Aleesha Joy Rodriguez

have you ever thought about,

how the internet could be made better for chidlren? or, how social media shapes public understandings about future technologies? or what constitutes a sandwich?
I have.
It’s what I like to do — ask questions.
Sometimes these questions are trivial. But most of the time I intend for these questions to unpack something that maybe doesn’t get a lot of thought and by doing so, hopefully uncover a little more about why society is the way it is.

If we don’t question the things we take for granted, will we inevitably fail to question the things that ought to be interrogated? See, can’t help myself.

My name is Aleesha. I am a tech-sociologist who thinks about how people shape technology and how technologies shape society.

As a researcher, I have expertise in the fields of digital media communication and Science and Technology Studies (STS) and am currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, exploring how future digital media technologies can be made better both with and for children. In fact, here are 17 prinicples on how to create a better Children’s Internet. 

I am also an Affiliated Investigator at the Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC) at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), which is where I completed my PhD.

I love examining public imaginaries (that is, the way we think, fear, and hope) about future technologies and thinking about playful and creative approaches to (co)create and generate better digital futures. I run workshops with academics and industry professionals to help them think about their role in shaping positive social and technical futures. If you’re curious to know more, get in touch.

You can read about my research in the International Journal of Communication, Social Media + Society, International Journal of Cultural Studies, and Media and Communication. I’ve featured in The Guardian, The Conversation, TEDx, ABC Radio, and ABC News (TV); as well as, spoken at the Brisbane Comedy Festival and Woodford Folk Festival.