Universidade de Lisboa

Department Member, Institute of Social Sciences

Other Affiliations: Instituto Politecnico de Lisboa, Escola Superior de Comunicação Social (School of Communication and Media Studies)

Thesis Title: The role of online video in political discussion: a case study on YouTube

About

My current research is dedicated to political uses of online video, namely through the study of YouTube channels, videos, responses and comments. I'm focusing on the role of popular culture in political action and how that shows on YouTube videos, where entertainment seems to play such an important role.
As connected issues, and part of my research path, I'm also interested in e-democracy strategies and video activism studies.

Short Bio:
Patrícia Dias da Silva is a PhD Candidate in Social Sciences and Junior Researcher of the project "Mutation of Media: transformations in public and scientific communication" (funding FCT - PTDC/CCI-COM/100765/2008) at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon. She teaches Sociology of Communication at the School of Communication and Media Studies (ESCS-IPL) and is also a member of LabCMO, Université du Québec à Montréal. Patrícia received her BA in Communication Studies from the New University of Lisbon, and her MA in Communication, Culture and Information Technologies from ISCTE-IUL, a Portuguese institute reputed for its research centers.
After undertaking a more policy-oriented research on citizen engagement and information and communication technologies, her current work is focused on participation practices regarding online video, and YouTube in particular, both bottom-up and top-down. She is also currently collaborating in international research projects dedicated to social studies of technology, focusing mainly on online public participation.