Memes as political mind bombs, the affective impact of Brexit on journalists and Donald Trump’s tweets are just a few of the topics set to be explored on 25 May when leading thinkers converge on the University of East London (UEL) for the third annual Affect and Social Media conference.

This year’s event focuses on social and digital media through the lens of felt experiences, emotional engagements and affective entanglements.

UEL’s Dr Tony Sampson, conference organiser, said, “Interest in emotions, feelings and affective experiences with social media has grown considerably since we started the Affect and Social Media conferences in 2015.

“Recently, we’ve had to contend with a deluge of posts about Brexit, Trump, post-truth and fake news, and some of our speakers will talk about experiences linked to these political events.”

The conference’s keynote speakers are Professor Jessica Ringrose, of University College London, and Professor Emma Renold, of Cardiff University. Their talks will examine feminist and pedagogical understandings of affectivity and power on social media.

Other highlights include:

● Affective Politics and Strategic Cyberbullying in Donald Trump’s Tweets, Professor Jonas Fritsch, University of Copenhagen, and Professor Camilla Møhring Reestorff and Professor Jette Kofoed, University of Aarhus

● Refugee Memes: Affective Entanglements of Populist Engagement in Visual Social Media, Professor Elena Pilipets, Alpen-Adria University, Austria

● ‘No More Shit! Gays Fight Back’: Affective responses to mediated representations of the Orlando Nightclub Shooting, Kate Marston, Cardiff University

● Assessing the Affective Impact of the Brexit Campaign on the journalists who covered it, Professor Stephen Jukes, University of Bournemouth

The conference concludes with the Sensorium Art Show – an exhibition which responds creatively to the conference themes of experience, engagement and entanglement.

UEL students and staff can attend the conference at no cost. Tickets are £3 for non-UEL students and £5 for people working outside UEL. Price includes entry to the conference and art show with free drinks and nibbles.

You can register and learn more about the conference here. The conference’s Twitter hashtag is #AffectandSM.