Information School News

Senior Lecturer Dr Paul Reilly was recently published in The Conversation, with a piece about the role of social media in Northern Ireland's recent wave of protests and riots. The piece, entitled 'Twelfth of July: How to responsibly follow Northern Ireland’s summer of protest on social media', can be read here:  https://theconversation.com/twelfth-of-july-how-to-responsibly-follow-northern-irelands-summer-of-protest-on-social-media-163775

Senior Lecturer Dr Paul Reilly will give a talk entitled  Digital Contention in a divided society: social media, parades and protests in Northern Ireland on the 25th February, 4-5pm, for the Interdisciplinary Digital Research Group at Dublin City University. The talk is part of their 2021 Hybrid Research Seminar Series, featuring new books and research projects in the interdisciplinary space of humanities and social sciences. How are platforms such as Facebook and Twitter used by citizens to frame contentious parades and protests in ‘post-conflict’ Northern Ireland? What do these contentious episodes tell us about the potential of information and communication technologies to promote positive intergroup contact in the deeply divided society? These are the questions addressed in the talk. Register to attend this event (via Zoom) here: https://dcu-ie.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_lHqPCJ4LRoO-bl-thpOUfw

New Article: Entitled ‘PSNIRA vs. peaceful protesters? YouTube, ‘sousveillance’ and the policing of the union flag protests' by Dr Paul Reilly Dr Paul Reilly, Senior Lecturer in Social Media & Digital Society, has a new article in the journal First Monday out today. Entitled ‘PSNIRA vs. peaceful protesters? YouTube, ‘sousveillance’ and the policing of the union flag protests,’ it explores how Youtubers responded to footage of alleged police brutality during the union flag protests in Northern Ireland between December 2012 and March 2013. Drawing on a qualitative analysis of 1,586 comments posted under 36 ‘sousveillance’ videos, Dr Reilly argues that responses to these videos were shaped by competing narratives on the legitimacy of police actions during the flag protests. This footage focussed attention on the anti-social behaviour of the protesters rather than the alleged police brutality referred to in the video descriptions. The paper concludes by considering the proble...

Senior Lecturer Dr Paul Reilly is pleased to report that his chapter written with Faith Gordon , ‘Digital weapons in a post-conflict society’, has been published in ‘ Anti-Social Media ', a volume edited by John Mair, Richard Tait and Tor Clark. A copy of the chapter can be downloaded here .

Senior Lecturer Dr Paul Reilly's written submission to the Fake News Enquiry , entitled ‘Fake news, mis-and disinformation in Northern Ireland,’ has been published by the UK Government Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport Committee . In the submission, Dr Reilly draws on his 17 years of research into digital media and conflict transformation in Northern Ireland to discuss how social media has been used to share mis- and disinformation during contentious episodes, such as the union flag protests and the Ardoyne parade dispute. The submission can be viewed here .

Research Associate Dr Giuliana Tiripelli is attending the British Society of Criminology annual conference at Sheffield Hallam University between 4-7 July 2017. Dr Tiripelli will be presenting her book Media and Peace in the Middle East as part of a panel entitled 'Compromise after Conflict: The role of political prisoners in Northern Ireland, (re)presenting peace and the transformations of resistance'.

Senior Lecturer Dr Paul Reilly has had an article published in a new report on the 2017 UK General Election edited by Einar Thorsen, Dan Jackson and Darren Lilleker from Bournemouth University. This rapid response report features 92 contributions from over 100 UK and international academics. Paul's article presents some preliminary findings from a study of 1,842 tweets posted during the BBC Northern Ireland Leaders’ Debate, which took place a few days before polling day. ‘ It explores the response of Northern Irish tweeters to statements made by the representatives of the main political parties during the debate. The article can be accessed here  and the full report is available to download from here