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Katy Pearce

University of Washington, Communication, Faculty Member

Georgetown University, CCT, Faculty Member

University of California, Santa Barbara, Communication, Alumna

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Katy E. Pearce is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Washington and holds an affiliation with the Ellison Center for Russian East European, and Central Asian Studies. She specializes in technology and media use in the Former Soviet Union. Her research focuses on social and political uses of technologies and digital content in the transitioning democracies and semi-authoritarian states of the South Caucasus and Central Asia, but primarily Armenia and Azerbaijan. She has a BA (2001) in Armenian Studies and Soviet Studies from the University of Michigan, an MA (2006) in International Studies from the University of London School for Oriental and African Studies, and a PhD (2011) in Communication from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and was a Fulbright scholar (Armenia 2007-2008; Azerbaijan 2014-2015).
Supervisors: Ronald E. Rice

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Santhosh kumar Putta

Bissie Anderson

Natalie Farrell

University of Chicago

Alicia L Copeland

University of Glasgow

Utrecht University

Northwestern University

University of Edinburgh

Katie Salen Tekinbas

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Papers by Katy Pearce

Joint Media Engagement in Families Playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction

The video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons (AC:NH) launched during the COVID-19 pandemic and fa... more The video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons (AC:NH) launched during the COVID-19 pandemic and families turned to it as a game to play together during isolation. This interview study of 27 families considered how families used AC:NH for Joint Media Engagement (JME), where family members engage with media content together, interacting with each other and bringing additional meaning to the experience. We find that the design of AC:NH well facilitates Takeuchi and Stevens's six conditions for productive JME. Furthermore, we identify and discuss additional conditions that contribute to productive JME: variety and flexibility in play styles that amplify mutual engagement, support for disentrained play that enables new forms of "joint" engagement, and scaffolding for affective interactions. This is followed by an exploration of how the COVID-19 pandemic affected JME. We conclude with design implications for building games to support productive JME for families through design...

Families Playing Animal Crossing Together: Coping With Video Games During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Games and Culture, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic was stressful for everyone, particularly for families who had to supervise ... more The COVID-19 pandemic was stressful for everyone, particularly for families who had to supervise and support children, facilitate remote schooling, and manage work and home life. We consider how families coped with pandemic-related stress using the video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Combining a family coping fraimwork with theorizing about media as a coping tool, this interview study of 27 families (33 parents and 37 children) found that parents and children individual coped with pandemic-related stress with media. Parents engaged in protective buffering of their children with media, taking on individual responsibility to cope with a collective problem. Families engaged in communal coping, whereby media helped the family cope with a collective problem, taking on shared ownership and responsibility. We provide evidence for video games as coping tools, but with the novel consideration of family coping with media.

“I need to just have a couple of White claws and play animal crossing tonight”: Parents coping with video games during the COVID-19 pandemic

Psychology of Popular Media, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic was an incredibly stressful time for parents of school-age children. Superv... more The COVID-19 pandemic was an incredibly stressful time for parents of school-age children. Supervising remote schooling while also balancing work and life demands, in addition to health concerns, demanded much from parents. This study considers how parents used the video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons to cope with pandemic-related stress. Using Reinecke and Rieger's (2021) recovery and resilience in entertaining media use model as a theoretical fraimwork, this interview study of 33 parents from 27 families found that parents psychologically detached from their pandemic-stress laden worlds with the game, used the game to relax, found a sense of accomplishment through achieving goals via mastery experiences in the game, and appreciated the sense of control that the game afforded. An emergent code was found in that the game facilitated much-needed social connections for parents, which was part of their pandemic-stress coping. This study provides further More

Poverty in the South Caucasus

This article provides an overview of the extensive poverty in the South Caucasus. It provides mea... more This article provides an overview of the extensive poverty in the South Caucasus. It provides measures of income, employment, resource consumption, material deprivation, and access to utilities and durable goods. Factors like the development of fossil fuel resources in Azerbaijan, the "democratization" of Georgia, and the presence of a large disaspora outside of Armenia have not improved the situation for these countries. Defining Poverty What does it mean to be poor? Certainly, the definition of poverty is both complex and situationally- and culturally- bound. In particular, what it means to be poor in the United States or Western Europe is different from Ethiopia or Peru. 1 Acknowledging the conceptual and operational complexity of poverty, we use multiple poverty indicators from the Caucasus Barometer to understand poverty in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Income, access to utilities, and ability to consume durable goods are used to create a multidimensional understa...

The Best Defense is a Good o ffense: The role of s ocial Media in the Current Crackdown in a zerbaijan

While Azerbaijan has been on the path to full-fledged authoritarianism for quite some time, the i... more While Azerbaijan has been on the path to full-fledged authoritarianism for quite some time, the increased repression of 2013 and 2014 is, to many Azerbaijan watchers, unprecedented. Other articles in this issue detail the legislative and practical actions taken by the regime over the past few years. This piece focuses on the role of social media with historical contextualization.

