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Social Media
Addressing the ‘catch-22’ academics face on social media
Addressing the ‘catch-22’ academics face on social media
The Annenberg School for Communication’s Center for Media at Risk and Center for Digital Culture and Society brought together scholars to analyze the interconnected benefits and risks that academics face using social media.
How information spread on Facebook during and after the 2020 election
How information spread on Facebook during and after the 2020 election
Annenberg School for Communications’ Sandra González-Bailón and colleagues analyzed the spread of over one billion Facebook posts to reveal how information flowed on the social network.
How the U.S. presidential campaigns are targeting digital ads by zip code
How the U.S. presidential campaigns are targeting digital ads by zip code
Andrew Arenge of the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies has created dashboards showing geotargeted issues and spending amounts looking at the Harris and Trump campaigns.
How synthetic nicotine brands market e-cigarettes to young people on social media
How synthetic nicotine brands market e-cigarettes to young people on social media
A study finds that most ads for e-cigarettes on Instagram, a platform dominated by users under the age of 25, do not adhere to FDA health warning requirements.
Race, gender, and the appeal to youth in the Harris campaign
Race, gender, and the appeal to youth in the Harris campaign
Annenberg’s Sarah J. Jackson talks about how the Harris campaign is communicating differently than the Biden, Clinton, and Obama campaigns.
Social media use is associated with more frequent vaccination
Social media use is associated with more frequent vaccination
Researchers from the Annenberg Public Policy Center found that more social media use actually correlates with more vaccination, but the reasons differ between Democrats and Republicans.
Depression in Black people goes unnoticed by AI models analyzing language in social media posts
Depression in Black people goes unnoticed by AI models analyzing language in social media posts
Penn analysis found that models developed to detect depression using language in Facebook posts did not work when applied to Black people.
‘Can Technology Spark Joy and Imagination?’
‘Can Technology Spark Joy and Imagination?’
In the 2024 Albert M. Greenfield Memorial lecture hosted by Penn Nursing, Desmond Upton Patton and Courtney D. Cogburn discussed how social media and AI might foster well-being.
Centuries of ‘TikTalk’
Centuries of ‘TikTalk’
The media popularity of the vocal trend called “TikTalk,” or a combination of uptalkand vocal fry, is actually nothing new, says linguist Mark Liberman.
FactCheck.org and the fight against misinformation
FactCheck.org and the fight against misinformation
Across two decades, the Annenberg Public Policy Center project expanded by adding scientific fact checking, translating content into Spanish, and addressing viral social media misinformation.
In the News
WHYY (Philadelphia)
Many Gen Zers deal with higher rates of mental health challenges and firearm suicides, according to a new report
PIK Professor Desmond Patton says that more young people are speaking openly about mental health, especially on social media. College of Arts and Sciences first-year Anvesha Guru says that cultural attitudes about guns and mental health need more than a simple shift.
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The New York Times
An epidemic of vicious school brawls, fueled by student cellphones
PIK Professor Desmond Upton Patton says that many schools don’t have a playbook for addressing student violence or helping pupils engage more positively online, in part because few researchers are studying the issue.
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Stat
Social media misinformation is scaring women about birth control
In an opinion essay, postdoc Emily Pfender of the Leonard Davis Institute and Perelman School of Medicine cautions that social media can set back women’s health by perpetuating fear and misinformation instead of empowering informed choices.
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ABC News
Can Harris ride memes all the way to the White House?
Pinar Yildirim of the Wharton School says that people who vote for the Democratic Party tend to skew younger, which makes them harder to reach through traditional media.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
After the Great Valley social media scandal, we must balance free speech with ‘digital citizenship’
Jonathan Zimmerman of the Graduate School of Education writes that school districts must listen to what students have to say in order to craft good policies around online student speech.
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Newsweek
There is one major element missing from the debate on kids and social media
In an opinion essay, PIK Professor Desmond Upton Patton says that gun violence needs to be part of the conversation about how smartphones and social media impact young people.
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