iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Krysten Stein, PhD

Jess Maddox @jessmaddox.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

What should we make of Hollywood’s turn toward microdramas, as well as TikTok’s heavy investment in them? How is any of this different than Quibi? @krystenstein.bsky.social and I answer those questions in our latest op-ed for The Conversation. theconversation.com/tiktoks-popu...

theconversation.com

As TikTok invests in short-form scripted series, it’s leaning into the same storytelling, advertising and viewing habits that defined television.

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Reposted by Krysten Stein, PhD

Nicole Bizzotto @nicolebizzotto.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

New preprint out! 🎉 “From Wounded Healers to Commercialized Caregivers”: a scoping review of mental health content creators on social media. We reviewed 59 empirical studies on mental health content creators across platforms. Main findings below 🧵 Feedback very welcome! doi.org/10.31234/osf...

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Nicole Bizzotto @nicolebizzotto.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Really happy to have worked on this with precious colleagues from all over the world 🌍 Qianfeng Lu, Srusti Bhalerao, @krystenstein.bsky.social, @amandayarnell.bsky.social, @tobiasdienlin.com and Laura Marciano.

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Reposted by Krysten Stein, PhD

Marcus Bösch @boesch.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Rethinking television via TikTok. That sounds like a pretty cool paper d-(^_^)z

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Reposted by Krysten Stein, PhD

Jess Maddox @jessmaddox.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

New article out today with Andreas Schellewald, @krystenstein.bsky.social, Ignacio Siles, and Ellenrose Firth, in which we examine how TikTok functions like television via audiences, genres, political economy, aesthetics, and intertextual elements. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

journals.sagepub.com

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 26/01/2026

On NPR on Friday, there was a story of a 4-year-old--an American citizen--who hasn't left her house since early December, not even to play in the yard. And her 8-year-old brother recently stopped going to school, too. Their father is undocumented, and the family doesn't want to risk him being taken.

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Moth @walkingminnesota.com · 26/01/2026

There are so many families in this city who are now one to two months behind on rent. We are trying our best with gofundme’s and various pooled resources but this would be so helpful, especially for the many families who don’t know who to ask or how to find the resources that are out there

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⊹˚ Jen .ᐟ 🎃 @lilpinkfrog.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

Just so we’re clear!

The Powerpuff Girls in front of a rainbow heart background. It says “Sugar, spice, abolish ice.”

The art is by hexreject.

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

If you're living somewhere outside the USA, one thing you can do is pressure your leaders to boycott World Cup and Olympic events here.

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AAUP-Ohio State @osuaaup.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Over 60 students protested the presence of Customs and Border Protection at the OSU career fair today. CBP, an agency of the Dept of Homeland Security, is closely associated with ICE. Three students were arrested. Photo credit: Kyle Roberston, Columbus Dispatch. Link below.

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jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Calling all humilitainment scholars: I'm putting together a panel for the Canadian Communication Association's 2026 conference on humilitainment, pleasure, & media industries with @krystenstein.bsky.social and @jessmaddox.bsky.social. We need 1 more panelist. Is this you? DM me by 11/24!

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Anna Meier @annameier.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Universities attempting to stay out of the Trump admin's line of fire by being silent and doing nothing publicly to support faculty, staff, and students are going to find themselves with no faculty, staff, or students. Might as well grow a spine.

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

What happens when therapy slips into the scroll — and care has to go viral? Read here: open.substack.com/pub/glittera...

open.substack.com

Sitting With My Book (and Falling Behind Here)

Notes From the First Chapter

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

👀 New Substack post is up! I’ve been deep in re-reading my book manuscript (And How Does That Make You Feel? Theratainment and the Digital Commodification of Mental Health, UC Press, 2027). This week I’m sharing a peek at Chapter 1: Out of Network, Into the Algorithm.

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

for my media literacy students, we’re digging into her song “fuel”—breaking down how it critiques cultural power, consumerism, and the systems that decide what counts as “good” art. 🎶📚 nothing like blending fangirl joy with teaching practice—when your syllabus meets your soundtrack. 💜

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

✨ in honor of seeing one of my all-time faves, ani difranco, this week, i couldn’t resist bringing her into the classroom. ✨

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

I’m so stoked to join the incredible folks in the lab and continue building knowledge, community, and care together. Cheers to what’s ahead! 🥂

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Kishonna has been a beacon of light and a true champion of mine ever since we first met back in 2019 at UIC in Chicago. Since then, we’ve published together, worked side by side, and become not just colleagues but friends.

