Navigating the Web of Disinformation
I'm thrilled to announce my latest book, Navigating the Web of Disinformation, co-authored with my brilliant colleague, Dr. Wasim Ahmed.
The central question driving my work has always been: What does it mean to be human in an age of algorithms? In today’s world, that question is inextricably linked to the digital falsehoods that shape our lives.
For too long, the study of this problem has been split. We've had technical network analyses that often miss the real-world social harm and, separately, social critiques that, while important, often ignore the underlying mechanics of how this manipulation spreads.
In this book, we close that critical gap.
We offer a vital socio-technical examination of digital manipulation. We use Social Network Analysis (SNA) as a technical method, AND as a powerful visual and analytical tool to connect the mechanics of digital diffusion directly to their real-world consequences. We map how digital manipulation actively fuels social instability.
This is a practical method to defend the integrity of public discourse. My work is dedicated to ensuring our technological future is inclusive and equitable, and this book is a core part of that mission. It’s designed to equip fellow researchers, policymakers, and practitioners with the insights needed to understand the social impact of false information and, ultimately, to help build resistance (not unsustainable resiliance) against it.
I recently explored these themes in a keynote, and you can read my reflections on the talk over on my blog post, "Reality is Rigged".
Our book is available now from Emerald (2025) and all good book shops.
The central question driving my work has always been: What does it mean to be human in an age of algorithms? In today’s world, that question is inextricably linked to the digital falsehoods that shape our lives.
For too long, the study of this problem has been split. We've had technical network analyses that often miss the real-world social harm and, separately, social critiques that, while important, often ignore the underlying mechanics of how this manipulation spreads.
In this book, we close that critical gap.
We offer a vital socio-technical examination of digital manipulation. We use Social Network Analysis (SNA) as a technical method, AND as a powerful visual and analytical tool to connect the mechanics of digital diffusion directly to their real-world consequences. We map how digital manipulation actively fuels social instability.
This is a practical method to defend the integrity of public discourse. My work is dedicated to ensuring our technological future is inclusive and equitable, and this book is a core part of that mission. It’s designed to equip fellow researchers, policymakers, and practitioners with the insights needed to understand the social impact of false information and, ultimately, to help build resistance (not unsustainable resiliance) against it.
I recently explored these themes in a keynote, and you can read my reflections on the talk over on my blog post, "Reality is Rigged".
Our book is available now from Emerald (2025) and all good book shops.
After Generative AI
Preparing Faculty to Transform Education, Learning, and Pedagogy
Preparing Faculty to Transform Education, Learning, and Pedagogy
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Authors: Samar Aad and Mariann Hardey
Emerald, 2025. Buy Here. Is GAI the future of learning? This book isn't just about technology. It's about how Generative AI (GAI) reshapes education. We're not here to list features or debate pros and cons. We're here to ensure you understand GAI's transformative impact so you can feel informed and knowledgeable about the future of education. GAI is already changing learning techniques. Media reports have hailed AI as 'the next industrial revolution.' After GAI equips you for this transformative era, focusing on the context of change, education cultures, and new learning forms. It's designed to be a helpful guide for those with questions about education policies, governance, and power - including points of resistance. A guide to the new education landscape. From tailored educational approaches to ethical implications, After GAI empowers educators and learners with the insights and resources necessary to design engaging and impactful learning experiences that leverage GAI's potential. This understanding puts you in the driver's seat, giving you the control and capability to navigate the new education landscape. Discover: • How GAI is reshaping teaching and learning • New learning cultures emerging globally • Practical strategies for educators and students The challenge at hand is not only related to the implementation of the technology (i.e., where and with whom does it land?), but also to the emotions it evokes and the lessons it can teach us. |
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HOUSEHOLD SELF-TRACKING
DURING A GLOBAL HEALTH CRISIS
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Author: Mariann Hardey
Emerald, 2022. Self-tracking is a rapidly growing area of study and will play an important role in the future of how we understand health change and responsibility. Understanding the personal and social dimensions of tracking within households improves our understanding of health consumption and knowledge, particularly during significant global crises. Ignoring the household context of health or focusing solely on individual tracking behaviour is no longer an option. Household Self-Tracking During a Global Health Crisis provides a comprehensive and straightforward account of deeper health narratives managed through data tracking within households formed during a global health crisis. The book examines the contextual, personal, and social factors surrounding health tracking, including the commercialisation of Covid-19 health tracking, public data tracking, and health-surveillance issues, from a social science perspective. Inequalities in health, as well as expanded concepts of fitness and illness management, are highlighted as part of a significant shift in how we understand and integrate home health regimes, and how this is made possible by the incorporation of household biometric data tracking. This book will assist researchers interested in self-tracking and health technologies, as well as postgraduate students studying psychology, medicine, social science, and business. I explore several personal insights as well as research which may be unfamiliar to some social scientists, helping situate new perspectives and understanding. |
THE CULTURE OF WOMEN IN TECH.
