Digital Methods in Africa and Beyond: A View from Down Under

ABSTRACT

This article offers an Australian perspective on the definitions, significance and potential of digital methods in digital media, communication and cultural studies. We begin by situating this perspective in terms of postcolonial geography and disciplinarity and then argue for the value of hybrid digital methods, by which we mean the integration of computational methods and knowledges with qualitative and critical frameworks and approaches. We apply this framework in providing a brief commentary on each of the articles included in this Special Issue, demonstrating how they are all in various ways making important contributions to the further development of hybrid digital methods in African contexts and in digital media research more broadly.

KEYWORDS:

• Digital methods
• digital media methods
• digital storytelling
• social media analytics
• participatory methods

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.