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Super pumped to share that I’m now a Research Affiliate in Dr. Kishonna Gray’s @kishonna.bsky.social brilliant Intersectional Tech Lab at the University of Michigan’s School of Information! 💻✨

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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

As many of us people who study or work in tech tried to tell y’all, move fast & break things was always about POWER, not progress.

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The Spirit of Lorenzo the Cat @lorenzothecat.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

In many places in America, it's easier to buy a gun than it is to adopt a cat from a shelter.

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

one student told me he loved and appreciated that i asked them and included them in creating this. 💬 that reminder—that learning is co-created—was the best teaching moment of all.

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

today one of the most meaningful parts of class was setting our classroom community & culture guidelines together. i simply facilitated, but my students did the work—sharing, listening, and shaping the list we’ll carry with us all semester.

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

✨ teaching OOTD ✨ first week back. i am honored to be featured in UC Blue Ash News Notes this week, and even more excited to be in the classroom teaching intro to comm studies and media literacy.

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

today was my first day of year 14 teaching 🖤 with everything going on federally and here in ohio with sb1, it feels really difficult to show up. but i’m grounding myself in community and care, and doing the best i can for my students and those around me.

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 17/08/2025

I wrote about the why + the how here: open.substack.com/pub/glittera... Curious—what are y’all trying in your classrooms this fall? 🍎📚

open.substack.com

Trying Something New in the Classroom

After 14 years of teaching, I’m centering care, community, and collective rigor.

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 17/08/2025

New semester, new experiment ✨ After 14 years of teaching, I’ve redesigned my courses around what I’m calling the Reflect & Act Model: Mondays = reading & reflection, Wednesdays = action & application.

open.substack.com

Trying Something New in the Classroom

After 14 years of teaching, I’m centering care, community, and collective rigor.

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 16/08/2025

Excited to share that I got to chat with @nbcnews.com about the rise of man-on-the-street interviews and their transformation into a popular social media trend. The segment went live this summer—check it out here:

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Reposted by Krysten Stein, PhD

jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

great new blog post from the brilliant @krystenstein.bsky.social (and a sneak peak about our autoethnographic project about disability and academic labour! 👀)

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

or relentless stamina, but by rhythms of care, rest, and mutual support? Even if you’ve never been to an academic conference, you’ve likely experienced a space that demanded a version of you that felt unsustainable. How did you navigate it?

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

and/or as neurodivergent scholars—from the invisible labor of preparing for travel, to “conference face” masking, to the care networks that keep us afloat. At its core, the piece asks: what if participation wasn’t measured by constant visibility

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

It reminded me of a collaborative autoethnography I’m co-authoring with my dear friend and colleague @jessrauchberg.bsky.social currently under review. We write about what it’s like to attend academic conferences while living with chronic illness

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

I’ve been under the weather this week (10/10 do not recommend), which left me thinking a lot about illness, access, and what it means to “show up” in spaces that were never built with all bodies and minds in mind.

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Reposted by Krysten Stein, PhD

Kathy Roberts Forde @krforde.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

The University of California system is publicly mobilizing against federal attacks. That’s historic. It's time for ALL of us in US #highered to act. Join our movement at standtogetherhighered.org. #academicsky #highered #standtogether 🔗 universityofcalifornia.edu/get-involved/stand-up-for-uc

standtogetherhighered.org

Stand Together

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

It’s part personal reflection, part pop culture analysis, part open question to you. Read the first issue here ⬇️ open.substack.com/pub/glittera... If you like it, you can subscribe for free to get Glitter Drop in your inbox every week.

open.substack.com

Glitter Drop #1: Intimate Reads, Algorithmic Feels & the Soundtrack That Still Hits

Welcome to the first Glitter Drop—a weekly mix of media moods, cultural crumbs, and whatever made me feel something.

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

📺 Big Brother betrayals and the art of strategic chaos 📖 Why media literacy isn’t optional anymore 🎧 Maxwell, Janet Jackson, and the craving for music with real soul

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

✨ New on Glitter Drop — my weekly mix of media moods, cultural crumbs, and whatever made me feel something. This week: 📚 On reading Normal People aloud (and why the TV adaptation might actually win) 🧠 TherapyTok, “theratainment,” and Illinois’ bold move to ban AI therapists

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Krysten Stein, PhD @krystenstein.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Just published a new Substack essay I’ve been dreaming about for ages: “The Bondi Blue That Launched a Thousand Clicks” On Y2K technofemme aesthetics, girlhood, digital design, and the pastel gadgets that shaped our emotional relationships with tech. It’s soft, critical, nostalgic, and sparkly. ✨

open.substack.com

The Bondi Blue That Launched a Thousand Clicks

On Y2K nostalgia, colorful tech, and what it taught us about living online

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