Research

My research focuses on social media and the role that gender plays in shaping our experiences online. At the moment, I am interested in online sex work and the communities that adult content creators form on social media.

Previously, I studied how women and girls discuss sexual violence on blogs and social networks, and how other people respond to such stories.For my Master’s thesis, I investigated how a politician’s gender impacts the way listeners respond to their speeches when they use aggressive statements, such as character and competence attacks.

Adult content creators and social media communities

For my PhD project, I work with women who create and sell adult material (like porn and fetish content). The main goal of the project is to understand how social media support and limit them in forming online communities, and how social media would need to change to become a more productive and safer environment for them.

Twitter use by women’s rights organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic

I am currently working on research that analyzes the Twitter communications by five women’s rights NGOs during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this project, I pay attention to the gender concerns that these organizations raise (like increased domestic violence during lock-down and limited access to prenatal care) and to how they engage with Twitter’s design and features. The project is funded by Mitacs and Western University.

Research publications:

Women-focused nonprofit organizations and their use of Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic: Characterizing a gendered pandemic through information, community, and action (peer-reviewed)

Digital feminism

This project by the SocioDigital Media Lab at Western University studies different aspects of the #MeToo movement on social media.

Research publications:

Vernacular Practices in Digital Feminist Activism on Twitter: Deconstructing Affect and Emotion in the #MeToo Movement (peer-reviewed, open access)

Mapping #MeToo: A Synthesis Review of Digital Feminist Research Across Social Media Platforms (peer-reviewed)

Digital Feminist Activism: Girls and Women Fight Back against Rape Culture (by Kaitlynn Mendes, Jessica Ringrose, and Jessalynn Keller) (book review)

Gender Hate Online: Understanding the New Anti-feminism (edited by Debbie Ging and Eugenia Siapera) (book review)

Gender and verbal aggression in political speeches

My M.A. thesis study explored the role of gendered stereotypes in shaping people’s reactions to verbal attacks in political speeches. I also investigated partisanship and how it affects the ability of politicians to persuade their listeners.

Research publications:

Effects of Verbal Aggression and Party Identification Bias on Perceptions of Political Speakers (peer-reviewed)

Effects of Gender and Verbal Aggression on Perceptions of U.S. Political Speakers (peer-reviewed)