— with Dr. Daniela Jaramillo-Dent, University of Zurich (UZH) and Università della Svizzera italiana (USI)
When: May 12–13, 2026, 10am–3:45pm
Where: Weizenbaum Institute; Room D0-R09; in-person only
Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Category: Data collection, data analysis
Seats: 20
Abstract: In this workshop, participants will be introduced to the walkthrough method and the scroll back method as complementary approaches to enrich the analysis of visual, memetic, and interactive social media platforms, communities, and content. The walkthrough method offers a way of engaging directly with a platform’s interface to examine its technological mechanisms and embedded cultural references, helping researchers understand how a platform’s design and its affordances guide users and shape their experiences. The scroll back method will be examined as an adaptation of the walkthrough within interview-based research. This method invites participants to navigate their own platform histories during the research encounter, surfacing layers of use and meaning-making in their interaction with visual platforms. Together, these approaches enable researchers to consider the contexts where specific discourses develop, adding dimensions to understand the particular logics and grammars of social media platforms and communities — often described as platform vernaculars. The workshop will draw on examples from specific digital communities and hands-on activities, where participants will have the opportunity to expand their qualitative methodological toolkit when approaching content on visual social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.
Dr. Daniela Jaramillo-Dent is a Senior Research and Teaching Associate at the Media Change and Innovation Division at the Department of Communication and Media Research (IKMZ) at the University of Zurich (UZH) and Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute of Digital Technologies for Communication (ITDxC) at the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI). Her research focuses on platform cultures, creator and influencer studies, algorithmic inequalities, and diasporic communities, with particular attention to Latin America and the Majority World. She specializes in digital ethnographic methods and visual approaches to platform research. She is Board Student and Early Career Representative at the International Communication Association (ICA), Key Regional Leader of the TikTok Cultures Research Network (Curtin University) and Latin America AI Lead at the Inclusive AI Lab (Utrecht University).