check
Nicholas John

Curriculum Vitae

My research interests include technology and society, the Internet, social media, sharing, and unfriending.

I am the author of the award-winning book, The Age of Sharing. This book offers an innovative approach to sharing in social media, specifically by linking it to sharing in other social spheres, namely, consumption and intimate interpersonal relations. The book won the Best Book award from the Israel Communication Association, and the Nancy Baym Book Award from the Association of Internet Researchers.

I am also interested in disconnectivity, which I see as a neglected aspect of digital culture. In particular, I am fascinated by Facebook unfriending, particularly when it is politically motivated. I see unfriending as a new political and social gesture that we know very little about indeed. My first foray into this new field was a survey of Facebook unfriending during the Israel-Gaza conflict in summer 2014. This has been supplemented by a study of unfriending during the 2015 general elections in Israel.

I teach BA and MA courses about the complex interrelations between technology and society.