The Lab
Located in the heart of downtown Toronto, the Social Media Lab is a multi- and interdisciplinary research laboratory at Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University. The lab studies how social media is changing the way people and organizations communicate, share information, conduct business and form communities online, and how these changes impact society. The lab’s research seeks to advance the public’s understanding of the benefits and pitfalls of social media adoption.
The Social Media Lab was established in 2010 and is the first of its kind in North America. It is led by co-directors, Anatoliy Gruzd (PhD) – Dir. of Research and Philip Mai (JD) – Director of Business and Communications. The lab is internationally recognized and attracts a diverse range of outstanding multidisciplinary scholars from around the world each year. It is a leader in social media studies and is the convener of the annual International Conference on Social Media and Society (#SMSociety).
Co-Directors
Dr. Anatoliy Gruzd
Director of Research
Philip Mai
Director of Business and Communications
Canada Research Chair | Royal Society of Canada College Member| Assoc. Professor – School of Information Technology Management, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, Canada
MA, JD | Manager of Academic Communications – University Relations, Ryerson University, Canada
Dr. Caroline HaythornthwaiteResearch CollaboratorDirector of the MLIS Program | Professor – School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, USA
Dr. Jaigris HodsonResearch CollaboratorAssociate Professor – College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Royal Roads University, Canada | Canadian Science Policy Fellow – Environment and Climate Change, Government of Canada
Dr. Ángel Hernández-GarcíaResearch CollaboratorAssociate Professor – Department of Organizational Engineering, Business Administration and Statistics, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Raquel RecueroVisiting Scholar 2018Associate Professor at the Communication and Linguistics Department at Universidade Federal de Pelotas (UFPEL/Brazil) and at the Post Graduate program of Communication and Information at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande Read More.
Dr. Elizabeth DuboisResearch CollaboratorAssistant Professor – Department Communication, University of Ottawa, Canada
Dr. Priya KumarResearch FellowSenior Data Analyst – Digital Inclusion Lab, Centre for International Digital Policy at Global Affairs Canada(GAC), Canada
Dr. Jenna JacobsonResearch FellowAssistant Professor – School of Retail Management, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, Canada
Dr. Marc Esteve del ValleResearch CollaboratorAssistant Professor – Centre for Media and Journalism Studies at the University of Groningen, Netherlands
Dr. Atefeh (Atty) MashatanResearch CollaboratorDirector – Cybersecurity Research Lab | Assistant Professor – School of Information Technology Management, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, Canada
Dr. Joanne McNeishResearch CollaboratorAssociate Professor – School of Business Management, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, Canada
Dr. Deena Abul-FottouhResearch CollaboratorAssistant Professor – Human Centred Data Science, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto, Canada
Dr. Melodie Yun-Ju SongResearch CollaboratorSocial Media Lab, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, Canada
Rita PaulinoPostdoctoral FellowPost-doctorate – CNPQ Fellow at the Ryerson University Social Media Lab, Phd in Engineering and Knowledge Management, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina – UFSC, Brazil
Shahnawaz AttarwalaBig Data Engineer and Spark DeveloperSocial Media Lab, Ryerson University
Donald PattersonResearch AssistantMaster of Business Administration in Management of Technology and Innovation, Ryerson Univeristy
Lilach Dahoah HaleviResearch AssistantPhd student, Psychological Science, Ryerson University
Felipe SoaresResearch AssistantPhD student in Communication and Information, Universidade Federal de Pelotas (Brazil)
Zahra VahediResearch AssistantPhD Candidate, Psychological Science, Ryerson University
Isabelle RomanMarketing & Graphic DesignerBA, Sport Media, Ryerson University
Rebeca C. CabreraResearch AssistantBachelor of Commerce, Ryerson University
Kelly HuynhResearch AssistantBachelor of Commerce, Ryerson University
Nikolai KrauseWeb Developer - Data AnalystBSc, Computer Engineering, Ryerson University
Oluwatomilayo (Tomi) AdegbiteData Engineer / Software-Web DeveloperBSc, Computer Science, Ryerson University
Tiago RibeiroSoftware/Web DeveloperBSc, Computer Science, Ryerson University
Kathleen-Emily WalshThesis StudentMA in Communications & Culture, Ryerson University
Tahmina AkhterThesis studentMaster of Science in Management, TRSM, Ryerson University
Bailey ParnellThesis StudentMA in Communications & Culture, Ryerson University
Lama KhoshaimThesis StudentPhd Candidate, Interdisciplinary PhD, Dalhousie University
Irfan ChaudhryResearch CollaboratorPhD student Dept. of Sociology, University of Alberta | Instructor, MacEwan University, Edmonton, Canada | PROJECT: #HateOnline: Using social media to examine discourses of racism and xenophobia online
K. Hazel KwonResearch CollaboratorAssistant Professor, School of Social & Behavioral Sciences and in-coming Faculty at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication | Arizona State University, USA | Project: Swearing Contagion in Social Read More.
