Name
Ceren Budak, "The Pro-Social Ranking Challenge: A Large-scale Cross-Platform Study of Social Media Platform Design Trade-Offs"
Date & Time
Friday, October 17, 2025, 9:10 AM - 9:35 AM
Speakers
Ceren Budak, University of Michigan "The Pro-Social Ranking Challenge: A Large-scale Cross-Platform Study Of Social Media Platform Design Trade-Offs" This talk presents findings from the Pro-social Ranking Challenge, a large-scale field experiment testing whether algorithmic tweaks to social media feeds can foster healthier discourse. Using a browser extension across Facebook, Reddit, and X, we evaluated ranking strategies that prioritized respectful, bridge-building content. I will discuss the (preliminary) findings, their heterogeneity across user groups, the trade-offs we observe across different outcomes of interest, and implications for reconciling engagement-driven business models with the public good. Ceren Budak is an Associate Professor of Information and Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her research interests lie in the area of computational social science. She utilizes network science, machine learning, and crowdsourcing methods and draws from scientific knowledge across multiple social science communities to contribute computational methods to the field of political communication. Her recent scholarship is focused on topics related to news production and consumption, election campaigns, and online social movements.
Ceren Budak
Location Name
Kline Tower 14th Floor
Full Address
Kline Tower
219 Prospect St, 14th Floor
New Haven, CT 06511
United States
Session Type
Lecture