2026 AoIR Legacy Lecture Series

The AoIR online lecture series gives members a way to connect beyond the annual conference and across time zones. Each lecture runs 30 minutes, followed by 30 minutes of Q&A and open discussion. These events are exclusive to active members of AoIR. To learn more about membership and join, visit members.aoir.org.

First lecture: Dr. Steve Jones — March 24, 2026
Dr. Steve Jones, one of AoIR’s founding members, kicks off the series. He’s a UIC Distinguished Professor of Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago, editor of New Media & Society, and co-editor of Mobile Media & Communication (both with SAGE). His research on the Internet’s social dimensions has been funded by the NSF, NIH, and CDC.

Picking up this year’s conference theme of “Regenerations,” Dr. Jones will talk about how internet research has changed since AoIR’s founding, which questions have stuck around, and what “regeneration” might mean for the field now.

This is the first installment of the series, and its future depends on member engagement. We’d love active participation and feedback to help shape what comes next.

Second lecture: Roundtable on Methods — April 13, 2026
The second event brings together Annette N. Markham, Bernhard Rieder, and Axel Bruns for a roundtable on how internet research methods have changed over time.

The session covers shifts in research practice: the rise and subsequent restriction of platform APIs and digital trace data, the emergence of AI-driven computational approaches, and the growing role of ethical and human-centered inquiry. The speakers will reflect on the problems and possibilities shaping the current methodological landscape, and what the regeneration of methods might mean for internet research going forward.

This session runs 45 minutes, followed by 45 minutes of Q&A and discussion. Register here (You will have to login before being able to access the registration link)

Third lecture: Dr. Nancy Baym — May 26, 2026
Dr. Nancy Baym is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research New England and a co-founder of AoIR. Her work examines how people build relationships and communities through digital media, with particular attention to music fans and the musicians who engage them online. She is the author of Personal Connections in the Digital Age and Playing to the Millions, and previously held a faculty position at the University of Kansas.

More details about Dr. Baym’s lecture will be announced closer to the event date.

This session runs 30 minutes, followed by 30 minutes of Q&A and discussion. Register here (You will have to log in before being able to access the registration link)

Fourth lecture: Roundtable on Community — June 23, 2026
The fourth event brings together Susanna Paasonen, Crystal Abidin, and Raquel Recuero for a roundtable on AoIR’s community—past, present, and future.

The session takes up what AoIR has been as a community, not only as an academic association. The speakers will examine how the field’s structures have distributed participation unevenly—across the Global North and South, across languages, and across different conditions of access—and what it has meant to both study the internet and live those inequalities firsthand. Together, they will consider what it takes to sustain a space of genuine exchange rather than assuming community as a given.

This session runs 45 minutes, followed by 45 minutes of Q&A and discussion. Register here (You will have to login before being able to access the registration link)

Fifth lecture: TBA — TBA