I spoke about my ongoing research on social media, parades and protests in Northern Ireland (2012-current). I drew on the results of my book (Digital contention in a divided society), #Brexitriots study, and encyclopedia entry on belief echoes. I discussed how online platforms amplify mis-and disinformation that undermine community relations during contentious events.
This week I was at Edinburgh Napier University to attend the annual MeCCSA conference. The theme this year was ‘Identity and Belonging’, with a specific focus on how identities are mediated and mediate themselves.
First, I was part of a Glasgow University Media Group panel on the Cost of Living Crisis. I presented an overview of the key findings with Cairsti Russell and Gavin Hawkton (unfortunately Catherine Happer was unable to join us due to ill-health).
Key themes included the debate over the use of the word ‘crisis’. There was also a focus on the impact of austerity and cuts in public services on low-income households. Our results suggest that media coverage of the COLC prioritised business perspectives over those of civil society. Citizens are increasingly attracted to alternative news sources. The slides from the session can be viewed below:
These findings are from the GUMG’s forthcoming book ‘Bad News for the Cost of Living Crisis’. The book, edited by Catherine Happer, Alison Eldridge and me, will be published with Palgrave Pivot in December 2025.
My second paper was on my ongoing research on social media, parades and protests in Northern Ireland. I drew on my book Digital Contention in a Divided Society and article on #Brexitriots in my presentation. It explored hashtags as affective ritualised responses to contentious events in Northern Ireland. I examined who was behind these discursive formations online, and who benefited from this activity. The slides can be viewed below:
The focus of my talk will be on how to publish monographs as an early career researcher. I will provide some advice on how to convert PhD theses into books, including things to include in the proposal and how to write for audiences outside academia.
There will also be a Q&A for ECRs to ask questions about topics such as balancing research and teaching, building international research collaborations, and maximising the impact of research.
Many thanks to Jun Liu (University of Copenhagen) and Yu Sun (University of Glasgow) for the invitation.
My article ‘The Blame Game? #Brexitriots as an affective ritualized response to civil disorder in Northern Ireland has been published in the International Journal of Communication.
This paper focuses on how the April 2021 violence in Northern Ireland were discursively framed on Twitter. I argue that #Brexitriots was an affective ritualised response to civil unrest in Northern Ireland. It demonstrated a lack of knowledge of the grievances fuelling this violence.
The abstract is below:
The protests and violence in Northern Ireland in April 2021 were nominally a manifestation of Loyalist anger at the “Irish Sea border” created as part of the deal that saw the United Kingdom leave the European Union. Social media were widely blamed for having amplified tensions surrounding the protests. This study explores how affective publics, mobilized on Twitter, responded to the “Brexit riots.” It does so by providing an overview of how online platforms are used during contentious episodes in divided societies, examining the background of the disorder, and presenting the results of a reflexive thematic analysis of #brexitriots tweets (N = 8287) posted between April 9 and April 13, 2021. Results indicate that #Brexitriots was an affective ritualized response from tweeters who appeared unaware of the manifold grievances of the protesters. They used these events as a source of partisan political expression, confirming their view that the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union was a mistake.
I would like to thank Suay Özkula and Victoria Baskett for their feedback on an earlier draft of this study. Also, a special mention to Kady and the IJOC team for their editorial help.
The paper is published Open Access and can be read in full here
I have contributed to a new article out in African Journalism Studies this week. Led by Mokhtar Elareshi and Samar Ben Romdhane (University of Sharjah), we examined how Tunisian journalists report on climate change. The interview-based study (n=7) explores challenges like online disinformation and instability within government that shape their climate journalism. We argue that youth-led climate activism enables these journalists to amplify diverse voices and advocate for marginalised communities.
Thanks to Mukhtar for his leadership on this and the reviewers at AJS for their constructive feedback. The article can be read in full here.
I have written an essay for the Glasgow Social Sciences Hub. My essay discusses why social media is an unreliable barometer of public opinion. I argue that bot activity and manipulation gave US voters a skewed reality. This happened in the run-up to the 2024 US Presidential Election. I also point to the problem of information pollution and how citizens actively avoid news on these platforms.
Thanks to Charlotte Morris for the support in getting this out. The piece can be read in full here.
Donald Trump criticised for spreading misinformation about Hurricane Hélène
Last week I spoke to Sebastian Seibt from France 24. We talked about how neo-Nazi groups were using Hurricane Hélène. They aimed to show themselves as civil society actors, amplifying misinformation and conspiracy theories about the relief efforts favouring migrants.
I argued that the misinformation spread by US Presidential candidate Donald Trump was very damaging. His false claims about the Biden administration not supporting victims influenced the behavior of vulnerable citizens. They were more likely to turn to extremist groups like Patriotic Front for information and support than the authorities. In effect, they exploited this crisis to rebrand themselves as legitimate, credible actors.
Last week, Andy Bruce interviewed me. This was for a Reuters piece on the number of British police forces deciding to remove their Twitter/X accounts. I argued that the rise of hate speech, extremist content, and misinformation was a major factor. This led public organisations to leave the microblogging site for other platforms.
Thanks to Andy and Charlotte Morris for the invite. The article can be read in full here.
