My name is Alex Leavitt, and I am an Internet and media researcher.
I am 24 years old and live in Los Angeles.
Currently, I am a PhD student at the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism at the University of Southern California, advised by Henry Jenkins. I am an Annenberg Innovation Lab Fellow.
Previously, I worked with danah boyd at Microsoft Research New England. Before that, I was a researcher in the Comparative Media Studies department at MIT, where I worked on the Convergence Culture Consortium project.
Email me at alexleavitt [at] gmail [dot] com.
Follow me on Twitter at @alexleavitt.
Follow @alexleavitt
Curriculum Vitae (CV) [last updated 24 July 2011]
Hi-res Photo (front)
My research has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, and the Huffington Post.
Department of Alchemy (blog)
Convergence Culture Consortium (blog)
Web Ecology Project (white papers)
ROFLcon
Web Ecology Project
YouTomb
Students for Free Culture
Alex Leavitt
alexleavitt [at] gmail [dot] com
@alexleavitt
[+1] (781) 526-6483
My work focuses on social practices and norms around networked communication technology. Basically, I study alternative and disruptive uses of new media and the Internet.
In more detail, I look at cultural and social capital within online communities, social media platforms, and the creative industries. My research ranges from teenagers' uses of Facebook to niche media piracy to the mass creation of internet memes (y'know: LOLcats, viral videos, the like). I look at Internet culture from sociological and anthropological perspectives.
In the past, I have examined transmedia franchises and developments within the creative industries (TV, film, music, etc.) across the globe, especially their reactions to changing technologies and social norms. On the side, I also study Japanese popular culture -- such as anime and manga -- and its global audiences.