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Tyler West, PhD

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About Me

I recently completed my PhD project exploring policymaker and citizen beliefs about user agency in the context of Ireland’s Online Safety and Media Regulation Act (OSMR). This research encapsulates a broader normative vision that I hope to translate into a research career: to help bridge the growing epistemic, material, and other divides between tech elites and lay people in a world increasingly mediated by technology. I intend to anchor this work in the philosophy of science and technology, as well as constructivist theories of knowledge and language. I specifically aim to use theoretical and mixed-method empirical approaches to explore and advance the dignity and agency of humans in the 21st century.

Research Interests

Recent Publications

Book Review: The Digital Revolution

Book Review: The Digital Revolution

Elon Musk and the tech dictatorships of the 21st century

Elon Musk and the tech dictatorships of the 21st century

Learning from Ireland's Citizens' Assemblies

Learning from Ireland's Citizens' Assemblies

How false beliefs about technology cause so much anxiety

How false beliefs about technology cause so much anxiety

Ireland Must Find its Voice in Protecting Global Privacy

Ireland Must Find its Voice in Protecting Global Privacy

CV

Education

2025

PhD Communications
Dublin City University

Dublin, Ireland

  • Irish Research Council Post-Graduate Scholar (<10% success rate)

  • School of Communications Scholar

2016

MA Global Communication

The George Washington University

Washington, D.C., USA

  • Merit Scholar

2011

BA International Studies

BA Broadcast Journalism

Minor in French

Elon University

Elon, NC, USA

 

  • Cum Laude

  • Watson Scholar

  • School of Communications Senior Scholar

Research Skills

  • Grant Writing

  • Mixed Methods

  • Comparative Analysis​

  • Discourse Analysis

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  • Grounded Theory

  • Critical Discourse Analysis 

  • Thematic Analysis

  • Policy Analysis

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  • Nvivo Software

  • Infographic Design

  • In-depth Interviewing

  • Focus Group Convening

Research Positions

2019-2025

PhD Researcher
Dublin City University

Dublin, Ireland

  • Critically explored dynamic between SM platforms, government policy, and user agency.

  • Employed mixed methods, including critical discourse analysis and quantitative analysis. 

  • Conducted focus groups with SM users of varying ages and socioeconomic statuses.

  • Conducted interviews with policymakers, including legislators and civil servants. 

  • Served as assistant FUJO Researcher with the EU-funded Providence project.

2018-2021

Grant Writer & Researcher
The Think Tank for Action on Social Change (TASC)

Dublin, Ireland

  • Led writing and design of OSF-funded handbook on deliberative democracy.

  • Planned and coordinated international conference ‘Thinking Outside the Ballot Box’.

  • Authored TASC’s submission to government on ‘Regulation of Online Political Advertising’.

  • Co-edited Upsetting the Applecart: Industrial-based tax policy in Ireland.

  • Compiled frequent reports/insights for TASC Board, donors, and stakeholders. 

Research Training

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  • Critical Discourse Analysis Summer School, Radboud University                                     (May 2023)

  • Qualitative Methods Summer School, University of Limerick                                           (June 2023)

  • Association of Internet Researchers (AOIR) Doctoral Colloquium, Online            (November 2022)

  • NVivo Intermediate 2-day Workshop, DCU                                                                   (February 2022)

  • Writing for Publication Workshop with Daniel Soule, DCU                                             (March 2021)

Academic Publications

West, T. (2024) ‘The Digital Revolution: A Short History of an Ideology’ by Gabriele Balbi, Oxford University Press, 2024, 176 pp., ISBN 9780198875970’, Internet Histories, pp. 1–4. doi: 10.1080/24701475.2024.2360321.LaJoie, A., O'Neill, N., Volpe, D., West, T. (2020) ‘Stories of the Pandemic:

 

Covid-19 and Job Loss in Ireland’, TASC. Available at: https://www.tasc.ie/publications/. West, T. (2019) Learning from the Irish Assemblies: Key lessons from three national forums. E-book, TASC. Available from: https://www.tasc.ie/citizensassemblyebook/#/reader.

 

West, T. (2016) ‘Public Diplomacy in the Age of Collective Action: A study of embassy responses to online TTIP opposition,’ master’s diss., The George Washington University. Advisors: David Karpf, Sean Aday.

 

West, T. (2011) ‘Going viral: Factors that lead videos to become internet phenomena’, The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, (2)1, pp. 76-84. Available at: https://eloncdn.blob.core.windows.net/eu3/sites/153/2017/06/08West.pdf.

Forthcoming

West, T. (2025) ‘Removing Humans from the Labour Loop: Neoliberal Themes in AI discourse’.

 

West, T. and Lokot, T. (2025) ‘A Comparative Frame Analysis of Irish Policymaker and User Perceptions of Agency’.

Non-Academic Publications

West, T. (2022) ‘Elon Musk and the tech dictatorships of the 21st century’. RTE Brainstorm, 27 April. Available at: https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2022/0427/1294676-elon-musk-twitter-mark-zuckerberg-facebook-technology/.

 

West, T. (2022) ‘How false beliefs about technology cause so much anxiety’. RTE Brainstorm, 18 January. Available at: https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2022/0118/1274303-technology-anxiety-false-beliefs-change/.

 

West, T. (2018) ‘Ireland Must Find its Voice in Protecting Global Privacy,” TASC Blog. Available at: https://www.tasc.ie/blog/2018/05/27/ireland-must-find-its-voice-in-protecting-global-p/.

Conference Presentations

‘Removing Humans from the Labour Loop: Neoliberal themes in AI discourse,’ Critiquing Big Tech, Tilburg University, The Netherlands, (June 2024).

 

‘Young adults’ folk theories about government regulation of social media,’ European Conference on Social Media, Pedagogical University of Krakow, Poland, (May 2023).

 

‘User agency in policymaker debates: Ireland’s Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill,’ Social Media & Society, Online, (July 2022).

 

‘A Frame Analysis of User Agency in Ireland’s Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill,’ Decolonizing the Internet, Association of Internet Researchers (AOIR), Dublin (November 2022).

Professional Communications Roles

June 2019- January 2023

Outreach Coordinator

Propwatch Project

Part-time, Remote

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• Assisted with curriculum and site design for online propaganda teaching platform and skills tests.

• Drafted and presented pitch presentations on organisation mission to potential funders.

• Liaised with researchers working in areas such as the nature of conspiracy theories, reputation, trust, and truth.

October 2015-May 2017

Fulbright Communication Officer

AMIDEAST (U.S. Department of State program)

Washington, DC, USA

  • Coordinated communication and research strategies among ten field offices in MENA region.

  • Managed U.S. State Department-sponsored social media that reach 200,000 people monthly.

  • Provided frequent topical trainings to HQ and field staffs.

  • Edited the official Fulbright Program for the Middle East and North Africa Blog.

November 2012-July 2014

Editor and Producer

Bespoke Video Production

Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

  • Coordinated with journalists and local media to air produced commercials and news packages.

  • Produced high-impact videos for INGOS such as Heifer International and Winrock International.

  • Managed client, freelancer, and inter-organizational relations throughout project duration.

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