Introduction    

Thomas Poell is assistant professor of New Media and Digital Culture at the Department of Media Studies at the University of Amsterdam. He studied political science at the University of Amsterdam (NL) and The New School for Social Research (US). In 2007, he defended his PhD-dissertation on the democratization and centralization of the Dutch state during the revolutionary period around 1800. Currently, his research is focused on social media and the transformation of public communication in different parts of the world.  

Together with professor José van Dijck, he leads the KNAW-‘Over Grenzen’ research program on ‘Social Media and the Transformation of Public Space’ (June 2013 until August 2015). The program investigates how public space is reconfigured in the new emerging ecosystem of social media and conventional mass media. During the Spring semester of 2015, Poell will be Research Associate at the University of California, Santa Cruz. 

Publications 

Refereed Journals

• Poell, T. 2014. Social media and the transformation of activist communication: exploring the social media ecology of the 2010 Toronto G20 protests. Information, Communication & Society, 17.6: 716-731.
• Van Dijck, J. & T. Poell. 2014. Making public television social? Public service broadcasting and the challenges of social media. Television & New Media. doi: 10.1177/1527476414527136
• Poell, T., B. J. de Kloet & G. Zeng. 2014. Will the Real Weibo Please Stand Up? Chinese Online Contention and Actor-Network Theory. Chinese Journal of Communication, 7.1: 1-18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17544750.2013.816753.
• Van Dijck, J. & T. Poell. 2013. Understanding Social Media Logic. Media and Communication 1.1: 2-14.
• Poell, T. & K. Darmoni. 2012. Twitter as a Multilingual space: the articulation of the Tunisian revolution through #sidibouzid. NECSUS - European Journal of Media Studies , 1.
• Spreeuwenberg, K. & T. Poell. 2012. Android and the political economy of the mobile Internet: A renewal of open source critique. First Monday , 17.7.
• Poell, T. & E. Borra. 2012. Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr as Platforms of Alternative Journalism. The Social Media Account of the 2010 Toronto G20 Protests.  Journalism 13.6: 695-713.
• Poell, T. 2004. Liberal Democracy versus Late Medieval Constitutionalism: Struggles over Representation in the Dutch Republic (1780-1800). Redescriptions,Yearbook of Political Thought and Conceptual History 8: 114-145.      

Book Chapters

• Poell, T. 2014. Social Media Activism and State Censorship. In Social Media, Politics and the State:Protests, Revolutions, Riots, Crime and Policing in an Age of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, edited by D. Trottier & C. Fuchs. 189-206. London: Routledge.
• Poell, T. & J. van Dijck. 2014. Social Media and Journalistic Independence. In Media Independence: working with freedom or working for free, 182-201, edited by J. Bennett, N. Strange. London: Routledge. 
• Poell, T. & J. van Dijck. Forthcoming. Social Media and Activist Communication. In The Routledge Companion to Alternative and Community Media, edited by C. Atton. London: Routledge.
• Poell, T. & J. van Dijck. 2015. Democratisering van het nieuws? Sociale media en de onafhankelijkheid van de journalistiek. In Journalistieke Cultuur in Nederland, 343-359, edited by J. Bardoel en H.  Wijfjes. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. 

• Poell,T. 2010. The French Occupation and the Transformation of the DutchPublic Sphere (1795-1813). In Ballare col nemico? Reazioniall' espansione francese in Europa tra entusiasmo e resistenza(1792-1815) / Mit dem Feind tanzen? Reaktionen auf die franzosiche Expansion in Europa zwischen Begesterung und Protest (1792-1815), edited by C Nubola & A Würgler. 283-306. Berlijn: Dunckler & Humblot. 
• Poell, T. 2009. Conceptualizing Forums and Blogs as Public Spheres. In Digital Material , edited by  M.V.T. van den Boomen et al. 239-251. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. 
• Poell, T. 2009. Local Particularism Challenged (1795-1813). In The Political Economy ofthe Dutch Republic , edited by O. Gelderblom. 291-320. Aldershot: Ashgate. 
• Poell, T.2005. Het einde van een tijdperk. De Bataafs-Franse tijd 1795-1813. In Geschiedenis van Amsterdam, edited by M. Prak, and W. Frijhoff. vol.II-2, 429-499. Amsterdam: Wagenaar Stichting,SUN.
• Poell, T. 2004. Movement and Time in Cinema. In Discernements: Deleuzian Aesthetics , edited by J. Bloois, et.al. 1-21.  Amsterdam: Rodopi.

Edited journals (special issues)  

• Poell, T. & J. van Dijck. Forthcoming. Perspectives on Social Media and the Transformation of Public Space. Special issue of Social Media and Society.
• Poell, T. & J. van Dijck. Forthcoming. Constructing Public Space: Global Perspectives on Social Media and Civic Engagement. Special issue of International Journal of Communication.

