(Social) Media and Communication
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Social media and young people
Dr Amber van der Wal is an assistant professor in ‘The Human Factor in New Technologies’ at the Department of Communication Science. Her research explores the role of digital technology in the lives of children and adolescents, examining both its risks and opportunities. Her aim is to identify strategies to mitigate potential harms while fostering the positive aspects of digital media use. In addition to other projects, she is a member of Project AWeSome, where she studies the relationship between adolescents' social media use and their well-being. | A.vanderWal@uva.nl
Prof. Jessica Piotrowski is professor of Communication in the Digital Society. She is the Director of the Centre for research on Children, Adolescents, and the Media (CcaM). Her research asks how individual and socio-cultural differences influence children’s media selection and use, with a particular focus on the contexts that support young people’s experiences with digital media. She is currently looking at how young people (and their network of peers, teachers, parents, etc.) are learning to cope with our new digital society. | J.Piotrowski@uva.nl
Dr Ine Beyens is an assistant professor at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research. Her research focuses on the effects of media on the emotional, psychological, and social development of children and adolescents. She is currently investigating the effects of social media use on adolescents’ well-being. | I.Beyens@uva.nl
Dr Wouter van den Bos is a developmental psychologist and director of the ConnectedMinds Lab. He conducts research into social (media) networks and social influence among adolescents and young adults. He looks at who is influential and which elements contribute to the influence of messages, in order to better understand how social media can have an impact on the ideas and moods of young people. | W.vandenBos@uva.nl
Communication, organisations and society
Dr Sarah Marschlich is an assistant professor in Communication, Organisations and Society. In her research and teaching, she focuses on the role of strategic communications and public relations in building organisational reputation and legitimacy. She is particularly interested in the challenges of organisations’ communication in the social media and news media environments and in the social and political role of organisations, including corporate social responsibility (CSR), public diplomacy, and lobbying. | S.Marschlich@uva.nl | 06 2831 9097
Digital platforms
Prof. Thomas Poell is professor of Data, Culture & Institutions. In his research, he focuses on the social consequences of the emergence of digital platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Spotify, Airbnb and Uber. He has published extensively on the role of social media in contemporary political and social conflicts in Canada, Egypt, Tunisia, India and China. In recent years, he has been researching the development of the platform society. | T.Poell@uva.nl | 020 525 2915
Health communication
Prof. Bas van den Putte is professor of Health Communication. His research focuses on evaluating and increasing the effectiveness of online and offline (interpersonal) communication aimed at promoting a healthy lifestyle among different target groups (for example adolescents, young people and adults). | S.J.H.M.vandenPutte@uva.nl | 020 525 2205 |06 2700 8981
Journalism and new media
Prof. Mark Deuze is professor of Media Studies. He conducts research into the position of journalists in the labour market; the impact and influence of new media on everyday life; digital culture; and the creative industries. | M.J.P.Deuze@uva.nl | 020 525 7424
Journalism and media effects
Dr Mark Boukes is associate professor of Corporate Communication at the Department of Communication Science. He has expertise in areas such as journalism, media effects and infotainment. For example, he looks at the role that the media play in society and politics, the influence of media and journalism on public opinion, and the content and effects of economic news. In addition, Boukes pays particular attention to the influence and production of political satire and to the functioning of journalism, including the processes involved in making news. | M.Boukes@uva.nl | 06 1178 9948
Media and AI
Prof. Natali Helberger is university professor in the chair of Law and Digital Technology, with a special emphasis on Artificial Intelligence. Her research interests include media and data analytics, the legal implications of AI and automated decision-making, social media platforms, privacy and digital (user) rights, public values and media pluralism. | N.Helberger@uva.nl
Media and big tech
Alexandra Schwinges is an assistant professor in the Corporate Communication programme group. In her research, she examines to what extent news media hold big tech companies responsible for their increasing influence in society. She examines media coverage of big tech, focusing in particular on the role of journalism as a watchdog and on the power relations between journalists and public affairs managers working for big tech companies. In addition, Schwinges studies the Digital Services and Markets Acts as a case study to map the influence of news media and public affairs on public policy-making. | A.Schwinges@uva.nl
Media and politics
Prof. Claes de Vreese is university professor of Artificial Intelligence and Society, with a particular focus on media and democracy. He is interested in the role of automation, algorithms and artificial intelligence on democratic processes. He examines topics such as: microtargeting, news recommendations, social media platforms, disinformation, comparative journalistic research, and the effects of news, public opinion and European integration. | C.H.deVreese@uva.nl | 020 525 2426
Media Psychology
Dr Monique Timmers is interested in the emotional origins and appeal of media and entertainment. As an emotion psychologist, she focuses on psychological media issues, for example in the field of mediated interaction and relationships: parasocial interaction and relationship formation with media characters. Central to her work is always the effect of media entertainment: why it is pleasant to spend so much time on entertainment; what does it yield? | M.Timmers@uva.nl
Microtargeting and disinformation
Dr Tom Dobber is assistant professor of Political Communication and Journalism. He conducts research into AI, politics and journalism, in particular political microtargeting and (AI-generated) disinformation. Dobber looks at how AI is used in society, what effects it has on (social) media and politics, and how we can counter negative effects and promote positive ones. | T.Dobber@uva.nl
News and politics
Dr Damian Trilling is an associate professor at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research. He conducts research into how people come into contact with news and politics. His main focus is on the role of social media, news recommendation systems, algorithms and whether or not filter bubbles exist. | D.C.Trilling@uva.nl | 06 27 82 79 04
(Social) Media and sexuality
Dr Annemarie van Oosten is a communication scientist. She conducts research into media, especially social media, in relation to the sexuality of adolescents and young adults. | J.M.F.vanOosten@uva.nl | 06 2557 1785