Rate My Professor Nicholas Carah

Nicholas Carah is Professor in the School of Communication and Arts and Director of the Centre for Digital Cultures & Societies in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at The University of Queensland. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy from The University of Queensland, with his 2008 thesis titled Empowerment within the brandscapes of popular music culture. Carah's research examines the algorithmic and participatory advertising model of digital media platforms, with a sustained focus on digital alcohol marketing. His academic interests include branding, social media, algorithmic culture, and media platforms. He is an Associate Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society and a Chief Investigator on ARC Discovery and Linkage projects. In 2023, he served as Deputy Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Carah is also Director and Deputy Chair of the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education.

Carah has authored and co-authored numerous works on media, culture, and digital platforms. His books include Media and Society: Power, Platforms & Participation (2021, with Amy Dobson and Sungyong Ahn), Brand Machines, Sensory Media and Calculative Culture (2016, with Sven Brodmerkel), Media and Society: production, content and participation (2015, with Eric Louw), and Pop Brands: branding, popular music and young people (2010). He co-edited Digital Intimate Publics and Social Media (2018, with Amy Shields Dobson and Brady Robards) and Conflict in My Outlook (2022). Key journal articles feature "Alcohol marketing in the era of digital media platforms" (Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 2021), "Snapchat’s augmented reality brand culture: sponsored filters and lenses as digital piecework" (Continuum, 2020), "Algorithmic brand culture: participatory labour, machine learning and branding on social media" (Media, Culture & Society, 2018), "Brands and Instagram: Point, tap, swipe, glance" (Mobile Media and Communication, 2016), and "Brand value: how affective labour helps create brands" (Consumption Markets & Culture, 2014). He has produced 110 works between 2004 and 2026, including 7 books, 55 journal articles, 20 other outputs, 15 conference publications, and 13 book chapters, as cataloged in UQ eSpace.