5 Overlaps Between Platform Studies and Games Studies

Checking out the Queerness and Games Conference (QGcon), hosted by Concordia with the involvement of the Technoculture, Arts and Games (TAG) lab and international organizers, has got me thinking! One of the reasons I wanted to attend the conference is that a number of students have approached me for advice about researching topics that bringContinueContinue reading “5 Overlaps Between Platform Studies and Games Studies”

2015 Tinder Highlights

While popular media outlets are gathering their ‘highlights of 2015’ stories, I thought I’d share some of the most interesting Tinder developments and articles that I came across this year. They are fascinating (or even bizarre) pieces of data that I came across in attempting to understand the evolution of this popular dating app as we see it today.ContinueContinue reading “2015 Tinder Highlights”

Me, myself, and my selfie: Ways of understanding selfies (SMSociety15 Workshop)

              I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on the selfies workshop that I had the honour to be a part of yesterday at the Social Media & Society 2015 conference. We had a great turn out for a session we called “Selfies: Inter-faces and ‘me’-diated bodies”,ContinueContinue reading “Me, myself, and my selfie: Ways of understanding selfies (SMSociety15 Workshop)”

Can Facebook help you to be ‘post-gay’?

Like I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been mulling over this notion that we might be living in a ‘post-gay era’ now. I went digging in my interview data from my Master’s thesis, some of the findings of which have been published here, to further explore exactly what participants said about coming out andContinueContinue reading “Can Facebook help you to be ‘post-gay’?”

When Canadians get mad (at Rob Ford), they retweet

As a Canadian overseas, I can’t say that I want to perpetuate news about Toronto’s Mayor Rob Ford, since he is often one of the main topics that people bring up in relation to Canada. However, as he’s still making headlines and causing a stir on Twitter, I thought a Ford story would be aContinueContinue reading “When Canadians get mad (at Rob Ford), they retweet”

Beginnings of a PhD project: Coming out and social media

(Image courtesy of the Degrassi Wiki) Let’s travel back to a formative time when I used to come home after school every day and watch reruns of the original Degrassi Junior High – a Canadian-made TV drama about tough teen issues. An episode* halfway through season three stands out: one of the main characters, Snake (theyContinueContinue reading “Beginnings of a PhD project: Coming out and social media”

A bit of practical advice

Your Networked World: Connections, Self-Presentation and Privacy in the Age of Social Media from Stefanie Duguay I’m giving this presentation at a “Lunch and Learn” event at work tomorrow! It will be my first time translating my research and literature review into practical advice and media literacy tips that everyday social media users can apply.ContinueContinue reading “A bit of practical advice”

Social Media & Society 2013: Five ingredients for an amazing conference

Now that I’ve got your attention, just a quick shameless plug that I’ve updated all the pages under the Research tab with the findings of studies I conducted this past year. Have a read about Facebook’s perilous governance practices, what people think their Likes indicate about them, and how LGBTQ young people deal with contextContinueContinue reading “Social Media & Society 2013: Five ingredients for an amazing conference”

Academic elevator speech

“elevator” by whatatravisty on Flickr In evangelist circles, they always say you should have your ‘elevator speech’ ready to go. It’s a 30 second spiel designed to change minds and drive your message home in the time it takes to ride an elevator with a stranger. In (social science) academic writing, the abstract is akinContinueContinue reading “Academic elevator speech”