Ongoing societal datafication and, most recently, the widely noticed launch of ChatGPT, continue to raise the “user question”: what role(s) does the user play in datafied, artificial, and automated environments? Recent technological advancements have begun to challenge fundamental assumptions in media and communication theory and, thus, urge scholars to (re-)visit and (re-)examine the interrelations, dynamics, and entanglements of (human) users with datafied environments. Two rapidly expanding but still largely distinct bodies of research are addressing these topics: critical data and platform studies, primarily focusing on structural approaches, and user-centered perspectives anchored in the tradition of audience research. Situated at the intersection of studying platform power and user agency, the aim of this special issue is to connect structural approaches with studies of lived user experiences through the lenses of reflectivity and reflexivity. We believe that linking platform and data perspectives dealing with questions of power, accountability, and governance on a societal level to users’ engagement with digital technologies and automated systems in an everyday context is a fruitful path when aiming for a comprehensive understanding of the societal implications of the widespread adoption and integration of digital platforms and intelligent technologies. The concepts of reflectivity and reflexivity provide a valuable conceptual starting point for a more integrated and holistic discussion of the complex user-data relations emerging in and from datafied environments. While the individual contributions in this special issue present their own take on the proposed concepts, the purpose of this introduction is to establish a broader theoretical foundation by outlining some overarching considerations on how these concepts can be understood and integrated.

Public libraries, archives, and museums (LAMs) have historically played a pivotal role in the establishment and support of European liberal democracies (Rasmussen, Rydbeck, and Larsen 2023). Ideally, they serve as promoters of democracy, offering reliable information accessible to all, regardless of factors like gender, sexuality, ethnicity, race, age, disabilities, political beliefs, or faith. In an ideal scenario, LAMs encourage engaged, well-informed citizens, contributing to a vibrant civil society. However, contemporary Europe faces significant challenges to the underpinnings of deliberative democracy. The region witnesses the growth of anti-globalist movements, widening divides between urban and rural populations, regional conflicts, and nationalism, often driven by populist ideologies disregarding fundamental democratic norms. These factors result in new social and cultural divisions, complicating values of openness, pluralism, tolerance, and non-discrimination. Currently, the existing conceptual tools are insufficient to comprehensively grasp LAMs’ role in these developments.

The panel consists of members from the core group of a recently formed network Libraries, archives, and museums as key pillars of modern European democratic societies. A key ambition of this network is to develop a conceptual model for discussing local LAMs’ role in democracy. The local perspective is critical because previous research on LAMs’ political or social roles typically focuses on large national and pan-national LAM initiatives. The model focuses on democracy as an area of problematization for local LAMs and describes the entanglements and assemblages of resources, processes, and activities as they produce democratic legitimization. We rely on theories of democracy, cultural policy, and legitimacy in the cultural sphere, (e.g. Mouffe 2000; Boltanski and Chiapello 2005; Larsen 2016), and build the model on an agency-oriented approach.

The panel introduces the first iteration of the model based on our research in Sweden and Denmark. We invite our audience to an interactive session in critiquing and refining the conceptual model that addresses the issue of how local LAMs contribute to democracy. We take an iterative and abductive approach, moving between theory and empirical evidence. The model is a work in progress and is part of a creative and experimental method where we invite the audience to think about democracy and LAMs with us. We invite the audience to contribute with global perspectives on the issue.

By developing the model, we aim to get a richer understanding of the expectations and responsibilities that are ascribed to libraries, archives, and museums in relation to political transformation, and the roles they themselves take on. We will also provide knowledge on processes of legitimization and responsibilization in cultural policies in Sweden and Denmark.

While a substantial body of research has explored the intricate relationship between journalists and metrics, there remains a notable gap in systematically understanding how evolving metrics over time influence journalists’ use of data as feedback. This study addresses this gap by investigating how alterations in the most valued metrics influence the utilisation of audience data for reflection and feedback in national and local newsrooms. The study spans multiple waves from 2012 to 2023 and comprises 72 interviews with Estonian journalists. It employs the Data Loop framework to analyse the circulation of audience data among media institutions, audiences, newsrooms, and individual journalists’ reflexive actions. Examining data reflexivity within newsrooms involves considering the interplay between newsroom culture, metrics-gathering technology, external pressures from changing business models, and journalistic agency. Over time, the metrics valued by newsroom managers have shifted – from prioritising clicks as a measure of audience interest to rewarding journalists based on minutes spent on stories or the acquisition of subscriptions. In this article, we argue that instead of considering the audiences behind the data, journalists and editors mostly use the data offered by metrics to reflect on their work. Noteworthy trends include journalists conforming to data dominance and shaping their work to align with prevailing metrics, particularly in the context of paywalls where individual article readership can be linked with direct income through subscriptions. Contextualising newsroom data within the Data Loop, this study illustrates how data serves as a source for reflections at both the individual and newsroom culture levels. Despite assertions of an audience turn, our findings indicate that a focus on metrics does not necessarily signify a focus on the audience but rather an unwavering interest in journalistic production.

This article explores the intricate dance between desire and distance in ethnographic research and creativepractice, advocating for the inclusion of love letters as a methodological tool for critically articulatingindividual and collective desires. Grounded in the authors’ experiences at a workshop held during the 2023PARSE conference, the text delves into the genealogy of desire in research, situating love letters within aframework of intimacy and vulnerability. Drawing on diverse academic backgrounds, the authors reflect onthe intersections of personal and professional realms, emphasizing the ethical imperative of acknowledgingresearchers’ subjective experiences. Through a deep dive into the workshop’s planning process and itsenactment, the article elucidates the transformative potential of love letters as a means of fosteringconnection and understanding within academic and creative communities. This article invites readers toreconsider traditional research methodologies and embrace the tender work of love letter writing in theirown practice.

As museums face conflicting demands on maintaining and caringfor their collections, opening for visitor engagement, and beingmore inclusive in their practice, new approaches are needed tomuseum work. This article introduces a democratic and inclusiveapproach focusing on the relational properties of the artefact–the Method of the Thing (Tigenes Metode). We use interviewswith different museum professionals in Sweden. The methodallows knowledge to emerge from the convergence of differentactors within and outside the museum who negotiate theirexpertise, (professional) roles and technical infrastructure of themuseum by foregrounding the object rather than the curators’story. We use the encoding/decoding model to discuss thestrengths and weaknesses of the method where centring theobject allows for a process of democratisation and polyvocality totake shape, thus allowing divergent narratives to emerge.

The Impact Canvas and the visualised guidelines to fill out the impact canvas are outcomes of the research project Me-Mind. The aim of these visual materials is to support the self-assessment of cultural and creative organisations to understand their potential impact and to identify the necessary data to measure the impact of a cultural and creative industry organisation.

Museums are participating in the capturing of global data for the perceived benefit of improved relationships with the public. This article proposes a framework for critically analyzing the ratification of museum visitors and visitor engagement, combining a critical lens from data studies with a social view of datafication as practice—a set of practices within a sociotechnical assemblage that is continuously reproduced by the choices made within and outside the museum. Museums are situated at the intersection of PierreBourdieu’s economic, cultural, and political fields; thus, I highlight some of the external social and technological pressures driving datafication in museums. Relying on public accounts and previous case studies, I argue that datafication of visitor engagement is made to work through data loops: circular processes between institutional practices of museums and social practices of audiences where data are collected, processed, and decided upon.