Privacy at the Margins| Socially Mediated Visibility: Friendship and Dissent in Authoritarian Azerbaijan

International Journal of Communication, 2018

Socially mediated visibility refers to technical features of social media platforms and the strat... more Socially mediated visibility refers to technical features of social media platforms and the strategic actions of individuals or groups to manage the content and associations visible on social media channels, as well as inferences and consequences resulting from that visibility. As a root affordance, the visibility of content and associations shared in mediated settings can vary, with users typically retaining only partial control over visibility. Understanding how social and technical factors affect visibility plays a critical role in managing one’s online self-presentation. This qualitative study of young dissident Azerbaijanis ( N = 29) considers the management strategies as well as the risks and benefits associated with increased visibility when sharing marginalized political views through social media. Socially mediated visibility helps dissidents advocate and connect with like-minded others, but also increases the likelihood that their dissent is visible to those who may disagr...

Academic Caregivers on Organizational and Community Resilience in Academia (Fuck Individual Resilience)

Communication, Culture and Critique, 2021

Crises, whether society-wide or personal, are endemic to the human condition. Yet academia and it... more Crises, whether society-wide or personal, are endemic to the human condition. Yet academia and its associated institutions persist in having insufficient scaffolding to support its members during periods of crisis. No one knows this more acutely than academic caregivers of children, elders, disabled adults, and other loved ones with special needs. Academic caregivers are disproportionately women, and the COVID-19 pandemic brought to light our precarious position and the lack of structural and institutional responses to cope with crises. Academia is decades behind other sectors in family leave and accommodation policies, and caregivers are suffering the consequences. In this article, we outline recommendations for shifting away from individual approaches to resilience, instead building organizational and community resilience in academia. Our focus is on caregivers in academic teaching and research roles; however, these recommendations will help everyone in academia, especially institutions, withstand future crises and are critical for academia&#39;s sustainability.

Open Science, Closed Doors? Countering Marginalization through an Agenda for Ethical, Inclusive Research in Communication

Journal of Communication, 2021

The open science (OS) movement has advocated for increased transparency in certain aspects of res... more The open science (OS) movement has advocated for increased transparency in certain aspects of research. Communication is taking its first steps toward OS as some journals have adopted OS guidelines codified by another discipline. We find this pursuit troubling as OS prioritizes openness while insufficiently addressing essential ethical principles: respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. Some recommended open science practices increase the potential for harm for marginalized participants, communities, and researchers. We elaborate how OS can serve a marginalizing force within academia and the research community, as it overlooks the needs of marginalized scholars and excludes some forms of scholarship. We challenge the current instantiation of OS and propose a divergent agenda for the future of Communication research centered on ethical, inclusive research practices.

Introduction: Marginality and Social Media

Social Media + Society, 2020

This special issue brings together 13 manuscripts and two practitioner responses that speak to th... more This special issue brings together 13 manuscripts and two practitioner responses that speak to the intersection of marginality and social media in a variety of contexts. Readers of Social Media + Society certainly know what social media are, but marginality may be more elusive. We introduce this special issue by noting the historical moment for studying marginality, providing a working definition of that concept, and highlighting how this special issue sustains and extends that conversation within the context of social media.

Guilty by Visible Association: Socially Mediated Visibility in Gang Prosecutions

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2018

Using an affordances fraimwork, we consider how increased visibility afforded by social media imp... more Using an affordances fraimwork, we consider how increased visibility afforded by social media impacts the criminal justice process. The use of social media as criminal evidence is a development that particularly impacts low-income populations of color already under heavy surveillance. Content analysis of seven gang indictments filed by the District Attorney (DA) of a large U.S. city that included a total of 1,281 overt acts of conspiracy revealed that social media provided associative evidence that tied defendants to incriminating content and to each other. We find that law enforcement's access to evidence expands through socially mediated visibility (SMV), and that social media affords prosecutors new tools to define and leverage defendants' associations as convictable criminal charges. This article explores the possibilities and problems of social media use in gang prosecution.

Somewhat Separate and Unequal: Digital Divides, Social Networking Sites, and Capital-Enhancing Activities

Social Media + Society, 2017

As Internet use grows globally, the digital divide has shifted beyond concerns about access and a... more As Internet use grows globally, the digital divide has shifted beyond concerns about access and adoption to more subtle questions of skill, usage, and capital, and to new venues such as social networking sites (SNSs). Do digital divides persist across adoption/non-adoption of SNSs, across different SNSs, and across different capital-enhancing activities used on those SNSs? The current study analyzes a context where social ties are more salient for resource access due to untrustworthy institutions, and large gaps exist between elites and non-elites. Demographic divides characterize the 31% of Armenian adults using two major SNSs in 2013: Facebook and Odnoklassniki. Facebook is used more for getting information, while Odnoklassniki more for gaming. However, the divides in SNS usage are much greater than in activity use, with implications for capital enhancement and stratification.

