Mélanie Millette

Mélanie Millette, PhD, is a professor in the [department of social and public communication] at [UQAM], as well as a member of the [Laboratoire de communication médiatisée par ordinateur] (UQAM and Université Laval) and [TheFourchettes -- Critical Methods in Technoculture] collective.

Mélanie's research deals with the political and cultural uses of social media and specifically the issues of visibility and public participation among members of minority and marginalized groups. The Internet is a breeding ground for power relationships and its infrastructure, like its content, presents numerous ethical, economic and social challenges. Nevertheless, social media can potentially be leveraged to improve representation of different social voices and communicate alternative viewpoints. The issue that interests Mélanie is to understand how, under what conditions and for which social stakeholders this holds true.

Mélanie is currently exploring three lines of research. First, she is examining online visibility and invisibility among minorities and marginalized individuals in order to understand the causality that can lead to the power to act. She is also interested in online political participation, particularly among young people, and the role of routine media use in people's civic engagement. Third, she is reflecting on the ethical issues surrounding digital methodology, methods and data in the context of feminist and intersectional approaches. Anxious to bring social relevance to her scientific work and better understand the Internet, Mélanie offers regular workshops and ties her research to numerous media events, thus contributing to social media education and scientific popularization of the digital phenomenon.

Mélanie Millette has won the Bell-Globemedia award from the Canadian Media Research Consortium for her master's work, a doctoral scholarship from the Fondsderecherchesurlasociétéetlaculture (FQRSC), and the Joseph-Armand Bombardier scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities ResearchCouncil of Canada (SSHRC). She was named a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation scholar in 2011, enabling her to complete her thesis entitled "Minority Language, Social Media & the Struggle for Visibility: The Case of Francophone Organizations in English-Speaking Canada" (UQAM, 2015).