People

Faculty

D. Yvette Wohn, NJIT (https://people.njit.edu/faculty/wohn or yvettewohn.com)

Dr. Wohn is an associate professor in information systems and the director of the Social X Lab. Her research area is in human-computer interaction (HCI) and computer-mediated communication. She studies the characteristics and consequences of social interactions in online environments such as livestreaming, esports, gaming, and social media. Her main projects examine 1) content moderation, online harassment and the creation/maintenance of online safe spaces, 2) social exchange in digital economies & digital patronage (creator-supporter dynamics), and 3) news consumption via social media.

Affiliated Faculty

Seong Jae (SJ) Min, Pace University

Dr. Min is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Pace University’s New York City campus. He teaches and researches journalism and political communication, and is the author of a series of books investigating the role of journalism in American society. He is particularly interested in news consumption behaviors and social interactions online as they relate to political participation and democratic engagement.

Mashael Almoqbel, Jubail University College, Saudi Arabia

Dr. Almoqbel is a faculty at Jubail University College, Saudi Arabia. Her research is in the area of public safety, social media, and social good. She is interested in bettering societies with HCI and communication theories. She had her Ph.D. in Information Systems at NJIT.

Jie Cai, Penn State University
(https://jc926.github.io/Jie_Cai)

Dr. Cai is an assistant research professor at Penn State University. He received his PhD from NJIT. His research mainly focuses on human-computer interaction (HCI) and computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) and explores topics related to interactive media, gaming, live streaming, and content moderation. His work has been published in premier HCI venues such as CHI and CSCW. He is excited to collaborate with highly motivated (under)graduates and learn from them. Please check his website to know his recent work and activities.

Tina Yuan, National Taiwan Normal University

Tina (Chien Wen) Yuan (PhD, Cornell University) is an associate professor of the Graduate Institute of Library and Information Studies at National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan. Her research interests include mediated interpersonal relationships, human–computer interaction, and computer-supported collaborative work. Her recent research topics dealt with health issues, social media use, and mediated collaboration, published at CHI, CSCW, or journals like Social Media + Society. She has recently explored topics in human-AI interaction.

Young June Sah, Sogang University

Young June Sah (PhD, Michigan State University) is an Assistant Professor in College of Media, Arts, and Science, at Sogang University. His research interests include psychological and behavioral effects of media technologies and their cognitive mechanisms. He has explored how people respond to virtual humans in different contexts, such as social media platforms or virtual realities.

Graduate Students

Tongxin Li

Tongxin, a first-year Ph.D. student at NJIT, holds a bachelor’s degree in Media and Information and a master’s degree in Digital Communication and Media from Michigan State University. Her research interests revolve around designing robots and applications with a positive social influence. Tongxin is particularly passionate about exploring the dynamics of how individuals interact with video games and social media platforms.

Hongyang Zhou

Hongyang graduated from NYU with a BS in Applied Psychology last December and is currently at Cornell Tech studying Information Systems with a Connective Media concentration. She joined the Social Interaction Lab in May 2022 and started with the project “Hate Raids of Twitch” (which was published at CSCW 2023) with Dr. Cai. Since then, she has worked on projects focused on user experience on social media. She hopes to gain more skills in UX research and delve into the humanistic and social aspects of technology.

Research Associate

Jirassaya Uttarapong (UX Researcher)

Jirassaya (Jira) Uttarapong recently graduated from NJIT receiving a Bachelors of Science in Information Technology with a concentration in Game Development. They are currently working at NJIT as a UX Researcher focusing on content moderation. Jira joined the Social X Lab back in 2018 as a student research assistant. During her time in the lab, Jira gained experience seeing multiple qualitative projects through from data collection, to analysis, to publication. These projects involved esports commentators, harassment towards women and LGBTQ live streamers on Twitch, mental health discussions in gaming communities, as well as OnlyFans adult content creators. Through their journey in the Social X Lab, Jira became extremely passionate about the intersectionality between online communities, video games, mental health, and sexuality. She is excited to gain more experience researching user behaviors, as well as exploring and developing potential solutions to improving user experiences online, particularly those of marginalized users. 

Yihan Wang

Yihan just finished her master’s degree in Communications Design at Pratt Institute. Her bachelor degree was in Computer Science and Technology at Beijing University of Technology. Currently, she works as a UX designer in China, and she is actively applying to PhD programs. Her research interests lie in computational social media and exploring the intersectionality between gender and technology.

Undergraduate Research Assistants (alphabetical)

Mike Gabriel Ayson

Mike Gabriel Ayson is a third year Information Technology major with a specialization in web development. He recently joined the Social Interactions Lab as he was interested to see what skills and new information he can learn being amongst a group of talented researchers and to challenge himself with something he’s never done before. He also wishes to expand his skills of understanding user needs, and strengthen his ux/ui design skills. Lastly, he wanted to find an outlet where his contributions can bring support and drive change to the many online communities he’s a part of.

Diana Bravo

Diana is currently a senior double majoring in Information Technology and Human Computer Interaction. She joined the Social Interaction Lab to learn more about user experience
research. She is interested in the relationship between humans and technology and the impacts of social media. She hopes to expand her knowledge and gain more experience in UX research.

Amanda Montero

Amanda Montero is a current second year majoring in Cyber Psychology with a minor in Forensic Science at NJIT. Amanda wants to  be able to intertwine both her minor and major in the research she will conduct through the Social Interaction Lab. Being able to analyze the parasocial interactions between fans and creators is something she is passionate about. Through research with this program she is hoping to learn as much as she can about conducting research and learn about psychology and its impact on the ever evolving online world. 

