Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
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Social Media & Employment: An Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) project on young people, social media and employment futures. This project investigates how a) young people present professional identities on social media when preparing for employment, and b) how employers use social media in recruitment.
- Alochol and Nightlife Promotion on Social Media: An ARC Linkage Project with the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) and Nic Carah (UQ), Amy Dobson (Curtin), Dan Angus (QUT) and Aimee Brownbill (FARE) looking at how young people experience alcohol and nightlife promotion on social media. We conducted interviews, focus groups, and detailed data collection with young people around Australia to explore the kinds of promotional material they see on social media, their understandings of algorithmic advertising, and views on regulation and change.
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Growing up on social media: With Sian Lincoln, since 2014 Brady has been studying sustained or longitudinal social media use among people in their 20s who have grown up using social media. Brady and Sian developed the 'social media scroll back' method to examine longitudinal digital traces inscribed on social media through regular use over years, where researchers can work with research participants as co-analysts of their own digital traces.
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Scrolling Beyond Binaries: With Brendan Churchill, Paul Byron, Son Vivienne, and Benjamin Hanckel, since 2016 Brady has been studying social media use among LGBTIQ+ young people. This project employed mixed-methods, including a survey conducted in 2016 and interviews conducted in 2017. Key findings cover how different platforms are used to manage different audiences and networks, and how networked publics operate to build a sense of connection, community, and facilitate learning among queer and gender-diverse young people.
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Young People's Experiences of Australian Public Services: This study aimed to understand young people’s experiences and perceptions of Australian public services and how young people connect with them at different times in their lives. Findings from this study went on to underpin Australia's youth policy framework. The project was undertaken on behalf of the Australian Public Service with Steven Roberts, Jo Lindsay, Barbara Barbosa Neves, Zareh Ghazarian, Jonathan Smith, Jacqueline Laughland-Booy, and Verity Trott.
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Social Media & Unhealthy Marketing: We partnered with VicHealth to study how products like alcohol, fast food, sugary drinks, and gambling are advertised to young people via social media. This project is with Nic Carah (UQ), Amy Dobson (Curtin), Karla Elliott, Claire Tanner, Steven Roberts, Michael Savic, and Chiara De Lazzari. We took a citizen science approach, recruiting young people to take screenshots of the advertising they see, collect them for us, and discuss them with us as part of our analysis.
- Algorithms and Affects: Proliferating Gender Equality Backlashes amongst Boys and Young Men in Australia
- Digital Dating Abuse in Australia: Young Women’s Safety and Resistance Work
- Using social media to understand formal and informal sexual education of non-heterosexual students
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Gender, singleness and online hate: comparing how gender is constructed in internet forums discussing singleness, involuntary celibacy and dating strategies
- Young people's experiences of dating apps and digitally mediated relationships
- Making masculinities: Subaltern young men’s everyday digital lives
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Assembling fitspirational bodies: Social media and gender identity work
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Young LGBTQ+ people's political engagement in Australia
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Antifeminist movements on social media in China
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Anti-social networks: exploring the Australian far-right from a complex adaptive systems perspective - Dr Callum Jones
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Emotion, touch and male bonding: An in-depth investigation of masculinity and male friendship in Australia - Dr Brittany Ralph
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Digital Belonging: Polymedia and Adolescent Migrants in Australia - Dr Claire Moran
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A Sexual Fields approach to Sexual Racism: A cross-sectional examination of overseas-born Asian Men who have sex with Men’s (MSM) experiences of individual and collective erotic life - Dr Gene Lim
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Nomophobia and Deterrence: how smartphones impact compliance and younger drivers - Dr Fareed Kaviani
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Why Wearables? Understanding practices around self-tracking devices - Dr Ben Lyall
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Gay Neo-Tribes: An Exploration of Space and Travel Behaviour - Dr Oscar Vorobjovas-Pinta
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ATS1366 Big Ideas for Better Futures
- ATS2561 Sex and the media
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ATS2720 Youth, culture and social change
Research interests
- Social media (long-term use, memory, and impact on employment)
- Youth culture and internet cultures
- Gender and sexuality
- Digital research methods and ethics
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
External positions
Member, Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR)
2011 → …
Member, The Australian Sociological Association (TASA)
2008 → …
Research area keywords
- social media
- youth
- gender
- sexuality
- qualitative methodology
- internet research
- digital society
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Young Australians and the promotion of alcohol on social media
Carah, N. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Dobson, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Robards, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Angus, D. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Crane, M. (Chief Investigator (CI))
University of Queensland , Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education Limited (FARE), Australian Research Council (ARC), Monash University – Internal Department Contribution, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Curtin University
