Thorsten Quandt is the professor of online communication at the

University of Münster The University of Münster (, until 2023 , WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of study in 15 departments, it is Germany's ...

, Germany. He has a particular interest in online communication, (online) journalism and digital media. He (co)authored more than 200 scientific articles and several books, including'' Participatory Journalism,'' which was influential in establishing the

citizen journalism Citizen journalism, also known as collaborative media, participatory journalism, democratic journalism, guerrilla journalism, grassroots journalism, or street journalism, is based upon members of the community playing an active role in the pro ...

model. He has edited numerous books, primarily in the field of online communication and digital media, including ''The Video Game Debate''. His work was awarded with several scientific prizes, including international Top Paper Awards, the dissertation award of the German Communication Association, and an ERC grant (European Excellency Programme).

Education and career

Quandt graduated with a master's degree in Communication Studies from the

University of Bochum The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in ...

. He began teaching in 1998 at the

Technical University of Ilmenau Technical may refer to: * Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle * Technical area, an area which a manager, other coaching personnel, and substitutes are allowed to occupy during a football match * Technical advisor, a person who ad ...

, where he received his doctoral degree in 2004. From 2003 to 2007, he worked as a senior researcher at the

Ludwig-Maximilians University The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke Ludwig IX of Bav ...

(LMU) in Munich. In 2007 and 2008, he was an assistant professor at the

Free University Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period as a Western continu ...

, and he received his habilitation from the LMU in 2008. In 2009, he obtained the chair of Interactive Media and Online Communication from the

University of Hohenheim A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

, where he also served as the Director of the Institute of Communication Studies. Since 2012, he has been the chair for online communication at the

, Germany. Quandt has given lectures at various other universities, and was a visiting professor at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

, the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

and a visiting researcher at the

Indiana University, Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship campus of Indiana University and its largest campus, with over 4 ...

. Quandt is the founding chair of the "Digital Games Research" section of the

European Communication Research and Education Association The European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) is a scholarly association focused on the study of media, telecommunications, and informatics research, including relevant approaches from the human and social sciences. It stri ...

(ECREA), and a member of the Executive Board of ECREA. He was an Associate Editor of the

Journal of Communication The ''Journal of Communication'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes articles and book reviews on a broad range of issues in communication theory and research. It was established in 1951 and the current editor-in-chief is ...

. He is a board member of the Journal of Communication, as well as the journals

Communication Theory Communication theory is a proposed description of communication phenomena, the relationships among them, a storyline describing these relationships, and an argument for these three elements. Communication theory provides a way of talking about a ...

an
Digital Journalism
He has been the secretary of the Journalism Studies Division in the

International Communication Association The International Communication Association (ICA) is an academic association for scholars interested in the study, teaching and application of all aspects of human and mediated communication. ICA communicates within the association and with oth ...

(ICA), and the chairman of the Journalism Studies Division in the German Communication Association. In 2023, Quandt was named
Fellow of the ICA
Quandt has been a member of various boards and committees, including committees of the

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft The German Research Foundation ( ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2019, the DFG had a funding bu ...

(DFG), the

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

, the

Academy of Finland The Research Council of Finland (, ) is a governmental funding body for scientific research in Finland. Until August 2023, its official English-language name was Academy of Finland. It is based in Helsinki. Yearly, the council administers over ...

, the Helsingin Sanomat Foundation, ECREA, the German Communication Association DGPuK, and he worked as a reviewer for numerous scientific journals. He received several international and national research awards, as well as an ERC grant (European excellency programme). He was nominated twice on the top list of "40 most significant young scientists in Germany" by the national trade journal Capital.

Research fields

Quandt's work is focusing the impact and social aspects of digital games use,

participatory journalism Citizen journalism, also known as collaborative media, participatory journalism, democratic journalism, guerrilla journalism, grassroots journalism, or street journalism, is based upon members of the community playing an active role in the pro ...

