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The Dynamics of Place-Based Virtual Communities: Social Media in a Region in Transition

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Abstract

Social media is a key platform through which communities can organise, connect and communicate. As such we argue that it can provide insight into how regional places and communities are imagined through digital platforms. Social media platforms like Facebook provide a way for researchers to map the virtual geography of real places. Often place-based community activity on social networks sites is a response to transition and change. Social media provides us with a way to assess and measure the community’s response to change and crisis. This chapter will explore the ways in which digital social research methods can enhance understandings of place-based regional identities during and after times of crisis. We examine a case study from the Latrobe Valley in regional Victoria to consider how Facebook in particular provides a window to the complicated affective relationships to place that emerge in times of crisis and strife.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Hazelwood Health Study is funded by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services and was set up in response to community concerns, in order to investigate potential health impacts resulting from the smoke from the fire (http://hazelwoodhealthstudy.org.au/).

  2. 2.

    In its report, the Hazelwood Board of Inquiry commended the organisers of VOTV, stating, ‘the Board commends those responsible for the establishment of Voices of the Valley and the actions of this group in disseminating important information to the local community and advocating on their behalf during the emergency’ (Hazelwood Mine Fire Inquiry Report, 2014: 403).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Federation University Australia, Churchill, VIC, Australia

    Naomi Smith & Susan Yell

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  1. Naomi Smith
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  2. Susan Yell
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Correspondence to Susan Yell .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Arts Academy, Federation University Australia, Ballarat, VIC, Australia

    Angela Campbell

  2. Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia

    Michelle Duffy

  3. Humanities and Social Sciences, Federation University Australia, Churchill, VIC, Australia

    Beth Edmondson

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Smith, N., Yell, S. (2020). The Dynamics of Place-Based Virtual Communities: Social Media in a Region in Transition. In: Campbell, A., Duffy, M., Edmondson, B. (eds) Located Research. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9694-7_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9694-7_12

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-32-9693-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-32-9694-7

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