Accessing young people's spatiotemporal construction of agency through joint storytelling

Abstract

Purpose – In the social sciences, interviews are often used to ascertain how agency is constructed by research participants, yet the retrospective nature of interviews inevitably shapes how agency is narrated. This article argues that relying on interviews may impose limitations on qualitative research projects that seek to understand agency construction. The alternative approach discussed in this article introduces a social media simulation method that allowed the participants to rework time and space, as they constructed their agencies. Design/methodology/approach – In the study presented here, the data were gathered using a social media simulation method. It prompted the participants to create stories of youth gatherings by building on story stems provided. The young participants were asked to imagine that post-it notes were private online messages. This design gave access to the spatiotemporal logic of private group messaging interactions. Findings – The findings illustrate agencies in the making, unfolding in space, moment by moment. The article experiments with concepts such as sideshadowing and nested-time, making explicit the essential reconfigurations of space and temporality in the construction of agency. Originality/value – The method allowed multiple tellers to attune their narratives to spatiotemporal and interpersonal purposes, sequentially orienting themselves toward the past, present, and future. Discovering this dynamic enabled the study to capture a spatiotemporal complexity that would have remained hidden in a more traditional approach.