Networks for good
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
Recent publications
The role of transport systems in housing insecurity: a mobility-based analysis
Featured news coverage
Just What We Need: An Algorithm to Help Politicians Pander
Wired, October 2015
Science and sexism: In the eye of the Twitterstorm
Nature News feature, November 2015
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.
Associated faculty
Major funders
