‘A rapid research response to the death of Aylan Kurdi’: How the social media study spread
Last week, we were amazed at how well 'The iconic image on social media: a rapid research response to the death of Aylan Kurdi' was received by the world's press. We watched the story spread around the globe, so in this blog we thought we'd share a round-up of the biggest publications who chose to release the study.
The research paper was released by Visual Social Media Lab, a project we co-founded last year in collaboration with four UK universities to push the boundaries of image analysis and understanding in social media.
The research focuses on an image framing one of the biggest issues in 2015 - the refugee crisis - made memorable by the tragic image of Aylan Kurdi lying face down on a Turkish beach. The study found that the image changed how language was used, with people shifting from using the term 'migrants' to 'refugees'. The study also shows how Twitter was instrumental in the spread of these images, which made the story mainstream and global before the first official article was published. You can read the full paper on our blog here.
Coverage (so far)
- BuzzFeed Canada: How The Photos Of Alan Kurdi Changed The Conversation From “Migrants” To “Refugees”
- The Independent: Aylan Kurdi images were seen by '20 million people in 12 hours'
- Corriere della Sera: Da migranti a rifugiati: così Aylan ha cambiato le conversazioni online (e il dibattito politico)
- The Next Web: How 2015's most iconic image on the web changed the debate on refugees
- Daily Mail: Tragic boy Aylan's image saw 'refugee' word outstrip migrant tweets - study
- The Guardian: Alan Kurdi image appeared on 20m screens in just 12 hours
- AOL News: Tragic boy Aylan's image saw 'refugee' word outstrip 'migrant' in tweets - study
- BT.com: Tragic boy Aylan's image saw 'refugee' word outstrip 'migrant' in tweets - study
- Irish Examiner: Images tip language use to 'refugee', according to researchers at Sheffield University
- The Scotsman: 'Migrants' became 'refugees' after Aylan Kurdi photo says study
- Quartz: Research shows how one devastating image totally changed how we talk about the refugee crisis
- PR Week: Social media debate immigration transformed following Aylan Kurdi image
- Breitbart: Dead Syrian kid pic worked: Media changed public perception after Aylan Kurdi went viral
- Suara.com: Foto Aylan Kurdi di Twitter Ubah Pandangan Eropa soal Pengungsi
For any questions do reach out to Francesco on Twitter at @abc3d or email him at [email protected].
