Dear Air-L members I am just beginning a new research project looking at social media and the academy, and am hoping to crowdsource some of the latest journal papers/books/articles in this area in order to put together a current literature review. Below is the brief title abstract of the research proposal for the project. I am conducting my own searches of course too, but any leads or recommendations anyone could pass on would be most heartily appreciated! Conceptualising social media for theory and practice: The role of the academy in formulating contemporary media and communication social media curricula Social media is aligned with exponential technological growth (Wayt Gibbs, 1997) in communication technology, and is subject to such swift and unpredictable change, that there is currently a limited understanding of what the term ‘social media’ actually means (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). Academic discourse around the theory and practice of social media, and specifically understanding how ‘social media’ is conceptualised, researched and taught within the academy, is also somewhat restricted. My research project intends to examine how the academy conceptualises and teaches social media in order to “train students to go out into the world with both general and specific skills [and] work with contemporary problems and render appropriate the discoveries and understanding that they generate” (Boulton & Lucas, 2008, p. 4). The study will focus on a delimited area, namely how Australian universities are currently conceptualising social media and utilising it as part of pedagogical best practice within media and communication schools. The first step in this research study, following on from my earlier research in the field, would involve an updated comprehensive literature review in this area in order to maintain theoretical currency in this rapidly developing field. The study would then extend to a triangulated methodological approach within the qualitative research paradigm, providing an analysis of a sample of current social media university subject syllabi offered in Australia. Semi-structured interviews with academics would serve to help understand how their theoretical underpinnings for social media inform the pedagogical models for this knowledge area. References Boulton, G., & Lucas, C. (2008). What are universities for? : League of European Research Universities. Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59-68. Wayt Gibbs, W. (1997). Gordon E Moore, Part 2. The Scientific American. Regards, Dr Amalie Finlayson Lecturer in Journalism School of Communication & Creative Industries Charles Sturt University Panorama Avenue, Bathurst NSW 2795 P: 02 6338 4446 E: afinlayson@csu.edu.au Charles Sturt University | ALBURY-WODONGA | BATHURST | CANBERRA | DUBBO | GOULBURN | ONTARIO | ORANGE | SYDNEY | WAGGA WAGGA | Give Generously - Support Young Australians You can help young Australians to go to University and succeed in their studies by giving generously to the Charles Sturt University Foundation. To find out more or to make a donation go to the Foundation web site http://www.csu.edu.au/special/foundation. Australian donations are tax deductible. LEGAL NOTICE This email (and any attachment) is confidential and is intended for the use of the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you must not copy, distribute, take any action in reliance on it or disclose it to anyone. Any confidentiality is not waived or lost by reason of mistaken delivery. Email should be checked for viruses and defects before opening. Charles Sturt University (CSU) does not accept liability for viruses or any consequence which arise as a result of this email transmission. Email communications with CSU may be subject to automated email filtering, which could result in the delay or deletion of a legitimate email before it is read at CSU. The views expressed in this email are not necessarily those of CSU. Charles Sturt University in Australia http://www.csu.edu.au The Chancellery, Panorama Avenue, Bathurst NSW Australia 2795 ABN: 83 878 708 551; CRICOS Provider Numbers: 00005F (NSW), 01947G (VIC), 02960B (ACT) Charles Sturt University in Ontario http://www.charlessturt.ca 860 Harrington Court, Burlington Ontario Canada L7N 3N4 Registration: www.peqab.ca Consider the environment before printing this email.