My name is Alex Leavitt (they/them), and I'm a social scientist and internet researcher. Most recently, I spent 7 years at Meta Research, leading research for product, policy, and strategy work related to social media's impact on society generally and marginalized populations specifically, across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and comparative platform analysis. Most of my projects touched on misinformation, polarization, news & information needs, crisis response (COVID-19/vaccines, Ukraine, LGBTQ+ communities, etc.), and human rights issues (particularly across the Global South/Global Majority).
I currently reside in San Francisco, after having lived in Los Angeles, Kyoto, and Boston.
I frequently work across industry and academia, publishing my research in venues like ACM CSCW and ACM SIGCHI. Spanning my research career, I have been part of a number of data science and user experience research teams with a handful of major social media platform and interactive media companies, like Meta, Sony PlayStation, Disney Interactive, and SocialFlow.
Before going into industry, I received my PhD in Communication from the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism at the University of Southern California, where I was advised by Henry Jenkins and Dmitri Williams. Previous to that, I worked with danah boyd at Microsoft Research New England; I was also a researcher in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Comparative Media Studies department, where I worked on the Convergence Culture Consortium project.
Numerous outlets have also featured my research, such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNN, and the Huffington Post.
You can find all of my peer-reviewed scientific articles on Google Scholar or in the academic research section of this page.
In my professional work, I conduct applied research in Trust & Safety, as well as other product work that impacts online communities, social media platforms, and digital media experiences (ie., video games). I'm particularly passionate about social impact and safety-related research, spanning:
My research interested have historically focused on participation in and across networked technologies. I am particularly interested in how online platforms facilitate user-generated content production, social network formation, information sharing practices, and group collaboration.
In academia and industry, I'm particularly passionate about research methods and teaching other researchers how to improve and expand their skills.
Currently, I teach courses at Maven as part of the User Research Fundamentals curriculum (which you can read more about at the link below).
In my work, I'm fairly unique in that I have strong expertise in a variety of mixed research methods.
Qualitative methods:
Quantitative methods:
Global LGBTQ+ risk assessment & user-facing resources
Product LinkStrategic prioritization for social corporate responsibility assessments
Resource LinkMulti-million dollar academic research grant program
Program LinkHumanitarian & authoritative information products & company strategy
Product NewsInternational expansion of survey program/infrasturcture
Product NewsRegulatory product strategy
Product/Policy NewsPrioritization frameworks, international research fieldwork, cross-org product/operations strategy, & policy development
Product/Policy News NewsCorporate product & research strategy
Research NewsPandemic & vaccine authoritative information from trusted messengers & related misinformation products
Product News Product ExpansionResearch-informed policy development & prioritization around pandemic content trends
Policy LinkCross-org product & impact measurement strategy
Research NewsVaccination access & action products
Product NewsSocial influence COVID/vaccine messaging & products
Product NewsCOVID public health messaging campaigns & authoritative information products
Product NewsCOVID misinformation messaging campaigns & authoritative information products
Product NewsCOVID misinformation targeted intervention products
Product NewsCOVID authoritative information products & company strategy
Product NewsTrust & Safety country risk assessment & international research fieldwork
Product/Policy NewsActivist & civil society consultation & content reporting program
Product/Policy NewsTrust & Safety country risk assessment & international research fieldwork
Policy/Research NewsCorporate product & research strategy for measurement & inteventions
Research News Affiliated PublicationSevere content risks & misinformation intervention products
Product NewsTrust & Safety country risk assessment & international research fieldwork
Product/Policy/Research NewsStrategic research & measurement for product strategy & content policies
Product/Policy NewsResearch-informed policy development & expansion for hate speech content policy
Policy NewsCross-organization risk assessments & research strategy for elections
Product/Research NewsStrategic research & measurement for product strategy & content policies
Product/Research NewsTrust & Safety country risk assessment & international research fieldwork, w/ iterative product development
Product/Policy NewsInternational research fieldwork & expert workshops for fact-checking program expansion
Product NewsAuthoritative information & misinformation intervention product devleopment
Product News Research NewsAuthoritative information & misinformation intervention product devleopment
Product Expansion News Product Launch NewsNews content strategic research & ranking product interventions
Product NewsCivic engagement & authoritative information products for elections
Product News (UK Election) Product News (France Election)Authoritative information & misinformation intervention product devleopment
