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Producing Shared Understanding for Digital and Social Innovation

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My first sole authored book was published with Palgrave Macmillan / Springer in September 2020 and is available at all major book stores in the US, Canada, Australia and the UK, including Amazon

Book Description

In the Anthropocene age there is a need for unifying the relationships between people, planet and technology, their interactions, experiences and impacts across ecosystems. In response to this need, this book introduces unifying bridging concepts informational waves and transdisciplinary resonance towards producing shared understanding. This book also presents emerging methods for transdisciplinary projects focusing on moments, paradoxes and dialogues for digital social innovation and sustainable development partnership goals for improving quality of life.

Shared understanding is about how people from different fields and perspectives are communicating, curating, embodying, intuiting and reflecting on shared responsibilities within social ecologies. As a guide to co-designing for information experiences that create meaningful moments of shared understanding, the author illuminates essential transferable, lateral mindsets and soft skills: knowing the gaps through imagination, creativity, listening and noticing, and bridging the gaps through problem emergence, multiple stakeholders, informed learning and personal change.

This book is for those who are, or aspire to be social change agents from any discipline, industry or walk of life, such as scientists, social scientists, educators, leaders, partnership brokers for responsible innovation, information professionals, technologists and engineers, media and communications professionals, policy developers, citizen researchers and advocates, who actively facilitate informed collaborative relationships for digital and social innovation projects.

About the Author

Dr Faye Q. Miller is a social science researcher, career development consultant and documentary producer. Faye has published her research in leading international social science journals, informed by more than a decade of experience in-between disciplines and industries such as journalism, social media, higher education, research services and public policy. Faye is currently Director of global career coaching, mentoring and digital research consultancy, Human Constellation. Faye has recently led and collaborated on projects associated with Queensland University of Technology, the Australian National University, Harvard University and University of Canberra.

Valuing differences

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Four years ago, while tinkering in the Exploratorium Museum in San Francisco, I had an idea for a book about practicing shared understanding. I started writing it slowly two years before I received a book contract. As the years went on, we reached crisis point with shared understanding and bridging divides needed more than ever. Under heavy emotions I battled to write and it felt like no one would hear, especially where it was most needed. In the UK and Australia, the book was categorized under Education or Social Sciences – where I intended it to be. In the US, it was categorized under Policy Science and Technology. This was unexpected but it made sense. In September 2020, University of Delaware was first in the world to order the published book. After today, I am writing my next book in a less anxious state. I already hear the growing relief in the voices of the people I interview online in the US and elsewhere. The communication lines are now open and valued and it feels like we can now move forward with informed solutions to global issues. That is the huge difference between now and four years ago.

Everyday life information experiences on Twitter and social media

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Miller, F., Davis, K. & Partridge, H. (2019). Everyday life information experiences in Twitter: A grounded theory. Information Research, vol. 24, no. 2.

Abstract

Introduction. This paper presents the findings from a project that investigated people’s everyday life information experiences on Twitter.
Method. The project employed constructivist grounded theory methodology, which emphasizes personal, subjective meaning-making or construction of reality. Eleven people from Boston, Massachusetts participated in the study. Each person participated in two in-depth interviews.
Analysis. The study used the methods of constant comparison to create codes and categories towards constructing a new substantive model of information experiences on Twitter in the context of everyday life.
Results. The substantive model constructed consists of twelve categories: being aware of audiences; making sense of uncertainty; being part of a community; conversing freely; observing the world; having instant sources; being humorous; documenting life moments; being dependent; self-regulating; broadening horizons; and valuing diverse voices.
Conclusion. A conceptual model of people’s everyday life experiences on Twitter was developed from an innovative information experience lens. The model can be used to inform research and design, and to lead to better digital, social and personal outcomes related to social media.

Media related to this project:

Ethical design is the answer to some of social media’s problems. Commissioned article for The Conversation, Global – January 2018.

The Social Media Paradox (feature length documentary in pre-production) Role: Executive Producer, Writer

Dialogue mapping as a tool for ethical technology design, Interview for Product Hacker Podcast 2019 (Apple Podcast), USA – Episode #10