Social Networks and Online Communities

Understanding the risks, impacts, motivators, and benefits of online information sharing.

Research Projects

CAREER: Advancing Remote Collaboration: Inclusive Design for People with Dementia
Principal Investigator(s): Amanda Lazar
Funder: National Science Foundation
Research Areas: Health Informatics > Human-Computer Interaction > Social Networks and Online Communities
Technology increasingly provides opportunities to interact remotely with others. People with cognitive impairment can be excluded from these opportunities when technology is not designed with their needs, preferences, and abilities in mind.
The Role of Emotions in Sociopolitical Polish and Lithuanian Social Media
Principal Investigator(s): Susannah Paletz
Funder: US Office of Naval Research
Research Areas: Social Networks and Online Communities
This project, run through ARLIS, investigates how emotion impacts information propagation and sharing in Polish and Lithuanian social media. Teams of in-country annotators independently assess each post, including all multimedia content, for over 22 distinct emotions inclusively on 0 to 100 scales--meaning that the same post will have different scores for different emotions. We will conduct multi-level statistical analyses of the impact of emotions, specific topics, and account and message features on social media sharing and engagement.

Recent News

Screenshot of Jen Golbeck on MSNBC's 11th Hour program

NBC’s 11th Hour: Surgeon General Warns About Teens on Social Media (ft. Jen Golbeck)

Professor Jen Golbeck joins a panel of guests on the 11th Hour to address social media’s influence on young people's mental health.
Baby Grogu on the Disney+ TV show, The Mandalorian

Baby Grogu on the Disney+ TV show, The Mandalorian

ARLIS Researchers Find a Way to Measure the “Cute” Factor on Social Media Content (ft. Susannah Paletz)

Social media measurements are key to Susannah Paletz's project funded by the Minerva Research Initiative and the Office of Naval Resear …