In an era of ubiquitous digital communication, uneven democratic participation, heightened polarization, and shifting institutional contexts, understanding the shifting relationships between technology and politics is more important than ever. In recent years, the SSRC has been an essential node in the development of a broad, interdisciplinary research field that brings together social scientists, computer scientists, and data scientists to create and share knowledge, bring new voices to the table, and engage with practitioners, especially around the ways information technology and social media shape the health of democracies and the nature of inequalities.
How We Work
We support research that keeps up with the pace at which information technologies develop and affect society and politics. We cultivate new fields of inquiry that push the knowledge frontier, because the social and political impact of media and technology needs to be understood both on its own terms and in relation to other key drivers of social change.
We bridge the boundaries of disciplines and methods, bringing together experts on data science and digital culture with leading-edge thinkers on political engagement and institutions. We convene leaders from academia, government, philanthropy, and business to grasp the complex ways that communication technology and politics shape each other.
We bring research to a broader audience, using diverse approaches to knowledge dissemination—from digital resource platforms to public lectures and op-eds. We equip researchers, educators, policymakers, and citizens with the tools needed to effectively engage the evolving information landscape.
Programs & Projects
The Just Tech program empowers an intersectional network of scholars and practitioners to imagine more equitable technological futures. Just Tech will foreground questions of justice and public impact to enrich discourse and inform policy on technological development.
The Mercury Project is a consortium of social and behavioral scientists working around the world to find cost-effective and scalable interventions that build vaccine demand and support science-based health decision-making.
The Digital Platforms Initiative supports the development and testing of interventions designed to improve the quality of interactions on digital platforms, and to lead to new welfare-enhancing policy and regulatory frameworks.
The Media & Democracy program explores the relationship between media, technology, and politics. Through research workshops, public events, and publications, Media & Democracy incubates research and situates modern political change in historical and cultural contexts.
In pursuit of broader public understanding and a public interest internet, MediaWell collects and synthesizes research on how to mitigate false, misleading, or hateful narratives online, build resilient democratic institutions, and empower communities to inform themselves.