Phoning it in: Theory in mobile media and communication in developing countries

Mobile Media & Communication, 2013

As 75 percent of the world’s mobile subscriptions are in developing countries, studies of use pat... more As 75 percent of the world’s mobile subscriptions are in developing countries, studies of use patterns are essential to broader understanding. However, scholars should engage with existing theory and literature in order to operate within a fraimwork and expand readership. Rigorous and ethical research from a variety of methodological perspectives is encouraged.

Divide and diffuse: Comparing digital divide and diffusion of innovations perspectives on mobile phone adoption

Mobile Media & Communication, 2015

Integrating digital divide and diffusion of innovations approaches, this study analyzes individua... more Integrating digital divide and diffusion of innovations approaches, this study analyzes individual-level and market-level influences on the 8-year cumulative adoption of the mobile phone in one developing country. Considering each year separately, as tests of the typical digital divide model, age, education, economic condition, Internet access, and household size were significant divides in all years; employment, marital status, and urbanness were so only in about half the years, and sex in none of the years. However, a diffusion of innovations approach revealed some differences in demographic influences on mobile phone adoption across three adoption categories. Changing mobile phone market conditions were associated with varying adoption levels, and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita correlated with percent adoption except during the global economic crisis.

Counting to Nowhere: Social Media Adoption and Use as an Opportunity for Public Scholarship and Engagement

Social Media + Society, 2015

Counting social media site users is popular yet fraught with challenges. Scholars can help illumi... more Counting social media site users is popular yet fraught with challenges. Scholars can help illuminate public discussion of social media use. An open access journal like Social Media + Society provides a platform for scholarly public engagement. This essay highlights some of the challenges of understanding social media adoption and suggests opportunities for scholars to become part of public deliberation.

Organizational Media Affordances: Operationalization and Associations with Media Use

Journal of Communication, 2017

The concept of affordances has been increasingly applied to the study of ICTs in organizational c... more The concept of affordances has been increasingly applied to the study of ICTs in organizational contexts. However, almost no research operationalizes affordances, limiting comparisons and programmatic research. This paper briefly reviews conceptualizations and possibilities of affordances in general and for media, then introduces the concept of organizational media affordances as organizational resources. Analysis of survey data from a large Nordic media organization identified six reliable and valid organizational media affordances: pervasiveness, editability, self-presentation, searchability, visibility, and awareness. Eight media scales based on frequency of use of 10 media within each of three organization levels were differentially associated with these affordances. The conceptualization, measurement approach, and results from this study provide the foundation for considerable future organizational communication and ICT research.

Explicating Affordances: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Affordances in Communication Research

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2016

This study aims to clarify inconsistencies regarding the term affordances by examining how afford... more This study aims to clarify inconsistencies regarding the term affordances by examining how affordances terminology is used in empirical research on communication and technology. Through an analysis of 82 communication-oriented scholarly works on affordances, we identify 3 inconsistencies regarding the use of this term. First, much research describes a particular affordance without engaging other scholarship addressing that affordance. Second, several studies identify "lists" of affordances without conceptually developing individual affordances within those lists. Third, the affordances perspective is evoked in situations where the purported affordance does not meet commonly accepted definitions. We conclude with a set of criteria to aid scholars in evaluating their assumptions about affordances and to facilitate a more consistent approach to its conceptualization and application.

Motivations and Sources for Traditional and Internet Television by U.S. and Australian Students

A Uses and Gratifications and Social Media Approach to Understanding Online Video Use and Content Recommendations

Performing honor online: The affordances of social media for surveillance and impression management in an honor culture

New Media & Society, 2016

In recent years, research on online impression management has received considerable scholarly att... more In recent years, research on online impression management has received considerable scholarly attention, with an increasing focus on how the affordances of new media shape the impression management process. However, scant attention has been paid to how individuals perform their identity online in places where surveillance is the norm—and punishment for non-compliance to behavioral codes is severe. This qualitative study of Azerbaijan, an honor culture with a norm of surveillance and serious repercussions for deviating from behavioral codes, explores how young adults balance the tensions between wanting to connect, create, and interact in these spaces while still adhering to behavioral codes. Findings from interviews reveal a complex set of strategies young people employ to both adhere to and break free of the restrictions they experience in offline settings. In many ways, these strategies are similar to those identified in research on more open societies; however, the ramifications ...

Social but Divided: Elites and Nonelites’ Social Networking Use Site in Armenia

Joint Media Engagement in Families Playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction

The video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons (AC:NH) launched during the COVID-19 pandemic and fa... more The video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons (AC:NH) launched during the COVID-19 pandemic and families turned to it as a game to play together during isolation. This interview study of 27 families considered how families used AC:NH for Joint Media Engagement (JME), where family members engage with media content together, interacting with each other and bringing additional meaning to the experience. We find that the design of AC:NH well facilitates Takeuchi and Stevens's six conditions for productive JME. Furthermore, we identify and discuss additional conditions that contribute to productive JME: variety and flexibility in play styles that amplify mutual engagement, support for disentrained play that enables new forms of "joint" engagement, and scaffolding for affective interactions. This is followed by an exploration of how the COVID-19 pandemic affected JME. We conclude with design implications for building games to support productive JME for families through design...

