I was recently interviewed by HuffPost on this recent, insidious manifestation of conspiracy culture. Give it a read! www.huffpost.com/entry/erika-...

Loving the vibe on RMIT University’s Melbourne CBD campus as the new students celebrate Orientation Week. Go forth and prosper!

Adding to my Summer reading list - thanks @timothyjgraham.bsky.social for sharing!

Huge thanks to Professor Panizza Allmark for launching my book at the CSAA 2025 conference today and for her kind words. I’m feeling grateful.

X now reveals the locations of user accounts, pulling back the curtain on the scale and scope of manipulation and “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” on the platform. At the least, I hope it helps us reevaluate platforms as “neutral” infrastructure. www.businessinsider.com/x-shows-loca...

So, my Monday began with my cat tearing up my latest council rates notice. Does that mean I get out of paying it? #thecatatemyhomework

Vale, Diane Keaton: 1946-2025

Friday lifts me up

No surprises here. There are grave ethical issues with platforming extremists, as Kurt Sengul and I have elsewhere argued (see the links in comments). The Australian media has blood on its hands.

PUBLICATION TODAY: My review of the disturbing and disturbingly good debut novel for Melbourne author Thomas Vowles. Enjoy! theconversation.com/i-genuinely-...

Spotted in the wild - my book, in stores as of this week!

PUBLICATION TODAY: On the Epstein files and the dangers of conspiracy. www.abc.net.au/religion/eps...

PUBLICATION TODAY! My monograph on Silverchair’s iconic Frogstomp album has been published as an eBook. Link below. Grunge forever!

Pleased to be interviewed for this student magazine about online hostility following the 2024 presidential election. I always enjoy speaking with student journos, having been one myself. www.mojonews.com.au/politics/onl...

PUBLICATION TODAY: the ethics of reporting on an increasingly brazen, media-savvy Far Right. Co-authored with @kurtsengul.bsky.social and published by the ABC. www.abc.net.au/religion/eth...

Farewell, Jill Sobule, a striking figure in 1990s pop music. Gone too young.

A real privilege to work with Kurt Sengul on this paper, published today in Communication and the Public, and addressing a topical - and disturbing - set of issues.

Since its trending over on the bad site, if anyone wants to read my new article on the far-right’s use of X/Twitter Spaces, it’s open access: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Spotted in Naarm

I’ve got this feeling somebody’s watching me

So Melbourne Uni is right on the cusp of interesting work around truth-telling and transformation in the Indigenous space, and my School is hiring a Professor of Indigenous Studies, and I could not be more excited. Please share widely with your networks! (Identified role, obviously)

With the 30th anniversary of Silverchair’s ‘Frogstomp’ album, what better time to plug my forthcoming book on my forthcoming Bloomsbury 331/3 book on that album and its persistent cultural legacy? www.bloomsbury.com/au/silvercha...

PUBLICATION TODAY! Open access in 'Convergence', co-authored with the brilliant research team on the Australian Research Council project 'Online hostility in Australian digital cultures'.

Wonderful to meet the new BP354 students at the induction as part of RMIT University’s O-Week. For info on this excellent degree, see the comments below.

Excellent vibe on campus today.

Preparing for Semester One - we can do it! #academiclyfe

Smiling’ through. #gymlyfe

Okay, let’s have some fun: what is your favourite example of the ‘Mandela effect’ (aside from the false Mandela recollection that gave this phenomenon its name)?

Awaiting Pearl Jam

Surreptitiously revisiting The Platform Formerly Known as Twitter for the purposes of research and morbid curiosity. It's a vibe.

So, I just checked in on Twitter. It reminded me of the video stores during their waning years: bursts of excitement paired with even more silence, and the sense that the best days are very much in the past.

News satire has its finest hour. www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11...

Anthony Albanese has faced plenty of questions about how a teen social media ban would work. But no-one seems to be asking what proof he has that the ban will help young Australians. www.crikey.com.au/2024/11/15/a...