I’ve been surprised and pleased to find that some publishing and media students have been interested in analysing Fitzroyalty as an example of citizen journalism and hyperlocal media.

In May 2009 I was interviewed by RMIT student Susan about the role of citizen journalists in creating local media.

Throughout semester 1, 2009, Renee used Fitzroyalty as a case study in her blog recording her progress towards completing the Advanced Editing for Digital Media subject at the University of Melbourne.

Now I’ve learned that one of the teachers of Renee’s course, Sarah, is using something from Fitzroyalty in the curriculum in 2009 for the second semester subject Writing and Editing for Digital Media.

It’s satisfying to know that, although I chose not to pursue an academic career after completing my PhD, my writing is making a contribution in academe. Unless of course it’s being used as a case study of what not to do…

Update 22 July 2009: after publishing this post I received an email from Chris, a journalism student from Deakin University, who said that ‘you manage to explain the concepts [of social media] far more clearly and effectively than most of the academic texts I am reading.’ Thanks Chris!

My writing on social media started as an outlet for my critical reflection on my own practice of it, and I was not sure that it would gain much of an audience. I underestimated the extent to which people want to learn about social media practice, methodology and strategy, particularly if it is based on case studies of local sites or the sites of local organisations.

While Fitzroy remains my primary focus, critical and reflective writing on social media is going to be an ongoing focus here.