Bluesky: @jameswilldennis.bsky.social

Senior Lecturer in Political Communication and Journalism at the University of Portsmouth. My research interests lie in political communication and journalism, with a particular focus on social media, political participation and citizenship, and how young people experience news. My work has been published in the Journal of Information Technology and Politics, Journalism Studies, and Political Studies. My first monograph, Beyond Slacktivism: Political Participation on Social Media, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2018. This builds on my PhD research, for which I was awarded the American Political Science Association Information Technology and Politics Section Best Dissertation Award. I am a Co-Convenor of the Political Studies Association Media and Politics Group and an incoming Editor for Political Studies Review.

I have experience of working with industry, carrying out social media research with the BBC World Service and the British Council, and have provided commentary on digital politics for national and international media, including BBC Radio and TV, the Financial Times, Forbes, and the Guardian.

What I'm up to

• Recent publications —

  • “An election about us but not for us”: The lack of communication for young people during GE2024, UK Election Analysis 2024.

  • “How News Found the Avoiders: The Changing News Routines of Infodemically Vulnerable Young People in England during Covid-19”, Journalism Studies.

• I recently provided commentary to the Big Issue, Forbes, the Guardian, the i, the London Evening Standard, and Naked Politics.

• I’ll be presenting my work at the following events:

  • September 19 — The better of two evils: Early reflections on how social inequality shaped young people's experiences of the 2024 UK general election @ The 2024 UK general election conference, Loughborough University, London. Tickets are available here.

  • January 8-9, 2025 — Disconnected but not disengaged? How social inequality shapes young people's experiences of political communication during the 2024 UK general election @ the PSA Media and Politics Group conference, University of Birmingham.

  • April 1, 2025 — Invited speaker at the Research Process Seminar Series, Bournemouth University.

• With David Norman, Nora Siklodi, and Dafydd Townley (University of Portsmouth), I am an incoming Co-Editor of Political Studies Review. We want to work with PSA specialist groups on proposals for special issues (https://psr.brunel.ac.uk/special-issue/) and the symposia and new ideas section, consisting of rapid response, short-form articles (https://psr.brunel.ac.uk/symposia-and-new-ideas/). Convenors, please get in touch if you are interested :)

• I convened the PSA Media & Politics Specialist Group Annual Conference at the University of Portsmouth in October 2023. The conference programme is available here.

• Alongside Emily Harmer (University of Liverpool), Liam McLoughlin (University of Liverpool), Paul Reilly (University of Glasgow) and Ros Southern (University of Liverpool), I organised a one-day workshop at the University of Liverpool entitled “Researching Social Media After the API”. The call for papers is available here.

• I delivered invited presentations at Columbia University and the Young Europe Association (Keynote) in 2024.

• I am coordinating an online seminar series with my fellow Convenors of the Political Studies Association Media and Politics Group. Tickets for upcoming events can be found here. Previous seminars can be watched on demand on YouTube here.

• I am currently listening to Collapse List (Novo Amor), Wall of Eyes (The Smile), ten days (Fred again…), and playing Earthbound (SNES).

• I recently became a Dad for the second time, so if you see me around, please don’t tell me how tired I look 😂