🤗 This page is for anyone interested participating in my current postdoctoral research at the University of Munich (LMU). Here I am laying out my research plans in plain language so interested people can understand my project and provide their informed consent if the choose to participate. In summary:
🇬🇧 I am investigating the relationship between politics, platforms and people in the UK.
📅 I am conducting research in the UK for approx 6 months between May and October 2025.
⚡️ I am interested in UK politics. I am asking questions such as:
- How does activity in the social media ecosystem provoke real world protest and policy?
- How does real world protest and policy provoke activity in the social media ecosystem
👾 I am interested in social media platforms – especially smaller, alternative platforms. I would like to know:
- What smaller platforms are users migrating to and why?
- How are smaller platforms organised and moderated?
👩🏻🦰 I am interested in people:
- Who are the people participating in politics on social media?
- Who are the people using smaller platforms and what are their motivations?
🎓 As a qualified anthropologist my research methods are ethnographic, ethical and publishable.
🏕️ By ethnographic, it means I put a big emphasis on spending time communicating and getting to know people. Ideally, I would like to do something called “participant observation” where I actively participate in the culture being studied. One crucial element of ethnography is taking extensive notes on what I observe and reflecting on the process.
😇 Having an ethical approach is a top priority to my work. It is my intention to maintain confidentiality of everyone who participates. The names of participants and organisations will be pseudonymised. Quotes will also be paraphrased so it is impossible for the speakers to be identified. If you are happy to participate in my research, I ask you to sign a consent form at the bottom of this text.
📗 I plan to publish a book on politics on social media with colleagues at LMU. My colleagues are doing similar ethnographic studies in Germany, India and Kenya, so we will make a cross-cultural analysis. We will also aim to publish articles in academic journals such as New Media & Society.
⁉️ If you have any questions about my research or if you would like to know more before you agree to participate, please contact me on drcraigryder [at] gmail [dot] com
💗 Please sign this form if you are happy to participate:
