New year. New me.
That seems to be the catch cry on every piece of social media coming my way just now. That couldn’t be further from the truth for my professional world! I think I want go with the catch cry from my new neighbour – ‘just stand up’ (which is a reference to trying to get out of bed in the early morning when doing a marathon training block). I think ‘just stand up’ can actually apply to much of my life this year.
There will be new things underway, which one would expect, but it is much the same in my research world. I did spend some time as I started back at work thinking about research in 2025 – grants, projects, outputs, conferences. I think is especially important given I will be on research leave for the second half of this year.
Let’s break my thoughts down (realistically, this is a bit of a roadmap for me to follow this year to keep track of things).
Research Ares of Interest – in development
Social Media Disengagement – could be helpful to revamp this area in 2025.
Vietnam – Phase 1 of Sydney Vietnam Media Innovation Hub.
WeChat Official Accounts – working on TikTok scraper with Sydney Informatics Hub.
Media policy – continuation of research into media and its regulatory/governance approaches.
TikTok – creator culture based on Discovery Project work.
Underspheres – continuing GenAI work with Stilinovic and Bailo.
Projects Underway
TikTok Discovery Project
IDPO
Vietnam Platforms
Conferences
International Communication Association (ICA) – Denver Colorado, 12-16 June. Papers to present: Moral Media Panics (rejected), Creative underspheres (rejected), Creator Studies (under review).
International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) – Singapore, 13-17 July. Papers in preparation: Media Moral Panics (Humphry & Page Jeffery); WeChat Official Accounts (Dwyer, Xu & Wang); Vietnam Platform Studies (Solo).
Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) – Brazil, 15-18 October. Papers in Preparation: Media Moral Panics (Humphry & Page Jeffery); Vietnam Platform Studies (Solo).
Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand Communication Association (AANZCA) – Sunshine Coast, November (?). Papers to present: Vietnam Platform Studies (Solo).
Grants
Preoccupied by platforms: Vietnam and its platform society. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2025.
Understanding and preventing social media-driven ‘performance crime’. Australian Research Council Discover Project Scheme, 2025.
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Standard Measures of Effect (LOE2). Department of Defence, 2025.
Grants in Development
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GenAI Influencers – Ikea Foundation.
Vietnam Platformization – International Initiative for Impact Evaluation.
Outputs
Revisit Hobbs and I article from 2021, political influencers
Recast failed Journal of Computer Mediated Comms article for Qual Research/International Journal of Qual Methods
Caring as Journalistic Practice with Diana Bossio (Digital Journalism)
Matchpoint for Creativity with Chunmeizi Su for SI Global Media & China
Media as Method with Justine Humphry and Olga Boichak for Qual Methods
Moral Media Panics with Justine Humphry, Cat Page Jeffery for Children and Media
PSM and Media Industries for RIPE book (solo)
Outputs Under Review
AI and Creative Industries with Terry Flew and Wenjia Tang, Book Chapter
Vietnamese Digital Media (solo), Media International Australia
Creative Underspheres with Stilinovic and Bailo, New Media & Society.
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So, there’s quite a bit underway and in development in my research land for 2025. Guess I just need to stand up and get it done. I’m very much looking forward to continuing this work while also spending the second half of this year seeking my next area of scholarship and commencing work on book number four.