Diane Burgess completed her PhD in Communication at Simon Fraser University, where her dissertation examined the international film festival as a major institutional force in Canadian cinema culture. Her research interests include national cinema, cultural policy, multi-platform distribution, and the formation of screen cultures. Her most recent projects include a co-authored book chapter on methodological issues in film festival research, and an article about the global phenomenon of the Internet Cat Video Festival (#catvidfest).

WRDS 150 Research Area: Social Media

With their hashtags, newsfeeds, and status updates, social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook have become ubiquitous in our daily lives, blurring the boundaries between personal and professional networks and impacting how we gather and disseminate information. At the same time, micro-blogging has altered the public sphere, challenging journalistic norms and influencing potential forms of political engagement. By definition, social media are both networking technologies and information conduits. Drawing examples from media studies, psychology, journalism and political science, this section of WRDS 150 explores how scholars approach the qualities of social networks, their uses and their users.