Research
My research asks how digital media environments shape — and are shaped by — the people who use them. Three questions run through it: who governs platforms, how information moves, and how media use differs across societies. I answer them with computational methods and large-scale behavioral data.
Who writes the rules of social media?
I trace how platforms' community guidelines, privacy policies, and stated values evolve over time — and how generative AI is reshuffling the deck. Using longitudinal analyses of policy documents across major platforms, I show governance as an ongoing negotiation rather than a fixed set of rules.
Representative work: Su & Chan (2025), Information, Communication & Society; Chan, Su & Shore (2023), New Media & Society; Ingber & Su (2025), Policy & Internet.
How do movements organize online?
I study how networked technologies shape collective action — from messaging apps in protest movements to the data politics of activism — comparing how mobilization works across political contexts.
Representative work: Su, Chan & Paik (2022), Chinese Journal of Communication; Su & Liu (2025), Nations & Nationalism.
Does the internet look the same everywhere?
Comparing Europe, the United States, and China, I examine how digitalization unfolds differently across societies — in app ecosystems, communication patterns, and the digital divide.
Representative work: Su, Liu & Zhou (2020), International Journal of Communication; Su, Zhou & Liu (2021), New Media & Society; Su (2019), International Journal of Communication; Chen, Su & Chen (2019), Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media.
What does media do to public opinion?
I investigate how news environments, selective exposure, and framing shape what people believe and how divided they become — including award-winning work on network agenda setting.
Representative work: Chen, Guo & Su (2020), Journal of Communication (2021 Michael Pfau Outstanding Article Award), Guo, Su & Chen (2025), The International Journal of Press/Politics.
Why do people believe misinformation?
I study who is susceptible to science and health misinformation, how it spreads, and what can be done about it — from inoculation strategies to how underrepresented communities engage with and combat false claims.
Representative work: Amazeen, Krishna & Su (2026), Science Communication (2025 AEJMC Best Faculty Paper); Amazeen et al. (2024), "Missing Voices," Science Communication; Krishna et al. (2024), Health Communication.
How should we study all of this?
I build open computational tools for media research — for framing analysis, tracking platform policy change, and labeling large-scale content — because better methods make better science.
Tools: OpenFraming, Platform Policy Watch, LabelGenius.
Current directions
Platform governance and AI privacy; generative AI literacy; learning information with generative AI; global election discourse.