AN UNSUITABLE JOB FOR A WOMAN
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Author: Mariann Hardey
Emerald, 2020. Is the place of ‘women in tech’ immovable from masculine leadership practices? And what are the cultural, social, personal and economic consequences of gender as a point of difference in the context of work in the tech sector? This book offers a critical analysis of the contemporary and global tech culture and exposes the gender bias of masculine tech ideology and stereotypes. Over a decade of data collection and analysis, this book examines the rise of entrepreneurial work and leadership, the contemporary urban setting of global tech work, and specifically women’s place in tech clusters. The book engages with attempts by women to establish and then sustain their professional status and long-term careers, despite predatory social media trolling and inappropriate sexualised behaviour. Based on a series of commentaries from research undertaken by the author about workers located within ‘tech cities’ in the UK, USA and East Asia regions, the work exposes the serious problem of women’s position in the industry. While this study continues to be critical of the conceits of masculine tech ideology, prejudices and stereotypes, the work contributes to recent calls to help find solutions and ways forward. |
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Select Book Chapters
Wellsian Doubles: When Victorian Sci-Fi Meets Digital Reality
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A distinctive collaboration with the late Simon J. James in, H. G. Wells: Contemporary Perspectives Edited by: Lourdes López-Ropero. Featured Chapter: Wellsian Doubles: Digital Space as Modern Utopia.
How does the father of science fiction speak to the age of the algorithm? In this anthology, I joined forces with my friend Simon, to explore the concept of "Wellsian Doubles." Together, we examined the eerie and fascinating parallels between H.G. Wells’s utopian visions and the Digital Space we inhabit today. Our chapter investigates how our online avatars and digital existences function as modern doppelgängers, a realisation of the duality Wells often explored. This piece holds a special place in my bibliography. It stands as a rigorous academic inquiry into the sociology of technology and literature and as a lasting dialogue between two friends fascinated by how the future was imagined versus how it arrived. This chapter is for those interested in where the history of the future meets the sociology of the present. A tribute to interdisciplinary thought and enduring friendship. |
Elareshi, M. et al. (2025). Esports Interaction and Influencer Impact: Insights from the League of Legends World Championship. In: Hamdan, R.K. (eds) Tech Fusion in Business and Society . Studies in Systems, Decision and Control, vol 234. Springer, Cham.
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"When YouTubers Launch a Sports Drink: A Social Network Analysis Case Study of the Virality Related to Prime Hydration" (2025) In Oxford Intersections: Social Media in Society and Culture Oxford University Press (Co-authored with W. Ahmed & A. Fenton)
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"The Impact of Diversity in Disney's Ms. Marvel: An Analysis of YouTube Comments" (2025) In Oxford Intersections: Social Media in Society and Culture Oxford University Press (Co-authored with W. Ahmed, A. Fenton, I. Khan, S. Sahadev, & T. Rashid)
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"Wellsian Doubles: Digital Space as Modern Utopia" (2024) In H. G. Wells: Contemporary Perspectives Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca (Co-authored with Simon J. James)
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"Theorizing and Researching Gender and Digital Leadership in 'Tech Cities'" (2017) In Gender, Communication, and the Leadership Gap Information Age Publishing
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"Social Cartography and 'Knowing Capitalism': Critical Reflections on Social Research and the Geo-Spatial Web" (2016) In The SAGE Handbook of Online Research Methods (2nd Edition) SAGE Publications (Co-authored with H. Smith & R. Burrows)
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Marketing Narratives: Researching Digital Data, Design and the In/Visible Consumer. (2014) in Studies in Qualitative Methodology
Big Data? Qualitative Approaches to Digital Research
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Beer, D. G., & Hardey, M. (2013). Talking about escape. In Unlike Us Reader (pp. 166-179).
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"Ubiquitous Connectivity: User-Generated Data and the Role of the Researcher" (2011) In The Handbook of Emergent Technologies in Social Research Oxford University Press
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"ICTs and Generations – Constantly Connected Social Lives" (2011) In Broadband Society and Generational Changes Peter Lang
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