Sharon Oh

Sharon Oh is a first year NJIT student majoring in Human-Computer Interaction. She joined the Social X Lab to learn more about UX design, research, and the roles that technology and people have on each other. She hopes this experience and research will teach her new things and broaden her knowledge of technology, design, and society. She is excited to learn new things from working as a team in the lab and learning from those around her. 

Ariela Ponti

Ariela Ponti is a junior majoring in Human Computer Interactions at NJIT. Ariela is interested in human-centered design and UX research. Ariela is also interested in relationships between users and video game design, with a focus in research. 

behaviors and hopes that being a part of this lab will allow her to learn more about that, as well as expand her knowledge of technology’s effects on people.

Zoobia Saifullah Syeda

Zoobia Saifullah Syeda is a first-year student studying HCI at NJIT. She has a passion for UX design and wants to learn more about how people interact with technology. Zoobia wants to create intuitive, user-friendly digital experiences and she is excited to have the opportunity to work on real-world design projects with experienced professionals in the field.”

Ananya Tyagi

I am a Computer Science major in the NJIT Honors College. Along with the Social X lab I am also involved in ACM and WiCS. I look forward to working in the lab

Carmina Tolome

Carmina Tolome is currently studying human-computer interaction (HCI) at NJIT, with an associates in Graphic Design from PCCC. She joined the Social Interaction Lab to learn more about the meaning behind HCI, and how to cater to the needs of others through the art of user-design. Carmina is interested in learning about the different relationships that are shared between others in online communities, and the persona hidden behind the guise of staying anonymous online.

High School Students

Ian Cho

I am a junior at Hunter College High School in New York City. I have an interest in computer-science/robotics and STEM subjects. I volunteer at teaching opportunities such as programming classes, math tutoring, and summer camps. I additionally go to the food pantry on my Saturdays. In my spare time, I like cooking and trying out new foods

Vineeth Kanpa

Vineeth Kanpa is a junior at Livingston High School. He joined the Social X Lab to learn more about research on human relationships through the lens of social technology. He’s currently interested in working on projects that involve an intersection of data-science, statistics, media, and psychology. He hopes to pursue a career as a data scientist for an entertainment company.

Lab Alumni (participated two or more semesters & graduated)

Mohammad Azaharul Islam (2023 fall), Jirassaya Uttarapong (2023 spring), Ross Bonifacio (2023 spring), Lucy Feng (2022 summer), Anthony Lechner (2022 summer), Aashka Patel (2022 spring), Reesha Gandhi (2022 spring), Sarah Ryu (2022 spring), Jonathan Tan (2022 spring), Jie Cai (2022 spring), Alan Cortes (2021 summer), Jordan Van Zyl (2021 spring), Masaho Shimobayashi (2020 spring), Anmol Jaswal (2020 spring), John Scott Siri (2020 spring), Peter Eskander (2020 spring), Peter Jough (2019 fall), Ankit Mittal (2019 spring), Juan Rios (2018 fall), Temilade Afolabi, Basma Abukwaik (2018 spring), Victor Chue, Anchita Komalchan Likhar, Indraneel Kulkarni (2017), Atisha Poojari (2016), Leiping Gong (2016), Calvin Allemand (2016), Emma Washington-Freeman (2016), Han Wang (2015), Rohit Kadam (2015).

Past Students 

Turki Alelyani, Nidhish Dave, Erick Sanchez, Yu Cao, Mary Schneider, Rempee Kalia, Cassio Maciel Leal, Roseli Andrion, Felipe Schiquetti, Mousa Ahmadi, Sona Patel, Kira Hoffman, Adam Spryzinski, Dhanush Sureshbabu, Yanira Morales, Lindsay Armour, James Bonilla, Kimberly Prince, Priya Rajbabu, Jack Campbell, Royer Zamudio, Angelica Braxton, Pradnya Desai, Tejas Patel, Christopher Simeone, Naitam Ghandi, Soojin Ahn, Mervyn Mathew, Jessy Martinez, Alyssa Maravilla, Fizah Fahad, Michael Wedderburn, Nick Nower, Vidhi Thakker, Meciel Guisihan, Livia Loi, Emilia Pham Ton, Hannah Cui, Samiksha Raman, Alicia Gomes, Karen Wu, Cindy Gonzalez, Allie He, Julia Sklodowska, Anupama Chakrabhavi Venkatappa, Choina Vincent

Past Faculty/ Industry Collaborators

Louise Barkhuus, IT University of Copenhagen
Jeremy Birnholtz, Northwestern University Social Media Lab
Brian J. Bowe, Western Washington University
Caleb T. Carr, Illinois State University
Meeyoung Cha, KAIST
Eun-kyoung Choe, University of Maryland
Judith Deutsch, Rutgers University
Nicole Ellison, University of Michigan
Gerry Fluet, Rutgers University
Guo Freeman, Clemson University
Rebecca Hayes, Illinois State University
Libby Hemphill, University of Michigan
Hye-jin Kum-Biocca, New Jersey Institute of Technology
Cliff Lampe, University of Michigan
Bongshin Lee, Microsoft Research
Yu-Hao Lee, University of Florida
Wei Peng, Michigan State University
Katie Quehl, Yahoo
Rabindra (Robby) Ratan, Michigan State University