twitter: @jameswilldennis
Senior Lecturer in Political Communication and Journalism at the University of Portsmouth. My research interests lie in political communication, with a particular focus on social media, political participation and citizenship, and digital news. My work has been published in the Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication, Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies, and Political Studies. My first monograph, Beyond Slacktivism: Political Participation on Social Media, will be 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 have experience of working with industry, carrying out social media research with the BBC World Service and the British Council. I have been a guest contributor for openDemocracy and the Political Studies Association blog, and I have been interviewed about digital politics on BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio Solent, and Inter TV.
What I'm up to (July 2018):
- Writing my first monograph, Beyond Slacktivism: Political Participation on Social Media, for Palgrave Macmillan (Interest Groups, Advocacy and Democracy Series).
- Organising a workshop, entitled "Understanding and Examining the Digital Advocacy Pioneers", with Nina Hall (Johns Hopkins University). Supported by the Political Studies Association Media and Politics Group and the Transnational Civil Society Project at the University of Portsmouth, this workshop is due to take place in September 2018.
- In July, I'll be joining Dr Jen Birks, Professor Alec Charles, Dr Emily Harmer, and Dr Katy Parry as Co-Convenor for the Political Studies Association Media and Politics Group.
- Examining how #GE2017 was reported to younger audiences by BuzzFeed and VICE with Susana Sampaio-Dias (University of Portsmouth) and Milan Kreuschitz-Markovič (University of Portsmouth).
- Working with Andrew Chadwick on a new project on Momentum, the political activist group founded in the wake of Jeremy Corbyn’s rise to leader of the Labour Party.
- Chairing the awards committee for the Best Dissertation Award for the Information Technology and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association.