Dr Ysabel Gerrard

BA (Hons), MA, PhD (University of Leeds)

School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations

Senior Lecturer in Digital Media and Society

Undergraduate Admissions Officer

Dr Ysabel Gerrard
Profile picture of Dr Ysabel Gerrard
y.gerrard@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 6435
The Wave

Full contact details

Dr Ysabel Gerrard
School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
Sheffield
S10 2AH
Profile

Ysabel joined the Department of Sociological Studies in September 2017, having completed her PhD at the School of Media and Communication, University of Leeds and spending some time as an Intern at Microsoft Research New England. In addition to her research and teaching, Ysabel is the Chair of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) Digital Culture and Communication Section (2021-2022), and a member of Facebook’s Suicide and Self-Injury (SSI) Advisory Board. 

She often talks to the press about her research and has appeared in venues like BBC Woman’s Hour, BBC ¾Ã²Ý¸£Àû, The Guardian, The Independent, NBC ¾Ã²Ý¸£Àû, The Washington Post and WIRED. 

Research interests

Ysabel’s research interests are in:

  • Young people’s experiences of social media
  • Digital identities (particularly gender)
  • Digital research methods and ethics

These research interests underpin her first manuscript – The Platform Generation: Young Lives and Social Media Content Policies – which is currently under contract with the University of California Press.

  • Ysabel’s research agenda is to produce knowledge that has clear and pragmatic social benefits, especially to vulnerable populations. For example, she submitted a REF 2021 Impact Case Study, titled Making Social Media Safer for People with Eating Disorders.
Publications

Books

  • Gerrard Y (2025) The kids are online: Confronting the myths and realities of young digital life.

Journal articles

  • Gerrard Y (2022) . The Journal of Popular Television, 10(2), 185-198.
  • Sharp G & Gerrard Y (2022) . Body Image, 41, 267-271.
  • Miltner KM & Gerrard Y (2022) . Internet Histories, 6(1-2), 48-67.
  • Gerrard Y (2021) . Qualitative Research, 21(5), 686-702.
  • Gerrard Y (2021) . American Behavioral Scientist.
  • McCosker A & Gerrard Y (2021) . New Media and Society, 23(7), 1899-1919.
  • Gillespie T, Aufderheide P, Carmi E, Gerrard Y, Gorwa R, Matamoros-Fernández A, Roberts ST, Sinnreich A & Myers West S (2020) . Internet Policy Review, 9(4).
  • Gerrard Y (2020) . Social Media + Society, 6(3).
  • Gerrard Y (2020) . Feminist Media Studies, 20(5), 748-751.
  • Gerrard Y & Thornham H (2020) . New Media and Society, 22(7), 1266-1286.
  • Gerrard Y (2020) . New Media & Society, 22(3), 579-582.
  • Gerrard Y & Bates J (2019) . Online Information Review, 43(6), 945-951.
  • Edwards L, Philip F & Gerrard Y (2019) . Feminist Media Studies, 20(5), 605-622.
  • Gerrard Y (2019) . Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 25(2), 278-280.
  • Gerrard Y (2018) . New Media and Society, 20(12), 4492-4511.
  • Gerrard Y (2017) . First Monday, 22(8).
  • Hill RL, Kennedy H & Gerrard Y (2016) . Journal of Communication Inquiry, 40(4), 331-350.

Book chapters

  • Are C & Gerrard Y (2023) , The Routledge Companion to Gender, Media and Violence (pp. 473-482). Routledge

Book reviews

  • Gerrard Y (2017) . Information, Communication & Society, 20(12), 1817-1820.
  • Gerrard Y (2016) . Celebrity Studies, 7(3), 437-439.

Digital content

  • Gerrard Y & Duffy BE BeReal and the Doomed Quest for Online Authenticity.
  • Gerrard Y Letter to the Editor: Teenage girls don't need to be 'saved' from social media.
  • Sharp G, Fardouly J, Bromberg M, Leaver T & Gerrard Y Instagram can make teens feel bad about their body, but parents can help. Here’s how..
  • Gerrard Y Social Apps That Go Suddenly Viral Put Kids at Risk.
  • Gerrard Y & McCosker A The Perils of Moderating Depression on Social Media.
  • Gerrard Y TikTok Has a Pro-Anorexia Problem.
  • Gerrard Y & Squirrell T The Perils of Livestreaming on Reddit.
  • Gerrard Y & Gillespie T When Algorithms Think You Want to Die.
Grants
DatesFunderProject titleRoleAmount
2021-2022SIGN (Screen Industries Growth Network)‘Creator labour: screen production cultures and transmedia intersectionality in Yorkshire’Co-I£39,985.50
2021University of Sheffield Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Account‘Risky-by-design: making the digital world safer for children’N/A£2627
2019-2022British Academy Small Research Grant‘Secrets on social media: exploring young people’s perspectives of anonymous secret-telling apps’PI£6998
Teaching interests

The modules Ysabel has designed and developed – Digital Identities and those about Digital Methods – draw on her own research interests and experiences. For example, she has spent some time at the Digital Methods Institute at the University of Amsterdam learning about their tools and approaches to social media research (see ), and at Microsoft Research New England thinking about how social media content gets moderated and policed (see: ).

She likes to incorporate aspects of students’ own lives, experiences and identities into her teaching practices, particularly how they use and understand social media platforms. She also encourages students to think about their privacy on social media, how they represent themselves, and how they use social media in different cultural, geographical, and legal contexts.

Teaching activities

Ysabel teaches the following modules in the 2021/22 academic year:

Semester 1

  • SCS3046 Digital Identities (module and seminar leader)

Semester 2

  • SCS111003: Introduction to Digital Methods Research (module and workshop leader)

Ysabel also supervises BA and MA Dissertation students working on a range of topics.

PhD supervision

Ysabel is currently supervising five PhD candidates:

  • 2021-present: Ziwei Xu, working title TBD (co-supervisor)
  • 2021-present: Alex Kirby-Reynolds, Crisis and the State: Politics and the Everyday Experience of Crises (temporary primary supervisor; co-supervisor)
  • 2020-present: Beth Nutbrown, Toxicity, Trolling and Social Bonding: How the League of Legends Community Functions and Persists Amid Toxicity (secondary supervisor)
  • 2020-present: Qiran Zheng, Developing Long-Term Intimate Relationships in a Social Reality Shaped by Social Media Platforms: A Qualitative Approach to Young Taiwanese Online Dating and Companionship App Users (co-supervisor)

2018-present: Amel Bakour, Investigating Women’s Attitudes Towards Algerian Social Media Influencers (co-supervisor)