By giving us easy access to information, the web keeps us informed about niche initiatives that were previously unable to afford costly advertising in the press and television or by definition remained elitist and inaccessible to the mass audience. Creators, in turn, can use social media to target clearly defined user groups, such as those interested in theatre, painting, different music genres or local activism. Though seemingly the optimal solution, it can sometimes lead to negative consequences associated with content overload. We simply lack the time and attention to read all the interesting books and articles or attend every interesting meeting or concert.

What can we, as researchers, creators, animators or cultural event promoters, do in this situation? How can we make social media enrich the public’s experience and provide valuable knowledge instead of aggravating this information anxiety?

A major challenge in this endeavour is to combine the knowledge of the users of social media such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, with the results of cultural research carried out using traditional methods applied in sociology and cultural sciences. The idea is to take advantage of the potential offered by the analysis of large data sets without sacrificing the accuracy of surveys, interviews and observations, so that we can achieve a better understanding of the needs and intentions of cultural consumers. Equally important it is to explain how and to what extent the activity of web users translates to actual participation in cultural events.

So, how to use universal data analysis and visualisation tools to study Katowice culture? We are now on the point of deciding how the city should develop after celebrating its150 anniversary and launching the Katowice zone of culture, consisting of the Silesian Museum, the NOSPR concert hall and the International Congress Centre. The past year saw many debates, consultations and lively and social media discussions in to this end, and a fair number of recommendations concerning the development of culture in Katowice was presented in the City DNA report.

Although one of the main demands is the democratisation of cultural life, it seems to us that the debate on Katowice’s culture relies too much on the opinions of people who create it on a daily basis. It is often dominated by short-term ideas voiced by decision-makers from local cultural institutions members of non-governmental organizations, artists, experts and prominent opinion makers, but is lacking in well-conceived and long-term initiatives to get to know the opinions and needs of actual event attendees.

An good example in this respect is a discussion about what motivates people to participate and where it is that arrive from to attend the events in the centre of the metropolis. As hardly any institutions regularly research their audiences, how is it possible to determine whether such events cater to visitors or residents? If we fail to understand who is involved, how are we to know what principles should be adopted to bring about what perhaps is a legitimate decentralisation of culture in the city? This argument also holds true for the vital discussion about the role of the culture zone in breathing new life into the city centre. Little is known about the visitors to NOSPR or the Silesian Museum. How often do they drive in? Do the visit the market square or one of the central pubs and restaurants after the event? Consequently, how can we reasonably assess whether the location of the zone actually cuts people off the city centre?

Our research is not intended to resolve all questions relating to city development through culture, neither do we dare formulate prescriptive recommendations. Instead, we wish to provide data and research tools to facilitate discussion and making informed decisions. Of course, data-driven research are not inherently more objective, but provide for a cost effective way to study large numbers of users and events with a potential to identify patterns and relationships that would otherwise be difficult to capture .

Our research is conducted using Medialab’s open project model, which is designed to make the data acquisition and analysis process as transparent as possible. Consequently, we intend to publish not only the final results, but also the raw data, scripts and methodological notes. In keeping with our critical approach to conducting research adopted at the outset of our study, we have been organising open workshops and meetings to join our forces with the participants to search the best solutions, our aim being to better understand the specific nature of Katowice’s cultural life and to develop and field test versatile methods of working with data that will be of use in other projects.

Disclaimer: The research is conducted jointly by Medialab Katowice and Katowice City of Gardens. The project is funded by the City Hall with financial support from the European Union within the framework of the Creative Europe Programme.