Shakiba Barghi

PhD

Publishing and Communication

Image of Shakiba Barghi
Image of Shakiba Barghi

Shakiba Barghi is a PhD Candidate and Graduate Researcher Academic Associate at the school of Culture and Communication. Her PhD thesis analyses the interplay between books, readers, and social media with special focus on social identity, book recommendation practices, and reading aesthetics in online Bookish communities. She is interested in internet studies, Popular Fiction, social media, and digital ethnography.

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Thesis

Readers' Social Identity on Social Media: Study of Bookish Subcommunities on BookTube, Bookstagram, and BookTok

Shakiba's thesis investigates the interplay between books, readers, and social media, focusing on how they, as interconnected parts of today's literary culture, shape contemporary reading practices, online recommendation culture, visual aesthetics, and readers' social identities. Using a Mixed-Methods approach, this research analyses the role of social media bookish communities in influencing readers' practices and their social interactions on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

Research interests

  • Media Studies
  • Contemporary Book History
  • Internet Studies
  • Audience and Fan Studies

Supervisors