I am a researcher specializing in social media, body ideals, media education, and affects. A central theme throughout my research has been the relationship between bodies represented in media and the bodies of media users, which I have examined particularly from the perspective of affects. I am interested in the entanglement of social media use and body image – in all its ambivalence. My research aims to promote a healthy body image among media users in the digitalized culture of the 2020s.
In my current research project, Bodies of Media Education – Towards Digital Pedagogies of Feeling (BoME), I study self-photography or selfie-taking as a media educational tool through which the photographer can increase their awareness of their body, its appearance, boundaries, and sensations. The project develops a new methodological approach to examining digital visual culture as an embodied practice. As part of the research, I conduct workshops for educators working in lower secondary schools and upper secondary institutions, as well as for young people aged 16–19. The goal of these workshops is to provide tools for media education that supports young people’s well-being.
I am a postdoctoral researcher at the Turku Institute for Advanced Studies (TIAS), where I am affiliated with the discipline of media studies. I earned my doctorate in the same department in December 2022 with a dissertation that focused on Finnish body positivity and social media.
Currently, I serve as one of the two editors-in-chief of Lähikuva, a journal focused on film and media culture research. I have been involved in the journal’s editorial board and the Lähikuva Association’s board since 2015. Additionally, I participate in the activities of Eetos Association, which promotes multidisciplinary and critical work and research in the humanities. In the Young Academy Finland, I wish to advance science education, as well as foster respectful interaction and collaboration among researchers from different fields.