Brian D. Loader (born 1958) is a British scholar and Associate Director of the Science and Technology Studies Research Unit (SATSU) and political sociologist at the University of York, UK. Brian joined the Department of Sociology at York in January 2006. His areas of research are new media and participatory cultures, young citizens and political engagement, and community informatics. His overarching interest is in new media communications technologies, and the social, political and economic factors shaping their development and diffusion, and their implications for social, economic, political and cultural change. Brian is the founding Editor of the international journal Information, Communication and Society and has published widely in this area.