In this talk, historian Ryan Bodman explores the value of social media as a 21st century history-research tool. Over the past five years, Ryan has been researching and writing Rugby League: A New Zealand History, which is a social and cultural history of the football code in New Zealand.

As part of this project, he has developed a social media account under the same name, which promotes public engagement with his research outputs and has brought a collaborative component to his research process.

In this talk, Ryan will explore the use of social media in the development of his book, paying particular attention to the value of social media to academic historians seeking to engage with people from outside of the university-setting.

The monthly Public History Talks are a collaboration between the National Library of New Zealand and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

Recorded live at the National Library of New Zealand, 2 June 2021.

Download a transcript of this talk:

https://nzhistory.govt.nz/files/pdfs/ryan-bodman-transcript-june-2021.pdf