THE ARCHIVAL TRUSTWORTHINESS OF DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHS IN SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS by JESSICA BUSHEY MAS, The University of British Columbia, 2005 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Library, Archival and Information Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) April 2016 © Jessica Bushey, 2016 Abstract No longer objects held in the hand, photographs are streams of bits, shared instantaneously across screens. From selfies to war reportage, the widespread use of smartphones for taking digital photographs and transmitting them to social media platforms is introducing new social practices, technological processes and legal contexts for record-making and recordkeeping, which impact the trustworthiness of digital photographs. This dissertation investigates current information practices by individuals for creating, managing, sharing and storing digital photographs. The research focuses on the factors that support or hinder the reliability, accuracy and authenticity of digital photographs. Using a qualitative research design, it explores how individuals’ activities and perceptions impact the value of digital photographs held in social media platforms as potential records to be acquired and preserved by archival institutions. A web-based survey reached social media members worldwide, and semi-structured interviews gathered in-depth data from a sample of survey participants. The research found that individuals are members of multiple social media platforms and are actively sharing large quantities of personal digital photographs with friends, social media communities and the open Web. It also revealed that individuals are adding contextual information to their digital photographs, before and after upload to social media platforms, for the purposes of communicating the intent of the photographer and the meaning of the photograph, and of participating in storytelling; however, the procedures for managing and storing user-generated content performed by social media services place the digital photographs ii and their associated metadata at significant risk of alteration and loss. The research found that the policies of social media services are buried within complex Terms of Use that few members read, introducing the potential for individuals to accumulate personal digital collections or archives online without understanding the extent of ownership, privacy, reuse, and future access. The research found that individuals’ attribute long-term value to the copies of digital photographs held on their personal devices prior to sharing online; whereas, the copies circulated in social media platforms are ephemeral, quickly consumed and then forgotten. Individuals have not made plans to delete, transfer or preserve collections of photographs held within social media services. iii Preface This dissertation is original, independent work by the author, Jessica Bushey. A version of Chapter 2, Section 2.3.2.1 has been published. Bushey, Jessica. (2014) “Convergence, Connectivity, Performance and the Ephemeral: New Characteristics of Digital Photographs.” Archives & Manuscripts 42 (1): 33-47. Reprinted with permission of the publisher. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, http://www.tandfonline.com. A version of Chapter 2, Sections 2.3.2.2 and 2.4 has been published. Bushey, Jessica. (2015) “Trustworthy Citizen-generated Images and Video on Social Media Platforms.” In Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) Proceedings, 5-8 January, 1553-1564. Kauai, Hawaii, IEEE Computer Society. Reprinted with permission of the publisher. ©IEEE Computer Society. Data collection reported in Chapters 4 and 5 is covered by UBC Ethics Certificate H14-00546. iv Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii Preface ........................................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ...........................................................................................................................v List of Tables ..................................................................................................................................x List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... xi List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................. xiii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... xiv Dedication .....................................................................................................................................xv Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................1 1.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Identification of the Research Problem ......................................................................... 5 1.3 Research Questions ........................................................................................................ 14 1.4 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................. 16 1.5 Dissertation Structure ................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 2: Literature Review .....................................................................................................21 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 21 2.2 Archival Diplomatics ..................................................................................................... 22 2.2.1 Theoretical Foundations............................................................................................ 23 2.2.2 Previous Research ..................................................................................................... 29 2.2.2.1 Archival Diplomatic Analysis of Photographs .................................................. 29 2.2.2.2 Visual Literacy and Archival Photographs ........................................................ 38 2.2.2.3 Curation of Online Photographs Collections ..................................................... 43 v 2.3 Photography ................................................................................................................... 48 2.3.1 Theoretical Foundations............................................................................................ 48 2.3.1.1 Chemical Photography ....................................................................................... 49 2.3.1.2 Digital Photography ........................................................................................... 57 2.3.2 Previous Research ..................................................................................................... 59 2.3.2.1 Personal Digital Photography ............................................................................ 60 2.3.2.1.1 Media Convergence .................................................................................... 63 2.3.2.1.2 Connectivity ................................................................................................ 64 2.3.2.1.3 Ephemerality ............................................................................................... 66 2.3.2.1.4 Performance ................................................................................................ 68 2.3.2.2 Professional Digital Photography and Evidencing Practices ............................. 70 2.4 Photography and the Law ............................................................................................. 77 2.4.1 The Law of Evidence and Photography .................................................................... 77 2.4.2 Literature and Case Law on Digital Evidence and Social Media Photographs ........ 87 2.4.3 Social Media Services Contracts – Terms of Use ..................................................... 92 2.5 Summary ......................................................................................................................... 98 Chapter 3: Research Design ......................................................................................................100 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 100 3.2 Archival Science ........................................................................................................... 100 3.3 Postmodernist Critique of the Positivist Archival Paradigm .................................. 103 3.4 Interpretivism and Archival Science .......................................................................... 106 3.5 Research Plan ............................................................................................................... 110 3.5.1 Worldview – Interpretivism .................................................................................... 111 vi 3.5.2 Strategy ..................................................................................................................