• Research focus

    • Online-communication and interactive media
    • Innovative media research
    • Digital games
    • Online-journalism

  • Short CV

    Prof. Dr. Thorsten Quandt, * 1971, is a Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Münster.

    He was holding the Chair of Online Communication and Interactive Media at the University of Hohenheim from 2009-2012, where he also served as the Director of the Institute of Communication Studies in 2012. From 2007-2008, he was an Assistant Professor of journalism research at the Free University Berlin, where he also served as a Guest Professor in 2006. Furthermore, he has been working as a lecturer and researcher at various other universities, including the LMU Munich, the Berlin University of the Arts, and the Technical University Ilmenau. He was also a visiting professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a visiting scholar at the Indiana University, Bloomington.

    He (co)published more than 100 scientific articles and several books. His work was awarded with several scientific prizes, including various Top Paper Awards and the dissertation award of the DGPuK. He’s currently an Associate Editor of the Journal of Communication, and an Executive Board Member of ECREA.  His research and teaching fields include online communication, media innovation research, digital games and journalism. He was also a visiting professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a visiting scholar at the Indiana University, Bloomington.

    Currently, he is a visiting professor at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford.

  • Memberships

  • Current reasearch projects

    PropStop (05/2016 - 04/2019)

    PropStop is a project funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) that aims at studying hidden propaganda disseminations via online media, in order to identify and prove accordant attempts. Throughout the project an interdisciplinary team of statisticians, communication scientists, IT-security researchers, journalists and IT-security companies works together. Besides a large-scale examination of propaganda characteristics online, huge quantities of public opinion statements in different areas of the digital public sphere will be analyzed for repeated semantic and technical patterns. The insights gained throughout the project will be used to enhance our detection of massive, hidden propaganda attacks, to develop technologies to identify these attacks, and to improve our abilities to verify propaganda attacks. Real-time simulations of massive hidden propaganda attacks will provide meaningful insights into the transdisciplinary applicability of the gained findings.

    The Internet and Mental Health (05/2016 - 04/2018)

    Groundbreaking technologies change not only our daily lives and habits but also affect our perceptions, feelings, communication structures, and self image.  Never before, however, has the discussion of the impact of a technological development on mental health been as intense as it has been since the introduction of the internet. One would expect psychiatric experts to take the lead in this discussion.  At present, most of the commentary by psychiatrists and psychologists seems to be as influenced by their own attitudes towards modern technology as it is by empirical data and scientific insight.  There are reasons for this.  While one need not look far for inflammatory discussions of „internet addiction,“ a scientific debate amongst psychiatric professionals on this topic is seldom to be found.  Despite the fact that many of the accusations found in the media about internet use can be disproven, they continue to enjoy great popularity.

    Research Training Group 1712/1 “Trust and Communication in a Digitized World” (04/2012 – 09/2016)

    The research training group examines how trust can be developed and maintained under the conditions of new forms of communication. Digitized means of communication change the structure and sustainability of trust because firstly, familiar face-to-face communication is replaced by digitized interactions, secondly, virtual social and office networks emerge and finally, because new forms of relationships between the public, organisations and individuals develop. The postgraduate programme analyses the consequences of these processes for the establishment of trust relationships by the example of four prototypical areas: media, economy, science and sports.

  • Completed reasearch projects

    Analysis of discourses in social media

    Through social media applications such as Twitter, Facebook and blogs, the opportunities for public communication have expanded. Journalistic "gatekeeper" on the Internet are no longer the central mediator of topics and opinions. The goal of the project network is to develop an automated analysis process and evaluate it. The process should be implemented in the form of tools for the analysis of online discourses.

    The social fabric of virtual life: A longitudinal multi-method study on the social foundations of online gaming (SOFOGA)

    The reviewers and the expert panel ranked the five year project, The Social Fabric of Virtual Life: A Longitudinal Multi-Method Study on the Social Foundations of Online Gaming (SOFOGA) as being "outstanding" – the highest evaluation given. Starting in January 2010 a broad analysis of the real-world and game-world experiences of online gamers will be made possible with the support of the ERC. This multi-method project, with a dedicated six-member research team, will be implemented at the Universität Münster.

