Martine van Driel

Dr Martine van Driel serves as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film, Queen Mary University of London, where she contributes to the ESRC-funded project 'Autistic Adults Online' (Principal Investigator: Dr Nelya Koteyko). This research investigates how autistic adults leverage social media platforms to establish and sustain interpersonal relationships through digital communication.

Her academic credentials include:

• PhD in Reader Responses to Online News Texts, University of Birmingham (2018)
• Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE), University of Birmingham (2020)

Dr van Driel's research bridges Media Studies and Linguistics, examining user-audience interactions with digital texts through discourse analysis. Her work explores linguistic structures in online news consumption, social media engagement patterns among neurodiverse populations, and evaluative language in digital environments. This interdisciplinary approach reveals how language shapes perception and interaction in virtual spaces.

Analysis of her publications indicates a consistent trajectory in digital media linguistics, with emphasis on appraisal frameworks for news evaluation and comparative studies of Twitter's role in live blogging versus traditional media.

Her professional recognition includes:

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), 2020

Dr van Driel has participated in significant funded research initiatives, including a GCHQ-supported project at the University of Birmingham (2018-2020) analyzing conversation structures in digital chat environments. Her current ESRC-funded work extends this expertise into autism-focused social media research, demonstrating sustained commitment to understanding communication dynamics in digital contexts.