I am sure I am not the first to tell you that academia is difficult. It is a jealous and hungry beast, yet it provides minimal opportunities for those wanting to stay long-term. As the research of hundreds of thousands slowly starts churning out publication after publication, I wonder what the lasting impact on the average person is for these discoveries that largely go unheard of unless you are in the right circles. Then I started wondering about my own discoveries and what you all might think of them.

Social media has become an ever-present part of our lives, whether we want it to be or not. From keeping in touch with family and friends to making new buddies through shared hobbies and interests, social media is a powerful tool that has a massive outreach. The more we learn, the more we can teach each other, spreading this awareness further and further until every part of the globe is familiar with a trend, discourse, or a popular meme. But as social media grows, I fear the average media literacy and free thought shrinks. This isn’t a thread for me to unravel today, but it is something I cannot forget as I consume more and more online.

But back to the crux of this discussion. Being an academic in a social media-dominant world seems a bit like a joke on the surface, but the more I look into it and connect with my bookish community, the more I realise that social media research may be the integral building block of academic research that needs to be explored right now. With the access and ability to create and connect with others right at our fingertips, information and misinformation can spread like fire, especially if it ticks off the boxes of ‘trendy’ or ‘popular’ like fads, new releases, and reactions. But social media research is still a new field to dissect, let alone consider, for many academic institutions. There is an undeniable element of elitism here that needs to be dismantled and reassessed, given the shift our everyday habits and behaviours have made towards technology and social media.

That’s what makes me quite excited about my research. Not only am I able to connect and better understand the people within my community, their experiences, and their wants, but I can also help shape a new form of academic research, especially here in Aotearoa New Zealand. I can help create local change that will be seen globally, help bring voices to the forefront of literary discussions that were otherwise pushed to the back, and address global prejudices that social media encourages, regardless of whether they are seen as ‘celebratory’ or ‘critical’ of bookish social media. What’s more, the nature of my research is social media-related, and as such, it can be shared and understood by those who use bookish social media. There is no higher-level understanding required – I can bring the points of interest directly to my community and let them know in layman’s terms what is happening. What a wonderful way to give back to the people who shaped my research!

Even though social media can be draining at times, I know that there is a purpose to my usage of it right now. I know that I am wielding it as a tool and can use it to craft my research. Maybe once I have done my research, I will take a break from it all to give myself a much-needed rest, but for now, I will just need to keep reminding myself of the good reasons to use it. I think that is a key thing for all of us to remember in 2026. Social media is a tool; it is not a part of ourselves. We can put that tool down and step away from it. It does not need to be a part of our lives if we do not wish it to be. The same goes for AI. I will leave you with this helpful bit of information regarding reducing your usage of AI: when you use a search bar like Google, add ‘-ai’ to the end of your search to opt out of the AI-generated answers that come up as immediate results. You also do not need to use any form of AI assistant, nor do you need to conform to using it just because those around you are. We functioned perfectly fine without AI. Let’s continue to do so.