We study how social media shapes, and is shaped by, a variety of different issues and practices. These include military conflict and interpersonal violence, health beliefs and behaviour, and political attitudes or events, such as those associated with Brexit. Our members' interdisciplinary research explores how social media captures audience members’ attention and shapes their emotional and cognitive responses in ways which shape the decisions they make. We also study the cultural and sociological aspects of social media, including humour and ‘digital detoxification’ practices. Some researchers engage with industry bodies to develop software to better cope with the more problematic aspects of social media, such as the dissemination of ‘fake news’.