David Gauntlett (born 15 March 1971) is a British sociologist and media theorist, and the author of several books including Making is Connecting.
[13] In the 2008 book, Reading Media Theory, Barlow & Mills state: "David Gauntlett is a prominent, public academic, who has spent his career engaging in research activities which have deliberately involved the public, and have crossed the traditional divide between the academic community and the outside world.
[17] As well as studies in which participants have been invited to make video, diaries, collage, and drawings, Gauntlett has explored the use of Lego Serious Play as a tool in sociology and social research.
[23] In other areas there has been less acceptance: Andy Medhurst at Sussex University wrote of Media Studies 2.0, 'Isn't it odd that whenever someone purportedly identifies a new paradigm, they see themselves as already a leading practitioner of it?'
These ideas are developed further in his best-known book 'Making is Connecting: The social meaning of creativity, from DIY and knitting to YouTube and Web 2.0'.