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Quantified Storytelling

A Narrative Analysis of Metrics on Social Media

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  • © 2020

Overview

Authors:
  1. Alex Georgakopoulou

    1. School of Education, Communication & Society, King’s College London, London, UK

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  2. Stefan Iversen

    1. School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

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  3. Carsten Stage

    1. School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

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  • Presents a framework of method and analysis for exploring stories as metricized activities on social media

  • Empirically documents the on-going changes to story genres and practices

  • Brings together insights and analyses from three case-studies of stories on popular social media apps

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Table of contents (5 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
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  2. Analysing Quantified Stories on Social Media

    • Alex Georgakopoulou, Stefan Iversen, Carsten Stage
    Pages 1-30

  3. Measuring and Narrating the Disrupted Self on Instagram

    • Alex Georgakopoulou, Stefan Iversen, Carsten Stage
    Pages 31-59

  4. Making Memes Count: Platformed Rallying on Reddit

    • Alex Georgakopoulou, Stefan Iversen, Carsten Stage
    Pages 61-93

  5. Curating Stories: Curating Metrics—Directives in the Design of Stories

    • Alex Georgakopoulou, Stefan Iversen, Carsten Stage
    Pages 95-131

  6. Conclusion

    • Alex Georgakopoulou, Stefan Iversen, Carsten Stage
    Pages 133-143

  7. Back Matter

    Pages 145-149
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Keywords

About this book

This book interrogates the role of quantification in stories on social media: how do visible numbers (e.g. of views, shares, likes) and invisible algorithmic measurements shape the stories we post and engage with? The links of quantification with stories have not been explored sufficiently in storytelling research or in social media studies, despite the fact that platforms have been integrating sophisticated metrics into developing facilities for sharing stories, with a massive appeal to ordinary users, influencers and businesses alike. With case-studies from Instagram, Reddit and Snapchat, the authors show how three types of metrics, namely content metrics, interface metrics and algorithmic metrics, affect the ways in which cancer patients share their experiences, the circulation of specific stories that mobilize counter-publics and the design of stories as facilities on platforms. The analyses document how numbers structure elements in stories, indicate and produce engagement and become resources for the tellers’ self-presentation. This book will be of interest to students and scholars working in the fields of narrative and social media studies, including narratology, biography studies, digital storytelling, life-writing, narrative psychology, sociological approaches to narrative, discourse and sociolinguistic perspectives.

Reviews

“Georgakopoulou, Iversen, & Stage invite readers to rethink concepts such as narrative, interaction, tellership, and tellability, as well as the active role of numbers IN and AS social media stories. … The book stands for an imperative necessity to reflect about equating participation in digital media with democratization, engaging readers in new narrative formats and the pervasive way quantification has entered our lives. It mobilizes a rethinking of key concepts, contributing to storytelling research and social media studies.” (Meiriane Martins Aguiar, Language in Society, Vol. 51 (3), 2022) “Georgakopoulou, Iversen and Stage offer compelling evidence of how metrics are not just at the heart of stories; they often convey the heart behind stories of struggle, pain, and happiness. Deeply original and engaging.” --Zizi Papacharissi, University of Illinois, USA

“Quantified Storytelling offers a ground-breaking analysis of “how we tell now” by exploring the reciprocal influences of metrics and storytelling in social media.”--James Phelan, Ohio State University, USA


 “The authors skillfully show how quantification has become a central element of narrative and status on social media, shaping content in the quest for influence.” --Deborah Lupton, University of New South Wales, Australia 

“Quantified Storytelling is challenging, original, thought-provoking work. Merging their expertise in language, media and narrative studies, the authors drive home the need for truly interdisciplinary research on the algorithmic transformations of storytelling in a social media world.” --Jannis Androutsopoulos, Universität Hamburg, Germany



Authors and Affiliations

  • School of Education, Communication & Society, King’s College London, London, UK

    Alex Georgakopoulou

  • School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Stefan Iversen, Carsten Stage

About the authors

Alex Georgakopoulou is Professor of Discourse Analysis & Sociolinguistics, King’s College London, UK.

Stefan Iversen is Associate Professor, School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Denmark.

Carsten Stage is Associate Professor, School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Denmark.


Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Quantified Storytelling

  • Book Subtitle: A Narrative Analysis of Metrics on Social Media

  • Authors: Alex Georgakopoulou, Stefan Iversen, Carsten Stage

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48074-5

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2020

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-48073-8Published: 20 September 2020

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-48074-5Published: 19 September 2020

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIII, 149

  • Number of Illustrations: 15 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Sociolinguistics, Discourse Analysis, Media and Communication, Social Media, Self and Identity

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