    Cyber bullying at schools

    The project aims to analyze the phenomenon of cyberbullying, especially looking at its influencing factors, its patterns and its effects on adolescents. Following a multi-level approach, not only the personal level but also structural and systematical factors will be considered. In a longitudinal perspective, dynamics of the cyberbullying process will be analyzed.

  • Latest Publications

  • Latest presentations

    • Frischlich, L., Boberg, S.,  Schatto-Eckrodt, T. & Quandt,T. (Februar, 2018). Wo kommt denn nur der Hass her? Interindividuelle Unterschiede und die Verbreitung von Hasskommunikation im Netz. Vortrag akzeptiert für  die Abschlusstagung des CONTRA Projektes “Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Radicalisation, New Media and Education”, Köln, Deutschland.
    • Quandt, T. (2017, June). Fast News – Fake news. Keine Zeit für die Wahrheit? [Fast news – fake news. No time for the truth?]. Keynote at the “Medienversammlung der LfM” (Media Assembly of the LfM), Cologne.
    • Quandt, T, Boberg, S., & Frischlich, L. (2017, May). The wall against the dark? How journalists and community managers identify and interpret hidden online propaganda. Paper presented at the Convention of the International Communication Association, San Diego.
    • Frischlich, L., Quandt, T., & Boberg, S. (2017, März). Im Netz der Propaganda? Verdeckte Propaganda in partizipativen Internetangeboten aus journalistischer Sicht [In the net of propaganda? Covert propaganda in participatory internet offerings from the viewpoint of journalism]. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the DGPuK (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Publizistik und Kommunikationswissenschaft), University of Düsseldorf.
    • Quandt, T., & Festl, R. (2016, November). Perpetrators, victims and bystanders – Longitudinal links of different cyberbullying involvement patterns. Paper presented at the ECC / ECREA 2016 Conference “Mediated (dis)continuities: Contesting pasts, presents and futures”, Prague.
    • Robbert, H., (...), Quandt, T. (2016, November). From YouTube to MeTube. The dynamics of YouTube use and identity formation. Paper presented at the ECC / ECREA 2016 Conference “Mediated (dis)continuities: Contesting pasts, presents and futures”, Prague.
    • Quandt, T., & Festl, R. (2016, September). Risiken der Online-Nutzung [Risks of online use]. Vortrag auf dem 22. Bundeskongress für Schulpsychologie, Berlin.
    • Festl, R., & Quandt, T. (2016, September). Verstärker, Verteidiger oder Außenstehende? Erklärung unterschiedlicher Verhaltensweisen bei der Beobachtung von Cybermobbing [Reinforcer, defender or bystander? Explanation of different cyberbullying behaviors]. Paper presented at the 50th Convention of the German Psychologist Association (DGPs), Leipzig.
    • Breuer, J., Bowman, N. D., Kieslich, K., Elson, M., Kowert, R., Kneer, J., Quandt, T., Lange, A., & Lange, R. (2016, June): Grand Theft Morals: The role of cultural differences and moral views for the evaluation of violent and sexual content in video games. Paper presented at the Pre-Conference „Just Games“, Convention of the International Communication Association, Tokyo.
    • Buhl, F., Günther, E., & Quandt, T. (2016, June). Unambiguous Burstiness: Towards Explaining the Dynamics of Digital News Flows from Opportunity Structures, News Factors, and Topics. Paper presented at the Convention of the International Communication Association, Fukuoka.
    • De Grove, F., Breuer, J., Chen, V., Quandt, T., Ratan, R. A., & Van Looy, J. (2016, June). Validating the Digital Games Motivation Scale for Comparative Research Between Countries and Sexes. Paper presented at the Convention of the International Communication Association, Fukuoka.
    • Domahidi, E., Breuer J., Kowert, R., Festl, R., & Quandt, Thorsten (2016, June). A Longitudinal Analysis of Gaming- and Non-Gaming-Related Friendships and Social Support Among Social Online Game Players. Paper presented at the Convention of the International Communication Association, Fukuoka.
