DrTristan Hotham

I study how digital power works.

And I work on the rules that govern it. I'm a researcher and policy professional with a PhD in how British political parties campaign on social media, and I now work in the civil service on the regulation of big tech and critical digital infrastructure.

Expertise

Digital political campaigning, targeted advertising and A/B testing, social media platforms and platform data, researcher access to data, and the regulation of digital markets and cyber resilience. I use quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the black box of social media.

Background

My ESRC-funded PhD at the University of Bath analysed how UK parties used Facebook from 2010 to 2018, and introduced the idea of Janus-faced campaigning. Before becoming a civil servant I was a research consultant for Who Targets Me during the 2019 General Election, gave written evidence to Parliament on digital technology and democracy, and commented for broadcasters and the press. Since 2021 I have worked as a civil servant on digital markets and then cyber resilience.

What this site is for

It brings my research, writing, media appearances and videos together in one place, with longer pieces on the blog. Views here are my own.