Social media as a vehicle for user engagement with local history. A case study in the North East of Scotland
| Pages | 741-762 |
| Date | 09 July 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-12-2017-0167 |
| Published date | 09 July 2018 |
| Author | Caroline Hood,Peter Reid |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
Social media as a vehicle for user
engagement with local history
A case study in the North East of Scotland
Caroline Hood
Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and Built Environment,
Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK, and
Peter Reid
School of Creative and Cultural Business,
Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine issues associated with user engagement on social media
with local history in the North East of Scotland and to focus on a case study of the Buckie and District Fishing
Heritage Society, a small but very successful and professionally-run community-based local heritage
organisation.
Design/methodology/approach –A qualitative approach using photo elicitation on social media was
deployed in conjunction with analysis of the user interactions and the reach insights provided by Facebook to
the page manager. Additionally, a focus group was used.
Findings –The research, although focussed on an individual case study, offers significant lessons which are
more widely applicable in the local history and cultural heritage social media domain. Key aspects include
user engagement and how digital storytelling can assist in the documentation of local communities ultimately
contributing to local history research and the broader cultural memory. The significance of the image and the
photo elicitation methodology is also explored.
Social implications –The research demonstrates new opportunities for engaging users and displaying
historical content that can be successfully exploited by community heritage organisations. These are themes
which will be developed within the paper. The research also demonstrates the value of photo elicitation in
both historical and wider information science fields as a means of obtaining in-depth quality engagement and
interaction with users and communities.
Originality/value –The research explored the underutilised method of photo elicitation in a local history
context with a community possessed of a strong sense of local identity. In addition to exploring the benefits of
this method, it presents transferable lessons for how small, community-based history and heritage
organisation can engage effectively with their audience.
Keywords Communities, Social media, Scotland, Photo elicitation, User engagement, Local history,
Digital storytelling, Heritage organizations
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
In addition to the traditionally curated local studies section within the public library service,
there are a significant number of independent and community-led local history initiatives
operating throughout the UK. Social media offers new opportunities for documenting and
remembering the society (Henninger and Scifleet, 2016) and for displaying the historical
content of these community archives. In particular, the format of social media provides a
readymade and easily accessible platform for sharing personal and family photographs,
both of which are important in the development of cultural memory (Kuhn, 2007). Further,
with the easy accessibility of technology, more people are telling personal stories via digital
means, thereby indicating a shift from more traditional methods of storytelling to digital
storytelling (Couldry, 2008).
The aim of this paper is to report an investigation into user engagement with local
studies projects via social media in the North East of Scotland. Specifically, the research was
undertaken with the objectives of evaluating how users interact with archival images in
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 74 No. 4, 2018
pp. 741-762
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-12-2017-0167
Received 1 December 2017
Revised 7 March 2018
Accepted 8 March 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0022-0418.htm
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Social media
both digital and physical contexts, and to analyse the role of social media in both the
documentation of local history and as a contributor to cultural memory. This is an area of
research which has been explored in limited circumstances so far, particularly in the context
of local history. It will also contribute to the wider understanding of how social media
impacts upon cultural memory and, importantly, how photo elicitation techniques are of
value both in local history terms and for other information science fields.
In order to achieve the aimand objectives, the Buckie and DistrictFishing Heritage Centre
(“the Heritage Centre”) was selected as an appropriate case study. Located approximately
17 miles from Elginon the Moray Firth coast of Scotland,Buckie is a town with a rich fishing
heritage. The Heritage Centre has a growing collection of over 8,000 photographs which are
accessible in both printed format in folders in the Heritage Centre and also via computers
located within the Heritage Centre. The photographic collection represents and encompasses
every facet of local life from shipbuilding and fishing vessels to “weel kent”faces (well
known). Although the Heritage Centre had an established presence on Facebook, prior to
July 2016, the organisation did not make use of social media for showcasing this extensive
photographic catalogue.
Buckie has a strong sense of local identity which includes the surrounding villages, and
until the second half of the twentieth century, the fishing industry was predominant in these
communities. The Fishing Heritage Society has benefited from this strong sense of
community and identity and has the support, indeed affection, of large parts of the local
population. It has succeeded as a heritage organisation because it is a community-led
“bottom-up”organisation seeking to preserve the legacy of fishing and related industries.
Literature review
Photo elicitation
“Photo elicitation is based on the simple idea of inserting a photograph into a research
interview”(Harper, 2002 p. 13), and although the process was first described by John Collier
in 1957, it has been reported sparingly in academic literature since then (Baxter et al., 2015).
Despite this, photo elicitation has been identified as a valuable tool in social research
(Hurworth, 2003) and has been successfully used in topics ranging from social class and
historical ethnography to identity and cultural studies (Harper, 2002). Furthermore, within
the context of research methods, it is regarded as being capable of aiding the rapport
between interviewees and the researcher (Baxter et al., 2015) and also of evoking a “different
kind of information”(Harper, 2002) from the interview.
Ireland and Ellis (2005) used black and white photographs to demonstrate the potential
for photographs to act as a medium giving collective meaning to both the past and future of
a Cornish fishing village. Their research used the images “to stimulate remembrance of kin
ties, experiences, and interactions”(Ireland and Ellis, 2005) and allowed the conclusion to be
drawn that “photographs do play an essential role in the continuity of contemporary culture
in Cornwall”(Ireland and Ellis, 2005, p. 386). Similarly, Baxter et al. (2015) investigated
the value of photo elicitation as a method for exploring the role played by small town main
streets in Scottish island communities in sustaining cultural identity, community and a
sense of place. The techniques employed produced “a significant quantity of rich, qualitative
commentary –data which we would argue, might have remained largely untapped through
the use of conventional interview techniques”(Baxter et al., 2015).
With the experience of both Ireland and Ellis (2005), Baxter et al. (2015) reinforces
previous research in this area which has concluded that “even vague memories can be given
the sharpness of focus, unleashing a flood of detail”(Banks, 2001) and that it “mines deeper
shafts into a different part of the human consciousness than do words-alone interviews”
(Harper, 2002). Furthermore, in parallel with the research undertaken by Baxter et al. (2015)
and their conclusion that “[…] the very act of identifying family, friends and ‘weel kent
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