Social media
Research Topic
Language: English
This is a research topic created to provide authors with a place to attach new problem publications.
Research problems linked to this topic
- What can we learn about news consumption trends, including on which platforms news is consumed, diversity of readership; the role of media literacy in engagement with news; even expectations of what ‘news’ is and how that varies depending on the platform?
- How is digital culture affecting how people define culture?
- In which channels is harmful Gen-AI content most prevalent, how does it spread, and how can friction be introduced to these channels?
- To what extent does the UK public understand trade policy and global trade patterns? What are their main sources of information?
- Preventing offenders from inciting violence and promoting their actions through online channels
- How does engagement with and perceptions of different media forms shift across demographic characteristics? What interventions could improve engagement?
- What approaches will best empower rural communities to develop social, economic, and environmental interventions appropriate to their own local circumstances?
- What are the social and cultural impacts of digital engagement and how do they differ from or compliment physical engagement?
- Using digital channels to prevent and disrupt crime more effectively
- How could media literacy be used to build audiences’ resilience to these harms?
- How can different actors (e.g. Governments, tech companies, social media platforms, individuals etc.) mitigate these harms?
- Future skills - We assess that the world of tomorrow will be increasingly automated. How could we determine the different blend of skills needed by Defence in the future? With other sectors competing for the skilled labour, how could Defence ensure it can attract an agile workforce with the required skills?
- What impact do abuse, threats and violence have on journalists in the UK? What is the most appropriate way to define ‘abuse’, particularly online abuse, of journalists? What are the perceived boundaries between abuse and valid criticism by different stakeholders? What are the potential triggers for journalist abuse in the UK and internationally, including through analysis of online abuse on social media platforms and publisher websites, and the online accounts posting this abuse and wider evidence gathering?
- How can the economic, financial and social benefits of digital collaboration, knowledge-sharing platforms and information management be quantified?
- Creating a dynamic link between formal training, continuous professional development and informal sharing of practitioner knowledge
- How social media can facilitate, monitor and discourage crime and recruitment into organised crime groups.
- What evaluation methods/ tools can be used to measure the impact of media literacy interventions on citizens' attitudes and behaviours online in a robust way?
- What digital facilities do UK citizens need to have access to in order to take part in education, work, and social life?
- How can we encourage or incentivise behavioural change among businesses, communities, and individuals to achieve positive outcomes for the environment? What models of societal change might be used to underpin these behaviour change initiatives?
- Human engagement - For future operations, are there alternatives to the use of hard/physical power? How can we best predict behaviour in response to our actions? How do we best engage with diverse communities, particularly where our adversaries may be hiding within the civilian populations? How do we work effectively with our Allies?
- How does the type of online advert (such as video, display, social media influencers etc) influence engagement/interaction with online advertising? How does this engagement differ by age?
- Understanding the impact of social media on public confidence and perceptions of police legitimacy
- What are the emerging drivers of change and what might future change look like? New thinking, analysis, and data can improve our understanding, and our ability to anticipate how economic, social, and environmental drivers might change in the future. How these affect the trajectory of environmental outcomes and the future state of rural communities and businesses?
- How do we improve parental access to, and engagement with, family services? How do we improve connections and relationships between parents and professionals (e.g. through parental networks)?
- How is digital culture affecting how people interact with both physical and digital forms of culture? Are they substitutes or complements e.g. can digital engagement increase physical engagement? What does this mean for future policy interventions and business models?
- Which techniques are best for estimating the effects of interacting risks? How do we ensure that communication of risk is relevant and effective? What lessons can we take from the response to the coronavirus pandemic about the communication of risk and of the need for behavioural change?
- The role and influence of the internet and social media in the radicalisation process and ways to intervene.
- How can we make the most of participatory/ co-design approaches with different groups in society, including digital engagement, to generate new ideas, learn from existing practice, and build consensus for the future of policy?
- How would a shift towards interoperable / decentralised social media (aka ‘the fediverse’) alter how disinformation spreads, and the ability to be able to address it?
- To what extent are the types and trends of harmful online mis/disinformation consistent between larger and smaller platforms?
- How can collaboration between organisations, commissioners and other funders across CSY sectors and actors be enhanced at local levels to support better outcomes?
- Monitoring and analysing threats and hazards at incident scenes in real time, including the use of multiple and non-traditional sources such as crowd sourcing and social media.
- How do we develop public services that allow users to collectively create their own solutions? What role can social movement and network theories play in helping to improve public sector services and drive large scale system change?
- Understanding the effects of mainstream and social media on violence
- How does mis/disinformation spread between social media platforms, particularly primary and secondary platforms? How can it be identified and contained?
- Better meeting the learning and development needs of officers and staff
- Role of mainstream and social media in promoting / countering extremist communication, and in recruitment.
- How can creative businesses support behaviour change of citizens (and their audiences) to meet net zero targets? What types of information and delivery maximise positive behaviour change?
- Which methodologies could be used to more accurately forecast physical engagement at cultural events?
- Perceptions: What are the effects of perceptions – held by individuals, society, employers, the media – of the justice system? How do perceptions impact on individual behaviours and outcomes?
- Influencing customer choices, for example encouraging people to use online and automatic systems, or to apply for documents in good time.
- How do online bystanders respond to viewing perceived online mis/disinformation (e.g. report, share, ignore), and how could their behaviours be influenced?
- How does access to creative activities, including through digital and social media, support the development of creative and other skills?
- How can policy makers be supported to collaborate more effectively with external experts and academia?