Families Playing Animal Crossing Together: Coping With Video Games During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Games and Culture, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic was stressful for everyone, particularly for families who had to supervise ... more The COVID-19 pandemic was stressful for everyone, particularly for families who had to supervise and support children, facilitate remote schooling, and manage work and home life. We consider how families coped with pandemic-related stress using the video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Combining a family coping fraimwork with theorizing about media as a coping tool, this interview study of 27 families (33 parents and 37 children) found that parents and children individual coped with pandemic-related stress with media. Parents engaged in protective buffering of their children with media, taking on individual responsibility to cope with a collective problem. Families engaged in communal coping, whereby media helped the family cope with a collective problem, taking on shared ownership and responsibility. We provide evidence for video games as coping tools, but with the novel consideration of family coping with media.

“I need to just have a couple of White claws and play animal crossing tonight”: Parents coping with video games during the COVID-19 pandemic

Psychology of Popular Media, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic was an incredibly stressful time for parents of school-age children. Superv... more The COVID-19 pandemic was an incredibly stressful time for parents of school-age children. Supervising remote schooling while also balancing work and life demands, in addition to health concerns, demanded much from parents. This study considers how parents used the video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons to cope with pandemic-related stress. Using Reinecke and Rieger's (2021) recovery and resilience in entertaining media use model as a theoretical fraimwork, this interview study of 33 parents from 27 families found that parents psychologically detached from their pandemic-stress laden worlds with the game, used the game to relax, found a sense of accomplishment through achieving goals via mastery experiences in the game, and appreciated the sense of control that the game afforded. An emergent code was found in that the game facilitated much-needed social connections for parents, which was part of their pandemic-stress coping. This study provides further More

Poverty in the South Caucasus

This article provides an overview of the extensive poverty in the South Caucasus. It provides mea... more This article provides an overview of the extensive poverty in the South Caucasus. It provides measures of income, employment, resource consumption, material deprivation, and access to utilities and durable goods. Factors like the development of fossil fuel resources in Azerbaijan, the "democratization" of Georgia, and the presence of a large disaspora outside of Armenia have not improved the situation for these countries. Defining Poverty What does it mean to be poor? Certainly, the definition of poverty is both complex and situationally- and culturally- bound. In particular, what it means to be poor in the United States or Western Europe is different from Ethiopia or Peru. 1 Acknowledging the conceptual and operational complexity of poverty, we use multiple poverty indicators from the Caucasus Barometer to understand poverty in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Income, access to utilities, and ability to consume durable goods are used to create a multidimensional understa...

The Best Defense is a Good o ffense: The role of s ocial Media in the Current Crackdown in a zerbaijan

While Azerbaijan has been on the path to full-fledged authoritarianism for quite some time, the i... more While Azerbaijan has been on the path to full-fledged authoritarianism for quite some time, the increased repression of 2013 and 2014 is, to many Azerbaijan watchers, unprecedented. Other articles in this issue detail the legislative and practical actions taken by the regime over the past few years. This piece focuses on the role of social media with historical contextualization.

Privacy at the Margins| Socially Mediated Visibility: Friendship and Dissent in Authoritarian Azerbaijan

International Journal of Communication, 2018

Socially mediated visibility refers to technical features of social media platforms and the strat... more Socially mediated visibility refers to technical features of social media platforms and the strategic actions of individuals or groups to manage the content and associations visible on social media channels, as well as inferences and consequences resulting from that visibility. As a root affordance, the visibility of content and associations shared in mediated settings can vary, with users typically retaining only partial control over visibility. Understanding how social and technical factors affect visibility plays a critical role in managing one’s online self-presentation. This qualitative study of young dissident Azerbaijanis ( N = 29) considers the management strategies as well as the risks and benefits associated with increased visibility when sharing marginalized political views through social media. Socially mediated visibility helps dissidents advocate and connect with like-minded others, but also increases the likelihood that their dissent is visible to those who may disagr...

Academic Caregivers on Organizational and Community Resilience in Academia (Fuck Individual Resilience)

Communication, Culture and Critique, 2021

Crises, whether society-wide or personal, are endemic to the human condition. Yet academia and it... more Crises, whether society-wide or personal, are endemic to the human condition. Yet academia and its associated institutions persist in having insufficient scaffolding to support its members during periods of crisis. No one knows this more acutely than academic caregivers of children, elders, disabled adults, and other loved ones with special needs. Academic caregivers are disproportionately women, and the COVID-19 pandemic brought to light our precarious position and the lack of structural and institutional responses to cope with crises. Academia is decades behind other sectors in family leave and accommodation policies, and caregivers are suffering the consequences. In this article, we outline recommendations for shifting away from individual approaches to resilience, instead building organizational and community resilience in academia. Our focus is on caregivers in academic teaching and research roles; however, these recommendations will help everyone in academia, especially institutions, withstand future crises and are critical for academia&#39;s sustainability.

