ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1162-691X

Keywords

misinformation, polarization, social media, human-computer interaction

Abstract

In contemporary online information environments, narratives do not merely convey facts. They organize meaning, signal identity, and guide collective sensemaking. During periods of crisis and uncertainty, these processes become especially salient, as individuals and communities turn to social media to interpret unfolding events. At the same time, these environments are shaped by complex sociotechnical dynamics, including platform affordances, algorithmic amplification, elite influence, and grassroots participation. These dynamics form ecosystems in which narratives and identities are constructed, contested, and stabilized. Drawing on theory and empirical analyses of COVID-19 discourse on Twitter, this work develops and applies a multilevel framework to explain how narratives persuade particular audiences, how identity shapes and is shaped by narrative engagement, and how ecosystem dynamics condition these processes.

The dissertation consists of three studies. Study 1 develops a conceptual model and research guidelines to understand narratives and identities as interacting, multilevel sensemaking processes in sociotechnical systems. Study 2 applies this theoretical framework to examine influence and coordination in early COVID-19 discourse on Twitter. Study 3 extends this work by integrating the multilevel interactions in the conceptual model using novel HCI methods, focusing on the hydroxychloroquine controversy to show how identity-aligned narratives become polarized and persist. These studies build on one another, moving from theory to ecosystem-level dynamics. Overall, this dissertation argues that misinformation, polarization, and contested beliefs cannot be adequately explained by examining content, actors, or platforms in isolation. Instead, these phenomena emerge from multilevel interactions among narratives, identities, and the information ecosystems in which they circulate.

Completion Date

2026

Semester

Spring

Committee Chair

Stephen Fiore

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Department

Modeling and Simulation

Format

PDF

Document Type

Dissertation

Identifier

DP0053185

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