I recently found out that my co-authored piece on COVID-19 memes and stress, published with my great friends Robin Nabi and Nicholas Eng in the journal Psychology of Popular Media, received more non-scholarly attention than any other article published in a communication-related journal in the year 2022.
In academic speak–holy cow!
I have long been interested in getting my work outside the ivory tower and the paywalls of academic journals. It is great to have peers read my work, but if it does not permeate into the “real world,” then I do not meet my goal.
Some academics think public attention to scholarly work is trivial or shows the work is superficial. Hopefully those attitudes continue to change. In the meantime, as a former journalist, I am thrilled to keep talking to journalists and the public about the importance of social science and media psychology in our daily lives and our society at large.