• Kennedy, H., J. van Dijck & T. Poell. Forthcoming. Data & Agency. Special issue of Big Data & Society.
• Moe, H., J. van Dijck & T. Poell. Forthcoming. Rearticulating Audience Engagement: social media and television. Special issue of Television & New Media. 

PhD Thesis

• Poell, T.2007. The Democratic Paradox. Dutch Revolutionary Struggles over Democratisation and Centralisation (1780-1813). PhD diss., Utrecht University. 

Book Reviews

• Poell, T. 2012.  Sociale media als platformen van politiek en cultureel burgerschap. Book review of C. Aalberts & M. Kreijveld, Veel gekwetter, weinig wol. Den Haag:Sdu uitgevers, 2011. Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei. Onderzoek Uitgelicht 1.1: 24-27. 
• Poell, T. 2009. Book review of P. van Wissing(ed.), Stookschriften. Pers en politiek tussen 1780 en 1800. Nijmegen: Uitgeverij Vantilt, 2008. Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 122: 110-111.
• Poell,T. 2008. Book review of L. Hunt, Inventing Human Rights. A History. New York:W.W. Norton & Company, 2007. Krisis 3: 43-46.
• Poell, T. 2008. Book Review of S. Bloemgarten, Hartog de Hartog Lémon, 1755-1823. Joodse revolutionair in Franse Tijd. Amsterdam: Aksant, 2007. Tijdschrift voor  Geschiedenis  121: 112-113.
• Poell,T. 2001. Book Review of W. Reinhard, Geschichte der Staatsgewalt: Ein vergleichende Verfassungsgeschichte Europas von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart, München: Beck, 1999. Tijdschrift voor Sociale Geschiedenis 27 (2): 241-44.
• Poell, T. 2001. Book Review of J. Leerssen, Nationaal denken in Europa. Een cultuur-historische schets, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2000. Tijdschrift voorSociale Geschiedenis 27 (2): 237-38.
• Poell, T. 2001. Book Review of P. Pastureen and J. Verberckmoes (eds.) Working-Class Internationalism and the Appeal of National Identity. Historical Debates and Current Perspectives on Western Europe, Oxford: Berg, 1998. Tijdschrift voor Sociale Geschiedenis 27 (2): 236-37.

Other Writing

• Van Dijck, J. & Poell, T. (2013). Reguleer het sociale verkeer! NRC Next 8 August. Print. 
• Van Dijck, J. & Poell, T. (2013). Begin eens met de wet handhaven op dat ‘vrije’ internet. NRC Handelsblad 12 August. Print. 
• Waal, M. de, Leurdijk, A., Nordeman, L. & Poell, T. 2012. Mapping Digital Media: Netherlands. A Report of the Open Society Foundations. Research Report. New York: Open Society Foundations. 
• Poell, T. Grenzeloze wetenschappen. De Nieuwsbrief Geesteswetenschappen 143 (November 2011): 12. Print.
• Poell, T. Online public debate in theory and practice." Routledge Website. Routledge, 2009. Web. 21 December 2009. 
• Poell, T. (2008) De democratische paradox. Openbaar Bestuur, Tijdschrift voor beleid, organisatie & politiek 18 (5): 34-40.

Interviews        

• Buijs, Marieke. De fabel van de Facebookrevolutie.  Folia Magazine  12 September 2012. 36-37. Print. 
• Dijkstra, Michiel. TwitterRevolutie? Elsevier 24 Maart 2012. Print. 
• Hulspas, Marcel. De democratische paradox. De Pers 5 October 2007: 18. Print.   

Events

Organization 

• with B.J. de Kloet et al. Inverting Globalisation, Amsterdam Center for Globalisation Studies (ACGS), Amsterdam, Netherlands, 9-10 October 2014. 
• with J. van Dijck. Social Media and the Transformation of Public Space, The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Amsterdam, Netherlands, 18-20 June 2014.
• with B. J. de Kloet, R.A.F.L. Woltering & F. A. Hirzalla. Social Media Activism in the Arab World and China Conference of the Amsterdam Center for Globalization Studies (ACGS), Amsterdam, 21 January 2013.
• with B.G.M. de Waal. Netwerkdag Journalism Studies Nederland of the Amsterdam Center for Globalization Studies (ACGS) and Journalistiek en Media, UvA, Amsterdam, 28 June 2013.  

