Hi! I am a PhD Candidate in Media Technologies at the School of Journalism and Communication, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). I previously taught at CUHK as a part-time lecturer for nine years, after I moved to Hong Kong from Spain in 2011.
What’s in your wallet? - My dissertation addresses the sociocultural implications of evolving practices of digital identity, understood as processes of identification/verification/authentication through increasingly automated systems. Drawing on digital and embodied ethnographic studies, interviews and other qualitative methods, I critically explore the uses of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as identity markers produced and circulated computationally in blockchain/Web3 environments. I am also interested in digital identity wallets as communication technologies mediating social interaction, and methodologies for studying controversial technologies (e.g., blockchain).
From January to July 2024, I was a visiting scholar at the School of Media Studies, University of Amsterdam (UvA). At UvA, I was part of the Global Digital Cultures research priority area, and the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis. Prior to my PhD at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, I earned an MA in Global Communication from the same institution (2011) and a BA in Journalism from the University of Valencia, Spain (2005). In the years between my BA and MA, I built a career as a digital communications strategist, which continued remotely as I embarked on extensive travel after my MA. The insights I gained from my work and travels ultimately inspired my return to academia to ask sociological questions about digital platforms, practices, and the future of communication.