Lina M. Gomez VasquezVisiting Scholar 2017Assistant Professor, the School of Social and Human Sciences, Universidad del Este, Puerto Rico. | Project: How #hcsm healtcare community uses Instagram and Twitter to communicate with each other and with the public.- Raquel RecueroVisiting Scholar 2018Associate Professor at the Communication and Linguistics Department at Universidade Federal de Pelotas (UFPEL/Brazil) and at the Post Graduate program of Communication and Information at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande Read More.
Laurie BonniciVisiting Scholar 2018Associate Professor, University of Alabama | Project: Social Media & Health
Bree McEwanResearch CollaboratorAssociate Professor, Communication, DePaul University, USA | Project: Developing measures to assess the “strength of weak ties” in online social networks.
Olga BoichakVisiting Scholar 2018Ph.D. Candidate at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs doctoral program in Social Science (Syracuse University) | Project: Examining the Ukrainian diaspora on Facebook to understand what motivates Read More.
Barry WellmanDistinguished Visiting Scholar 2017-18Netlab Network | Founder of International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA) | Professor(ret.) – Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, Canada
Mark KleinVisiting Scholar 2016Principal Research Scientist, MIT Center for Collective Intelligence; Research Scientist, University of Zurich | Project: Using Crowd-Sourced Deliberation Mapping to Enable More Powerful Social Media Analytics
Celine Yunya SongVisiting Scholar 2016Assistant Professor, Department of Journalism, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong | Project: A Longitudinal Study of Discussion Networks on Weibo: Polarized Opinions on Genetically-Modified Food
Staci ZavattaroVisiting Scholar 2016Associate Professor, College of Health and Public Affairs, University of Central Florida, USA | Project: University Use of Social Media: Communicating the Brand Identity
Anne SuphanVisiting Scholar 2018Research Associate at the Institute for Law and Social Sciences at the University of Honenheim, Germany.
Former Collaborators
- Irfan ChaudhryResearch CollaboratorPhD student Dept. of Sociology, University of Alberta | Instructor, MacEwan University, Edmonton, Canada | PROJECT: #HateOnline: Using social media to examine discourses of racism and xenophobia online
- K. Hazel KwonResearch CollaboratorAssistant Professor, School of Social & Behavioral Sciences and in-coming Faculty at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication | Arizona State University, USA | Project: Swearing Contagion in Social Read More.
- Lina M. Gomez VasquezVisiting Scholar 2017Assistant Professor, the School of Social and Human Sciences, Universidad del Este, Puerto Rico. | Project: How #hcsm healtcare community uses Instagram and Twitter to communicate with each other and with the public.
- Bree McEwanResearch CollaboratorAssociate Professor, Communication, DePaul University, USA | Project: Developing measures to assess the “strength of weak ties” in online social networks.
Dr. Hong YuResearch CollaboratorDirector and Associate Professor, Ted Rogers School of Retail Management, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
Dr. Irameet KaurResearch CollaboratorWith a Phd in Management, Irameet has nearly 16 years of experience in teaching and research; more recently, as an associate professor at the Rukmini Devi Institute of Advanced Studies Read More.
Dr. Ingrid SketrisResearch CollaboratorProfessor, Department of Community Health & Epidemiology, Dalhousie University
Dr. Kevin QuigleyResearch CollaboratorDirector – MacEachen Institute for Public Policy & Governance | Professor – School of Public Administration, Dalhousie University, Canada
Dr. Hua (Helen) WangResearch CollaboratorAssociate Professor – Department of Communication, University at Buffalo, USA
Dr. Bertrum MacdonaldResearch CollaboratorProfessor, School of Information Management, Faculty of Management, Dalhousie University
Ksenia TsyganovaResearch CollaboratorSt Petersburg State University
Alicia WanlessResearch CollaboratorPhD Student at King’s College, UK
Dr. Dimitrina (Dima) DimitrovaResearch AssociateDima has over 15 years of research experience in social networks, organizations & knowledge transfer
Dr. Jeffrey RoyResearch CollaboratorProfessor, School of Public Administration, Faculty of Management, Dalhousie University
Dr. Xiao HuResearch CollaboratorAssistant Professor, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong
Dr. Rafa AbsarResearch CollaboratorAssistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, Clarkson University, USA
Dr. Regina CollinsResearch CollaboratorAssociate Director, Writing Communications & Outreach, Albert Dorman Honors College, New Jersey Institute of Technology
Former thesis students, research assistants, student co-authors and visiting students.
