Brian D. Loader

The use of social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, by politicians and entertainers to engage young citizens can be seen as a further example of the emergence of celebrity politics. While regarded by some commentators as further evidence of the trivialization of political life, this article adopts the alternative approach of those scholars who foreground the potential for popular culture and media entertainment to be more socially inclusive, democratizing and influential in public policy making. To-date analysis of celebrity politics has tended to be focused upon the media performances of politicians and political celebrities, based upon a single country and lacking empirical evidence. This article explores what young citizens drawn from three late-modern democratic societies (Australia, United Kingdom and the US) think about the use of social media by politicians and political celebrities and whether it influenced their own outlook on politics? Our conclusions are that young citizens are generally cautiously positive about both politicians and celebrities using social media but felt that they should learn to use it appropriately if they are to rebuild trust and credibility.

(2014). The networked young citizen: social media, political participation and civic engagement. Information, Communication & Society: Vol. 17, The Networked Young Citizen, pp. 143-150.

This introductory article provides a critical assessment of the last decade of social research on the Internet and identifies directions for research over the next. Ten years is only a moment in the span of social research, but aeons in Internet time. Has social research across the disciplines been up to the challenges? Over more than 40 years, the unfolding development of the Internet and related information and communication technologies has been one of the most dynamic areas of technological and social innovation worldwide. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, its development was even more dramatic. While innovations in such areas as search, social media, big data, and the commercialization of the Internet became prominent only over the last decade, they are already taken for granted by most Internet users. It is becoming increasingly apparent to us that this interdisciplinary field must broaden even further to better connect with fields beyond the social sciences and information, communication, media and cultural studies to include stronger collaborative ties to law, ethics, and the sciences, engineering, and computer sciences, but also across the arts and humanities. This will be an almost certain requirement for interdisciplinary research over the coming decade with technology and society moving at Internet time.

Early conceptions of digital democracy as a virtual public sphere or civic commons have been replaced by a new technological optimism for democratic renewal based upon the open and collaborative networking characteristics of social media. This article provides an introduction to a special issue of the international journal Information, Communication & Society, which attempts to present a grounded analysis of these claims drawing upon evidence-based research and analysis. A more cautious approach is suggested for the potential of social media to facilitate more participative democracy while acknowledging its disruptive value for challenging traditional interests and modes of communicative power.

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(2001). EDITORIAL COMMENT. Information, Communication & Society: Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 5-7.