This area of my research examines how individual differences of online users (e.g., psychological traits, demographics) and features of virtual environments (e.g., word count of posts, anonymity of users) influence  behavior on social media.

 

In one line of work, I investigate drug transactions on social media, using conjoint analysis to identify features of posts (e.g., visual display of drugs, use of emojis) that signal safety to potential buyers. In parallel research on misinformation propagation, I use artificial newsfeed experiments to examine predictors of different  social media behaviors (e.g., liking, sharing). 

 

An aim of my work is to inform the design of online platforms that account for the complex interplay of individual characteristics and virtual environments .