Networks for good

how communities use digital platforms to shape opinions, politics and governance

This work focuses on understanding patterns of communication, influence, and mobilization of communities through digital platforms in the pursuit of social change. Coordination of social communities involves networks of information and beliefs, as well as monetary resources and other critical aspects of governance. Digital communication has fundamentally shifted the coverage and evolution of opinions, politics and governance.

Featured publications

Residential and experienced social segregation: the roles of different transport modes, metro extensions, and longitudinal changes in Hong Kong

Becky P. Y. Loo, Zhuangyuan Fan, Esteban Moro
Nature Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
October 29, 2024

Prevalence and correlates of irritability among U.S. adults

Roy H. Perlis, Ata Uslu, Jonathan Schulman, Aliayah Himelfarb, Faith M. Gunning, Nili Solomonov, Mauricio Santillana, Matthew A. Baum, James N. Druckman, Katherine Ognyanova, David Lazer
Neuropsychopharmacology
August 24, 2024

Post-January 6th deplatforming reduced the reach of misinformation on Twitter

Stefan D. McCabe, Diogo Ferrari, Jon Green, David M. J. Lazer, Kevin M. Esterling
Nature
June 5, 2024

Recent publications

Residential and experienced social segregation: the roles of different transport modes, metro extensions, and longitudinal changes in Hong Kong

Becky P. Y. Loo, Zhuangyuan Fan, Esteban Moro
Nature Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
October 29, 2024

Youth activism and (de)personalized remix on TikTok

Adina Gitomer, Julia Atienza-Barthelemy, and Brooke Foucault Welles
Social Movement Studies
October 22, 2024

The great equalizer? Mixed effects of social infrastructure on diverse encounters in cities

Timothy Fraser, Takahiro Yabe, Daniel P. Aldrich d, Esteban Moro
Computers, Environment and Urban Systems
October 1, 2024

Characteristics and Prevalence of Fake Social Media Profiles with AI-generated Faces

Kai-Cheng Yang, Danishjeet Singh, and Filippo Menczer
Journal of Online Trust & Safety
September 18, 2024

Report #106 Opioid Addiction in Our Social Networks

David Lazer, Kentaro Nakamura, Roy Perlis, Matthew Baum, Katherine Ognyanova, James Druckman, Mauricio Santillana, Ata Uslu, Hong Qu, Sarah Bernt
CHIP 50
September 10, 2024
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Featured news coverage

Featured project

In our project “hashtag activism”, we analyze communities such as #BlackLivesMatter, #GirlsLikeUs, and #Ferguson to understand how Twitter has enabled the injection of counter narratives in political discourse. This work explores how social media facilitates and constrains which voices are included in (re)shaping the public sphere, and by proxy, our democracy. The findings have shed light on the role of technology in creating new spaces for voices that have traditionally been excluded in public debate, and the effects of those influences on community services and the justice system.

Major funders

NSF, ARO, Knight Foundation