, and risk factors of

online communication Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is defined as any human communication that occurs through the use of two or more electronic devices. While the term has traditionally referred to those communications that occur via computer-mediated formats ...

, like online and

video game addiction Video game addiction (VGA), also known as gaming disorder or internet gaming disorder, is generally defined as a behavioural addiction involving problematic, compulsive use of video games that results in significant impairment to an individual' ...

, media induced

aggression Aggression is behavior aimed at opposing or attacking something or someone. Though often done with the intent to cause harm, some might channel it into creative and practical outlets. It may occur either reactively or without provocation. In h ...

and

cyberbullying Cyberbullying (cyberharassment or online bullying) is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Since the 2000s, it has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers and adolescents, due to young people's increased u ...

. While Quandt's work is also focusing the problematic side of digital media use, he asks for a neutral and balanced perspective on media use, including positive aspects of use. Quandt argues that research on digital media has to 'normalize' and move beyond a state of repeating moral panics. He is one of the authors of an open debate paper to the WHO, criticizing the introduction of

Gaming Disorder Video game addiction (VGA), also known as gaming disorder or internet gaming disorder, is generally defined as a behavioural addiction involving problematic, compulsive use of video games that results in significant impairment to an individual' ...

as a "disorder due to addictive behaviors" in the 11th edition of the

International Classification of Diseases The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is a globally used medical classification that is used in epidemiology, health management and clinical diagnosis. The ICD is maintained by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is the dir ...

, which they see as a result of a "

moral panic A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", usually perpetuated by moral e ...

around the harm of video gaming". The authors mention several "fundamental issues" of

in their paper, which triggered a public debate. Quandt's large-scale, representative survey studies on online gamers were widely cited, as they did not support the popular notion of notable differences between gamers and non-gamers. This is especially true for his analyses on digital games addiction that showed a relatively low level of stable problematic behavior. His team's work on sexism among gamers was picked up by the international press and gamers alike, as the measured differences between gamers and non-gamers in the study were marginal. The research was also discussed in relation to the

gamergate controversy Gamergate or GamerGate (GG) was a loosely organized misogynistic online harassment campaign motivated by a right-wing backlash against feminism, diversity, and progressivism in video game culture. It was conducted using the hashtag "#Game ...

. However, Quandt and colleagues pointed out that their research does not necessarily prove the non-existence of sexism in specific gamer groups or the content itself, but that it rather supports the notion that gaming has become mainstream entertainment in modern societies thus approaching an average level of sexism. In an interdisciplinary project on the analysis of social bots and their use in online propaganda, Quandt and colleagues developed computer-supported and automatic identification methods. During the project, they observed the German elections 2017. The team identified attempts at manipulating the public, including an unsuccessful Twitter attack on the electoral debate between chancellor Merkel and the social-democrat

Schulz Schulz is a common German language, German family name from Germany, particularly Northern Germany. The word ''Schulz'' originates from the local official title of Schultheiß or ''Schulze'', meaning head of town/village (akin to today's office of ...

. The attackers were identified by journalists as a right-wing extremist group called Reconquista Germanica. Quandt has led several projects on the identification of disinformation in online communication, and coined the ter
Dark Participation
as an umbrella concept for phenomena like online disinformation, hate speech, trolling and bullying.

Selected books

* Kowert, R. & Quandt, T. (Eds.) (2015). ''The video game debate. Unravelling the physical, social, and psychological effects of digital games''. New York, London: Routledge. * Quandt, T., & Kröger, S. (Eds.) (2014).'' Multiplayer: The social aspects of digital gaming''. London: Routledge. * Singer, J., Hermida, A., Domingo, D., Heinonen, A., Paulussen, S., Quandt, T., Reich, Z., & Vujnovic, M. (2011). ''Participatory journalism: Guarding open gates at online newspapers''. Malden, Oxford, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. Selected journal publications * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quandt, Thorsten German computer scientists Academic staff of the Free University of Berlin German technology writers Living people Academic staff of the University of Münster Year of birth missing (living people) European Research Council grantees