Australian Experiences of Algorithmic Culture on TikTok. This project is the first to systematically investigate how algorithmic content recommendation is shaping everyday Australian cultural experience over time, in the particular context of TikTok—the digital platform where Australians spend the most time online. The project provides critical evidence to support the government's ongoing policy initiatives intended to regulate the activities of digital platforms. Its methodological innovations ....Australian Experiences of Algorithmic Culture on TikTok. This project is the first to systematically investigate how algorithmic content recommendation is shaping everyday Australian cultural experience over time, in the particular context of TikTok—the digital platform where Australians spend the most time online. The project provides critical evidence to support the government's ongoing policy initiatives intended to regulate the activities of digital platforms. Its methodological innovations directly address the challenges of studying commercial platforms' recommender systems through a mixed-method research design combining computational and qualitative analysis, bridging universal and individual perspectives and introducing ‘citizen science’ approaches to the field of platform studies.Read moreRead less
Addressing Online Hostility in Australian Digital Cultures. This project aims to provide a comprehensive account of Australians’ experiences of online hostility, abuse, trolling and extremist hate speech, which have increased over the past decade. The research expects to analyse the experiences of diverse Australian online users, moderators and stakeholders, to determine their practices, attitudes, and innovations, and their perceptions on how to address this social problem. Expected outcomes of ....Addressing Online Hostility in Australian Digital Cultures. This project aims to provide a comprehensive account of Australians’ experiences of online hostility, abuse, trolling and extremist hate speech, which have increased over the past decade. The research expects to analyse the experiences of diverse Australian online users, moderators and stakeholders, to determine their practices, attitudes, and innovations, and their perceptions on how to address this social problem. Expected outcomes of this project include enhanced understanding of the support needs and remedies to online hostility among a diverse cross-section of Australians. This will provide significant benefits by providing roadmaps for improved intervention, support, regulation and education on digital communication in Australia.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL230100075
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,107,127.00
Summary
Mediated Trust: Ideas, Interests, Institutions, Futures. Declining trust in social and political institutions is linked to the rise of populism, misinformation and civic disengagement. Acknowledging the key role of digital media in enabling trust or promoting mistrust, this project explores mediated trust at societal, institutional and interpersonal levels. The research will leverage a novel framework of 'ideas, interests and institutions' applied to major case studies from news media, digital p ....Mediated Trust: Ideas, Interests, Institutions, Futures. Declining trust in social and political institutions is linked to the rise of populism, misinformation and civic disengagement. Acknowledging the key role of digital media in enabling trust or promoting mistrust, this project explores mediated trust at societal, institutional and interpersonal levels. The research will leverage a novel framework of 'ideas, interests and institutions' applied to major case studies from news media, digital platforms, corporations and the WHO; and develops innovative methods for analysing the relationship between communications and trust. These will deliver world-first integrative approaches for Australian policymakers, industry and regulators to address both crises of trust and our digital futures.Read moreRead less
Saving our Species: Creating Systemic Change in Regional Communities. Australia is facing a crisis of species extinction. The Dept of Planning and Environment has identified a serious problem; a lack of effective communication with environmentally disengaged communities located with threatened species. To address this, our aim is to research 5 regional communities, run a series of targeted events with them and, through effective communication, build community stewardship of the identified specie ....Saving our Species: Creating Systemic Change in Regional Communities. Australia is facing a crisis of species extinction. The Dept of Planning and Environment has identified a serious problem; a lack of effective communication with environmentally disengaged communities located with threatened species. To address this, our aim is to research 5 regional communities, run a series of targeted events with them and, through effective communication, build community stewardship of the identified species. This is significant as it addresses an important problem for conservation managers worldwide. The expected outcome will be a change in community attitude. The benefits to Australians will be an expansion of knowledge of how communities can be successfully communicated with to encourage environmental sustainability.Read moreRead less