Product NewsContent quality strategic research & ranking product interventions
Product NewsContent features international expansion & design iteration
Product NewsStrategic research & iterative product development for conversational products
Research LinkStudy of self-reported social media use, well-being, and perspectives on the impact of social media
Methods: international surveys, log data analysis
Article PDFStudy of self-reported social media use & well-being
Methods: international surveys, log data analysis
Article PDFStudy of collaborative breaking news reporting on a social news platform
Methods: content analysis, ethnographic observation, computational analysis
Article PDFStudy of iterative authoritative information product development
Methods: international research, interviews, focus groups, concept testing, card sorting, eye tracking, surveys, experiments
Article HTMLStudy of iterative authoritative information product development
Methods: international research, interviews, focus groups, concept testing, card sorting, eye tracking, surveys, experiments
Article HTMLStudy of election-related social media content quality trends & user-generated content production
Methods: computational analysis, content analysis, regression
Article PDFStudy of collaborative breaking news reporting on a social news platform
Methods: content analysis, ethnographic observation, computational analysis
Article PDFStudy of international users' debates around legitimate participation on location-based social media app, Foursquare
Methods: discourse analysis
Article PDFStudy of Japanese media subcultures & community politics
Methods: ethnographic participant observation, interviews, historical analysis
Article PDFStudy of micro-communication features and impact on performance in an online multiplayer game (League of Legends)
Methods: computational analysis, spatial analysis, regression
Article PDFStudy of gender-based differences in online multiplayer video game performance
Methods: computational analysis, regression
Article PDFStudy of collaborative breaking news reporting on a social news platform
Methods: content analysis, ethnographic observation, computational analysis
Dissertation PDFStudy of multiple-account use in an online multiplayer game (EVE Online)
Methods: social network analysis, computational analysis
Article PDFStudy of collaborative gameplay & social capital within online multiplayer games
Methods: social network analysis, computational analysis
Article PDFStudy of anonymity/pseudonymity user practices on reddit
Methods: computational analysis, survey, regression
Article PDFStudy of collaborative breaking news reporting on a social news platform
Methods: content analysis, ethnographic observation, computational analysis, regression
Article PDFExploratory analysis of theory around technology non-use
Methods: literature review, theoretical analysis
Article PDFStudy of players of Minecraft & user-generated content practices
Methods: content analysis, interviews, ethnographic participant observation
Article PDFStudy of historical and empirical content trends related to internet memes on Twitter
Methods: computational analysis, text analysis, social network analysis
Article PDFStudy of Japanese media subcultures & potential for activism in media production
Methods: content analysis, historical analysis, discourse analysis
Article HTMLReview study of social media platform features & policies related to self-harm
Methods: literature review, competitor analysis
Article PDFStudy of Twitter messaging production & interaction trends
Methods: computational analysis, data visualization
Article PDFStudy of Twitter data trends around the 2012 Iranian elections
Methods: computational analysis
Article PDFAn experimental "legacy" board game developed from the basic card game, Hearts.
Project PageAn exploration of applying generative deep learning to Alice in Wonderland, as a submission for USC's Wonderland Awards.
Project PageAn experimental interactive medai installation, building off of the TwitchPlaysPokemon style of game, but utilizing crowd-dynamics as player-game input.
Project PageA lecture and data analysis delivered at GDC about the TwitchPlaysPokemon phenomenon.
Project VideoAn experimental web app that allows you to input a friend's name on their birthday, which then generates an infrequently-viewed YouTube video singing the Happy Birthday song with that particular name included.
Project PageReddit's annual "Global Reddit Meetup Day," organized in Los Angeles 2014.
Project PageFirst-prize winning hackathon project at the Los Angeles 2012 Immigration Journalism Hackathon, which uses open-source immigration data to explore and visualize transnational connections between migrant communities.
Project Page"The Hidden Value of Punching Trees: Minecraft & the Future of Game Culture," a research lecture presented at Penny Arcade Expo 2011.
Project VideoAn invited research lecture presented in the 2011 Active Cultures series at the USC Pacific Asia Museum.
Project PageFeel free to reach out to me on Twitter, Mastadon, or LinkedIn.
You can see examples of my publications and code at Google Scholar and GitHub.
I teach professional development classes on Maven.com. You can see more about my curriculum offerings and sign up for classes at the link below.
I do some limited mentorship, through the Trust & Safety Professionals Association. You can find my Calendly link for setting up a meeting using the button below.
I am also available for consulting, invited keynotes, professional development mentoring, or other business engagements. To inquire or send an invitation, please fill out the email form by clicking the button below.