• October 8, 2026
    More papers accessible!     Information, Communication & Society just released our new research paper entitled Whose voices and which effects? A scoping review of migration and social media effects (doi:10.1080/1369118X.2026.2733513). In this scoping review, authors Aleksandra Lazić, Maryam Khaleghipour, and Jörg Matthes map social media effects in the context of migration, revealing a striking divide in the research landscape between host- and migrant-centered studies. The review calls for more integrative research that brings both perspectives together.
  • September 29, 2026
    New paper published!     Helena Knupfer's, Phelia Weiß', and Jörg Matthes's collaboration entitled Mobilizing potential? Right-wing terrorism-related social media use, fear, and civic engagement among German muslims (doi:10.1080/15205436.2026.2731919) was released by Mass Communication and Society last week.
  • September 18, 2026
    Paper alert!     Computers in Human Behavior has just released yet another publication by our team, a collaboration between Simone Moser, Stephanie Bührer, Diana Kostikova, and Jörg Matthes titled From hostile feedback to withdrawal: Emotional exhaustion as a barrier to social media misinformation correction (doi:10.1016/j.chb.2026.109179). The paper is available online and will appear in-print in volume 187 of CIHB in 2027.
  • September 14, 2026
    Post-summer publications update! A total of six new papers were released over the course of the last few weeks. You can find all references in alphabetical order below.

    Hirsch, M., Bührer, S., Koban, K., & Matthes, J. (2027). Approval mechanisms fueling digital hate: Online incivility and intolerance perpetration in four countries. Computers in Human Behavior, 186, 109143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2026.109143

    Khaleghipour, M., Koban, K., & Matthes, J. (2026). The strategic provocation of digital hate: Empowered targets' perceptions of perpetrators and bystanders. Information, Communication & Society. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2026.2674873

    Meerson, R., Koban, K., & Matthes, J. (2027). Pretty privilege? Effects of perpetrators' attractiveness and hate type on user responses against misogynist digital hate. Computers in Human Behavior, 186, 109112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2026.109112

    Nguyen, G., Bührer, S., Koban, K., & Matthes, J. (2026). Where digital hate finds its home: Perpetrators' preferred affordances and their experiences with content moderation and user intervention. Information, Communication, & Society. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2026.2663190

    Thomas, M. F., Binder, A., & Matthes, J. (2026). Decision-making on dating apps: Is swiping more less and swiping right wrong? Media Psychology, 29(5), 867-898. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2025.2555430

    Thomas, M. F., Binder, A., & Matthes, J. (2026). Safer sexting: Who cares and how? Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 20(4), Article 7. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2026-4-7
  • September 7, 2026
    New AdMe position!     We are currently advertising a temporary Senior Scientist position (October 2026 – January 2027) within our team. If you would like to take a closer look at the requirements, please check here for more details.
  • July 30, 2026
    Another paper published!     A viral war: Threat perceptions in light of social media news consumption on the Russo-Ukrainian war (doi:10.1177/10776990261470427) by Tamás Tóth, Phelia Weiß, Kevin Koban, Ines Spielvogel, and Jörg Matthes now appeared in Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly.
  • July 22, 2026
    Papers galore! The Journal of Consumer Marketing recently released the article An eye-tracking study: Perceptions of greenwashing and the impact of greenwashing literacy (doi:10.1108/JCM-04-2025-7842), a collaboration between Ariadne Neureiter, Sophie-Catherine Schröter, Jörg Matthes, and Manina Biermayer.
  • July 13, 2026
    Paper alert!     The Annals of the International Communication Association published the article Emotions, social media, and politics: A scoping review (doi:10.1093/anncom/wlag035), a collaboration between our former team members Ruta Kaskeleviciute, Andreas Nanz, Irina Dietrich, and Jörg Matthes.
  • July 10, 2026
    Top AdMe job placement!     Long-term AdMe member Melanie Saumer will join the Health Psychology Group within the University of Vienna's Department of Clinical and Health Psychology as a Postdoctoral Researcher. There, she will work closely with Laura M. König and her team.

    Melli completed her bachelor degrees in Journalism and Communication Studies (2019) as well as Political Science (2020) at the University of Vienna. Afterwards, she enrolled into our English-speaking Master program in Communication Science, graduating in June 2021. She joined AdMe as a teaching assistant in October 2017, supporting Jörg Matthes's teaching activities up until August 2021. Since September 2021, Melli was a predoctoral researcher under Jörg Matthes's supervision and an integral part of our group, who even managed to obtain her own grant by the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) for her dissertation project in June 2024.

    On June 15, Melanie defended her dissertation entitled Fifty shades of digital hate: Disentangling target and bystander experiences of anti-LGBTQIA+ online hostility with distinction ("summa cum laude").

    Congratulations on your next career step, dear Melli! We wish you all the best for your personal and academic future.
  • July 8, 2026
    New publications available!     Two brandnew papers have been published by Mass Communication and Society as well as New Media & Society recently.

