PhD Candidate: J. Wan

This research project investigates the influence of a media environment increasingly dominated by digital platforms and algorithmic feedback loops, focusing on the (over-time) dynamics between users, political information, and algorithmic recommendations. It consists of the following three studies:
1) The first study looks into the mechanism of influence of recommender systems’ usage in daily life on political efficacy though users’ perception regarding political information;
2) Combining digital trace data and self-reported measures, our second study focuses on examining how people with different levels of political efficacy levels click on political information over time in an algorithimically curated feed;
3) In the last project, we explore how users perceive and exert control over algorithmic recommender systems on digital platforms they use frequently in daily life.