Julie Jiang received her PhD in Computer Science in May 2024, and she was supervised by Emilio Ferrara. She was born and raised in China, then she went to college at Tufts University, where she double majored in computer science and mathematics. 

Why did you choose a computer science field? 

When I went to Tufts about 9 years ago, it was the coolest thing that everyone wanted to study, and Introduction to Computer Science was by far the most popular class. Half the freshman class was studying it, so I felt compelled to hop on the bandwagon. Then I realized that I actually liked it and switched majors. 

Why did you choose ISI? What makes ISI unique? 

I visited ISI during the Viterbi PhD visit day in 2019. It was a fun two-day event where I got to learn about some of ISI’s research, and I met some amazing professors and current students that I really wanted to work with. Everyone was excited to talk about their work, share their experience, and discuss new research ideas. It was the kind of energy and vibe I was looking for in my PhD program. Oh, and definitely LA. The beautiful ISI building in Marina del Rey was an easy sell.

What were your primary research focuses? 

I researched online human behavior on social media. In this digital age, everyone’s so connected, yet paradoxically we’re also very disconnected because there’s a lot of misinformation floating around. Your Internet self is probably not the most accurate representation of who you really are. I’m fascinated about why people do what they do and say what they say, and this interest in human behavior extends to every social media platform we interact on. 

What’s the most impactful project you’ve worked on? 

For one project, we worked on the idea that social approvals were a motivating factor for online hate speech. Using computational methods, we investigated empirically how hateful users behave on Twitter, and came to the conclusion that social approvals (such as likes) may reinforce a hateful person's toxic behavior. This could have an immense impact on how we address online toxicity. 

What implications does your research have on future developments/society? 

We found that social engagement can moderate or motivate hate speech. If you receive positive social engagement for your toxic posts, you’re likely to become more hateful in the future. This brings a paradigm shift on how we can potentially moderate and curate online spaces. We could even stop hate speech before it happens because we know that social gratification motivates people. 

What is the biggest takeaway from your time at ISI? 

From collaborating with everyone at ISI, I learned how to conduct academic research. Now I'm well equipped both technically and scientifically to pursue the career in computer science that I want. 

What are your plans after ISI? 

I traveled a bit after graduating, and have now joined Meta as a research scientist working on high-impact projects. I also have many continuing projects with people at ISI that I would like to see to fruition!