Invited Talks & Keynotes

•  “Questioning social media data: Chinese and Tunisian online contention.” Invited talk at the workshop ‘In Search of Cosmopolitan Data and Research Methods’ of Ulrich Beck’s ERC-project on ‘Methodological Cosmopolitanism’, Paris, France, 8-9 December 2014.
• "Sociale Media en de Transformatie van de Publieke Ruimte." Keynote lecture at the ‘Gebruikers aan de macht? Sociale media studiedag’, Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Brussel, Belgium, 20 November 2014. 
• “Is Social the New Public?” Keynote lecture at the international conference on Social Media and the Transformation of Public Space, KNAW. With José van Dijck. Amsterdam, Netherlands, 18-20 June 2014.
• "The Transformation of Public Space." Invited talk at the Power Diffusion in the Public Sphere workshop, Utrecht University, Netherlands, 15 May 2014.
• "Media in Transition." Invited talk at the RMeS Summer School 2012. University of Groningen, Netherlands, 25-29 June 2012. 
• "Twitter als begrensde en onbegrensde ruimte." Presentation at Grenzeloze Geesteswetenschappen - The opening ceremony of the academic year of the Faculty of the Humanities. University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, 8 September 2011. 

Papers & Presentations 

• "Facebook in the Midst of Revolution", International conference on Social Media and the Transformation of Public Space. Amsterdam, Netherlands, 18-20 June 2014.
• "Social media and journalistic independence." Journalism in Transition: Crisis or Opportunity? Journalism Studies Section Conference of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA). With José van Dijck. Thessaloniki, Greece, 27-29 March 2014.
• "The Personalization of Activism."Paper presented at the 8th Media in Transition conference (MiT8) on Public Media, Private Media, MIT, Boston, US, 3-5 May 2013. 
• "Reconfiguring Social Media Activism." Paper presented at the 8th Media in Transition conference (MiT8) on Public Media, Private Media, MIT, Boston, US, 3-5 May 2013.  
• "Activist Social Media Communication." Paper presented at the workshop on Collective Action Online: Theories and Methods of the 41st ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops, Johannes Gutenberg Universität, Mainz 11 - 16 March 2013.
• "Social Media Activism." Paper presented at the Social Media Activism in the Arab World and China Conference of the Amsterdam Center for Globalization Studies (ACGS), Amsterdam, 21 January 2013. 
• with J. de Kloet & Zeng, G. "Will the Real Weibo Please Stand Up? Chinese Online Contention and Actor-Network Theory." Paper presented at the Social Media Activism in the Arab World and China Conference of the Amsterdam Center for Globalization Studies (ACGS), Amsterdam, 21 January 2013.  
• with  J. de Kloet & Zeng, G. "Microblogging and activism: comparing Sina Weibo and Twitter."Paper presented at the 4th European Communication Conference of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), Istanbul, Turkey, 24-27 October 2012.
• "A Critique of Social Media Activism: From Tools to Assemblages." Paper presented at the The Fourth ICTs and Society-Conference: Critique, Democracy, and Philosophy in 21st Century Information Society. Towards Critical Theories of Social Media. Uppsala University, Sweden, 2-4 May 2012. 
• with J. de Kloet. "Online Activism and ChineseVoices of Discontent." Paper presented at the Digital East Asia Conference of the Modern East Asia Research Centre. Leiden University, Netherlands, 10 December 2011. 
• with A. Helmond, R. Rustema, and E. Weltevrede. "From Virtual Communities to Social Networks." Presentation at the1991@2011_Media_in_Motion Symposium of the Departement of Media Studies  of the Faculty of the Humanities. University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, 21 October 2011.  
• "Twitter and the Tunisian Revolution." Presentation at the second summit of the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA).  Faculty of the Humanities, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, 28 September 2011. 
• with E. Borra. "The Social Media Protest Environment". Paper presented at MIT7: Unstable Platforms Conference. Boston, US, 14 May 2011.
• "Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr as Platforms of Alternative Journalism". The Social Media Account of the 2010 Toronto G20 Protests. Paper presented a Digital Methods Winter Conference. Amsterdam, 25 January 2011.
• with E. Borra "TheSocial Media Protest Environment:Constructing the Collective Now." Paper presented at Platform Politics - A Multidisciplinary Conference. Cambridge, Great Britain, 13 May 2011.
• "Digital Activism in an Authoritarian Context." Presentation at the Theory and Practice of Development Dilemmas Hivos Knowledge Programme Dialogue, The Hague, 29 September - 1 October 2010.
• "Colliding Media Spheres: the Interaction between On- and Offline. Media in Contentious Politics." Presentation at the Balans van de Journalistiek Jubileum Conferentie of the MA Journalistiek, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Netherlands, 4 June 2010.
• "Drawing mass media attention: television and newspaper reporting on radical left-wing activist performances and spectacles in the Netherlands (2004-2009)" Paper presented at the Media, Communication and the Spectacle Conference of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), Rotterdam, Netherlands, 26-27 November, 2009.
• "Activist Media and the Mainstream Press in Daily Practice: Covering Protests in the Netherlands (2004-2009)."Paper presented at the Future of Journalism Conference of the The Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Cardiff,Groot-Brittannië, 9-10 september, 2009.
• "The Mass Media in Multi cultural Conflict." Paper presented at the 2nd European Communication Conference of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), Barcelona, Spain, 25-28 November 2008.
• "Mediated Citizenship in Multicultural Conflict. An Analysis of the Role of the Media in the Public Debate Following the Assassination of Theo van Gogh." Paper presented at the 4th Annual Conference 2008: Culture and Citizenship of the Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC), Oxford, Great Britain, 3-5 September 2008. 
• "The Unification of the Dutch State, 1795- 1813."  Paper presented in the Contentious Politics workshop of Columbia University, New York, United States, 31 January 2005. 
• "Local Particularism Challenged (1795-1813)." Paper presented at the 1st Dutch-Flemish conference on the Economic History of the Low Countries before 1850 of the N.W. Posthumus Institute, Antwerp, Belgium, 18-19 November 2004.
• "Liberal Democracy versus Late Medieval Constitutionalism: Struggles over Representation in the Dutch Republic (1780-1800)."Paper presented in the The Formation of Representative Democracy workshop of The Politics and History of European Democratization Network van de European ScienceFoundation (ESF), University of Malaga, Spain, 10-11 October 2003.
• "The Unification of the Dutch State, 1795-1813."Paper presented at the Sixth International Conference on Urban History of the European Association of Urban Historians inEdinburgh,Great Britain,5-7 September 2002.
• "The Amsterdam elite and the formation of the Dutch state (1780-1813)." Paper presented in the Advanced Seminar on Urban History van de European graduate School for Training in Economic and Social Historical Research (ESTER), University of Athens, Greece, 18-22 February 2002.
• "The Role of Amsterdam Elite in theTransition of the Republic to the Dutch National State."Paper presented at Fifth International Conference on Urban History of the European Association of Urban Historians, Berlin, Germany, 31 Augustus-2 September 2000.