The ABC, its Archives and its Audiences. This project aims to enable deeper understandings of the role of Australia’s principal public service broadcaster in the lives of audience members across the country, and the community needs and interests that have shaped it. The project, in partnership with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the National Archives of Australia, is significant because it will uncover and interpret paper records relating to listeners and viewers during the broadcas ....The ABC, its Archives and its Audiences. This project aims to enable deeper understandings of the role of Australia’s principal public service broadcaster in the lives of audience members across the country, and the community needs and interests that have shaped it. The project, in partnership with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the National Archives of Australia, is significant because it will uncover and interpret paper records relating to listeners and viewers during the broadcaster’s first 50 years. Expected outcomes include an enlarged and more discoverable media archive for the benefit of researchers, industry and all Australians; an innovative audience-centred approach to the ABC’s history; and enhanced academic, archival and media collaborations. Read moreRead less
The Monetisation of Children in the Digital Games Industry. This project aims to understand the monetisation of children in the digital games industry. It will employ innovative studies of children’s experiences in freemium games; parental attitudes and strategies; participatory research with game developers; and an examination of the platform and regulatory environment that shapes game monetisation. Expected outcomes include guidelines and recommendations for parents seeking to negotiate childr ....The Monetisation of Children in the Digital Games Industry. This project aims to understand the monetisation of children in the digital games industry. It will employ innovative studies of children’s experiences in freemium games; parental attitudes and strategies; participatory research with game developers; and an examination of the platform and regulatory environment that shapes game monetisation. Expected outcomes include guidelines and recommendations for parents seeking to negotiate children’s digital play; new ethical frameworks for the design and implementation of digital games for children; and actionable advice for policymakers and practitioners. This will bring significant benefits to Australian children, parents and game developers via improvements to the design of games for children.Read moreRead less
Addressing Misinformation with Media Literacy through Cultural Institutions. Misinformation can harm democratic processes, social cohesion and public health outcomes. Media literacy prepares citizens for misinformation by developing critical analysis abilities. This project partners with Australian public cultural institutions to increase adult media literacy. Through an action-based, mixed methods approach, the project investigates adults’ experiences with online misinformation and assesses the ....Addressing Misinformation with Media Literacy through Cultural Institutions. Misinformation can harm democratic processes, social cohesion and public health outcomes. Media literacy prepares citizens for misinformation by developing critical analysis abilities. This project partners with Australian public cultural institutions to increase adult media literacy. Through an action-based, mixed methods approach, the project investigates adults’ experiences with online misinformation and assesses their ability to identify and challenge it. Research findings will inform the design and evaluation of targeted evidence-based media literacy training and resources that will be shared across broadcast media, physical spaces and online. Through these initiatives Australians will be better equipped to combat misinformation.Read moreRead less
Supporting the sustainability of Australia's local news ecosystem. This project aims to understand how Australia’s main public broadcaster, the ABC, can best support public interest journalism in rural and regional communities, with a specific focus on fragile and underserved areas of the nation’s local news ecosystem. The project will develop new knowledge around media power and how news providers can work together to secure the sustainability of local news. Expected outcomes include a framewor ....Supporting the sustainability of Australia's local news ecosystem. This project aims to understand how Australia’s main public broadcaster, the ABC, can best support public interest journalism in rural and regional communities, with a specific focus on fragile and underserved areas of the nation’s local news ecosystem. The project will develop new knowledge around media power and how news providers can work together to secure the sustainability of local news. Expected outcomes include a framework to identify and define areas of news need, an assessment of existing interventions and road-tested approaches to improve information quality. The project should provide benefits by supporting forms of local journalism that ultimately enhances the demographic health and social fabric of small towns and cities.
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Improving digital sexual literacy in Australia. This project aims to theorise digital sexual literacy in Australia and identify useful interventions aimed at increasing this literacy. We will map the ecosystem of digital Sexually Explicit Material (SEM) in Australia, identifying the ways in which Australians both consume sexual images and represent themselves as sexual beings in digital contexts. This data will be used to theorise digital sexual literacy, including both the "reading" and "writin ....Improving digital sexual literacy in Australia. This project aims to theorise digital sexual literacy in Australia and identify useful interventions aimed at increasing this literacy. We will map the ecosystem of digital Sexually Explicit Material (SEM) in Australia, identifying the ways in which Australians both consume sexual images and represent themselves as sexual beings in digital contexts. This data will be used to theorise digital sexual literacy, including both the "reading" and "writing" of sexual representations. The data will inform the formulation of useful interventions to support increases in digital sexual literacy in Australia.
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