Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230101558
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$400,000.00
Summary
Taking humour seriously for online safety. Harmful humour impacts on women’s wellbeing online, but is poorly managed by social media platforms, and has not been integrated into online safety regulation and policy. This project aims to bring together sociocultural theory, social media analysis, and interviews to better understand the dynamics of harmful humour online in Australia. It will work with users, community leaders and industry stakeholders to evaluate current platform and policy response ....Taking humour seriously for online safety. Harmful humour impacts on women’s wellbeing online, but is poorly managed by social media platforms, and has not been integrated into online safety regulation and policy. This project aims to bring together sociocultural theory, social media analysis, and interviews to better understand the dynamics of harmful humour online in Australia. It will work with users, community leaders and industry stakeholders to evaluate current platform and policy responses and how they could be improved. The anticipated outcomes include theoretical advances, workable principles for better content moderation processes that reduce harm without restricting healthy expression, and evidence-based contributions to debates on online safety regulation.Read moreRead less
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
ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes. This Centre aims to transform understanding of past and present climate extremes and revolutionise Australia’s capability to predict them into the future. Climate extremes cost Australia up to $4 billion a year and will intensify over coming decades. This Centre’s blue-sky research will discover processes that explain the behaviour of present and future climate extremes. It will use its researchers, data, modelling, collaboration, graduate programme ....ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes. This Centre aims to transform understanding of past and present climate extremes and revolutionise Australia’s capability to predict them into the future. Climate extremes cost Australia up to $4 billion a year and will intensify over coming decades. This Centre’s blue-sky research will discover processes that explain the behaviour of present and future climate extremes. It will use its researchers, data, modelling, collaboration, graduate programme and early career researcher mentoring to transform Australia’s capacity to predict climate extremes. This research is expected to make Australia more resilient to climate extremes and minimise risks from climate extremes to the Australian environment, society and economy.Read moreRead less
Digital media, location awareness, and the politics of geodata. This project aims to examine the increasingly pervasive role of location metadata, or geodata, in Australian smartphone practices and cultures and the implications this has for users, industry, and public administration. The project will deliver online and open resources to enhance public understanding of geodata and geoprivacy, as well as industry and policy recommendations that address the crucial issue of ‘location awareness’ in ....Digital media, location awareness, and the politics of geodata. This project aims to examine the increasingly pervasive role of location metadata, or geodata, in Australian smartphone practices and cultures and the implications this has for users, industry, and public administration. The project will deliver online and open resources to enhance public understanding of geodata and geoprivacy, as well as industry and policy recommendations that address the crucial issue of ‘location awareness’ in everyday digital media use. The project will generate new insights into the critical role of geodata in everyday digital media use and will contribute to broader public discussion about data privacy, surveillance and cybersecurity. Its findings will also provide industry benefits, enhancing developers’ understanding of how everyday users apprehend and negotiate the privacy implications of location services.Read moreRead less
Engaging ethnic minority and majority blood donors in donor recruitment. Word-of-mouth is a potentially powerful way to recruit blood donors. Talking about donation increases awareness, trust, commitment and positive feelings about donating, particularly in ethnic minority groups. However, donors seldom tell others about donating. This project aims to determine how to motivate blood donors to recruit new donors using word-of-mouth, through research comprising co-design, surveys, and experiments. ....Engaging ethnic minority and majority blood donors in donor recruitment. Word-of-mouth is a potentially powerful way to recruit blood donors. Talking about donation increases awareness, trust, commitment and positive feelings about donating, particularly in ethnic minority groups. However, donors seldom tell others about donating. This project aims to determine how to motivate blood donors to recruit new donors using word-of-mouth, through research comprising co-design, surveys, and experiments. This project will generate new knowledge of how to encourage effective word-of-mouth for pro-social behaviours. Expected outcomes include producing culturally relevant, validated resources that will significantly benefit Australia by encouraging effective conversations to promote blood donation in all communities.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100202
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$409,204.00
Summary
