Associate Professor in Internet Studies, Curtin University
Influencers and internet celebrities on social media are among the most impactful and persuasive voices to shape the opinions and actions of our generation. However, we don’t always understand how they easily attract the attention of various audiences and what to do when adverse consequences, like cyberbullying and the exploitation of minors, arise.
My research employs long-term traditional and digital ethnography, based in anthropological principles and methods that systematically study cultures and practices at the grassroots levels, to explain the pathways of how the attention economy works online. My current policy work focuses on the protection of minors and children from commercial exploitation in the influencer industry, and my current research work looks at how social justice and social movements are generated by influencers.
Internet Studies, Media Studies, Cultural Studies, Anthropology