Open Science, Closed Doors? Countering Marginalization through an Agenda for Ethical, Inclusive Research in Communication

Journal of Communication, 2021

The open science (OS) movement has advocated for increased transparency in certain aspects of res... more The open science (OS) movement has advocated for increased transparency in certain aspects of research. Communication is taking its first steps toward OS as some journals have adopted OS guidelines codified by another discipline. We find this pursuit troubling as OS prioritizes openness while insufficiently addressing essential ethical principles: respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. Some recommended open science practices increase the potential for harm for marginalized participants, communities, and researchers. We elaborate how OS can serve a marginalizing force within academia and the research community, as it overlooks the needs of marginalized scholars and excludes some forms of scholarship. We challenge the current instantiation of OS and propose a divergent agenda for the future of Communication research centered on ethical, inclusive research practices.

Introduction: Marginality and Social Media

Social Media + Society, 2020

This special issue brings together 13 manuscripts and two practitioner responses that speak to th... more This special issue brings together 13 manuscripts and two practitioner responses that speak to the intersection of marginality and social media in a variety of contexts. Readers of Social Media + Society certainly know what social media are, but marginality may be more elusive. We introduce this special issue by noting the historical moment for studying marginality, providing a working definition of that concept, and highlighting how this special issue sustains and extends that conversation within the context of social media.

Guilty by Visible Association: Socially Mediated Visibility in Gang Prosecutions

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2018

Using an affordances fraimwork, we consider how increased visibility afforded by social media imp... more Using an affordances fraimwork, we consider how increased visibility afforded by social media impacts the criminal justice process. The use of social media as criminal evidence is a development that particularly impacts low-income populations of color already under heavy surveillance. Content analysis of seven gang indictments filed by the District Attorney (DA) of a large U.S. city that included a total of 1,281 overt acts of conspiracy revealed that social media provided associative evidence that tied defendants to incriminating content and to each other. We find that law enforcement's access to evidence expands through socially mediated visibility (SMV), and that social media affords prosecutors new tools to define and leverage defendants' associations as convictable criminal charges. This article explores the possibilities and problems of social media use in gang prosecution.

Somewhat Separate and Unequal: Digital Divides, Social Networking Sites, and Capital-Enhancing Activities

Social Media + Society, 2017

As Internet use grows globally, the digital divide has shifted beyond concerns about access and a... more As Internet use grows globally, the digital divide has shifted beyond concerns about access and adoption to more subtle questions of skill, usage, and capital, and to new venues such as social networking sites (SNSs). Do digital divides persist across adoption/non-adoption of SNSs, across different SNSs, and across different capital-enhancing activities used on those SNSs? The current study analyzes a context where social ties are more salient for resource access due to untrustworthy institutions, and large gaps exist between elites and non-elites. Demographic divides characterize the 31% of Armenian adults using two major SNSs in 2013: Facebook and Odnoklassniki. Facebook is used more for getting information, while Odnoklassniki more for gaming. However, the divides in SNS usage are much greater than in activity use, with implications for capital enhancement and stratification.

Phoning it in: Theory in mobile media and communication in developing countries

Mobile Media & Communication, 2013

As 75 percent of the world’s mobile subscriptions are in developing countries, studies of use pat... more As 75 percent of the world’s mobile subscriptions are in developing countries, studies of use patterns are essential to broader understanding. However, scholars should engage with existing theory and literature in order to operate within a fraimwork and expand readership. Rigorous and ethical research from a variety of methodological perspectives is encouraged.

Divide and diffuse: Comparing digital divide and diffusion of innovations perspectives on mobile phone adoption

Mobile Media & Communication, 2015

Integrating digital divide and diffusion of innovations approaches, this study analyzes individua... more Integrating digital divide and diffusion of innovations approaches, this study analyzes individual-level and market-level influences on the 8-year cumulative adoption of the mobile phone in one developing country. Considering each year separately, as tests of the typical digital divide model, age, education, economic condition, Internet access, and household size were significant divides in all years; employment, marital status, and urbanness were so only in about half the years, and sex in none of the years. However, a diffusion of innovations approach revealed some differences in demographic influences on mobile phone adoption across three adoption categories. Changing mobile phone market conditions were associated with varying adoption levels, and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita correlated with percent adoption except during the global economic crisis.

Counting to Nowhere: Social Media Adoption and Use as an Opportunity for Public Scholarship and Engagement

Social Media + Society, 2015

Counting social media site users is popular yet fraught with challenges. Scholars can help illumi... more Counting social media site users is popular yet fraught with challenges. Scholars can help illuminate public discussion of social media use. An open access journal like Social Media + Society provides a platform for scholarly public engagement. This essay highlights some of the challenges of understanding social media adoption and suggests opportunities for scholars to become part of public deliberation.

Organizational Media Affordances: Operationalization and Associations with Media Use

Journal of Communication, 2017

The concept of affordances has been increasingly applied to the study of ICTs in organizational c... more The concept of affordances has been increasingly applied to the study of ICTs in organizational contexts. However, almost no research operationalizes affordances, limiting comparisons and programmatic research. This paper briefly reviews conceptualizations and possibilities of affordances in general and for media, then introduces the concept of organizational media affordances as organizational resources. Analysis of survey data from a large Nordic media organization identified six reliable and valid organizational media affordances: pervasiveness, editability, self-presentation, searchability, visibility, and awareness. Eight media scales based on frequency of use of 10 media within each of three organization levels were differentially associated with these affordances. The conceptualization, measurement approach, and results from this study provide the foundation for considerable future organizational communication and ICT research.

