From social interactions and work to politics, care, and leisure, digital technology now mediates a wide array of our activities. This transformation prompts a series of fundamental questions central to our lab's mission: How does digital technology reshape our interactions? How does it affect labor and management practices? How does it redefine caregiving? How does it impact recreational activities? How does it affect politics and democracy? How can it be harnessed for a more sustainable future? What strategies can we employ to harness the power of digital technology to address urgent societal challenges?
The central mission of the Digital Media and Behaviour Lab is to address the challenges and opportunities stemming from the ubiquitous use of digital communication technologies across private, professional, and public domains. The goal is to discern multifaceted responses and recommendations that encompass the development of essential skills and literacies and propose guiding principles and design guidelines for digital platforms, journalistic practices, technology governance, and science communication. Ultimately, our aim is to chart a path towards a sustainable, prosocial, and resilient society.
To fulfill this mission, the lab aims to achieve three key objectives:
- Enhance grant acquisition activities and success rates in the above outlined DM&B research domains.
- Foster transdisciplinary networks that bring together scholars and societal stakeholders, creating synergies to improve outcomes related to digital media usage.
- Elevate the impact and visibility of all DM&B members and their respective research teams across Dutch society, using the research lines of VU communication science as a unifying and propelling force.
The overarching goal of the DM&B Lab is to provide support to communication science researchers pursuing societally relevant research lines. This support aims to help consolidate their research efforts and facilitate their integration into transdisciplinary networks, where collaborative efforts can collectively generate meaningful societal impact.
