Scaling Citizen Behavioral Science for Discoveries on Effective Online Dialogue and Knowledge Creation

TWCF0411

  • TWCF Number:

    0411

  • Project Duration:

    January 1, 2021 - December 31, 2023

  • Core Funding Area:

    Character Virtue Development

  • Region:

    North America

  • Amount Awarded:

    $999,888

  • Grant DOI*:

    https://doi.org/10.54224/20411

    • *A Grant DOI (digital object identifier) is a unique, open, global, persistent and machine-actionable identifier for a grant.

Director: J. Nathan Matias

Institution: Cornell University

Digital communication has enabled dialogue and knowledge creation at previously unimaginable scales. Billions of people take part in online communities that span vast physical and cultural distances. 

These digital connections have made society more resilient to global crises. But they also produced online communities rife with conflict, exclusion, and sometimes violence. For these communities to cooperate more effectively, they must foster virtue-based behaviors, social connections, and social norms.

Directed by Dr. J. Nathan Matias, this project will conduct field experiments designed to advance the practice of flourishing in online communities. It will conduct 15 studies aimed at improving online dialog and knowledge creation. The project will work collaboratively with the large communities on Wikipedia and Reddit to design and execute these experiments via a participatory process. Both platforms have hundreds of distinct, volunteer-run communities that could host field experiments. The project will benefit these communities by informing evidence-based practices in dialog and knowledge creation.

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