{"id":4463,"date":"2024-03-08T14:07:59","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T14:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/?p=4463"},"modified":"2024-03-08T16:21:05","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T16:21:05","slug":"social-media-and-digital-communication-ma-qa-with-course-leader-graham-meikle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/social-media-and-digital-communication-ma-qa-with-course-leader-graham-meikle\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Media and Digital Communication MA \u2013 Q&A with Course Leader, Professor Graham Meikle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our Social Media and Digital Communication MA <\/a>launched in 2013 and stands out for its distinct approach to the study of social media, exploring areas such as politics, business, data science, media, and communications. The diversity of the course\u2019s curriculum and focus on research and knowledge allows students to develop current, in-depth expertise and insights which can be applied to a variety of industries. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The course is taught by a team of leading researchers and teachers, including those from Westminster\u2019s Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI)<\/a>, ensuring that the programme is always at the cutting edge of education in this subject area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We spoke with course leader, Professor Graham Meikle<\/a>, who founded the course, about his experience and his advice for applicants.\u202f\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Can you tell us a bit about yourself? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m from Scotland and did my first degree in English Literature at the University of Edinburgh. As part of that, I spent a year at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and the experience of living in the US made me want to travel more. So, I spent several years teaching English, including Academic English and IELTS preparation courses, in Japan, Ecuador, Spain and Australia. I became fascinated by the emerging World Wide Web in the mid-1990s and signed up for a web-focused MA in Media, Technology and Law at Macquarie University in Sydney. That led to the offer of a scholarship to do a PhD in Media and Communication, researching internet activism, which I published as my first book Future Active <\/em>in 2002. I\u2019ve been lecturing in this area since 2000, for seven years in Sydney and then five years back home in Scotland, before I was appointed as Professor of Communication and Digital Media at Westminster in 2013.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I like guitars, memes, cats, and cooking (my prawn and lentil soup is my best work). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why did you choose Westminster? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Westminster is a natural choice for anyone in my field. We are a leading provider in this academic discipline and ranked in the top 15 among UK institutions for Communication and Media Studies in the QS World University Rankings 2023<\/a>. Westminster has always been a leader in media research, particularly through our Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m lucky enough to be the director of CAMRI as well as Course Leader on the Social Media and Digital Communication MA, and that combination is very important to me because I really believe that all academics should both teach and research, not just focus on one or the other. That gives our learners the best possible exposure to new ideas in the subject. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What have been some of your career highlights? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019 I won the UK\u2019s National Teaching Fellowship. These are awarded to academics who can demonstrate outstanding impacts on student outcomes and on the teaching profession. I think my award was a real endorsement of the collective ethos of research-led teaching we champion at the Westminster School of Media and Communication, and which continues to ensure that our students are always learning about the most up-to-date knowledge in the field from people who are helping shape it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Can you tell us about your areas of expertise or interest, and your experiences as an author and sharing your knowledge?\u202f <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m very much a book person. I\u2019ve published nine books, with more to come, and I\u2019m proud of the way they\u2019ve tracked the development of social media and internet cultures right through the twenty-first century so far. I\u2019ve written books about internet activism,  news, media convergence, the internet of things, deepfake videos, and of course about social media.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Books authored by Graham Meikle<\/em><\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My most recent book is a completely revised and updated second edition of Social Media: The Convergence of Public and Personal Communication,<\/em> published by Routledge in April 2024. It explores fascinating areas of social media such as remix cultures, hashtag activism, and so-called fake news. It also examines the business models of the world\u2019s biggest social and digital platforms and how more recent developments such as deepfakes and Generative AI are connected to those. <\/p>\n\n\n\n