Is social media still social? With the spread of content creation as a business, political strategy, and pastime across platforms, where is the space for sociality in social media? This panel examines the role of engagement farming, influencer culture, misinformation, disinformation, and AI in reshaping social media as a creator economy. In a digital landscape where we all serve as content creators and/or unwitting sources of valuable data, we explore whether social media is still a desirable avenue for forming and cultivating community, engaging in organizing strategies, or simply being social.

This event is open to the public, and we encourage all interested faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students to attend.

Advance registration is recommended. Register to attend on Zoom: https://myumi.ch/NrArW

Meet the Panelists

Professor Crystal Abidin is a Professor of Internet Studies at Curtin University. She is a digital anthropologist and ethnographer of vernacular internet cultures. She researches influencer cultures, online visibility, and social media pop cultures especially in the Asia Pacific region, and has published over 100 articles/chapters, 12 special issues, and 6 books. Her books include Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame Online (2018), Microcelebrity Around the Globe: Approaches to Cultures of Internet Fame (co-editor Brown, 2018), Instagram: Visual Social Media Cultures (co-authors Leaver & Highfield, 2020), Mediated Interfaces: The Body on Social Media (co-editors Warfield & Cambre, 2020), tumblr: Curation, Creativity and Community (co-authors Tiidenberg & Hendry, 2022), and Influencer Marketing: Interdisciplinary and Socio-Cultural Perspectives (co-editors Gurrieri & Drenten, 2025).

Brooke Erin Duffy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at Cornell University, where she is also a member of the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies faculty. Her research interests include digital and social media industries; gender, identity, and inequality; and the impact of new technologies on creative work and labor. She's the author of two monographs on gender and cultural production, including (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love: Gender, Social Media, and Aspirational Work (Yale University Press, 2017), which draws upon research with fashion bloggers, YouTubers, and Instagrammers to explore the culture and politics of the digital labor. In addition, she is co-author of the newly released book Platforms & Cultural Production (Polity, 2021).

Meet the Moderator

Catherine Knight Steele is an educator, researcher, and award-winning author. She is the author of three books: Digital Black Feminism (NYU Press, 2021), Doing Black Digital Humanities with Radical Intentionality, and Technoskepticism: Between Possibility and Refusal, a collaborative project with the DISCO Network. She directs the Black Communication and Technology lab at the University of Maryland, where she is an Associate Professor of Communication. Her research focuses on race, gender, and media, with a specific emphasis on Black culture, discourse, and digital communication. Her latest project addresses critical questions about automation, AI, and their implications on our liberation.

We want to make our events accessible to all participants. CART services will be provided. If you anticipate needing additional accommodations to participate or would like help filling out the RSVP form, please email Cherice Chan at chericec@umich.edu.