, and user-generated content. The article aims to develop the field of digital diplomacy studies by highlighting innovative findings and suggesting trajectories for further scholarship.

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Facebook diplomacy, click farms and finding ‘friends’ in strange places

Diplomatic missions routinely use social media, especially Facebook, as a platform for public dip... more Diplomatic missions routinely use social media, especially Facebook, as a platform for public diplomacy and consular support. Their main target audiences are local people.

Among the 22 Facebook pages managed by Australian diplomatic missions (embassies, consulates and high commissions) for which I have analysed the 2016 data, two at least appear to have large numbers of page likes from unusual locations.

Digital Diplomacy @ DFAT

SOFT POWER IN EAST AND SOUTH- EAST ASIA (SECTION OVERVIEW)

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"Representations of Australia in South Korean online news: a qualitative and quantitative approach utilizing Leximancer and Korean keywords in context"

by Damien Spry and Tim Dwyer

The Representation of Australia in South Korean Online News: October 2014 – April 2015. A report for the Australia-Korea Foundation

by Damien Spry and Tim Dwyer

This report presents the details of our research into how South Korean online news media represen... more This report presents the details of our research into how South Korean online news media represent ‘Australia’ (‘Hoju’ in Korean).
It was a multi-method research project (combining key informant interviews and computational ‘big data’ approaches) offering insight into how online news is produced and curated in the Korean mediascape. In particular the data is telling us, albeit within a relatively short timeframe, about what kind of news stories relating to Australia are being reported in the South Korean online news media.

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NSW Healthy Children Initiative: Social Marketing to Young People - Report on Key Stakeholder Reviews of the Draft Social Marketing Plan

Real Livewires: A Research Report on the Role of Chat Hosts in the Livewire Online Community for Young People Living with a Chronic Illness or Disability

Download

The wand and the wizard

Representations of Australia in South Korean online news: a qualitative and quantitative approach utilizing Leximancer and Korean keywords in context

Quality & Quantity, 2016

Download

Mobile Me: Approaches to mobile media use by children and young people

Due to the notable enthusiasm for mobile phones of teenagers, and the propensity for young mobile... more

Download

Critical Perspectives on Korean Digital and Social Mediascapes

Enhancing Parents' Knowledge and Practice of Online Safety: A Research Report on an Intergenerational 'Living Lab' Experiment

This report is published on the Young and Well CRC website. A special thank you goes to the seven... more

Download

Large data and small stories: A triangulation approach to evaluating digital diplomacy

Place Branding and Public Diplomacy

From Delhi to Dili: Facebook Diplomacy by Ministries of Foreign Affairs in the Asia-Pacific

The Hague Journal of Diplomacy

Media International Australia

Book Review: The Social Media ReaderMandiburgM. (ed.) The Social Media Reader, New York University Press, New York, 2012, ISBN 9 7808 1476 4060, 289 pp., A$34.95. Distributor: Footprint

Media International Australia, 2012

Media International Australia, 2009

Media International Australia, 2014

More Than Data: Using the Netvizz Facebook Application for Mixed-Methods Analysis of Digital Diplomacy

Sage Research Methods, 2019

Facebook diplomacy: a data-driven, user-focused approach to Facebook use by diplomatic missions

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Facebook diplomacy, click farms and finding ‘friends’ in strange places

Digital Diplomacy @ DFAT

SOFT POWER IN EAST AND SOUTH- EAST ASIA (SECTION OVERVIEW)

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"Representations of Australia in South Korean online news: a qualitative and quantitative approach utilizing Leximancer and Korean keywords in context"

by Damien Spry and Tim Dwyer

The Representation of Australia in South Korean Online News: October 2014 – April 2015. A report for the Australia-Korea Foundation

by Damien Spry and Tim Dwyer

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