Prof. Axel Bruns visits Münster

This week, the Online Communication Lab (OCL) and the Department of Communication at the University of Münster welcomed Axel Bruns from the Queensland University of Technology. The renowned communication scholar is currently in Germany for a research stay and took the opportunity to visit Münster.

As an Australian Laureate Fellow, Fellow of the International Communication Association, and former president of the Association of Internet Researchers, Bruns is considered one of the leading voices in internet and communication research.

The visit featured several program highlights: In a methodology workshop, Bruns introduced his “Practice Mapping” approach and discussed new ways of analyzing social media data with participants. In his talk, “Revisiting ‘the’ Public Sphere and Its Algorithmically Shaped Publics,” he explored how the public sphere is changing under conditions of platform-based communication, developing a conceptual understanding of fragmented, algorithmically shaped publics.

In addition to these events, the visit focused on exchanges around ongoing research projects and provided an opportunity to explore perspectives for future collaborations.