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  1. Research
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  3. Digital Culture

Digital Culture

Social media. Memes. Email. YouTube. Dating apps. Influencers. Where are people spending their time online? How are they creating culture in online spaces? How does what happens online impact what happens IRL? Researchers at Annenberg aim to understand and analyze the culture(s) of the internet and the ways it is intertwined with our lives.

Photo Credit: Rodion Kutsaev / Unsplash

Digital Culture

News

All Digital Culture News
Annenberg Answers: Public Media
News

Annenberg Answers: Understanding AI Actress Tilly Norwood’s Arrival

Tilly Norwood, the “AI actress” recently making headlines, has sparked debate in the media industry about the future of AI in filmmaking.

A screenshot of a Replika avatar chatroom. A male avatar stands in an animated world.A text bubble reads, "Hi Tina! Thanks for creating me. I'm so excited to meet you."
Research

What is Real About Human-AI Relationships?

Cover of "Media Travels: Toward an Atlas of Global Media" and photo of Juan Llamas-Rodriguez
Research

Creating an Atlas of Global Media

Walnut Street entrance of the Annenberg School for Communication at Penn
News

The Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication Welcomes Three Visiting Scholars for Fall 2025

Desmond Annenberg Answers
Research

School Cellphone Bans: Annenberg Expert Reframes the Issue

Faculty

CAROLYN BILTOFT
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Carolyn Biltoft, Ph.D.

Visiting Faculty Fellow, Center on Digital Culture and Society
Headshot
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Sandra González-Bailón, Ph.D.

Carolyn Marvin Professor of Communication and Sociology (Secondary Appointment)
Emily Hund

Emily Hund, Ph.D.

Research Affiliate, Center on Digital Culture and Society
Zehra Husain
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Zehra Husain, Ph.D.

Research Affiliate, Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication
Sarah J. Jackson
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Sarah J. Jackson, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Ennuri Jo
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Ennuri Jo, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication
Aviv Landau Headshot
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Aviv Landau, Ph.D., M.S.W.

Co-Director, SAFELab
Jessa Lingel
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Jessa Lingel, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Communication
Juan Llamas-Rodriguez
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Juan Llamas-Rodriguez, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Communication
Sophie Maddocks
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Sophie Maddocks, Ph.D.

Research & Outreach Director, Center for Media at Risk
Lucy March
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Lucy March, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow, Center on Digital Culture and Society
Siva Mathiyazhagan
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Siva Mathiyazhagan, Ph.D., M.S.W.

Co-Director, SAFELab
Danaë Metaxa Headshot
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Danaé Metaxa, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Computer and Information Science, School of Engineering and Applied Science
Matthew Parker
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Matt Parker, Ph.D.

Gilbert Seldes Multimodal Postdoctoral Fellow
Desmond Patton Headshot
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Desmond Upton Patton, M.S.W., Ph.D.

Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) University Professor and Waldo E. Johnson, Jr. Professor of Communication
Jeff Pooley
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Jeff Pooley, Ph.D.

Research Associate & Lecturer
Aswin punathambekar Headshot
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Aswin Punathambekar, Ph.D.

Professor of Communication
Donovan Schaefer
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Donovan Schaefer, Ph.D.

Secondary Faculty, Annenberg School for Communication
Hendrik Theine Headshot
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Hendrik Theine, Ph.D.

Visiting Scholar, Media, Inequality & Change Center (MIC)
Julia Ticona
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Julia Ticona, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Communication
Guobin Yang
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Guobin Yang, Ph.D.

Grace Lee Boggs Professor of Communication and Sociology

Graduate Students

David S. Cordero
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David S. Cordero

Doctoral Candidate
Cienna Davis
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Cienna Davis

Doctoral Student
Timothy Dorr Headshot
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Timothy Dennys Steven Dorr

Doctoral Candidate
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Visit Emilie Grybos's profile

Emilie Grybos

Doctoral Candidate
Tejas Harad 360
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Tejas Harad

Doctoral Student
Nidah Mohammed
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Nidah Mohammed

Doctoral Student
Thomonique Moore
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Thomonique Moore

Doctoral Student
Christine Phan
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Christine Phan

Doctoral Student
Yingchuan Qu
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Yingchuan Qu

Doctoral Candidate
Sara Reinis
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Sara Reinis

Doctoral Student
Lucila Rozas
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Lucila Rozas

Doctoral Candidate
Shane Sheehy
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Shane Sheehy

Doctoral Candidate
Taylor Smith Headshot
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Taylor L. Smith

Doctoral Student
Mariela Morales Suárez
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Mariela Morales Suárez, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow
Alex Tolkin
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Alex Tolkin, Ph.D.

Upcoming Graduate
Azsaneé Truss
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Azsaneé Truss, Ph.D.

Upcoming Graduate
Ran Wang
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Ran Wang

Doctoral Student
Natasha Williams Headshot
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Natasha Williams

Joint Doctoral Student in Communication and Political Science