Introduction to Mediated Communication: Social Media and Beyond

David Keith Westerman

(Ph.D., Michigan State University, 2007) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at North Dakota State University. His research and teaching focuses on communication technologies and how people use them to accomplish their goals. His research has been published in such outlets as Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, Computers in Human Behavior, and Internet and Higher Education. Dave is currently enjoying the beautiful climate of Fargo, North Dakota with his wife Catherine. He is still anxiously awaiting the day when the Buffalo Sabres finally can hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Nicholas David Bowman

(Ph.D., Michigan State University) is an Associate Professor of Journalism and Creative Media Industries at Texas Tech University. His research focuses on the psychological and sociological impacts of communication technologies—specifically digital media—and how these impacts have influenced the human communication process. Nick has authored or co-authored nearly four dozen original empirical studies and a dozen book chapters on the subject, with much of his work focused on video games and social media applications. He currently serves on the editorial board of several research journals, including Media Psychology and New Media & Society, is an editor with Journal of Media Psychology , and contributes regularly as a reviewer for the American Library Association’s CHOICE Magazine. In 2016, he was awarded a WVU Foundation Outstanding Teacher award, and was also named a 2016 Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teacher. In 2020, he was named Fulbright Wu Jing-Jyi Arts and Culture Fellow by the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange in Taipei, Taiwan.

Nick is a native of St. Louis, where he split his time between the bohemian bustle of University City and the creeks and hollers of suburban-rural Jefferson County. After graduating from the University of Missouri-St. Louis (B.A., ’03; M.A., ’04) he worked as a newspaper reporter and in government relations before leaving the state to pursue his doctorate. He currently lives in the heart of Morgantown, West Virginia with his partner—in research, in the lab, and in life—Jaime. Both are avid travelers and collectors of history and popular culture artifacts, and when they’re not in the office (physically or digitally), they can usually be found on the road, searching the country (here or abroad) for remnants of entertainment culture past and present to add to their expanding collection of comic books, video games, and movie posters.

Kenneth A Lachlan

Ken Lachlan is Associate Professor at the Department of Communication at the University of Connecticut. Prior to his academic career, he worked in public radio and television promotions for several years. His research interests include the psychological effects of mass media, health and risk communication, social robotics, and new media technologies. Recent publications have appeared in the Computers in Human Behavior, Media Psychology, and the Journal of Applied Communication Research, to name a few. Ken considers himself mostly a quantitative scholar, preferring experimental and survey methodologies in investigating his areas of interest. He has also served as a consultant statistician for various companies and government agencies. He holds a dual B.A. in Communication and Sociology from Wake Forest, an M.A. in Mass Communication from Bowling Green State University, and a Ph.D. in Communication from Michigan State. An avid jogger and diehard hockey fan, Ken lives in Hartford, CT with his wife and their cat.