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Digital technologies and social algorithms are revolutionizing the media landscape, altering how we select and consume health information. Extending the selectivity paradigm with research on social media engagement, the convergence…
Researchers use information about the amount of time people spend on digital media for numerous purposes. While social media platforms commonly do not allow external access to measure the use time directly, a usual alternative method is to…
Social media algorithms are thought to amplify variation in user beliefs, thus contributing to radicalization. However, quantitative evidence on how algorithms and user preferences jointly shape harmful online engagement is limited. I…
TikTok has emerged as a major source of information and social interaction for youth, raising urgent questions about how substance use discourse manifests and circulates on the platform. This paper presents the first comprehensive analysis…
Short-format videos have exploded on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Despite this, the research community lacks large-scale empirical studies into how people engage with short-format videos and the role of recommendation…
The advent of social media transformed interpersonal communication and information consumption processes. This digital landscape accommodates user intentions, also resulting in an increase of offensive language and harmful behavior.…
Social media platforms provide valuable opportunities for users to gather information, interact with friends, and enjoy entertainment. However, their addictive potential poses significant challenges, including overuse and negative…
Modern social media platforms, such as TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube, rely on recommendation systems to personalize content for users based on user interactions with endless streams of content, such as "For You" pages. However, these…
TikTok is a popular new social media, where users express themselves through short video clips. A common form of interaction on the platform is participating in "challenges", which are songs and dances for users to iterate upon. Challenge…
Recommender systems on social media increasingly mediate how users encounter mental health content, yet it remains unclear whether they distinguish help-seeking from distress expression. We conduct a controlled 7-day audit of TikTok's "For…
Social media platforms actively moderate content glorifying harmful behaviors like eating disorders, which include anorexia and bulimia. However, users have adapted to evade moderation by using coded hashtags. Our study investigates the…
When pieces from an individual's personal information available online are connected over time and across multiple platforms, this more complete digital trace can give unintended insights into their life and opinions. In a data narrative…
TikTok has been criticized for its low privacy standards, but little is known about how its adolescent users protect their privacy. Based on interviews with 54 adolescents in Switzerland, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of…
Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered recommender systems play a crucial role in determining the content that users are exposed to on social media platforms. However, the behavioural patterns of these systems are often opaque, complicating…
This study presents a pioneering investigation into the wide array of coping mechanisms employed by individuals in the year 2023, with a focus on data collected through the popular social media platform TikTok. Coping mechanisms are…
Detecting coordinated inauthentic behavior (CIB) is central to the study of online influence operations. However, most methods focus on text-centric platforms, leaving video-first ecosystems like TikTok largely unexplored. To address this…
TikTok, a popular short video sharing application, emerged as the dominant social media platform for young people, with a pronounced influence on how young women and people of color interact online. The application has become a global space…
With the advancement of information technology, more people, especially young adults, are getting addicted to the use of different social media platforms. Despite immense useful applications in communication and interactions, the habit of…
Opioid and substance misuse is rampant in the United States today, with the phenomenon known as the "opioid crisis". The relationship between substance use and mental health has been extensively studied, with one possible relationship…
Accurately analyzing and modeling online browsing behavior play a key role in understanding users and technology interactions. In this work, we design and conduct a user study to collect browsing data from 31 participants continuously for…