The politics of data friction
| Date | 12 March 2018 |
| Pages | 412-429 |
| Published date | 12 March 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-05-2017-0080 |
| Author | Jo Bates |
| 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 |
The politics of data friction
Jo Bates
Information School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to further develop Paul Edwards’concept of “data
friction”by examining the socio-material forces that are shaping data movements in the cases of research
data and online communications data, second, to articulate a politics of data friction, identifying the
interrelated infrastructural, socio-cultural and regulatory dynamics of data friction, and how these are
contributing to the constitution of social relations.
Design/methodology/approach –The paper develops a hermeneutic review of the literature on
socio-material factors influencing the movement of digital data between social actors in the cases of research
data sharing and online communications data. Parallels between the two cases are identified and used to
further develop understanding of the politics of “data friction”beyond the concept’s current usage within the
Science Studies literature.
Findings –A number of overarching parallels are identified relating to the ways in which new data flows
and the frictions that shape them bring social actors into new forms of relation with one another, the
platformisation of infrastructures for data circulation, and state action to influence the dynamics of data
movement. Moments and sites of “data friction”are identified as deeply political –resulting from the
collective decisions of human actors who experience significantly different levels of empowerment with
regard to shaping the overall outcome.
Research limitations/implications –The paper further develops Paul Edwards’concept of “data friction”
beyond its current application in Science Studies. Analysis of the broader dynamics of data friction across
different cases identifies a number of parallels that require further empirical examination and theorisation.
Practical implications –The observation that sites of data friction are deeply political has significant
implications for all engaged in the practice and management of digital data production, circulation and use.
Social implications –It is argued that the concept of “data friction”can help social actors identify, examine
and act upon some of the complex socio-material dynamics shaping emergent data movements across a
variety of domains, and inform deliberation at all levels –from everyday practice to international regulation –
about how such frictions can be collectively shaped towards the creation of more equitable and just societies.
Originality/value –The paper makes an original contribution to the literature on friction in the dynamics of
digital data movement, arguing that in many cases data friction may be something to enable and foster,
rather than overcome. It also brings together literature from diverse disciplinary fields to examine these
frictional dynamics within two cases that have not previously been examined in relation to one another.
Keywords Platforms, Social media data, Data circulation, Data friction, Data journeys, Data policy,
Infrastructures, Research data sharing
Paper type Conceptual paper
Introduction
The factors influencing the movement of digital data between social actors are
increasingly being examined by research in Information Studies and related disciplines.
The concept of “data friction”forwarded by Edwards (2010) has been adopted by a
number of scholars, primarily in the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS), to
conceptualise some of the complex socio-material factors that coalesce to slow down and
restrict data generation, movement and use. These studies have identified various sites of
data friction that occur across a number of primarily scientific data infrastructures.
However, they have not examined the wider politics of “data friction”as a social
phenomenon. Often such studies are highly focussed upon a particular disciplinary or
interdisciplinary context, identifying and theorising the nature of specific forms of data
friction and addressing how they might be overcome.
In this paper, I shift focus in order to position “data friction”as being shaped by an
emergent and complex politics of digital data movement. Rather than positioning “data
friction”as necessarily problematic, I instead consider such frictions as something that are
constituted within complex and contested socio-material spaces in which various forces
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 74 No. 2, 2018
pp. 412-429
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-05-2017-0080
Received 31 May 2017
Revised 9 August 2017
Accepted 10 August 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0022-0418.htm
412
JD
74,2
struggle to shape how data do and do not move between different actors. In an era of
“datafication”(Mayer-Schönberger and Cukier, 2013), it is important to understand how we
might best advance knowledge using new forms of data, but also it is crucial to investigate
the socio-material dynamics of how and why digital data do and do not move between
actors with different, and at times conflicting, interests. Definitions of data are complex.
Here, I place emphasis on the “computational”definition (Floridi, 2008), focussing on the
socio-material dynamics influencing the electronic transmission of binary data. However,
the underlying motivation is based upon an informational understanding of data as “alleged
evidence”(Buckland, 1991), and questions and concerns around what these emergent digital
data flows make visible and “knowable”to who. Such insights will allow us to understand
better how the circulation of different types of data contribute to the constitution of
unfolding social relations. Taking such a perspective, it becomes clear that in many cases
“data friction”may be something to enable and foster, rather than something to overcome.
In this paper, I synthesise insights from across the cross-disciplinary literatures that
examine the socio-material factors that enable and restrict the movement of different types
of data between social actors. I focus specifically on two sources of data around which
significant efforts are underway in a number of countries to influence how data move
between people and organisations: publicly funded research data and data generated from
people’s interactions with online communications platforms. These particular data sources
were selected because they involve complex data movements within and between key
groups of social actors –citizens, science, state, market, have been approached from
different disciplinary perspectives, and in the case of research data sharing there is a strong
connection to the already existing work on data friction in scientific data infrastructures
that is discussed in the following section.
My intention is not to produce an exhaustive systematic review of all barriers to data
movement observed in the literature. Rather, I aim to develop a hermeneutic analysis of
relevant literature from across the disciplines in orde r to identify key qualities
of “data friction”in two particular contexts. I draw upon Kitchin’s (2014) concept of a
“data assemblage”to develop a framework through which to categorise three overarching
factors identified within the literature as influencing “friction”in the movement of data: data
sharing infrastructure and management, socio-cultural factors and regulatory frameworks.
These factors are understood to be interrelated and developing in relation to broader
political economic dynamics. From here, I consider how the socio-material frictions that
restrict the movement of data between social actors can be understood as an important
constitutive force in the development of social relations.
While research data and online communications data may initially appear to be quite
different cases,a number of overarching parallels are identified relating to the waysin which
new data flowsand the frictions that shape them bringsocial actors into new forms of relation
with one another,the platformisation of infrastructures for data circulation, and state actionto
influence the dynamics of data movement. The concept of “data friction”, I argue, can help
social actors identify, examine and act upon some of the complex socio-material dynamics
shaping emergentdata movements across a variety of domains,and inform deliberation at all
levels –from everydaypractice to international regulation–about how such frictions can be
collectively shaped towards the creation of more equitable and just societies.
The social dynamics of digital data movement and friction
Clearly data do not move of their own accord. In order for “data friction”to exist there must
be some force attempting to move data in the first place. Across the disciplines there have
been various attempts to theorise and conceptualise the nature of how digital data move
between social actors. A frequent framing emphasises the free flow of digital data across
global networked infrastructure, e.g. Castells (1991). This conceptualisation of “flowing”
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The politics of
data friction
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