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Dear all, Apologies for cross-postings Just one week left to get your submissions in for this session at the Royal Geographic Society (with IBG) in Cardiff! Please send your abstracts of 250 words to me by email at [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> by no later than Wednesday 7th February. Methods and approaches in working with digital social media Session organiser: Jamie Halliwell, Manchester Metropolitan University Sponsored by Postgraduate forum and Digital Geographies research groups Abstract Digital social media reconfigures our social understandings and embodied knowledges which have revolutionised our social relationships (Ash, et al., 2016). These technologies and the internet more generally also stretch intimacy (for example, sexual and familial relationships) beyond the domestic realm, allowing people to be together and separate (Valentine, 2008; Wilkinson, 2013). Fundamentally, digital social media is increasingly mobilised through smartphone technologies which transcends socio-spatial relations and provides multiple spaces for negotiating our identities (Longhurst, 2013; Rose, 2016; Taylor, et al., 2014). This session seeks contributions from researchers who are using digital social media in their research and in particular the research methods they are employing to explore these spaces. Social media platforms that could be discussed (but are not limited to) Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat or dating applications such as Grindr and Tinder. This session will explore how social media is transforming more ‘traditional’ research methods of the past to coincide with the conference theme of ‘changing landscapes of geography’. Contributions could include, but are not limited to: - Researcher challenges and perspectives in researching digital social media spaces - Ethical considerations and challenges when ‘doing’ research on digital social media - Challenges and negotiations of researcher positionally - Issues in accessing and recruiting participants using social media - Mixed-method approaches that use digital social media - Epistemological challenges in applying research methods on digital social media Postgraduates and early career researchers at any stage in their research are particularly welcome and it will provide a forum for the exchange of ideas amongst these researchers who are using digital social media in their research. Therefore, the session will be organised into short 10 minute paper presentations, followed by a 30 minute question and answer panel-style session featuring all speakers. Please send your abstracts by email of no more than 250 words to myself, Jamie Halliwell at [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> by no later than Wednesday 7th February. I would be more than happy to discuss paper proposals for this session, if you have any queries, please send them to my email provided. PLEASE NOTE - Acknowledgements of receipt will be sent upon submission of abstracts. Looking forward to hearing from you! Best wishes, Jamie Halliwell, PhD Student, School of Science and the Environment, Division of Geography and Environmental Management, Manchester Metropolitan University, John Dalton Building, Chester Street, Manchester, M1 5GD Website officer for the Social and Cultural Geography Research Group www.scgrg.rgs.org Twitter: @SCGRG_RGS