Peta Mitchell, Queensland University of Technology; Axel Bruns, Queensland University of Technology; Darryl Woodford, Queensland University of Technology, and Katie Prowd, Queensland University of Technology
The G20 Summit that brought many of the world’s most important leaders to Brisbane last weekend was also a major Twitter event. Australian and international users expressed their concerns over the appearance…
Rape and death threats on Twitter? Not on.
Lara604/Flickr
The Women, Action and the Media (WAM) activist group announced on Friday a collaboration with Twitter to address online harassment of women, which it claims has “reached crisis levels”. The group, concerned…
Philip Kotler says the rise of social media is challenging the concept of brand loyalty.
Gabriel Chmielewski/Mays Communications
International marketing expert Philip Kotler is in Melbourne this week telling Australian companies how best to position their brands in the face of new global challenges. These challenges include the…
The new social network, Tsū, is banded with a clear and vivid green. Its hue is reminiscent of aspects of nature: the sea in winter, the stripes on certain kinds of leaves, the colour of chrysanthemums…
Can social media keep you safe from disasters?
Flickr/Jim
Given the popularity of Facebook and Twitter, it’s not surprising so many people use social media in crises such as floods, fires and earthquakes. Facebook has introduced Safety Check, a new tool for users…
Tracking the career of YouTube star Charles Trippy provides some insight into the dynamics of YouTube success.
YouTube screenshot
Darryl Woodford, Queensland University of Technology and Katie Prowd, Queensland University of Technology
It might be ancient in social media terms but YouTube – which has been around since 2005 – continues to capture popular attention, with a number of internet entrepreneurs successfully building careers…
Tapping into a public stream.
Indiana Public Media
For more or less any topic we can think of, social media has great potential for both good and harm. One example is suicidal distress. It is increasingly common for people to express despairing and suicidal…
Print or pixels, words hurt the same.
aastock/Shutterstock
Video games, Jane Austen, and a Welsh footballer: it might seem these three have nothing in common, but all have been the basis for online abuse targeted specifically at women. Of course, both men and…
For some vulnerable gamblers, social casino games can trigger a desire to gamble for real money, while for others the games can act as a useful distraction.
shutterstock
Free-to-play social online games that simulate gambling are a hugely popular, and profitable, new phenomenon, but concerns have been raised about how innocent these games really are. Our recently published…
Viewer numbers might be down – but more and more people are interacting with Big Brother via social media.
AAP Image/Nine Network, Paul Broben
Darryl Woodford, Queensland University of Technology and Katie Prowd, Queensland University of Technology
While much has been made of the drop in ratings for this year’s season of Big Brother, not to mention cancellation of the Friday and Sunday episodes, social media activity is actually showing a slight…
Hong Kong’s digitally connected protesters are mounting a thoroughly modern campaign for democracy, but the state too has updated its mechanisms of control and surveillance.
EPA/Alex Hofford
In the closing decades of the last century, many political and business elites were swept up in a global wave of policies favouring free markets, deregulation of business and finance and privatisation…
Think twice before you over-react.
Jim Bourg/Reuters
Whatever you do, don’t turn to Twitter for news about Ebola. The volume and tone of tweets and retweets about the disease will make you wish you were watching the zombie apocalypse of The Walking Dead…
Senator John Faulkner’s call for political parties to re-engage with Australians through social media is laudable, but his own efforts illustrate how much politicians have to learn.
Facebook/John Faulkner
After his speech about party renewal last week, I went to Labor Senator John Faulkner’s Facebook page. It has about 2700 likes. The page features links to speeches and pictures of events that Faulkner…
The suspense of reality TV hangs on viewers’ votes for contestants. Can social media predict winners and losers?
AAP Image/Nine Network/Paul Broben
Darryl Woodford, Queensland University of Technology and Katie Prowd, Queensland University of Technology
Reality television, alongside shows such as Q&A – which may be Reality TV in all but name – frequently drives social media conversations about the Australian television industry. Big Brother, currently…
Channel Ten is trying to engage its audience through social media – but will it work?
Channel Ten
Darryl Woodford, Queensland University of Technology and Katie Prowd, Queensland University of Technology
With Ten’s new drama Party Tricks set for an October 6 premiere, coverage has focused on the social media campaign to promote the show. In advance of the screening, Ten has created in-character accounts…
Women ask why there aren’t more women in lists of top scientists.
Katrina Cole
A steady infiltration of scientists onto Twitter has accompanied the growing recognition that a social media presence is just as important as taking the podium at a conference. Social media is leading…
Ello is new social networking space on the web that is receiving a lot of attention of late – so much that it’s caused a few problems with the website out of action from time to time. Ello’s new popularity…
To many in the LGBT community, the policy is an act of intimidation because it violates their right to define who they really are.
Henk Kosters/Flickr
To her fans and friends in the Australian LGBT community, her name is Roma Therapy. But that’s not how she’s known on Facebook. Roma is one of thousands of queer performers who have been affected by Facebook’s…
Sarkeesian has been the focus of much online hatred since she started her website Feminist Frequency in 2009.
Anita Sarkeesian
Three weeks ago, well-known feminist gaming critic Anita Sarkeesian was forced to leave her San Francisco home due to an ongoing tirade of abuse and threats. Members of a vocal minority of online trolls…
In Indonesia, ranting online holds the risk of offending thousands of people and even jail time.
EPA/Adi Weda
“Unity in diversity” is how Indonesia likes to describe its multicultural country. But cyber-bullying cases in Indonesia’s active social media project a different view of how Indonesia’s diverse groups…