Former CIM PhD student Mat铆as Valderrama Barrag谩n wins Best Methods Paper Award
Former Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies PhD student Mat铆as Valderrama Barrag谩n has received the Best Methods Paper Award at the 2026 Social Media & Society Conference in Glasgow.
The award recognised his presentation,鈥淭he Social Life of the MSI Metric: Rationalities and Metrologies of 鈥楳eaningful Social Interaction鈥� at Meta.鈥�
The paper is based on Mat铆as鈥� PhD thesis, which develops a controversy mapping of the Facebook Files and Facebook Papers: the internal documents disclosed by Meta whistleblower Frances Haugen in 2021.
Combining qualitative research with a digital methods approach, the study follows the disclosures across news media, social media, corporate communications and the documents themselves. Drawing on these materials, the research examines how the concept and metric of 鈥淢eaningful Social Interactions鈥� emerged, evolved and was eventually abandoned within Meta鈥檚 governance of its social media platforms.
The Social Media & Society Conference brings together researchers from around the world to discuss emerging issues in social media research. The award represents significant recognition of the quality and originality of Mat铆as鈥� methodological contribution.
Mat铆as鈥� extended abstract can be found in the conference book of abstracts, alongside the work of the other award recipients.