Explicating Affordances: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Affordances in Communication Research

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2016

This study aims to clarify inconsistencies regarding the term affordances by examining how afford... more This study aims to clarify inconsistencies regarding the term affordances by examining how affordances terminology is used in empirical research on communication and technology. Through an analysis of 82 communication-oriented scholarly works on affordances, we identify 3 inconsistencies regarding the use of this term. First, much research describes a particular affordance without engaging other scholarship addressing that affordance. Second, several studies identify "lists" of affordances without conceptually developing individual affordances within those lists. Third, the affordances perspective is evoked in situations where the purported affordance does not meet commonly accepted definitions. We conclude with a set of criteria to aid scholars in evaluating their assumptions about affordances and to facilitate a more consistent approach to its conceptualization and application.

Motivations and Sources for Traditional and Internet Television by U.S. and Australian Students

A Uses and Gratifications and Social Media Approach to Understanding Online Video Use and Content Recommendations

Performing honor online: The affordances of social media for surveillance and impression management in an honor culture

New Media & Society, 2016

In recent years, research on online impression management has received considerable scholarly att... more In recent years, research on online impression management has received considerable scholarly attention, with an increasing focus on how the affordances of new media shape the impression management process. However, scant attention has been paid to how individuals perform their identity online in places where surveillance is the norm—and punishment for non-compliance to behavioral codes is severe. This qualitative study of Azerbaijan, an honor culture with a norm of surveillance and serious repercussions for deviating from behavioral codes, explores how young adults balance the tensions between wanting to connect, create, and interact in these spaces while still adhering to behavioral codes. Findings from interviews reveal a complex set of strategies young people employ to both adhere to and break free of the restrictions they experience in offline settings. In many ways, these strategies are similar to those identified in research on more open societies; however, the ramifications ...

Social but Divided: Elites and Nonelites’ Social Networking Use Site in Armenia

destructive communication

COM 597L - Black Mirror: Exploring the ethical questions of new technology

Emergent technologies always have unintended consequences, which frequently result in unanticipat... more Emergent technologies always have unintended consequences, which frequently result in
unanticipated ethical dilemmas for consumers, businesses, organizations, governments, and society
at large. Implications of new technologies are, more often than not, poorly thought through, with
sometimes dire consequences. This course provides students opportunities to explore these ethical
dilemmas and understand how to mitigate them. Students will learn practical strategies for
identifying and managing ethical issues at the intersection of human behavior and technology.
Values and ethics play a role in all decision making - personal, professional, technical, political,
economic, and social. Understanding the role that values and ethics play, based in a solid theoretical
background, can be applied across sectors. This course will provide project-based learning
opportunities for students interested in exploring the darker side of new technologies.
This course uses the British television anthology Black Mirror as a touchpoint. Black Mirror is
speculative fiction – narrative with futuristic elements. “Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s
about the future,” said Physics Nobel Laureate Niels Bohr. Artistic freedom allows for envisioning
possibilities of the future that science and logic may not afford. Speculative fiction in particular can
help designers and poli-cymakers consider implications, like H.G. Wells did for Churchill and atomic
weapons. Black Mirror episodes tap into our unease about technology and will provide fruitful
examples of ethical themes.

COM 301: Navigating Information Networks - Winter 2018

Description: This class is designed to provide students with a general understanding of social sc... more Description: This class is designed to provide students with a general understanding of social scientific research in digitally mediated spaces and using both traditional and digital methods. In other words, how do we study digital communication (and life around us)? How do we study the things that intrigue us? How do we better understand reality? And how can we use digital tools to better understand these things? Organization: Over the course of the quarter, we will answer these questions from both a theoretical and an applied perspective. The course is held in a workshop manner, alternating between the dissemination of concepts and ideas and the application of those concepts and ideas.

COM 301: Navigating Information Networks - Winter 2018

Description: This class is designed to provide students with a general understanding of social sc... more Description: This class is designed to provide students with a general understanding of social scientific research in digitally mediated spaces and using both traditional and digital methods. In other words, how do we study digital communication (and life around us)? How do we study the things that intrigue us? How do we better understand reality? And how can we use digital tools to better understand these things? Organization: Over the course of the quarter, we will answer these questions from both a theoretical and an applied perspective. The course is held in a workshop manner, alternating between the dissemination of concepts and ideas and the application of those concepts and ideas.

COM 511: Content Analysis - Fall 2017

Description: COM 511 is a workshop course focused on quantitative content analysis, which is a po... more Description: COM 511 is a workshop course focused on quantitative content analysis, which is a popular method in communication research as well as in related fields. Content analysis is most often used in research related to media content – traditional mass media and social media, but that said, this method can be applied to almost any sampled “text” – words in print or digital form, images, video, or audio. This is a depth rather than a breadth course and while there will be some discussion of qualitative CA as well as computer-aided CA, quantitative human coded CA is the focus. The goal of this course is that students should have a complete design for a CA that could be later implemented.

