Goals

We interact with digital media every day in our daily lives. We scroll through social media, watch videos, read news, search for information, and use AI tools. Our team studies how these digital media experiences shape the way people find information, decide what to trust, form opinions, and participate in public life. Students in this team will explore the "How" and "Why" of media use. To start with, we may ask how social media platforms and AI influence what people see and believe. How do algorithm-driven content and influencers affect people's understanding of politics? Through hands-on research projects, students will learn methods such as surveys, interviews, content analysis, and social media data analysis to answer meaningful research questions. Our goal is to better understand the role of emerging media technologies in society and to support healthier, more informed digital communication environments.

Issues Involved or Addressed

Key areas of interest include: 

• Social media and everyday information use
• AI tools and AI-powered information systems 
• News use, news trust, and misinformation 
• TikTok, short-form video, influencers, and platform culture 
• Political attitudes, public opinion, and civic participation 
• Media effects on knowledge, beliefs, trust, and behavior 
• Digital journalism and emerging media technologies 
• Survey research, interviews, content analysis, and social media data analysis

Methods and Tech

Methods may include: 

• Survey design, data collection, and statistical analysis 
• Interviews and qualitative data analysis 
• Content analysis of news and social media posts
• Social media data collection and analysis 
• Experiments to test how different types of media content affect people’s attitudes, knowledge, or behavior 
• Text analysis and computational methods for studying large amounts of digital content 
• Basic use of tools such as Qualtrics, Excel/Google Sheets, SPSS, R, Python, and social media analytics platforms  

Students do not need to have advanced technical skills before joining the team. They will have opportunities to learn research methods and contribute to projects based on their interests and experience.

Academic Majors of Interest

This team welcomes students from all majors. 

Students with backgrounds or interests in the fields below, or related fields, may find the team more relevant. 

• Communication
• Data Science
• Computer or Information Science
• Journalism
• Marketing
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Public Relations
• Sociology
• Statistics

Preferred Interests and Preparation

Skills/Attributes: 

• Interest in social media, AI, news, politics, or digital culture 
• Curiosity about how people use and respond to media 
• Willingness to learn research methods 
• Basic comfort with reading, writing, and organizing information 
• Interest in working with data, such as survey responses, interviews, or social media content 
• Attention to detail 
• Clear communication and teamwork 
• Reliability and willingness to meet project deadlines 
• Experience with Excel/Google Sheets, Qualtrics, SPSS, R, Python, or social media analytics tools is helpful but not required

Application Process

To express interest in this team, please complete the VIP Interest Form and select "Media, AI, and Public Life (MAPL)."

This team:

• Accepts students at the start of each semester
• Accepts fully online students
• Recruits students for both credit and and pay options (as available, including federal work-study) for VIP participation