Research
Recent Publications
Announcing the Bulletin of Technology & Public Life
Today, we’re excited to launch the Bulletin of Technology and Public Life! Built on PubPub’s open-source platform, the Bulletin is an online library of research on mis- and disinformation, platforms, networks, infrastructure, and political processes. We hope that the Bulletin … Continued
Francesca Tripodi on anti-immigration YouTube networks
Define American recently released a new report, “’Immigration Will Destroy Us’ and Other Talking Points.” It describes how popular anti-immigration YouTube videos frame the issue and their influence on offline conversations and perceptions. One section, co-authored by Francesca Tripodi, Shauna … Continued
How mis- and disinformation spread in Asian diasporas
The bulk of research on mis- and disinformation studies English-language cases and communities—but we know that identity plays an important role in how we consume, interpret, and share information. In a piece for the HKS Misinformation Review, Sarah Nguyen, Rachel … Continued
How QAnon constructs alternate facts
How does QAnon build and elaborate on its core theory? Alice Marwick and William Partin released a preprint of “Constructing Alternative Facts: Populist Expertise and the QAnon Conspiracy,” exploring QAnon as a participatory culture and digging into how Anons build … Continued
Our approach
At CITAP, we recognize that effective analysis of technology platforms and information systems requires
- A holistic approach grounded in history, society, culture, and politics
- Analyzing how social differences—including race and ethnicity, gender, class, and sexual identity—shapes unequal information ecosystem dynamics
- Prioritizing questions of power, institutions, and economic, social, cultural, and technological structures
- Making clear foundational commitments to equality and justice
Research topics
Political processes
Technological tools increasingly interact with our political systems and changes how society thinks about politics. Our work addresses political mechanisms like elections, digital advertising, and communication to better understand these shifts and what they mean for the political landscape.
Featured work
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Black Trolls Matter: Racial and Ideological Asymmetries in Social Media Disinformation
by Deen Freelon, Michael Bossetta, Chris Wells, Josephine Lukito, Yiping Xia, and Kirsten Adams in Social Science Computer Review |
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Analyzing online political discussion using three models of democratic communication
by Deen Freelon in New Media & Society |
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Political identity ownership: Symbolic contests to represent members of the public
by Daniel Kreiss, Shannon McGregor, and Regina Lawrence in Social Media + Society |
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CITAP Digital Politics resources |
Democracy & equality
The rise of digital communication simultaneously poses threats and offers promise to democracies worldwide. We explore the ways in which democratic practices and equality evolve alongside rapid societal and technological change.
Featured work
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Racial justice activist hashtags: Counterpublics and discourse circulation
by Rachel Kuo in New Media & Society |
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Talking Politics on Twitter: Gender, Elections, and Social Networks
by Shannon McGregor and Rachel R Mourão in Social Media + Society |
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Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest
by Zeynep Tufekci |
Mis- & disinformation
False and low-quality information sources generate revenue and power for their creators while undermining public trust. CITAP research seeks to understand how mis- and disinformation campaigns are created and spread and how they can be counteracted.
Featured work
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Identity propaganda: Racial narratives and disinformation
by Madhavi Reddi, Rachel Kuo, and Daniel Kreiss in New Media & Society |
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Why Do People Share Fake News? A Sociotechnical Model of Media Effects
by Alice Marwick in Georgetown Law Technology Review |
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Media Manipulation and Disinformation Online
by Becca Lewis and Alice Marwick published by Data & Society |
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Critical Disinformation Studies: A Syllabus
by Alice Marwick, Rachel Kuo, Shanice Cameron, & Moira Weigel |
Platforms, networks, & infrastructure
The design and operation of communication technologies influence power dynamics and shape our society. CITAP explores these dynamics through studies of various platforms as infrastructure.
Featured work
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Ms. Categorized: Gender, notability, and inequality on Wikipedia
by Francesca Tripodi in New Media & Society |
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Where Platform Capitalism and Racial Capitalism Meet: The Sociology of Race and Racism in the Digital Society
by Tressie McMillan Cottom in Sociology of Race and Ethnicity |
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Searching for Alternative Facts: Analyzing Scriptural Inference in Conservative News Practices
by Francesca Tripodi published by Data & Society |