Prof. Nicholas John is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and Journalism, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Originally from England, where I studied Philosophy and Social and Political Sciences at Cambridge University. My research interests include technology and society, the Internet, new media, Web 2.0 and sharing.

I am the author of the book, The Age of Sharing, published by polity. This book offers an innovative approach to sharing in social media, specifically by linking it to sharing in other social spheres, namely, consumption and intimate interpersonal relations. My more recent work looks at online tie breaking – unfriending, blocking, and the like. I teach BA and MA courses about the complex interrelations between technology and society.

I am the Vice President (and President-Elect) of the Association of Internet Researchers.

Research Interests

• New media
• Digital Culture
• Online Tie Breaking
• Sharing

Selected publications

• Aysha Agbarya & Nicholas John (2021) Online tie and content management and changing religious identity among Muslim Arab women in Israel, Information, Communication & Society,

• John, N., & Agbarya, A. (2021). Punching up or turning away? Palestinians unfriending Jewish Israelis on Facebook. New Media & Society, 23(5), 1063–1079.

• Zhao, Luolin & Nicholas A. John. ‎‎2020. “The concept of ‘sharing’ ‎in Chinese social media: Origins, ‎transformations and ‎implications.” Information, ‎Communication & Society. DOI: ‎‎10.1080/1369118X.2020.179121‎‎6‎

• Sharon, Tzlil, and Nicholas A. ‎John. 2019. “Imagining an ideal ‎podcast listener,” Popular ‎Communication, 17:4, 333-347.‎

• John, Nicholas A. 2019. “Social ‎media bullshit: What we don’t ‎know about ‎facebook.com/peace and why ‎we should care,” Social Media + ‎Society. ‎https://doi.org/10.1177/205630‎‎5119829863‎

• Bitman, Nomy, and Nicholas A. ‎John. 2019. “Deaf and hard of ‎hearing smartphone users: ‎Intersectionality and the ‎penetration of ableist ‎communication norms,” Journal ‎of Computer-Mediated ‎Communication, 24‎‏:‏‎2, 56–72.‎

• John, Nicholas A., and Asaf ‎Nissenbaum. 2019. “An ‎agnotological analysis of APIs: ‎Or, disconnectivity and the ‎ideological limits of our ‎knowledge of social media,” The ‎Information Society, 35:1, 1-12.‎

• John, Nicholas A., and Noam ‎Gal. 2018. “‘He’s Got His Own ‎Sea’: Political Facebook ‎Unfriending in The Personal ‎Public Sphere,” International ‎Journal of Communication, 12:0, ‎‎2971–2988.‎

• Sharon, Tzlil, and Nicholas A. ‎John. 2018. “Unpacking (the) ‎Secret: Anonymous social media ‎and the impossibility of ‎networked anonymity,” New ‎Media and Society, 20:11, 4177–‎‎4194.‎

• John, Nicholas A. 2016. The Age ‎of Sharing. Cambridge: Polity ‎Press.‎

• John, Nicholas A., and Shira Dvir ‎Gvirsman. 2015. “‘I don’t Like ‎you any more’: Facebook ‎unfriending by Israelis during ‎the Israel-Gaza conflict of 2014,” ‎Journal of Communication, 65:6, ‎‎953-974.‎

• John, Nicholas A. 2013. “The ‎social logics of sharing.” The ‎Communication Review. 16:3, ‎‎113-131.‎

• John, Nicholas A. 2013. “Sharing ‎and Web 2.0: The emergence of ‎a keyword.” New Media & ‎Society, 15:2, 167-182.‎

Awards and Prizes

The Age of Sharing won the:

• Nancy Baym Book Award, 2017

• Best Book, Israel Communication Association, 2017

• Winner, Outstanding Book Award, Popular Communication Division, International Communication Association, 2018.