This presentation aims to explore key issues of
web archives and social media analysis, drawing on
findings and experience from the collective HIVI
project (A History of Online Virality, hivi.uni.lu), which
concluded in 2024. The focus is on the challenges,
opportunities and limits that arise when using born-
digital sources to trace the evolution of “Internet
phenomena” over time. The presentation will first
examine questions related to Sources and Corpora
– specifically, the challenges of preservation and of
searchability within vast born-digital archives filled
with “noise” and “silence”. Then, Transplatform
and Transnational Studies are to be considered,
highlighting for instance issues of interoperability
across different platforms and institutions. The third
part will discuss Analysis and Tools, and notably the
need for scalable reading and contextualization.
Finally, Maintenance and Dissemination Practices
will be addressed, with a focus on FAIR principles
for sustainable research in web archives and social
media studies.
Show this publication on our institutional repository (orbi.lu).