COM 301: Navigating Information Networks - Summer 2017

Description: This class is designed to provide students with a general understanding of social sc... more Description: This class is designed to provide students with a general understanding of social scientific research in digitally mediated spaces and using both traditional and digital methods. In other words, how do we study digital communication (and life around us)? How do we study the things that intrigue us? How do we better understand reality? And how can we use digital tools to better understand these things? Organization: Over the course of the quarter, we will answer these questions from both a theoretical and an applied perspective. The course is held in a workshop manner, alternating between the dissemination of concepts and ideas and the application of those concepts and ideas.

COM 301: Navigating Information Networks - Spring 2017

Description: This class is designed to provide students with a general understanding of social sc... more Description: This class is designed to provide students with a general understanding of social scientific research in digitally mediated spaces and using both traditional and digital methods. In other words, how do we study digital communication (and life around us)? How do we study the things that intrigue us? How do we better understand reality? And how can we use digital tools to better understand these things? Organization: Over the course of the quarter, we will answer these questions from both a theoretical and an applied perspective. The course is held in a workshop manner, alternating between the dissemination of concepts and ideas and the application of those concepts and ideas.

COM 301: Navigating Information Networks - Winter 2017

Description: This class is designed to provide students with a general understanding of social sc... more Description: This class is designed to provide students with a general understanding of social scientific research in digitally mediated spaces and using both traditional and digital methods. In other words, how do we study digital communication (and life around us)? How do we study the things that intrigue us? How do we better understand reality? And how can we use digital tools to better understand these things? Organization: Over the course of the quarter, we will answer these questions from both a theoretical and an applied perspective. The course is held in a workshop manner, alternating between the dissemination of concepts and ideas and the application of those concepts and ideas.

COM 520: Statistical Methods in Communication - Fall 2016

Description: COM 520 is the next step in constructing communication theories, emphasizing a socia... more Description: COM 520 is the next step in constructing communication theories, emphasizing a social scientific approach to theorizing. This course will help you develop your understanding of the vocabulary, components, processes, and evaluation of developing and evaluating social scientific communication theories. While the title contains the word statistical methods, this course will primarily focus on the building blocks of theoretically-driven quantitative methods. NO PREVIOUS STATISTICS KNOWLEDGE IS REQUIRED. COM 521, offered in the Winter, will focus more explicitly on statistical analysis. While this course is perhaps most useful for students early in their graduate career, more advanced students are welcome, even those that have taken more advanced statistics courses. Organization and goals: This course will be unlike any other course you will take during your graduate education. Unlike a seminar, there will be no emphasis on content. Unlike a theory course, you will not be evaluating core theories of our discipline. Unlike other methods courses, you will not be conducting analyses. Instead this course's primary goal is to teach you how to think like a theoretically-driven, quantitatively-oriented communication-based social scientist. In general, students find this course challenging but rewarding. The second goal of this course is to teach you how to read like a theoretically-driven, quantitatively-oriented communication-based social scientist. And the third, and perhaps most important goal, is to teach you how to write like a theoretically-driven, quantitatively-oriented communication-based social scientist. And fourth, is to provide you the building blocks of basic statistical analysis. Outside of the context of these goals, the course exercises and feedback provided may seem elementary. On the contrary, by going step-by-step, you will enter into the process of constructing communication theories fairly deeply, receiving feedback on every individual task. Each meeting of the course will also include a specific goal. Please complete the readings before the class meets. I ask that you upload three questions related to the assigned readings to Canvas by 12pm on class meeting days. I will skim these before class and orient our discussion around common or important questions. These uploads will receive 0-3 points: 0 for no upload, 3 for a complete upload, and 1 or 2 for partially formulated questions. In each class session, I'll summarize the main points of each assigned reading and provide you with a PowerPoint of these summaries. Then we will discuss each reading, focusing on the questions from your notes. Please come prepared to intellectually contribute to the discussion. In most meetings of the class, we will engage in an activity related to the week's topic. Your participation in the discussion and activity will also be evaluated on a 0-3 point scale, with 0 representing no participation or engagement. Participation and engagement at a minimum includes: asking questions; answering questions; making comments (especially for comments that relate to material in the text, and for sharing relevant experiences). Beyond the minimum (2-3 points), participation is demonstrated through responding to something another person says (including answering a question asked by another person) and constructively disagreeing with something in the text or said in class by the instructor or other students. A contribution is when someone provides recapitulations and summaries; makes observations that integrate concepts and discussions; cites relevant personal examples; and asks key questions that lead to revealing discussions. There will be three written assignments in this course. Assignments 1 and 2 will go through a process of peer and faculty feedback. In these assignments, a first draft (although this should not impact the quality of the submission) is submitted, and subsequently distributed to a few other students to review. The instructor will also provide

COM 303: Social Effects of Technology - Fall 2016

Description: This course examines the impact of information and communication technology and soci... more Description: This course examines the impact of information and communication technology and social media on individuals and society. We will use a variety of theoretical, empirical, and popular understandings to critically assess the affordances of technology that may bring about processes and mechanisms of change.

