Research Foci

The Social Media Lab conducts research in a wide variety of areas including: Academia, Health, Information Privacy, Online Communities, Organizational Social Media Use, and Politics. The broad aim of the lab’s various research initiatives is to provide decision makers with additional knowledge and insights into the behaviors and relationships of online social network members, and to understand how these interpersonal connections influence our personal choices and actions. We also develop research apps, tools and methods for collecting, analyzing and visualizing publicly available social media data.

Social Media for: Teaching | Learning | Research | Learning Analytics | Alt-metrics
Development of analytical tools and methods for social media analysis
Health, Well-being and Social Media
Social Media Data Use, Reuse & Misuse | Privacy & Trust | Privacy Paradox
The Spread of Dis- and Misinformation via Social Media Sites
Social Networks | Online Crowds & Communities
Adoption & Usage Trends | Factors Predicting Engagement | ROI | Data Analytics & Visualizations
Political Engagement, Polarization, Social Movements and E-Government

Data About Canadians For Canadians: An overwhelming majority of online Canadian adults (94%) have at least one social media account, making Canada one of the most connected countries in the world.

Our various public reports provide a snapshot of social media usage trends in Canada and attitudes of Canadians towards issues such as misinformation, politics and privacy in the context of social media. All reports are available for download here.

Educational Resources

Educational Resources for the Classroom: Welcome instructors! On this new page you will find a collection of case studies involving ethical, societal and legal issues associated with the novel use of social media data. In addition, you will also find a collection of video tutorials and sample assignments for our various social media data analytics tools.

The featured resources on this page are free to use and are designed for instructors teaching courses such as marketing, business ethics, brand management, communications, public relations, social media/data analytics, business analytics or data science, etc.

Tools & Apps

No Programming Required: As part of our work, the Lab develops easy to use research apps, tools and visualization dashboards to support social science research on online communities and online participation. Each year, our apps and research tools are used by thousands of students, educators and researchers around the world. To learn more about what we’ve developed and link to our curated Social Media Research Toolkit, go here.

Visit the Russia-Ukraine Misinfo DashboardConflictMisinfo.org