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Brooke Foucault Welles
Professor of Communication Studies
617.373.5517
Expertise
children/adolescents & media, computational social science, computer-mediated communication, design research, network science, social network analysis

Brooke Foucault Welles in the Press

Brooke Foucault Welles for Northeastern Global News

Britney Spears posing for photos at the GLAAD Media Awards in 2018.

#FreeBritney movement is proof social media can help shift the narrative, new Northeastern research finds

Researchers examined Wikipedia, TMZ and Twitter to see how the #FreeBritney movement came to be as conversations about Spears evolved.

On Twitter, journalists and politicians have more credibility on vaccines than medical experts, study finds

Black, Indigenous, and other non-white people in the United States are more likely to turn to sources within their own communities for information about the pandemic and the coronavirus vaccine, finds a new study of Twitter users led by researchers from Northeastern.

Race, gender, shape high school students’ support for First Amendment protections

Boys and white students are less inclined than girls and students of color to agree with the statement: “The First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees,” researchers at Northeastern and the Knight Foundation found.

Social media spotlight: Brooke Foucault Welles

Twitter is deeply intertwined with Welles’ academic work. We asked her about how she approaches using the social media platform for her research and teaching, what lessons she’s learned along the way, and about that time Michelle Obama tweeted at her.

3Qs: Trapped in social media ‘echo chambers’

Social media has become a go-to platform for people to express their opinions on the hot topics of the day. But in many cases, people are sharing those thoughts with those who have similar opinions. Here, assistant professor Brooke Foucault Welles explains how this trend correlates to offline debates.
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3Qs: Professors weigh in on SCOTUS decision, free speech on social media

On Monday, the Supreme Court for the first time addressed the implications of free speech on social media. In the case Elonis v. United States, the court reversed the conviction of a Pennsylvanian man accused of making threats on Facebook against his estranged wife. In the decision, the court held that while threatening communication—a “true […]

Looking ahead: Social movements in 2015

Marches and demonstrations aimed at shaping the conversation around race and social inequalities captured the nation's attention in 2014. Here, Northeastern assistant professor Sarah Jackson talks about what we've learned from recent activism and what we might expect in 2015.

Social networks’ hidden resources

Assistant professor Brooke Foucault Welles is studying how people can better understand and leverage their social networks to identify valuable and previously unnoticed connections or resources. She says this work could be particularly valuable for the military.

3Qs: A closer look at hashtag activism

Social media activism can be a powerful tool to raise awareness about an issue, says Brooke Foucault Welles, an assistant professor of communication studies whose research looks at how social networks shape and constrain behavior.

3Qs: The social impact of social networks

Though some have argued the opposite, social media actually makes us more social, says assistant professor of communication studies Brooke Foucault Welles.