New publication 📢 📢 lnkd.in/eDkiZejm Very pleased to share our new publication (with Fiona O'Rourke) in Men and Masculinities journal, which focuses on how our research about misogynistic and homophobic banter in digital spaces fed into an educational toolkit (download for free men4change.co.uk ).

@craighaslop.bsky.social’s paper outlined the value of an ecosystems approach to misogyny influencers and the “ideological collabs” in which they engage. He argued for a focus on collaborated content as well as the promotional, financial, and interpersonal connections that characterise this space.

Here we go - looking forward to Yannis Tzioumakis inaugural professorial lecture to a packed School of the Arts library! @sotauol.bsky.social

Looking forward to talking with this excellent online expert panel about male centred online communities beyond the manosphere. Details of how to book here…

Hey there! Just a heads up about June 3 online event 'Beyond the Manosphere: Exploring the Wider Phenomenon of Male-Centred Online Communities' featuring @debbieging.bsky.social, @craighaslop.bsky.social, Saba Hussain & @joshuathorburn.bsky.social! Register now! www.eventsforce.net/cugroup/fron...

May 23rd 2025 UCL registration Care or Control? Regulating Technology, Behaviour and Gender at School @sonialivingstone.bsky.social @andyincornwall.bsky.social @rcecoleman.bsky.social @devinasarwatay.bsky.social @emilysetty.bsky.social @craighaslop.bsky.social www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/care-or-co...

Scheduled speakers include: @cat-baker.bsky.social, @joncollins.bsky.social, Eileen Culloty, @simoned.bsky.social, @profafinlayson.bsky.social, Marina Frid, @debbieging.bsky.social, @craighaslop.bsky.social, @kat-hig.bsky.social… (+ even more in the next post)

Lovely new book has arrived that I can recommend to students learning to do textual analysis of film and TV.

We’re living through a fundamental shift in how discourse is created. Institutions once shaped a shared reality through discourse - imperfectly, but with structure. Now, that reality has splintered. In its place, engagement-driven ecosystems amplify whatever resonates, truth optional.

RIP - a genius and real disrupter in film and TV. Gutted! www.theguardian.com/film/2025/ja...

In case you're curious, this is the internal Meta "fuck DEI" announcement received by Meta employees

New: Meta has deleted trans and nonbinary Messenger themes, as well as the blog posts announcing them. Happens the same week that it has changed its rules to allow users to say LGBTQ+ people are "mentally ill" www.404media.co/meta-deletes...

New in @popcommjournal.bsky.social Proctor, J. (2025). “This one’s for the sapphics”: Mamamoo, “girl crush,” and transcultural networks through queer fan labor. Popular Communication, 1–15. #FanStudies doi.org/10.1080/1540...

Yes, this simply doesn’t make sense, but is just legitimising and encouraging transphobia—there is no other way of seeing it. Trans people are a small minority and already heavily discriminated against—easy to pick on in a culture war designed to create hate and division.

Trying to avoid #traitors spoilers on holiday is not easy 😅.

It’s important to consider the consequences of online abuse on political representation in light of the changes in meta’s moderation approach allowing more abuse and harassment to stay online.

LGBT+ discrimination now allowed on Meta. Let that sink in. The guidelines state: “We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation.”’ www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

I have updated the Academic Workload Tracker for 2025. I strongly encourage all academics to track how long you actually work, and at what tasks. It's a crucial way to counter the deliberate wage-theft of obfuscatory university workload models. docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Moore, M. E. “We Have Never Been Acafans: Notes Towards a Posthumanist Approach to Media Fandom”. Journal of Posthumanism, vol. 4, no. 3, Dec. 2024, pp. 177-90. #FanStudies journals.tplondon.com/jp/article/v...

Congratulations to our director, @drmichellekaufman.bsky.social, who co-edited this volume of Global LGBTQ Health that received a 5-star review from Doody Enterprises, Inc. This #OAbook is the first-known book to date that comprehensively covers global LGBTQ health. Free download: bit.ly/4940e0B

my latest with @jessmaddox.bsky.social is out this morning in @femmediastudies.bsky.social! We propose influencer snark as a feminist media practice to address concerns of credibility, authenticity, and representation in the influencer industry. please share!!! www.tandfonline.com/eprint/XZSZD...

I love this. It’s a great example of theory being really put to work, and it raises so many questions about research ethics in a real (rather than tickbox) way. Lots of relevance beyond its specific topic of boys/ masculinity for all kinds of research.

