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The Meaning of Circulating Visualisations related to a Policy Controversy1275information sources are privileged over others, and how results are localized (Allen, 2021; Gerhards & Schäfer, 2010; Rogers, 2019). To address this, further research could use a more transparent research-designated tool.Other limitations arise from conducting an in-depth analysis of a limited number of visualisations and gathering URLs in English only. Extending the number of visualisations and languages will provide an even richer empirical picture and could identify whether this study’s findings are universal, or specific to a language area.5.6 ConclusionThe paper explores three forms of circulation – within a platform (Twitter), across platforms (Twitter and the open Web), and across topical contexts – by analysing the (dynamic) meaning as reflected in the tone of the visualisations’ accompanying text and the image–text storylines. We analysed 90 tweets about nanotechnology in food, their 104 visualisations, and 667 URLs on which these visualisations were found.The paper demonstrates how, on Twitter, visualisations and their accompanying text narrate opinionated message about nanotechnology in food – either positive, mostly about food security, food sustainability, and health benefits, or negative, mostly about food contamination and health concerns. When circulating on both Twitter and the open Web, the accompanying text on the open Web conveyed a more complex and nuanced message than that on Twitter. The paper also suggests that the connection between multiple topics that use shared visualisations is enriched and worthy of investigation, and that the circulation of visualisations across topical contexts is a specific form of circulation that allows precise insights to be gained into how the meaning of visualisations changes in the digital world.The rich and comprehensive empirical findings, the refined conceptual approach, and this study’s innovative method can form the basis for following research that will extend the study of the circulation of digital visualisations of nanotechnology in food and other topics. This would add an important dimension to the understanding of visualisations’ role in communications about a contested issue.Efrat.indd 127 19-09-2023 09:47