I am broadly interested in research projects that study how online spaces can be made healthier for civic society and how on and offline interventions can reduce harmful polarization in the US.
In my dissertation work I showed how the diffusion of divisive information can be amplified by the structure of online social networks and studied the motivations behind sharing divisive news. As the research manager at CAT Lab, I studied how interventions - including welcome messages and a tool to express gratitude - could encourage new editors to be ongoing contributors. I'm a believer in the power of experimental design and, more so, field experiments and replication to inform which of the many well-intentioned interventions we think up of are indeed effective in influencing behavior for the good.
In my dissertation work I showed how the diffusion of divisive information can be amplified by the structure of online social networks and studied the motivations behind sharing divisive news. As the research manager at CAT Lab, I studied how interventions - including welcome messages and a tool to express gratitude - could encourage new editors to be ongoing contributors. I'm a believer in the power of experimental design and, more so, field experiments and replication to inform which of the many well-intentioned interventions we think up of are indeed effective in influencing behavior for the good.