How to be a writer, #35790000: Wake at 4 am from terrifying dream Open laptop, add new and terrifying scene to WIP Go back to sleep Wake up again, read new and terrifying scene with no memory of having written it WTF, subconscious Tea

Article on LinaBell, a mascot at Shanghai Disneyland and the surrounding fandom

I am very pleased to announce that after so many years, my article on creating WhatsApp group chats as a research method with #Eurovision fans is now published! Sadly its not open access, but please let me know if you'd like a copy :D rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

What IS cultural studies, anyway? We've asked the experts in our series "What Is Cultural Studies?" Dr. Ien Ang offers an answer in "On Cultural Studies, Again" (IJCS Vol 23.3, 2020):

New publication alert 🔔 🔔Catching up on article promotions, very proud of Fiona O’Rourke for amazing work leading on this article from the ESRC funded #ladculture research. We explore and theorise men’s homosociality in private online chat groups. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Can anyone recommend any really good writing on the aesthetics/appreciation of the post-industrial landscape, particularly (though not necessarily confined to) the UK? @illuminations.bsky.social - I feel like this might be something you could help with? New field for me - would like some guidance!

Call For Papers: Neither Factory Records nor Madchester: Rethinking Manchester’s Musical and Subcultural Histories: A two-day international conference-19th/20th June 2025 @ManMetUni docs.google.com/document/d/1...

I'm recruiting a PhD student (with full funding in place) to work on the communication of uncertainty in relation to virtual testing used in engineering. The student will use linguistic analysis and social science methods but live in Engineering Dept. Plz share! www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Two upcoming events in Louis Cha Lecture Series on Transcultural Fandom Studies Mode: Face-to-face & Online Lecture #1: The 30 Years of China’s Online Fandom 12 December Lecture #2: Fan Translation beyond the Global North 16 December #FanStudies web.chinese.hku.hk/en/general_i...

I’m watching #BlackDovesNetflix and I feel like the creators might have taken some inspiration from the classic 60s spy-fi TV series The Avengers. Male and female agent pair working for a mystery organisation, female agent is martial arts trained, oddball agent meet-ups …imagery…

NEW PUBLICATION 📣 “Researching Young Masculinities During the Rise of ‘Misogyny Influencers’: Exploring Affective and Embodied Discomfort and Dilemmas of Feminist & Queer Researchers” So proud of Betsy Milne & Idil Cambazoglu for leading on this article. 1/6 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

New Special Issue of Television and New Media Digital Platforms and Cancel Culture #FanStudies journals.sagepub.com/toc/tvna/26/1

Difficult to describe what a dangerous moment we are in. The owner of Twitter/richest man in the world/closest adviser to the next US president is promoting a far-right Tommy Robinson (!) documentary to his 200 million followers. This is the mainstreaming of violent, Islamophobic fascism.

My new article with @klbresearch.bsky.social is out! Check out “Mind the (Feminine) Gap: Documenting Femmephobic Knowledge Production and the Masculinization of Expertise” brill.com/downloadpdf/...

Be careful out there on the snow while you're enjoying how pretty campus is ❤️⛄

I love the Blizzard of Oz. Ah, Scotland, never change. ❄️

Andrew Bailey is right. Most people don't realise how shockingly *bad* is the UK's goods trade performance after Brexit and the pandemic. UK exports are 23% lower than the pre-2020 trend and imports are 16% below the trend.

By popular demand… the Guardian is officially on BlueSky @theguardian.com

The energy of 2013 Twitter but everybody's back and knees hurt more.

A message for anybody else trying to write today…

Bluesky by the Numbers today: 1.3M people Posted 6.5M posts 2.3M people Liked 37.5M posts 2.9M people Followed 41.5M people (!!!!!) Over 1,000,000 people joined the network!!!!!! We broke all-time traffic records by over 30% today across the board. Follows are up 20x from 2 weeks ago! Holy Moly

Bluesky's coming on strong. Been here a year+ and the last few weeks feel different. A warm welcome to all the transplants, we're happy to see you. And for my own intro: I post dumb star trek pics w/alt texts. If you honour me with a follow, I will bring the dumb star trek content you crave.

Folks be leaving Twitter like...

The recipe for a good social media app isn't hard if you understand that people simply yearn to read and write sentences without angry guys yelling slurs at them