The QUT Social Media Research Group (SMRG) is an interest group that brings together a range of researchers from Queensland University of Technology’s Digital Media Research Centre in order to build on our existing strengths in social media research and support staff activities which further this work; relevant staff across QUT’s Faculties are also associated with the group. This provides us with a stronger basis and framework for collaboration, as well as offering a strong social media research environment at QUT which positions us well for future national and international research projects.

The QUT Creative Industries Faculty and its Digital Media Research Centre are recognised as a national and international leaders in Internet and social media research. QUT hosted the 2006 conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR), chaired by Axel Bruns, and the 2009 Oxford Internet Institute Summer Doctoral Program (OIISDP), organised by Jean Burgess and Marcus Foth, and the DMRC is hosting annual Digital Methods Summer Schools in February of each year. Members of the SMRG also have a very strong track record in attracting competitive research funding and international partnerships for social media research. QUT is Australia’s leading research university in the field of media and communication research, having been awarded the highest status of “well above world standard” in this field in the 2010, 2012, and 2015 Excellence in Research Australia assessment exercises conducted by the Australian federal government.

Our current strengths in social media research are centred around media, communication, and journalism studies, but also connect with communication design and advanced data visualisation, with important synergies between these areas. Internet research by staff and students has variously examined the impact of Web 2.0 and social media on the media and journalism industries (as well as the creative industries more broadly), the role of participatory online media in ‘Government 2.0’ activities, especially around crisis communication, and the creative and collaborative practices of user-led content creation. The SMRG builds on these strengths and fosters collaboration between participating staff across the DMRC and Faculties, supports the work of a substantial number of postgraduate students working in this field, and provides additional support for the development of national and international partnerships.

To contact the Social Media Research Group, please leave a comment on the site, or email Axel Bruns at a.bruns(at)qut.edu.au.