Research
Latest research from Social Media & Society Cluster members
Jeffrey Lane’s new book The Digital Street is published
Jeffrey Lane’s book The Digital Street has been published by Oxford University Press. Based on five years of ethnographic observations, dozens of interviews, and analyses of social media content, the book illustrates a new street world where social media transforms how young people experience neighborhood violence and poverty.
Khadijah Costley White publishes new book The Branding of Right-Wing Activism
Khadijah Costley White has published The Branding of Right-Wing Activism: The News Media and The Tea Party with Oxford University Press. It discusses the Tea Party’s ascent to major political phenomenon and the way in which partisan and non-partisan news outlets “branded” the Party as a pot-stirrer in political conflicts over race, class, and gender.
Marie Radford and “Cynergy” study online scholarly identity
Members of the Cynergy Research Team at Rutgers SC&I, led by Prof. Marie Radford, are exploring faculty, Ph.D. student, and librarian information practices and needs regarding management of their online scholarly identities using digital platforms such as Twitter, ResearchGate, and ORCID.
Caitlin Petre explores audience analytics and algorithmic manipulation
As part of her ongoing research on the role of audience analytics in contemporary news production, Prof. Caitlin Petre wanted to understand why journalists often become addicted to analytics tools that measure the clicks, “likes,” and shares of their articles – even as they also resent the influence of such tools in their newsroom and their work.
Vivek Singh and Mary Chayko investigate gender stereotypes on digital media platforms
Profs. Vivek Singh and Mary Chayko are leading a team of researchers investigating the prevalence of gender stereotypes in occupational images (of librarians, nurses, computer programmers and civil engineers) on a variety of digital media platforms (Twitter, Bing, Wikipedia, NY Times Online, and Shutterstock).
Social movement media analyzed by Jack Bratich
Prof. Jack Bratich continues his work on social movement media with an analysis of the Nuit Debout protests in France [Up All Night, Down for the Count? A Compositionist Approach to Nuit Debout” International Journal of Communication (12, 2018, pp. 1908–1927)].
Chenjerai Kumanyikja’s “Uncivil” Podcast
Professor and journalist Chenjerai Kumanyika’s research on social justice and the Civil War era has resulted in the fascinating, much-heralded “Uncivil” podcast. As described on its home page:
America is divided, and it always has been…
David Greenberg’s “Republic of Spin”
Republic of Spin—a vibrant history covering more than one hundred years of politics—presidential historian and SC&I Social Media and Society Cluster faculty member David Greenberg recounts the rise of the White House spin machine…
Second edition of Superconnected by Mary Chayko is published
Mary Chayko’s book Superconnected: The Internet, Digital Media, and Techno-Social Life has been published in a second edition by SAGE Publications. The book brings together the latest research from many relevant fields to examine how contemporary social life is mediated by various digital technologies: the internet, social media, and mobile devices.
Young People and the Future of News: Social Media and the Rise of Connective Journalism
Regina Marchi studies alternative forms of political communication and civic engagement, with a focus on populations historically marginalized from official politics and news media due to their social class, race, immigration status, gender or age. Her recent research is concerned with information-sharing and civic participation in a social media age…
