Hi Everyone

This is my first time here, so pardon me if I am posting in the wrong forum. I would try to be concise.

I have a B.Tech in CS and MBA in Marketing and have been working for the last 2.5 years in a product marketing role. I have been toying with the idea of pursuing a PhD for some time now and have finally decided to give it a serious shot.

My field of interest is Social Media. I have been reading up extensively (mostly internet) for the past few weeks to zoom in on the topic and now have some idea of the line of research I want to take up, although at a very basic level.

I would really appreciate if anyone can point me to a suitable resource which will get me up to date with the current research work done in social media. I am interested in pursuing further research in the following broad topics:

1. Social, Cultural and Economic Impact of Customized Information Flow in Social Media (things like facebook selecting feeds for us and selective search results by google etc.)

2. Creating a Framework/Model for measuring the attractiveness of Social Objects in different Business Environments

Now, my second problem is that I have no idea how to approach the entire process from here on. (in terms of application process, feasibility of topic, fine tuning the topic, funding etc. etc., basically everything). So any help guidance would be really helpful.
Apologies if the post sounds a bit confusing and lost but that is pretty much my state of mind.
Hopefully you guys would help me see some light ,)

Hi Z3phyr

Have a look at the University of Southampton's Webscience Doctoral Training Centre. They may be interested in your area of research. This is a fast growing area. Keep an eye on FindAPhD for new opportunities to study a PhD in social media.

For more general guidance on PhD's visit the FindAPhD PhD Study section.

Thanks Andy. Will keep that in mind