Reviewed on behalf of

• New Media & Society
• Theory, Culture & Society
• Convergence
• International Sociology 
• Digital Journalism 
• Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media   
• Krisis. Tijdschrift voor actuele filosofie.   

Positions

•  Aug. 2009 -  Assistant professor of New Media and Digital Culture (1,0 fte) University of Amsterdam, Faculty of the Humanities, Department of Media Studies
• Aug. 2005 - Aug. 2009  Lecturer (0,8 fte) Utrecht University, Faculty of the Humanities,Department of Media and Culture Studies
• April 2005-Nov. 2005  Lecturer (0,4 fte) Erasmus University Rotterdam, Faculty of History and Arts
• Feb. 2002 - Aug.2005 Lecturer (0,2 fte) Utrecht University, Faculty of the Humanities, Department of Media and Culture Studies
• Jan. 2000 - April. 2005  PhD-student (0,8 fte) Utrecht University, Faculty of the Humanities, Department of History. Project: The Democratic Paradox. Dutch Revolutionary Struggles over Democratisation and Centralisation (1780-1813.)
• Sept.- Nov. 1999   Contract researcher (0,6 fte) International Institute of SocialHistory, Amsterdam Project: Collectie Velle 

Other Professional Positions

• April 2012 - Member of the editorial board of the Illustere School of the  Faculty of the Humanities, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.
• Sept. 2011 - Project leader of the Research cluster: Connectivity of the Globalization Research Priority Area of the Faculty of the Humanities, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. 
• Sept. 2011 - Member of the board of the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA)
• Jan. - Sept. 2011  Interim team coordinator of the New Media team, Department of Media Studies, Faculty ofthe Humanities, University of Amsterdam. 
• Sept. 2010 -  Member of the Opleidingscommissie(OC) ofthe Department of Media Studies, Faculty ofthe Humanities, University of Amsterdam. 

Training

•  2010  Participation in the Digital Methods Summer School, Training Certificate Program & Advanced Projects Program, Faculty of theHumanities, University of Amsterdam, 28 June-9 July, 16 - 27 August.
• 2006-2007  BKO (BasicQualification Education). Faculty of the Humanities, Utrecht University
• 2002  Writing Scientific Texts in English for Publication. James Boswell Institute
• 2000-2001  Ph.D. training program of the European graduate School for Training in Economic and Social-Historical Research (ESTER)
• 1998   Graduated cum laude in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Amsterdam 
• 1996-'97  Academic year at the New School for Social Research and Columbia University in New York 

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