Wharton School | Penn Today

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How social media firms moderate their content

Wharton marketing professors Pinar Yildirim and Z. John Zhang, and Wharton doctoral candidate Yi Liu show how a social media firm’s content moderation strategy is influenced mostly by its revenue model.

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Why are alcohol- and drug-related deaths rising in the U.S. and not elsewhere?

With insights from anthropology and neuroscience, Penn researchers Michael Platt and Peter Sterling find that, in comparison, 16 other wealthy nations offer communal assistance at every life stage, support that protects individuals and families long term.

Hard barriers and soft power: Study assesses outsider perceptions of border walls

Two researchers explore how border walls damage a country’s international image, with real soft power implications.

Q&A

A beginner’s guide to cryptocurrency

What is cryptocurrency? Sarah Hammer from The Wharton School breaks down the basics of the digital currency.

Researchers Sara Cherry, Susan Davidson, Douglas Durian, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Katalin Kariko, I. Joseph Kroll, Mingyao Li, Hongjun Song, Duncan Watts, and E. John Wherry

Ten from Penn elected 2021 AAAS Fellows

Ten scholars representing five schools across the University of Pennsylvania have been named to the 2021 class of American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows, recognized for their “scientifically and socially distinguished achievements.”

Wordle interface with three five-letter words listed

Q&A

In Wordle, a case for ‘pure’ play

In a Q&A with Penn Today, Cait Lamberton of the Wharton School discusses some possible reasons for Wordle’s popularity.

Two human figures communicating via different colors, shapes, and dialog boxes.

Want to reduce political polarization? Start by looking beyond politics

New research from PIK University Professor Duncan Watts sheds light on how even hardliners can be swayed when coming in contact with opposing viewpoints.

Cover of the book "Creating conspiracy beliefs: How our thoughts are shaped" by Dolores Albarracín, Julia Albarracín, Man-pui Sally Chan, and Kathleen Hall Jamieson

A novel theory on how conspiracy theories take shape

In a new book, Dolores Albarracín, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, and colleagues show that two factors—the conservative media and societal fear and anxiety—have driven recent widespread conspiracies, from Pizzagate to those around COVID-19 vaccines.

picture of building of Steinberg-Dietrich building

Gratitude is the attitude at Wharton

Gratitude@Wharton is a student-created platform to express thanks and appreciation toward one another in order to create a more caring culture at the Wharton School.

Protesters and riot police stand on a street in Almaty, Kazakhstan, as smoke rises in the background

Q&A

Kazakhstan unrest, explained

Philip M. Nichols of the Wharton School and the Russia and East European Studies program in the School of Arts & Sciences offers some background on the protests and violence and why what happens in Kazakhstan matters to the region and the world.

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