Rate My Professor Jennifer Beckett

Dr Jennifer Beckett is a Senior Lecturer in Media and Communications in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on online governance of social spaces, platform governance, social media moderation, online community management, and the well-being of digital workers such as content moderators. She examines the structures of extremist communities like Incels, online hostility, and factors influencing abuse reporting on platforms. Beckett completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge on online disagreements, with an emphasis on community dynamics in the Wikipedia editor network. She contributes to the Faculty of Arts and Culture through her work on digital cultures and persuasive communications.

Prior to her academic career, Beckett worked as an online and social media producer at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and as a professional community manager. She is a founding member of Australian Community Managers, the peak body for community managers in Australia. Beckett serves as Chief Investigator on the Australian Research Council Discovery Project 'Addressing Online Hostility in Australian Digital Cultures' (DP230100870) and the 'Creative Convergence' project enhancing regional theatre impact for young audiences. Her key publications include 'Reporting online abuse to platforms: Factors, interfaces and the potential for care' (2024), 'Operationalising "toxicity" in the manosphere: Automation, platform governance and the limits of detection' (2022), 'Revenge of the moderators: Facebook’s online workers are sick of being treated like bots' (2019), a chapter in 'Rethinking the Music Business: Technology, Data, Live, Policy and Culture' (2022), and essays on Marvel Cinematic Universe governance and national trauma in 'Bloody Sunday: National Trauma and National Cinema'. She has written on Taylor Swift's fan responsibilities (2024) and organized the Swiftposium 2024 conference. Beckett's scholarship bridges industry practice and academia, informing policies on digital harm reduction and community architecture.