ALT A graphic that says: "The Influencer Ethnography Research Lab (IERLab) examines the socio-cultural impact of Influencers within the Asia Pacific and around the world." IERLab.com There are social media icons with the handle underneath: @IERLab_IG = Instagram @IERLab = Facebook, Mastodon, Weibo, YouTube, Spotify #IERLab

ALT A graphic with a headshot photo of Dr Hao Zheng. The image text says: "Meet the IERLab Team: Dr Hao Zheng, IERLab Research Fellow."

ALT A collage of photos from AoIR2024 conference in Sheffield, UK. Along with images of Sheffield, there are photos of Rachel Berryman presenting at the panel 'Virtual Celebrities Industries in East Asia.'

ALT IERLab Research Student Rachel Berryman presenting for the Milestone 3 presentation. The slide shows 'Virtual Infuencers 101: Where did they come from?'

ALT IERLab Research Student Rachel Berryman presenting for the Milestone 3 presentation. The slide shows 'Virtual Infuencers 101: Where did they come from?'

ALT A group photo of all IERLab Research Students following Rachel Berryman's Milestone 3 presentation. L-R: Naomi Robinson, Janey Umback, Rachel Berryman, Faye Mercier.

ALT A cover image for Rachel Berryman's Milestone Three presentation. There is an image of a virtual influencers, and the text says: "Analysing Virtual Influencers: Celebrity, Authenticity & Identity on Social Media. Milestone Three, Nov 2024. Rachel Berryman, PhD Candidate, Media, Creative Arts & Social Inquiry, Curtin University, Supervised by Prof Tama Leaver and Prof Crystal Abidin. @researchbrb (Instagram) rachelberrman.com

ALT IERLab Research Student Faye Mercier at her Milestone 1 presentation

ALT IERLab Research Student Faye Mercier at her Milestone 1 presentation

ALT IERLab Research Student Faye Mercier at her Milestone 1 presentation

ALT IERLab team posing for a group photo after IERLab Research Student Faye Mercier's Milestone 1 presentation. Clockwise from front left: Dr Jin Lee, Naomi Robinson, Faye Mercier, Rachel Berryman, Prof Crystal Abidin

ALT A graphic that says: "The Influencer Ethnography Research Lab (IERLab) examines the socio-cultural impact of Influencers within the Asia Pacific and around the world." IERLab.com There are social media icons with the handle underneath: @IERLab_IG = Instagram @IERLab = Facebook, Twitter/X, Weibo, YouTube, Spotify #IERLab

ALT A quote image, which says: "Animal social media accounts and channels purposefully engage with cuteness and laboriously leverage their internet fame for animal activism within the image-centered, attention-seeking social media environment." - Jin Lee Lee, Jin. (2024). "Cute saves the world!": animal Internet Celebrities' cute activism in the #adoptdon'tshop animal rescue campaign on social media. Social Movement Studies, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2024.2421973 There is a cute illustration of a dog and cat curled up together smiling.

ALT A poster with a listing of all sessions at the 2024 AoIR conference featuring IERLab members. "IERLab researchers will be presenting at the 2024 Association of Internet Researchers Conference in Sheffield, UK (30 October - 2 November 2024)." Due to ALT-TEXT character limits, for accessible text of session details (and more information regarding panel descriptions and/or abstracts), visit: https://ierlab.com/aoir2024/ The poster includes a QR code which links to the above URL.

ALT A quote image, which says: "In sharing their everyday life in Nordic countries, some try to depict "the realities" of living as an East Asian expat and provide a balanced viewpoint about the pros and cons of Nordic life." - Jin Lee & Crystal Abidin Lee, Jin & Crystal Abidin. (2024). Fantasised and fantastical Nordic imaginaries: Contextualising Nordic life vlogs by East Asian YouTube vloggers. Nordic Journal of Media Studies. 6 (1). https://doi.org/10.2478/njms-2024-0004 There is an illustration of a Nordic landscape with a mountainrange, pine trees and house.

ALT A poster for upcoming Keynote by Prof Crystal Abidin. There is a logo for the Influencer Ethnography Research Lab, and a photo of multiple headshots of Prof Crystal. The text says: Doing Cultural Research in Asia: Intercultural Influencers in East Asia Join Prof Crystal Abidin for this keynote introducing a new theory of 'Intercultural Influencers' on 6 Sept 24, 9:00am - 10:30am AEST. This event is part of the Doing cultural research in Asia: Media, Power, Communities Symposium, hosted by the Asian Cultural Research Hub (University of Melbourne) and the Asian Media, Culture and Society Research Group (Deakin University). More information & online tickets available here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/doing=cultural-research-in-asia-intercultural-influencers-in-east-asia-tickets-987485665207

ALT A photo of Dr Jin Lee's Curtin University Humanities Research Award: '2024 Humanities Building Research Capability Award – Early Career Researcher'. In the reflection of the award you can see Dr Jin Lee taking the photo with her phone.

ALT "Influencer Ethnography Research Lab - Read & Greet: Dr Meg Jing Zeng Read & Greet sessions encourage guest scholars to reflect on their own processes and experiences as a researcher, and focus around a specific journal article or chapter they have written. For the inaugural R&G session, we welcomed IERLab Visiting Fellow Dr Meg Jing Zeng to discuss her paper “Showing They Care (Or Don’t): Affective Publics and Ambivalent Climate Activism on TikTok” (2021)." Accompanying the text above are pictures of IERLab members (Prof Crystal Abidin, Dr Jin Lee, Rachel Berryman & Janey Umback) with Dr Meg Jing Zeng, including during the Read & Greet session around a table & a group photo outside after the session.

ALT A poster for "Korean (Air)waves: Disseminating K-pop Research via Podcasts" Speaker: Janey Umback, PhD Candidate, Curtin University 6 August 2024. 4pm Perth/6pm Melbourne/8pm Auckland Join via Zoom. (There is a QR code on this poster that takes you to the link in the main tweet.) Organized by the KSAA Emerging Researchers Group. Janey Umback is a PhD candidate with a keen interest in internet vernaculars and popular culture. Her doctoral research examines gender dynamics and the commodification of intimacy within fan communities, with a particular interest in how fans and the Korean music industry collaborate to form intimate connections. Janey has contributed to academic discourse through published book chapters exploring the complexities of fandom, media consumption, and digital advocacy. She has been a guest on podcasts discussing K-pop research and BTS fandom and has utilised podcast advertising to recruit research participants.

ALT IERLab Visiting Fellow Dr Meg Jing Zeng, University of Zurich

ALT Dr Meg Jing Zeng presenting her IERLab masterclass: "Computational Approach to Researching Visual Social Media"

ALT Dr Meg Jing Zeng presenting her IERLab masterclass: "Computational Approach to Researching Visual Social Media"

ALT IERLab Visiting Fellow A/Prof WU Fang, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

ALT A quote image for the IERLab Podcast, which says: "[Chinese rural influencers] provide a virtual window and breath of fresh air to their followers." - Dr Chen Guo IERLab Podcast S2E6: Chinese Rural Influencers https://ierlab.com/ierlab-podcast/