I thoroughly enjoyed presenting at the third international St Magnus Conference (#StMag16), particularly as it was based in Orkney.
As the conference was multidisciplinary, with delegates from a variety of academic backgrounds, I took the opportunity to be a little more light-hearted and creative with my presentation. Rather than work through a linear presentation of my previous and current research (is research ever linear anyway?!), I chose to look at Orkney’s Online Landscape more broadly, sharing some of the data I have been looking at online.
Key points included:
• The growing interest in sharing existing folklore online (including recent social media activity)
• The benefits and development of internet research (quantitative and qualitative)
• The concept of an online landscape being something recognised and understood, but not entirely reflective of Orkney’s physical landscape
• Social media as an expression of identity
• The importance of the visuality of the social media experience
• The crossover from physical landscape to online landscape
• The development of online discussions stemming from an experience not originally online
• The voices that are shaping Orkney’s online landscape
• The online reflection of Orkney’s character and humour, and the ability to identify themes relating to Orkney and identity
• Orkney’s online landscape has more than its fair share of lost and found cats
• Orkney’s online landscape as something tethered to her physical landscape
Further Information
Image of Waulkmill Bay (Orphir, Orkney) by Lydia Crow, taken March 2016 (Slide #1).
The Folklore Thursday Twitter account can be found online here. Screencap: 15th April 2016 (Slide #3).
The Guardian article “The dark side of Guardian comments”, published 12th April 2016, can be found online here. Screencap: 15th April 2016 (Slide #4).
The UCL Why We Post website can be found online here, and further information relating to the free online course can be found online here. Screencap: 15th April 2016 (Slide #5).
Image of London Underground Map can be found on the Transport for London website, online here (Slide #6).
The Twitter image search (#Orkney) was screencapped 15th April 2016 (Slide #7).
The Tumblr search (Orkney) was screencapped 15th April 2016 (Slide #8).
The Facebook Group post in ORKNEY PAST & PRESENT can be found online here. Screencap: 15th April 2016 (Slide #9).
The Facebook Group post in Orkney Sky can be found online here. Screencap: 15th April 2016 (Slide #10).
The Google search (Orkney Blog) was screencapped 15th April 2016 (Slide #11).
The Folklore section of the Orkneyjar website can be found online here. Screencap: 15th April 2016 (Slide #12).
The Orkney Library Twitter post can be found online here. Screencap: 15th April 2016 (Slide #13).
The BBC Radio Orkney Page post can be found online here. Screencap: 15th April 2016 (Slide #14).
Image of Stenness Loch (Orkney) by Lydia Crow, taken March 2016 (Slide #15).
For further information relating to sources, including full academic citations, please get in touch.