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I am a PhD candidate in the Communication Department at Cornell University. I have a MA from Cornell in Communication and a MA in Social Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. I will defend my dissertation in May 2010. I am a member of Cornell’s Computer-Mediated Communication Lab and Human-Computer Interaction lab.
My research explores the effects of social media on the individual. When people use social media (e.g. Facebook, blogs, email) their behaviors are shaped in part by the media’s design and its normative use. In turn, media use can affect mental and physical health, including perceptions of identity, self-esteem, and social connectedness.
I have developed two related programs of research that are designed to explore how perceptions of others in social media influence the self. The first line of research involves developing and testing a theoretical model to illustrate the role of a mediated audience in shaping attitudes about the self. The second line involves the development of novel methods for measuring perceptions of social connectedness. I am ultimately interested in understanding the mental and physical health consequences of social media use (e.g. Do people experience more or less social support after being on Facebook?).
I like hip-hop, trip-hop and puppies. I like Mad Men, Almodovar, and p values less than .01. If you want to know what my favorite color jellybean is, or have any research questions, drop me an email at alg49 at cornell dot edu.