Alex Turvy

Alex Turvy, PhD

I'm a media sociologist and UX researcher

I study how people socialize on TikTok and Instagram—and how platform design shapes those everyday moments. Despite what you might have heard, social media very much is real life.

Affiliations: Tulane CCC ASA TCRN AoIR Digital Void

My Work

Research Interests and Methodologies

I'm a UX researcher and sociologist interested in how platforms shape—and are shaped by—cultural participation. My work focuses on how people make meaning on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, especially through memes, subcultural aesthetics, and everyday creative practices.

I approach platforms as sociotechnical systems, drawing on Science and Technology Studies (STS) to understand how interface design, governance, and algorithmic systems structure what users can see, do, and become. My research spans both applied and academic contexts: I conduct UX research professionally, and continue to publish scholarly work on digital culture, platform governance, and creative labor.

I take a mixed-methods approach, using discourse analysis, digital ethnography, policy analysis, and platform walkthroughs -- alongside computational methods in R and Python for both statistical modeling and lexical analysis. I'm especially interested in how qualitative insight and quantitative structure can complement each other in studying digital culture.

Also, lots of fun stuff: how humor travels, how aesthetic norms evolve, and how users stretch the limits of platforms in playful, surprising, and sometimes subversive ways.

Ongoing Work

(Last updated 6/24/2025)

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Commentary and Other Analysis

Presentations

Media

Experience

All of the nitty-gritty is documented on my LinkedIn page, but prior to my academic career I worked in K-12 education and operations. I have lots of experience with community-engaged work and with large-scale operations, financial and facilities management, project management, and event planning and execution.