Digital Public Criminology in Australia and New Zealand: Results from a Mixed Methods Study of Criminologists’ Use of Social Media

Abstract

The proliferation of social media in the ‘post-broadcast era’ has profoundly altered the terrain for researchers to produce public scholarship and engage with the public. To date, however, the impact of social media on public criminology has not been subject to empirical inquiry. Drawing from a dataset of 116 surveys and nine interviews, our mixed-methods study addresses this opening in the literature by examining how criminologists in Australia and New Zealand have employed social media to engage in public criminology. This article presents findings from surveys that examine the practices and perceptions of criminologists in relation to social media, and insights from an analysis that explores the political and logistical issues raised by respondents. These issues include the democratising potential of social media in criminological research, and its ability to provide representation for historically marginalised populations. Questions pertaining to ‘newsmaking criminology’ and the wider performance of ‘public criminology’ on social media are also addressed.

Keywords

• Public engagement
• public criminology
• social media
• digital criminology