Thursday April 23, 12.15 - 13.00 at Galaxen [map] and on Zoom
On Thursday the 23rd of April DIGSUM will host a seminar as part of the new seminar series celebrating a decade of interdisciplinary digital scholarship at Umeå University. Throughout the coming year, DIGSUM will host monthly seminars featuring leading researchers, emerging scholars, and invited speakers working at the intersection of digital technology and society. In this seminar Paul Schmidt, Umeå University, will talk about “Quantity, Repetition and Affect - The Making of Security on Social Media”.
Abstract
Securitization theory emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s and has since occupied a central position in International Relations research. While it has been applied to a wide range of empirical domains, the theory remains largely grounded in assumptions about communication, authority, and power that predate contemporary digital media environments. As a result, its applicability to social media and online discourse remains underexplored. This presentation summarizes ongoing research that examines both the limitations and the analytical potential of applying securitization theory to social media contexts. Drawing on the analysis of more than six million Reddit submissions and comments, it demonstrates how large-scale quantitative data can be used to study the construction of security in online environments. The findings challenge core assumptions of securitization theory by showing that security discourses on social media are increasingly constructed peer-to-peer rather than imposed top-down by elite actors. The presentation further highlights the opportunities and challenges associated with AI-based and computational tools for studying securitization, particularly with regard to affect, scale, and repetition. It argues that in digital contexts, emotional framing, sheer volume, and continuous circulation increasingly compensate for—or even replace—the traditional gatekeeping role of power and authority.
Paul Schmidt is a PhD student at the Department of Political Science and the Arctic Centre at Umeå University. Paul’s research is situated within International Security, with a particular emphasis on the Arctic region. He examines how Arctic states interpret and respond to a rapidly evolving security environment, focusing on processes of securitization and riskification. His work analyzes how states construct and manage a wide range of perceived security challenges, including critical infrastructure protection, digital platforms such as TikTok, (online) misinformation, and the spillover effects of broader geopolitical tensions into the Arctic.
Seminars take place over lunch once a month on Thursdays in Galaxen at Umeå University. All students, researchers, and interested colleagues are warmly welcome! Zoom links will be available for some of the events, stay tuned! For more information see [here].
For those participating online, the Zoom-meeting for all seminars in the seminar series is:
https://umu.zoom.us/j/67690806973
Meeting ID: 676 9080 6973