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Katrin Tiidenberg, Doctor of Sociology, Professor of Participatory Culture, Tallinn University Baltic Film, Media and Arts School

I started working when I was young, right after my studies, at the Estonian Song Festival Grounds Foundation. Whenever I was asked if I could do anything, I almost always said yes, as I was young and audacious. Many situations required me to adapt or perish, and I always managed to adapt. My job was very creative.

Afterwards, I became a marketing manager for SL Õhtuleht. This was a big ideological change, as I went from working at a centre of national culture to a tabloid newspaper. As the objective of our department was to increase sales, we often thought up things to add in between the papers. Wisdom of the Tarot cards, witches, horoscopes and coffee grounds fortune telling sold especially well.

Looking back, it is interesting how my job at the newspaper coincided with my later research, as one of my research projects was about finding out how trust is created in health- and welfare-related communication and how it is affected by pseudoscience. As a media researcher, my prior work helps me understand why certain editorial choices are made in published stories. I know what it means to be pressured to chase profit.

After working in media for a few years, I got the urge to go back to a position where the thing I would sell meant something grander or more noble to me. I entered the voluntary sector and became the marketing and communications manager for the Central European region at the British Council. It felt like the perfect job for me, as it was creative and involved strategic planning, foreign missions, international cooperation and formal dinners and receptions. It was all incredibly exciting, as I got to be creative and receive firsthand experience of how communication works within international networks. I never got tired of that work.

After I became pregnant, I immediately realised that the birth of my child would also affect my career. I could not go back to work, as it did not suit me as the mother of a small child. As I was adapting to my new and difficult role at home, I wondered what to do with my life. My career path was at a crossroads. As a form of self-help, I wrote a novel.

However, I also remembered my previously dismissed idea of pursuing a PhD. Now, I felt like it was finally time to do it. I wanted to experience something that excited me. Therefore, I read a lot and carefully thought everything through before drafting up my PhD thesis. I wished to research the core human experience and how the internet enables, shapes and hinders it. That was the beginning of my career as a social media researcher.

Thankfully, I already had good role models before starting my PhD studies. Both my parents, grandmother and sister had all attained PhDs, so it seemed like a secure path for me too. After all, I grew up surrounded by academic work. Consequently, some aspects of research work were intuitively simple for me to grasp when I started.

Regardless, I occasionally felt lonely after I started working on my PhD thesis. When attending sociology and social science conferences, I often felt surrounded by an air of disregard for internet studies and social media. My research topic was considered pointless and trivial, as the area had seemingly nothing left to research, except for maybe its expressions of pop culture. Thankfully, I had a supportive supervisor. I also quickly joined the Association of Internet Researchers, which helped me find a second supervisor, who happened to be one of the top scientists in their field.

As social media studies spoke to me greatly and I had enough background knowledge, I had to explain the contents and importance of my thesis research to colleagues who were less in touch with the internet over and over again. However, I also felt a certain kind of happiness after seeing surprised faces in the room while presenting my topic.

I also felt a great responsibility, as I did not want to ruin the general perception towards social media studies. Nowadays, this type of research no longer creates controversy. Nobody argues anymore that web-based visual culture, such as selfies, memes or TikTok videos, do not play a significant role in the economy, culture, politics or personal and societal welfare.

The joys of being a scientist:

• I enjoy it when I receive feedback on my lectures, research work or other performances, knowing that I have influenced someone’s values or perspective.
• It is incredibly exciting to speak to other people within my field, especially PhD students. It is satisfying and inspiring to listen to young and talented scientists discussing.
• I am especially happy when I get to open up the possibility for somebody else to research a topic as their supervisor or fellow scientist.

Career:

• Marketing manager – 10 years
• Scientist – 15 years

Education:
2015 Tallinn University, Doctorate in Sociology
2005 University of Tartu, Master’s in Media and Communication
2003 University of Tartu, Bachelor’s in Sociology