    Melanie Saumer, Kevin Koban, and Jörg Matthes collaborated on a study entitled Fantastic bystanders and where to find them: Do emotions fuel (in)direct interventions when bystanders face anti-LGBTQIA+ hostility on social media?, which can be found here.

    Further, an international group of scholars, among them Jörg Matthes, saw their paper Changing the norms of citizenship? Attitude, platforms and crisis-driven shifts in 17 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic released in the most recent issue of New Media & Society (doi:10.1177/14614448261444723).
  • July 2, 2026
    Top AdMe job placement! Phelia Weiß, who just successfully defended her dissertation, will join the Digital Democracy Centre at the University of Southern Denmark as a Postdoctoral Researcher and commence working with Lena Frischlich. 

    Prior to becoming an AdMe member, Phelia studied Communication Science at our department. She holds two Bachelor degrees from the LMU Munich in Art History and Communication Studies, respectively.
    From March 2022 onwards, she worked as a student research assistant supporting the research project Citizen Science Engagement of Refugees, before transitioning to a position as a predoctoral researcher in October 2022, with her PhD project supervised by Jörg Matthes. A few days ago, she defended her thesis entitled The toxic relationship between misogyny and the far-right: Extremist communication and radicalization in online environments with distinction ("summa cum laude").

    Congratulations, dear Phelia! We wish you all the best for your personal and academic future.
  • July 1, 2026
    Another successful PhD defense!     We are super happy to announce that Phelia Weiß defended her dissertation entitled The toxic relationship between misogyny and the far-right: Extremist communication and radicalization in online environments with distinction ("summa cum laude").

    Congratulations, Dr. Phelia!
  • June 16, 2026
    Successful PhD defense!     We are very proud to announce that Melanie Saumer just defended her dissertation entitled Fifty shades of digital hate: Disentangling target and bystander experiences of anti-LGBTQIA+ online hostility with distinction ("summa cum laude").

    Congratulations, Dr. Melli!
  • June 15, 2026
    Top Paper Award at ICA!     Maryam Khaleghipour, Kevin Koban, and Jörg Matthes received the Howard Giles Top Student Paper Award by ICA's Intergroup Communication Interest Group, honoring their contribution entitled Whose responsibility? How Muslims and majority populations perceive bystander intervention in digital hate.
  • June 10, 2026
    Dissertation Award!     We are super proud to announce that – as part of ICA's 2026 annual conference in Cape Town, South Africa – ICA's and NCA's Health Communication Divisions honored Jaroslava Kaňková with the 2026 Abby Prestin Dissertation of the Year Award. Jara received the award for her outstanding dissertation entitled With great power comes great responsibility: Misleading health messaging by social media influencers – Characteristics, effects, and countering strategies, which she completed with "summa cum laude" in October 2025.

    Congratulations, Jara!
  • May 26, 2026
    Article published!     Same same but (very) different? A mixed-method approach on security-related news consumption on traditional and social media and its relation to negative emotional responses and feelings of (in)security is the title of the newest paper by Ines Spielvogel, Kevin Koban, Sarah Juricek, and Jörg Matthes which can now be accessed in Digital Journalism here.
  • May 18, 2026
    New publication available!     The paper Annotation in action: Experimental perspectives on perceiving and labeling digital hate across four European countries (doi:10.1155/hbe2/3332187) by Thomas Kirchmair, Kevin Koban, and Jörg Matthes was recently released by Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies.
  • May 4, 2026
    New AdMe member!     We are excited to announce that Carima Michels recently joined our team as student research assistant. Carima, who studies toward a MA qualification within our department, will support the newly-funded project Scrolling into Debt: Gen Z’s Financial Miseducation in the Digital Age, which is headed by Jörg Matthes and Sofie Vranken.

    A very warm welcome to the team and department, dear Carima!
  • April 29, 2026
    Papers galore!     Two new publications have recently been released by Computers in Human Behavior Reports and Media Psychology, respectively. You can find the full references below.

    Khaleghipour, M., Koban, K., & Matthes, J. (2026). Caught in the storm: A qualitative study on digital hate targeting scholars. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 22, 101059. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2026.101059

    Khaleghipour, M., Koban, K., & Matthes, J. (2026). Over-time relationships of direct and indirect digital hate victimization on fundamental needs and prosocial bystander intervention: A two-wave panel study. Media Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2026.2636055
  • April 24, 2026
    New publication!     Jaroslava Kaňková, Sofie Vranken, Jörg Matthes, Aleksandra Lazić, Selma Hodzic, Mihoko Seki, Yuko Kawano, Akiyo Ito, Yu Sakagami, and Miho Iwakuma recently saw their paper Is generative AI your new therapist? A cross-cultural model of generative AI affordances, trust, use intentions, and willingness to attend in-person therapy published in SSM – Mental Health. The full article can be accessed here.
  • April 20, 2026
    New AdMe member!     We are happy to announce to Maria Titarenko has today joined our team as a student research assistant. Maria completed her Bachelor studies in Media & Communication at the National Research University – Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow, Russia, and is currently enrolled in our English-speaking Master program in Communication Science.

