We The (Social) Media: Social Media by and for social Movements

• Duration: 2023 – 2026
• Project lead: Prof. Dr. Andreas Breiter

Project management: Prof. Dr. Andreas Breiter

Funding institution: BMBF – Federal Ministry of Education and Research

The aim of We The (Social) Media (WTSM) is to understand how members of social movements use social networks. This is important because millions of people use social networks to communicate, inform themselves and get in touch with each other. Social networks make it possible to coordinate easily and quickly with a large number of people and to find people with similar interests.

WTSM is investigating what advantages and disadvantages members of social movements see in existing social networks and how social networks can be improved to best support social movements. The project works closely with members of various social movements.

WTSM is a sub-project of DataNord, the interdisciplinary data competence center for the Bremen region. DataNord is a place for data science learning, research and networking. This place is intended for researchers in the region, regardless of institutional or disciplinary boundaries.

As a sub-project, WTSM enables an intensive exchange of data and analysis skills between computer science, political science and communication science, which also benefits the other partners in the network.

In addition to ifib, the following institutions are also involved in the project: The University of Bremen, the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology – BIPS, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence Bremen (DFKI), and the U Bremen Research Alliance e.V. The Bremen University of Applied Sciences, the State and University Library, the BIBA – Bremer Institut für Produktion und Logistik GmbH and the NFDI consortia and infrastructure centers are also involved in the project.