New Faculty Q&A with Assistant Professor Angela Lee

This fall, recent Stanford University graduate, Angela Lee will join the School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC) as an assistant professor. Her research explores how people’s beliefs about emerging media, such as social media, algorithms and AI, influence their behaviors. We chatted with Lee about her research and what brought her to the SJMC.

Hometown: I was born in Columbia, Missouri, moved to Irvine, California, and have now been living in Palo Alto for the last ten years.

Educational background: I received my B.A. (Communication & Psychology), M.A. (Communication), and Ph.D (Communication) at Stanford University. I recently completed a post-doctoral research fellowship with the Stanford Center for Digital Health and the Tech, Impact, and Policy Center.

How did you get into your field of research?

I grew up chronically online in a community where many of my friends, classmates and teammates experienced mental health challenges that went largely undiagnosed and untreated. In the absence of formal resources, many of us experienced both great benefits from the online communities we were a part of, as well as serious harms from what we encountered online. These experiences led me to become interested in understanding the heterogeneous effects of emerging media (like social media, personalized algorithms, now AI chatbots) on psychological well-being. Understanding when, why and for whom people’s media use enhances or harms their well-being can help us design interventions that help people live healthier lives by maximizing the benefits and reducing harms. Overall, my research program aims to help people make more informed decisions about how to navigate the complex, fascinating and sometimes dangerous world that is the Internet.

What attracted you to UW–Madison and the SJMC?

UW-Madison has one of the strongest research communities in the world, and I have long read, cited and admired the work produced by the SJMC and other departments as a graduate student. I particularly appreciate the emphasis UW-Madison has on fostering community – within its departments, across disciplines and with the broader Madison and Wisconsin community – to do impactful work that advances theory and helps real, everyday people.

What was your first visit to campus like?

My first time visiting UW-Madison was for my campus visit in December two years ago. I remember my first impression was that the school seemed so beautiful, big and full of life, and also it was not as cold as I thought it would be! I had many wonderful conversations with the faculty, students and staff in the SJMC and enjoyed learning about the many great projects happening on campus. The more I learned about the school, the research and the people here, I could feel that there was something really special. I am excited to have the opportunity to join you all!

What’s one thing you hope students who take a class with you will come away with?

I hope my students feel that communication research can be fun, relevant, rigorous and actionable. I hope they come away from class with a sense of excitement and possibility about the ways they can think about the role that media plays in our lives, the many fascinating methodologies we can use to study these relationships, and the ways we can leverage what we know from research to inform potential interventions. For example, I always encourage my students to keep a mini “research notebook” in their Notes app where they can keep track of interesting research questions they may encounter as they go through their daily lives, online and offline. The beauty of studying media psychology is that its relevance to our everyday lives is so apparent, and there are a wealth of rich theories and past studies to draw on to help us identify potential ways to address pressing online challenges – whether it’s the spread of misinformation online, problematic social media use, or emotional dependency on chatbots.

How do you feel your work relates to the Wisconsin Idea?

In addition to the many reasons above, I particularly was excited to come to UW–Madison because of its commitment to the Wisconsin Idea. I have always felt that academic research needs to be shared beyond the “ivory tower,” and much of my work is focused on designing science-based interventions that translate research into accessible, useful and hopefully not boring lessons that people can use to have a healthier relationship with media. For example, how to recognize misinformation on social media, how to develop a greater sense of control over your social media use, and how to support parents and kids in having healthy conversations about technology use at home.

What’s something interesting about your area of expertise you can share that will make us sound smarter at parties?

I love this question! This is from my dissertation research, a part of which is published in PNAS Nexus. We’ve all seen toxic content on the internet that is rude, offensive or otherwise not so conducive to thoughtful conversation. Ask your friends to guess what percent of social media users post toxic comments online (from 0-100%). Usually, people go high: the average American thinks that almost 50% of people online have posted toxic comments at least once. In reality, it’s way fewer. When you look at all the comments on Reddit, only 3% of active users have ever posted something toxic. The key is that this small group posts a lot – they’re responsible for 33% of all the content on Reddit and take up disproportionate space online. And it’s not just toxicity. The same pattern shows up across other kinds of harmful content, like misinformation, hate speech, spam. In each case, a tiny sliver of hyperactive accounts generates a wildly outsized share of the bad stuff. So if you are scrolling and see a lot of toxic comments and feel like the internet is full of terrible people, remember: it’s not most people. It’s just a very tiny, very loud minority.

What do you enjoy doing when you are not working?

When I’m not working, I love cooking (especially making casseroles), crocheting, playing video games and finding ways to be active. Most recently, I’m excited to try roller-skating by the lake in the summer!