Too quick or too slow? Unpacking digital temporalities in networked Vietnam. This project aims to study how digital media shape ordinary people’s lived experience of time in Vietnam. It investigates the hidden costs of promoting a digital future without accounting for stagnating structural reforms on the ground. Using ethnographic research, the project examines the lives of online petty traders, rideshare Grab bikers, tech developers, and residents in designated high-tech neighbourhoods to revea ....Too quick or too slow? Unpacking digital temporalities in networked Vietnam. This project aims to study how digital media shape ordinary people’s lived experience of time in Vietnam. It investigates the hidden costs of promoting a digital future without accounting for stagnating structural reforms on the ground. Using ethnographic research, the project examines the lives of online petty traders, rideshare Grab bikers, tech developers, and residents in designated high-tech neighbourhoods to reveal how fast-paced digital technologies, slow-moving infrastructural change, and indelible sociocultural histories intersect. Expected outcomes include vital new knowledge of Southeast Asian digital cultures that will benefit the sustainability of Australian aid in technological development in Southeast Asia.Read moreRead less
ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. The ARC CoE for Automated Decision-Making and Society aims to create the knowledge and strategies necessary for responsible, ethical, and inclusive automated decision-making (ADM). ADM applies new technologies from machine learning to blockchains across a wide range of social sectors; it carries great potential and risks serious failures. The Centre combines social and technological disciplines in an international industry, rese ....ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. The ARC CoE for Automated Decision-Making and Society aims to create the knowledge and strategies necessary for responsible, ethical, and inclusive automated decision-making (ADM). ADM applies new technologies from machine learning to blockchains across a wide range of social sectors; it carries great potential and risks serious failures. The Centre combines social and technological disciplines in an international industry, research and civil society network. It will formulate world-leading policy and practice; inform public debate; and train a new generation of researchers and practitioners. Expected benefits include reduced risks and improved outcomes in the priority domains of news and media, transport, social services and health.Read moreRead less
Optimising the roles of online communities in rural resilience . This research will use data from online communities to identify roles they do, and could play, in rural resilience. It uses social media analytics and spatial methodology to taxonomise and map service topics and social resilience from online communities. Governments call for rural service innovation. To date, robust evidence about online versus local services needed, is lacking. This is partly due to lack of data about diverse cons ....Optimising the roles of online communities in rural resilience . This research will use data from online communities to identify roles they do, and could play, in rural resilience. It uses social media analytics and spatial methodology to taxonomise and map service topics and social resilience from online communities. Governments call for rural service innovation. To date, robust evidence about online versus local services needed, is lacking. This is partly due to lack of data about diverse consumers' priorities and gaps. Social media could offer latent insights, but ethical methodology producing useful de-identified policy insights has been lacking. This study exemplifies applying social media data analytics at scale to address policy problems and will produce up-to-date co-designed data use guidelines.Read moreRead less
Activating social connection to address isolation in Australia. Surveys of wellbeing repeatedly emphasise social isolation, but there is a gap in positive approaches that can be used to grow connection. This research aims to design an approach to activate social connection for people and communities. Using a pre-tested evidence-based framework, experiences of vulnerable cohorts, and affordances of ways to connect on and offline, this project takes a strengths focus to develop a joined-up place-b ....Activating social connection to address isolation in Australia. Surveys of wellbeing repeatedly emphasise social isolation, but there is a gap in positive approaches that can be used to grow connection. This research aims to design an approach to activate social connection for people and communities. Using a pre-tested evidence-based framework, experiences of vulnerable cohorts, and affordances of ways to connect on and offline, this project takes a strengths focus to develop a joined-up place-based strategy. Expected outcomes include world-first practical tools and guidance for local social connection activation and new knowledge about how interwoven on/offline services assist social connection. Increasing social connection is expected to improve individuals’ mental wellbeing and community resilience.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100525
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$421,625.00
Summary
Reconceptualising copyright to improve access to screen culture . This project examines the impact of copyright law in Australia’s screen industries, focusing on distribution and access to audiovisual material. It seeks to understand how copyright law and practice can better ensure that the wealth of humankind’s recorded creative output is available for people to enjoy, learn from, and reuse. It combines novel digital research methods with in-depth interviews to study the challenges of licensing ....Reconceptualising copyright to improve access to screen culture . This project examines the impact of copyright law in Australia’s screen industries, focusing on distribution and access to audiovisual material. It seeks to understand how copyright law and practice can better ensure that the wealth of humankind’s recorded creative output is available for people to enjoy, learn from, and reuse. It combines novel digital research methods with in-depth interviews to study the challenges of licensing and distribution in the screen industries, where copyright is at its most complex. It aims to provide rigorous evidence to inform the development of technology-neutral regulation for Australia's copyright industries, improve copyright licensing markets, and unlock the value of under-distributed screen content.Read moreRead less