Irina GoreaResearch AssistantMaster of Science in Management, Ryerson Univeristy
Tahoor QureshiThesis studentMaster of Science in Management, TRSM, Ryerson University
Arvin JagayatResearch studentPhd Candidate, Psychological Science, Ryerson University
Drew PaulinThesis StudentPhd Candidate, iSchool, University of British Columbia
Sreekanth Thimiri MadamanaVisiting studentBSc, Computer Science & Engineering, National Institute Of Technology Agartala
Liu (Leo) ZhuqingVisiting StudentBSc, Network and New Media, Shanghai International Studies University, China
Julia HoDigital StrategistMaster of Digital Media, Ryerson University
Maria GintovaThesis StudentPhD Candidate, Policy Studies, Ryerson University
Sarah GilbertCollaboratorPhD Candidate, iSchool, University of British Columbia
Jill LiuVisiting StudentGraduate Student, MS in Library & Information Science, Dalhousie University
Michael PachecoWeb Developer - Data AnalystBSc, Computer Science, Ryerson University
Di (Corrine) YangVisiting studentUndergraduate Sociology student, Fudan University
Martin PhillipsResearch CollaboratorMBA in Technology and Innovation, Ryerson University
Dr. Nadia ConroyPostdoctoral FellowPostdoctoral Fellow, Social Media Lab
Jordan KilfoyWeb Developer - Data AnalystBSc, Computer Science, Ryerson University
Kary JiangMkt. Assistant / Event CoordinatorB. Comm. (Hospitality and Tourism Management), Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University
Alyssa TorresMkt. Assistant / Event CoordinatorB. Comm. (Hospitality and Tourism Management), Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University
Stephanie TranResearch AssistantB. Comm. (Hospitality and Tourism Management), Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University
Kamran MirshahiWeb DeveloperBSc, Computer Science, Ryerson University
James LanniganCollaboratorPhD Candidate, Sociology Department, University of Toronto
Bradly DahdalyResearch AssistantB. Comm. (Bus. Tech. Mgmt.), Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University
Anantha SoogoorResearch AssistantBComm, Business Information Technology Management, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University
Jaeduk SeoWeb Developer - Data AnalystBSc, Computer Science, Ryerson University
Paarth AroraWeb Developer - Data AnalystBEng, Computer Engineering, Ryerson University
Anh T. DangThesis StudentPhd Candidate, Interdisciplinary PhD, Dalhousie University
Ben O’BrightCollaboratorPhd Candidate, Political Science, Dalhousie University
Nick (Yueh-Ching) LinProject ManagerMBA Candidate, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University
Veronica ChernyavskyResearch AssistantBComm, Business Information Technology Management, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University
Raghunath SoogoorResearch AssistantSoftware Development, Seneca College, York Univeristy
Dr. Marc Esteve Del VallePostdoctoral ResearcherSocial Media Lab, Ryerson University
Francisco GrajalesVisiting PhD student, '15/16PhD Candidate, University of British Columbia
Gokul SundararajanResearch AssistantMBA Candidate, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University
Naureen NizamThesis StudentPhd Candidate, Computer Science, Dalhousie University
Nathan LaPierreThesis StudentMaster’s thesis student, Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University
Lee WilsonResearch AssistantMaster of Library & Information Science Candidate, Dalhousie University
Shawn MenziesResearch AssistantBComm, Business Information Technology Management, Ryerson University
Andrea KampenResearch AssistantMaster of Library & Information Science Candidate, Dalhousie University
Richard PannellResearch AssistantB.Inf – Bachelor of Informatics/Sustainability Candidate, Dalhousie University
Andrey KulakevichResearch AssistantBS – Computer Science, Dalhousie University
Nathan LaPierreData ScientistSocial Media Lab, Ryerson University
Kaitlin Haley (Dalhousie University, Master of Library & Information Studies) (
Shali Liu (Dalhousie University, M.Sc. in Computer Science Candidate) (Research Assistant, 2011 – 2013)
Madeline Driscoll (Dalhousie University, Master of Library & Information Studies and Master of Public Administration Candidate) (Research Assistant, 2012 – 2013)
Catherine McGoveran (Dalhousie University Master of Library & Information Studies) (Research Assistant, 2012 – 2013)