17/06/21 → 31/12/25
Project: Research
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Evaluation of the Job Ready Program model
Ang, S. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Arunachalam, D. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Roberts, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Robards, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Pham, T. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Le, L. (Chief Investigator (CI))
Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (Australia)
30/10/23 → 29/05/24
Project: Research
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Delivering Research into Australian User Experience with Control Features on Social Media Services and Dating Platforms
Flynn, A. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Harris, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Robards, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Vakhitova, Z. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Wheildon, L. (Chief Investigator (CI))
22/11/22 → 31/03/23
Project: Research
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Barriers and drivers into young people aged 15-24 years utilising the National Careers Institute’s School Leavers Information Service
Roberts, S. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Lyall, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Smith, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Robards, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Trott, V. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Wright, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Waite, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Smith, J. (Chief Investigator (CI))
30/06/21 → 31/10/21
Project: Research
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Alcohol consumption practices in crisis
Savic, M. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Roberts, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Elliott, K. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Robards, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Dwyer, R. (Chief Investigator (CI))
31/03/21 → 30/09/24
Project: Research
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Playing the Player: Unfair digital gaming practices and their impact on Australians
Gupta, C., Campbell, M., Robards, B. & Fordyce, R., 17 Apr 2025, Melbourne Vic Australia: Monash University. 72 p.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned Report › Other
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Drinking as affective labour: a discussion of Australian men working in hospitality and corporate workplaces
Ralph, B., Duncan, T., Roberts, S., Savic, M., Robards, B. & Elliott, K., Sept 2024, In: Sociology of Health and Illness. 46, 7, p. 1456-1476 21 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access -
Evaluation of the Job Ready Program
Arunachalam, D., Roberts, S., Ang, S., Le, L., Foeken, E., Pham, T., Cheikh Husain, S., Tan, A., Robards, B., Adhikari, P., Jones, C. & Graf, D., 2024, Australia: Australian Government. 112 p.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned Report › Other
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Looking back on the scroll back: reflections on the social media scroll back method
Moran, C., Renaud, E., Annabell, T., Yang, F. & Robards, B., 2024, Research Handbook on Social Media and Society. Skoric, M. M. & Pang, N. (eds.). 1st ed. Cheltenham UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, p. 255-269 15 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
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No targets, just vibes: tuned advertising and the algorithmic flow of social media
Brown, M.-G., Carah, N., Robards, B., Dobson, A., Rangiah, L. & De Lazzari, C., Jan 2024, In: Social Media + Society. 10, 1, p. 1-15 15 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile5 Citations (Scopus)
Prizes
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Dean’s Award for Research Enterprise, Faculty of Education, 2022
Roberts, S. (Recipient), Robards, B. (Recipient) & Lyall, B. (Recipient), 2022
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Special Commendation, Faculty of Arts Dean's Awards for Research Excellence 2021, Excellence for Research Enterprise
Robards, B. (Recipient), Roberts, S. (Recipient), Lyall, B. (Recipient), Barbosa Neves, B. (Recipient), Ghazarian, Z. (Recipient), Trott, V. (Recipient), Lindsay, J. (Recipient), Smith, J. (Recipient) & Laughland-Booy, J. (Recipient), 2021
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Special Commendation - 2017 Dean's Award for Excellence in Research by an Early Career Researcher
Robards, B. (Recipient), 4 Jul 2017
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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University of Bristol ‘Next Generation’ Visiting Fellowship Award
Robards, B. (Recipient), 2024
Prize: Competitive Fellowships
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Winner - 2019 VicHealth Awards, Research into Action Category
Roberts, S. (Recipient), Ralph, B. (Recipient), Elliott, K. (Recipient), Robards, B. (Recipient), Savic, M. (Recipient), Lindsay, J. (Recipient), O'Brien, K. (Recipient) & Lubman, D. (Recipient), 2019
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
File
Activities
- 1 Contribution to conference
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Social Sciences Week 2023 - Cancelled?: Taking a Closer Look at 'Cancel Culture'
Tanner, C. (Organiser), Pienaar, K. (Organiser), Robards, B. (Organiser) & Toffoletti, K. (Organiser)
5 Sept 2023Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Contribution to conference
Press/Media
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YouTube is exempt from Australia’s social media ban. Why? (Radio New Zealand)
3/05/25
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Deceptive digital game design financially impacts nearly half of Australian gamers (6PR Perth)
17/04/25
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Australians are being gamed when they play online, new survey finds (Monash Press Release)
17/04/25
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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‘7 Days Of Using A Dumbphone Taught Me More Than I Expected’ (Elle)
28/10/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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‘It gave me the ick’: When friendly surveillance crosses the line (The Age, Brisbane Times, etc.)
2/09/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment