Francesca Sobande is a writer and reader in digital media studies at the School of Journalism, Media and Culture (Cardiff University). She is the author of Big Brands Are Watching You: Marketing Social Justice and Digital Culture (2024, University of California Press), Consuming Crisis: Commodifying Care and COVID-19 (2022, SAGE), and The Digital Lives of Black Women in Britain (2020, Palgrave Macmillan). Francesca’s most recent works are her free and self-published zine, Black Life in/and “Alt” Music Subcultures (2025), and Look, Don’t Touch: Reflections on the Freedom to Feel (2025, 404 Ink) which was co-authored with layla-roxanne hill. Francesca’s bylines include Disegno, Paste Magazine, Real Review, Shuddhashar FreeVoice, and The Vinyl Factory.