Michael Rabby

Biography

Dr. Michael Rabby began researching how people talked to each other over e-mail in 1995, and has continued investigating various facets of internet relationships ever since. He was one of the first researchers to study the actual content of e-mail messages, the subject of his Master’s thesis, and to use the Internet as a tool to collect survey data for his PhD. This research path has led him through areas such as mobile apps, online and offline romantic relationships, online relationship maintenance, online impression management and self-presentation, improving audio descriptions for the blind and visually impaired, the use of social media by deployed troops, and adoption of tablets for journalism. Through it all, the ultimate question of his research has involved the use of technology to include and connect.

At WSUV, Dr. Rabby leads the social media program in several facets, including a certificate for matriculating students, as well as a separate certificate geared for professionals and continuing education students. He has more than twenty different classes, and created and developed classes in Washington and Florida.