    A very warm welcome to AdMe, dear Maria!
  • April 17, 2026
    New article available!     The journal Communication Research just published the paper Disentangling the longitudinal relationship between social media use, political expression and political participation: What do we really know? (doi:10.1177/00936502261430387) by Jörg Matthes, Andreas Nanz, Marlis Stubenvoll, and Ruta Kaskeleviciute.
  • April 10, 2026
    Paper alert!     Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies just released the article There are risks, but I will use it anyway: Predicting the urge to regulate and the intended use of generative AI among youth in four countries by a group of authors led by Jörg Matthes, and also involving Selma Hodzic as well as Alice Binder. More: https://doi.org/10.1155/hbe2/3060652
  • April 7, 2026
    More papers published!     Two new articles by our research group have just been published by the Annals of the International Communication Association and Technology in Society, respectively. You can access the full details below:

    Tóth, T., Bozdağ, U., Szabó, L. P., Háló, G., Demeter, M., Veloso da Silva, A., Matthes, J., & Major, Z. B. (2026). What have we learned, and what is yet to be learned about social media populism? A scoping review and meta-research. Annals of the International Communication Association. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/anncom/wlag014

    Hodzic, S., Stevic, A., & Matthes, J. (2026). Generative AI in practice: An umbrella review of risks, benefits, ethics, and future directions across major domains. Technology in Society, 103331. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2026.103331
  • March 27, 2026
    New AdMe position!     We are looking for a student research assistant to support the research agenda of our team. This position is advertised on a short-term basis (4,5 months) already starting April 15. If you're interested in joining us and would like to contribute to an exciting project, please check here for more details.
  • March 24, 2026
    Paper published!     The article Radical greens? How environmental influencers shape young social media users' perceived environmental polarization, hopelessness, and collective action intentions (doi:10.1016/j.cresp.2026.100269) by Ariadne Neureiter, Alice Binder, Meda Mucundorfeanu, Delia C. Balaban, and Jörg Matthes can now be accessed in the journal Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology.
  • March 23, 2026
    New AdMe position!     We are looking for a German-speaking student research assistant to work with us in the OeNB (Austrian Central Bank)-funded project Scrolling into Debt: Gen Z’s Financial Miseducation in the Digital Age, led by Jörg Matthes as PI and Sofie Vranken (Co-PI).
     
    If you study in our Bachelor's or Master's program, enjoy working in a team, and have excellent written and spoken German (native) and English skills, please consider applying. Requirements: A brief letter of motivation, CV & transcript of records to be sent via email to Mario Freyer until April 6. You can find the full advertisement here.
  • March 18, 2026
    The dates and topics of this semester's research colloquium are now available. As usual, we invite everyone to join us on interesting debates. Please also check who's given a talk at our colloquium in the past years.
  • March 16, 2026
    Paper alert!     The Annals of the International Communication Association published the piece Effects of data-driven campaigning: An integrative framework, literature review, and research agenda (doi:10.1093/anncom/wlag004), co-authored by a group involving Jörg Matthes.
  • March 12, 2026
    Another paper out now! The article The cognitive benefits of online microtargeted political ads: Explaining attitudes, political interest, and campaign knowledge (doi:10.1080/1369118X.2026.2642841) by Jörg Matthes, Melanie Hirsch, Selina Noetzel, and Alice Binder is now available in Information, Communication & Society.
  • March 3, 2026
    New publications online!     Two new articles by our team have recently been released by the International Journal of Advertising and Information, Communication & Society, respectively.

    Ariadne Neureiter's, Helena Knupfer's and Jörg Matthes's research entitled The influence of green ads beyond brand outcomes: Environmental optimism, environmental knowledge, and support for green ad regulations can now be accessed in the International Journal of Advertising.

    Further, Melanie Saumer, Kevin Koban, and Jörg Matthes had their paper Nudging against judging? Mitigating anti-LGBTQIA + online hostility by raising bystanders' awareness and behavioral intentions published in Information, Communication and Society.
  • February 18, 2026
    New article available!     Stephanie Bührer's, Kevin Koban's, and Jörg Matthes's research on Immigration-related socio-cognitive dynamics driving digital hate: A four-country study on online incivility and intolerance perpetration (doi:10.1093/jcmc/zmaf026) can now be accessed in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.
  • February 9, 2026
    More papers published! Two new papers involving members of our team have recently been published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research as well as Online Media and Global Communication, respectively. For further details, please check the references below.

    Matthes, J., Reinhardt, A., Hodzic, S., Kaňková, J., Binder, A., Bojic, L., Maindal, H. T., Paraschiv, C., & Ryom, K. (2026). Predicting the intention to use generative artificial intelligence for health information: Comparative survey study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 28, e75648. https://doi.org/10.2196/75648

    Chan, M., Matthes, J., & Bojić, L. (2026). Examining perceived generative AI valence on social media and its implications on generative AI attitudes and uses among young adults. A cross-national comparison. Online Media and Global Communication. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1515/omgc-2025-0033