Prof Ben Light's Outputs (103)

NSFW: sex, humor, and risk in social media (2019)
Book

An exploration of how and why social media content is tagged as “not safe for work” and an argument against conflating sexual content with risk.

The hashtag #NSFW (not safe for work) acts as both a warning and an invitation. NSFW tells users, “We... Read More about NSFW: sex, humor, and risk in social media.

The walkthrough method : an approach to the study of apps (2016)
Journal Article

Software applications (apps) are now prevalent in the digital media environment. They are the site of significant sociocultural and economic transformations across many domains, from health and relationships to entertainment and everyday finance. As... Read More about The walkthrough method : an approach to the study of apps.

Sex education against the algorithm: the algorithmically enforced deplatforming of YouTube sex edutainment (2024)
Journal Article
Garwood-Cross, L., Light, B., Cooper-Ryan, A., & Vasilica, C. (2024). Sex education against the algorithm: the algorithmically enforced deplatforming of YouTube sex edutainment. Journal of Gender Studies, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2024.2374752

Deplatforming of sexual content has increased across social media, usually operationalized by commercially charged, and algorithmically enforced, platform policies. This paper extends work on the algorithmic deplatforming of sex through the case stud... Read More about Sex education against the algorithm: the algorithmically enforced deplatforming of YouTube sex edutainment.

Disconnecting with social networking sites (2014)
Book

Ben Light puts forward an alternative way of thinking about how we engage with social networking sites, going beyond the emphasis upon connectivity that has been associated with research in the area to date. Analysing our engagements and disengagemen... Read More about Disconnecting with social networking sites.

The Covid Sex Lives Project: Health Messaging, Hooking Up And Dating Among Men Who Have Sex With Men During The UK COVID-19 Pandemic (2023)
Report

In the context of the pandemic, government and public health measures to mitigate the spread of coronavirus have been translated into media messaging by organisations that target the health of different groups.

Engaging experiences of the minorit... Read More about The Covid Sex Lives Project: Health Messaging, Hooking Up And Dating Among Men Who Have Sex With Men During The UK COVID-19 Pandemic.

Hidden voices and deep meaning: An ethnography to reveal and render explicit health care assistants, porters and domestics experience and role in the social organisation of end of life care (2025)
Thesis

Encounters with patients who are approaching end of life or dying can affect all staff. Yet health care support staff are rarely mentioned or included in service evaluation or research studies, with their roles often not easily visible, largely happe... Read More about Hidden voices and deep meaning: An ethnography to reveal and render explicit health care assistants, porters and domestics experience and role in the social organisation of end of life care.

COVID Sex Lives: Race and Ethnicity in Focus (2023)
Report

Race and ethnicity shaped the experiences of men who have sex with
men (MSM) in the United Kingdom during the pandemic. This Covid Sex Lives In Focus Report delves deeper into social aspects that emerged from our findings. Key points in this report... Read More about COVID Sex Lives: Race and Ethnicity in Focus.

Covid Sex Lives: How the Pandemic Impacted the Sex Lives of Men Who Have Sex With Men (2023)
Report

During the COVID-19 pandemic, messages from the government and public health organizations aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus were turned into media campaigns targeting different groups.

The COVID Sex Lives project sought to understa... Read More about Covid Sex Lives: How the Pandemic Impacted the Sex Lives of Men Who Have Sex With Men.

COVID Sex Lives: Age in Focus (2023)
Report

Age was an important factor that shaped the experiences of men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United Kingdom during the pandemic.

This Covid Sex Lives In Focus Report delves deeper into social aspects that emerged from our findings. The Covid... Read More about COVID Sex Lives: Age in Focus.

Interrogating the possibilities and problems of YouTube sex edutainment content : an Actor-Network Theory approach (2022)
Thesis

British Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) has gained public attention in recent years due to several reports highlighting gaps in provision and a change of statutory guidance for RSE in 2019. Historically RSE has linked sex with risk and shame, s... Read More about Interrogating the possibilities and problems of YouTube sex edutainment content : an Actor-Network Theory approach.

The use of ‘off-the-shelf’ GPS technology to support people living with dementia and their care partners (2022)
Thesis

This doctoral thesis explores the perceptions and experiences of people living with dementia and their care partners on off-the-shelf Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. ‘Off-the-shelf’ GPS devices are readily available, without a specific us... Read More about The use of ‘off-the-shelf’ GPS technology to support people living with dementia and their care partners.

COVID sex lives : survey 3 report (2021)
Report

This report presents initial findings from the third survey of the Covid Sex Lives project. Public health measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 are translated into media messaging by organisations that target the health of different groups. Thi... Read More about COVID sex lives : survey 3 report.

COVID sex lives : survey 2 report (2021)
Report

This report presents initial findings from the second survey of Covid Sex Lives project. Public health measures to mitigate the spread of coronavirus are translated into media messaging by organisations that target the health of different groups. Thi... Read More about COVID sex lives : survey 2 report.

COVID sex lives : survey 1 report (2021)
Report

This report presents initial findings from the first survey of Covid Sex Lives project. Public health
measures to mitigate the spread of coronavirus are translated into media messaging by
organisations that target the health of different groups. Th... Read More about COVID sex lives : survey 1 report.

Facemums 2018: final report (2020)
Report

Continuity of care and easy access to reliable information during pregnancy is essential to the health and wellbeing of pregnant women. In recent years widespread use of the internet has fundamentally changed the way people obtain health informatio... Read More about Facemums 2018: final report.

The Dick Pic: Harassment, Curation, and Desire (2019)
Journal Article

The combined rise of digital photography and social media has expanded what might be considered photo worthy. Among the pouting selfies and food stuffs of the day exists the ubiquitous dick pic. The mainstream media generally focuses on dick pics of... Read More about The Dick Pic: Harassment, Curation, and Desire.

Ashley Madison (2018)
Book Chapter

As the introduction to this volume indicates, apps are a challenge to study because, among other reasons, they are usually made technically inaccessible to researchers by developers. This chapter is methodological in nature and illustrates the use of... Read More about Ashley Madison.

Locked down apps versus the social media ecology : why do young people and educators disagree on the best delivery platform for digital sexual health entertainment education? (2018)
Journal Article
McKee, A., Albury, K., Burgess, J., Light, B., Osman, K., & Walsh, A. (2018). Locked down apps versus the social media ecology : why do young people and educators disagree on the best delivery platform for digital sexual health entertainment education?. New Media and Society, 20(12), 4571-4589. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444818778255

This article reports on focus groups exploring the best way to reach young men with vulgar comedy videos that provide sexual health information. Young people reported that they found the means by which the material was presented - as a locked down ap... Read More about Locked down apps versus the social media ecology : why do young people and educators disagree on the best delivery platform for digital sexual health entertainment education?.

Big Data, Method and the Ethics of Location: A Case Study of a Hookup App for Men Who Have Sex with Men (2018)
Journal Article

With the rise of geo-social media, location is emerging as a particularly sensitive data point for big data and digital media research. To explore this area, we reflect on our ethics for a study in which we analyze data generated via an app that faci... Read More about Big Data, Method and the Ethics of Location: A Case Study of a Hookup App for Men Who Have Sex with Men.

Study protocol : responding to the needs of patients with IgA nephropathy, a social media approach (2017)
Journal Article

Background
IgA nephropathy is the most common cause of glomerulonephritis in the Western world and predominantly affects young adults. Demographically these patients are the biggest users of social media. With increasing numbers of patients turning... Read More about Study protocol : responding to the needs of patients with IgA nephropathy, a social media approach.