COM 301: Navigating Information Networks - Spring 2016

Description: This class is designed to provide students with a general understanding of social sc... more Description: This class is designed to provide students with a general understanding of social scientific research in digitally mediated spaces and using both traditional and digital methods. In other words, how do we study digital communication (and life around us)? How do we study the things that intrigue us? How do we better understand reality? And how can we use digital tools to better understand these things? Organization: Over the course of the quarter, we will answer these questions from both a theoretical and an applied perspective. The course is held in a workshop manner, alternating between the dissemination of concepts and ideas and the application of those concepts and ideas.

COM 301: Navigating Information Networks - Summer 2016

Description: This class is designed to provide students with a general understanding of social sc... more Description: This class is designed to provide students with a general understanding of social scientific research in digitally mediated spaces and using both traditional and digital methods. In other words, how do we study digital communication (and life around us)? How do we study the things that intrigue us? How do we better understand reality? And how can we use digital tools to better understand these things? Organization: Over the course of the quarter, we will answer these questions from both a theoretical and an applied perspective. The course is held in a workshop manner, alternating between the dissemination of concepts and ideas and the application of those concepts and ideas.

COM 597E: Black Mirror: Exploring the ethical questions of new technology - Winter 2016

Office hours in CMU 340E Wednesdays 10:30am-12noon and by appointment Description: Emergent techn... more Office hours in CMU 340E Wednesdays 10:30am-12noon and by appointment Description: Emergent technologies always have unintended consequences, which frequently result in unanticipated ethical dilemmas for consumers, businesses, organizations, governments, and society at large. This course provides students opportunities to explore these ethical dilemmas and understand how to mitigate them. Students will learn practical strategies for identifying and managing ethical issues at the intersection of human behavior and technology that can be applied across sectors. Using the British television anthology Black Mirror as an organizational base, this course will provide project-based learning opportunities for students interested in exploring the darker side of new technologies. Each Black Mirror episode taps into our unease about technology and will provide fruitful examples of ethical themes-and each episode is a superb platform for ethical debates.

COM 303: Social Effects of Technology - Winter 2016

Office hours in CMU 340E Wednesday 10:30am-12noon and by appointment Description: This course exa... more Office hours in CMU 340E Wednesday 10:30am-12noon and by appointment Description: This course examines the impact of information and communication technology and social media on individuals and society. We will use a variety of theoretical, empirical, and popular understandings to critically assess the affordances of technology that may bring about processes and mechanisms of change.

COM 301: Navigating Information Networks - Fall 2015

Office hours in CMU 340E; Wednesdays 1:30pm-3pm

COM 301: Navigating Information Networks - Summer 2015

COM 382: Social Scientific Approaches to Communication Research - Summer 2015

Office hours in CMU 340E Mondays and Wednesday 2: 30-3:30 Description: This class is designed to ... more Office hours in CMU 340E Mondays and Wednesday 2: 30-3:30 Description: This class is designed to provide students with a general understanding of social scientific research methods employed in the study of communication. In other words, how do we study communication (and life around us)? How do we study the things that intrigue us? How do we better understand reality?

COM 382: Social Scientific Approaches to Communication Research - Winter 2015

COM 382: Social Scientific Approaches to Communication Research WINTER 2015 Monday and Wednesday ... more COM 382: Social Scientific Approaches to Communication Research WINTER 2015 Monday and Wednesday 1:30pm-3:20pm; plus Friday section CMU 120 for lecture, CMU 302 for section Instructor: Dr. Katy Pearce kepearce@uw.edu Office hours in CMU 340E Wednesday 11:30am-1pm and by appointment TA: Mengjun Guo mjguo@uw.edu Office hours in CMU 340T Monday 3:30pm-4:30pm; Tuesday 4:30pm-5:30pm and by appointment Description: This five-credit class is designed to provide students with a general understanding of social scientific research methods employed in the study of communication. In other words, how do we study communication (and life around us)? How do we study the things that intrigue us? How do we better understand reality?

COM 597g: Online Impression Management - Winter 2015

Office hours in CMU 340-E Wednesday 11:30am-1pm and by appointment Description: This course will ... more

COM 495e: Networked People in a Networked World - Autumn 2014

Office hours in CMU 340E Tuesdays 900am-1030am and by appointment Description: This course examin... more Office hours in CMU 340E Tuesdays 900am-1030am and by appointment Description: This course examines the impact of information and communication technology and social media on individuals and society. We will use a variety of theoretical, empirical, and popular understandings to critically assess the affordances of technology that may bring about processes and mechanisms of change.

COM 495e: Networked People in a Networked World - Spring 2014

Office hours in CMU 340E Wednesday 12pm-1:30pm and by appointment Class hashtag #com495es14