Navigating digital decay: politics, affect and mitigation

Jester, Natalie ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7995-3028 (2026) Navigating digital decay: politics, affect and mitigation. In: Research Methods in Online Political Communication: After the APIcalypse. Routledge. (In Press)

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Abstract

"Digital decay" is where items on the internet stop working, due to deliberate removal or lack of maintenance. There are significant methodological and ethical implications stemming from digital decay. This chapter loosely makes use of X/Twitter as a case study to unpack this issue, exploring the author's experience working on arms manufacturers’ social media. There is no perfect means of handling digital decay methodologically, but this chapter hopes to provide some helpful questions that you might ask yourself in order to tackle it in your own project. For example, what are the political and ethical issues relating to digital decay? It is important to recognise where we ourselves fit within our research projects: how does it feel to work in this sort of environment as a researcher? The chapter aims to take a holistic approach to a growing problem, engaging with both the practical and affective dimensions of this issue.

Item Type:	Book Section
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology J Political Science > JA Political science (General) J Political Science > JZ International relations T Technology > T Technology (General)
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Business, Computing and Social Sciences
Depositing User:	Natalie Jester
Date Deposited:	02 Jun 2026 10:48
Last Modified:	02 Jun 2026 11:00
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/16266

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