    • Festl, R., Vogelgesang, J., Scharkow, M., & Quandt, T. (2016, June). Longitudinal Patterns of Involvement in Cyberbullying: Results From A Latent Transition Analysis Among Adolescents. (Paper presented at the Convention of the International Communication Association, Fukuoka.
    • Quandt, T. (2016, June). Funding for communication scholars – Opportunities at the Euoprean Research Council. Presentation at the Convention of the International Communication Association, Fukuoka.
    • Ratan, R. A., Chen, V., Van Looy, J., Quandt, T., & De Grove, F. (2016, June). Play Inequality: A cross-national comparison of gender differences in attitudes about gaming experiences. Paper presented at the Pre-Conference „Just Games“, Convention of the International Communication Association, Tokyo.
    • Scharkow, M., Festl, R, & Quandt, T. (2016, March). Was wissen wir über problematisches Computerspielverhalten? [What do we know about problematic digital gaming behavior?]. Symposium Glücksspiel 2016, University of Hohenheim, Germany.
    • Quandt, T. (2015, December). Steampunk research. Beyond retro-future approaches in Game Studies. “Challening methods for games research“, Winter Workshop of the ECREA Section “Digital Games Research“, University of Ghent, Belgium.
    • Quandt, T. (2015, November). Herausforderungen kommunikativen Wandels: Risiken der Online-Nutzung Jugendlicher [Challenges of communicative change: Risks of online use for adolsecents]. Invited presentation at the 28. Bremer Universitätsgespräche, Bremen, Germany.
    • Bowman, N. D., Kowert, R., Breuer, J., Elson, M., Kieslich, K., Kneer, J., Quandt, T., Lange, A., & Lange, R. (2015, November). “It’s too dirty for me, so it’s too dirty for the kids”: A cross-comparison of German and US gamers’ differential reactions to an explicitly sexual or violent video game. Paper presented at the National Communication Association, Las Vegas.
    • Festl, R., Quandt, T., Scharkow, M., & Vogelgesang, J. (2015, November). Spirals of Retaliation? Analyzing Patterns of Cyberbullying Involvement Among High School Students Using Latent Transition Analysis. Paper presented at the XXth Workshop Aggression „Future Challenges of Aggression Research“, Linz.
    • Breuer, J., Elson, M., Kieslich, K., Bowman, N., Kowert, R., Quandt, T., Lange, A., & Lange, R. (2015, September). Moral Kombat – Moral foundations and the evaluation of violent and sexual content in video games. 9th Conference of the Media Psychology Division, September 9th - 11th, 2015, Tübingen, Germany.
    • Breuer, J., Elson, M., & Quandt, T. (2015, August). Game, set, snatch? The effects of game mode and outcome in a console sports game on cooperative behavior. Presented at the American Psychological Association 2015 Convention, August 6th - 9th, Toronto, ON, Canada.
    • Quandt, T. (2015, July). Cyberbullying among adolescents: Risks and myths. Ladenburg Roundtable „Internet and Mental Health“, Daimler & Benz Stiftung, Ladenburg.
    • Buhl, F., Günther, E., & Quandt, T. (2015, Mai). Patterns of immediacy: News diffusion processes among German online news sites. Paper presented at the Convention of the International Communication Association, San Juan.
    • Domahidi, E., & Quandt, T. (2015, Mai).  The relationship between regional social network site use, friendships and social capital outcomes. Paper presented at the Convention of the International Communication Association, San Juan.
    • Kowert, R., Breuer, J., Festl, R., & Quandt, T. (2015, Mai). Women are from FarmVille, men are from ViceCity: The cycle of exclusion and sexism in video game content and culture. Paper presented at the Convention of the International Communication Association, San Juan.
    • Quandt, T. (2015, April). (Ir)Responsible gaming. Are digital games too much fun? Symposium „The healing game: positive aspects of game design and play“, organized by ICA in cooperation with University of Cologne, Cologne, 2. April 2015. 
    • Günther, E., Quandt, T., Engelmann, I. & Neuberger, C. (2015, Februar). From text to topics: A comparison of a manual and an automated content analysis. Paper presented at the conference „Reinventing journalism“, convened by the Journalism Studies Sections of ECREA and DGPUK, Winterthur, Switzerland, 5.-6. February. 

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