Sarah Shugar
Biographic Data
| ID | 316606 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sarah Shugar |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sarah |
| FAMILY NAME | Shugar |
| SIGNATURE | SHUGAR S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1917-4313 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 8 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 21 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 8 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Curation Bubbles
Information on social media is characterized by networked curation processes in which users select other users from whom to receive information, and those users in turn share information that promotes their identities and interests. We argue this allows for partisan "curation bubbles" of users who share and consume content with consistent appeal drawn from a variety of sources. Yet, research concerning the extent of filter bubbles, echo chambers,…
The Character of Connection: Platform Affordances and Connective Democracy
While social media optimistically holds the potential to ameliorate political divides by increasing cross-cutting political talk, numerous studies suggest that social media has instead exacerbated political polarization. Yet, social media is incredibly heterogeneous and variation in platform affordances may result in markedly different democratic outcomes. In this article, we turn to the principles of connective democracy to inform a cross-topic …
The Black Pill: (Re)conceptualizing the Black Right in the Era of YouTube Influencers
Political influencers use YouTube to share political media, a practice that has proven integral in the curation of alternative influence networks among the political right. This study examines how Black conservative influencers express Black conservative thought within the broader conservative ecosystem, examining their topics of discussion and comparing these narratives to those of other conservatives within these networks. We employ BERTopic mo…
Categorizing the non-categorical: The challenges of studying gendered phenomena online
Studies of gendered phenomena online have highlighted important disparities, such as who is likely to be elevated as an expert or face gender-based harassment. This research, however, typically relies upon inferring user gender—an act that perpetuates notions of gender as an easily observable, binary construct. Motivated by work in gender and queer studies, we therefore compare common approaches to gender inference in the context of online settin…
Sustained Online Amplification of Covid-19 Elites in the United States
In the absence of clear, consistent guidelines about the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, many people use social media to learn about the virus, public health directives, vaccine distribution, and other health information. As people individually sift through a flood of information online, they collectively curate a small set of accounts, known as crowdsourced elites, that receive disproportionate attention for their COVID-19 content. Howev…
Good Decisions or Bad Outcomes? A Model for Group Deliberation on Value-Laden Topics
Agent-based models present an ideal tool for interrogating the dynamics of communication and exchange. Such models allow individual aspects of human interaction to be isolated and controlled in a way that sheds new insight into complex behavioral phenomena. This approach is particularly valuable in settings beset by confounding factors and mixed empirical evidence. The political communication setting of deliberation is one such salient setting: i…
Why Keep Arguing? Predicting Engagement in Political Conversations Online
Individuals acquire increasingly more of their political information from social media, and ever more of that online time is spent in interpersonal, peer-to-peer communication and conversation. Yet, many of these conversations can be either acrimoniously unpleasant or pleasantly uninformative. Why do we seek out and engage in these interactions? Who do people choose to argue with, and what brings them back to repeated exchanges? In short, why do …
Games for Civic Renewal
In this article, we summarize the first civic games contest, its rules and process, and the results. We describe civics, games, and argue that there is a fruitful intersection to be had between these two fields. Finally, we introduce the winning games
Sustained Online Amplification of Covid-19 Elites in the United States
In the absence of clear, consistent guidelines about the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, many people use social media to learn about the virus, public health directives, vaccine distribution, and other health information. As people individually sift through a flood of information online, they collectively curate a small set of accounts, known as crowdsourced elites, that receive disproportionate attention for their COVID-19 content. Howev…
Curation Bubbles
Information on social media is characterized by networked curation processes in which users select other users from whom to receive information, and those users in turn share information that promotes their identities and interests. We argue this allows for partisan "curation bubbles" of users who share and consume content with consistent appeal drawn from a variety of sources. Yet, research concerning the extent of filter bubbles, echo chambers,…
Why Keep Arguing? Predicting Engagement in Political Conversations Online
Individuals acquire increasingly more of their political information from social media, and ever more of that online time is spent in interpersonal, peer-to-peer communication and conversation. Yet, many of these conversations can be either acrimoniously unpleasant or pleasantly uninformative. Why do we seek out and engage in these interactions? Who do people choose to argue with, and what brings them back to repeated exchanges? In short, why do …
The Black Pill: (Re)conceptualizing the Black Right in the Era of YouTube Influencers
Political influencers use YouTube to share political media, a practice that has proven integral in the curation of alternative influence networks among the political right. This study examines how Black conservative influencers express Black conservative thought within the broader conservative ecosystem, examining their topics of discussion and comparing these narratives to those of other conservatives within these networks. We employ BERTopic mo…
Games for Civic Renewal
In this article, we summarize the first civic games contest, its rules and process, and the results. We describe civics, games, and argue that there is a fruitful intersection to be had between these two fields. Finally, we introduce the winning games
Why Keep Arguing? Predicting Engagement in Political Conversations Online
Individuals acquire increasingly more of their political information from social media, and ever more of that online time is spent in interpersonal, peer-to-peer communication and conversation. Yet, many of these conversations can be either acrimoniously unpleasant or pleasantly uninformative. Why do we seek out and engage in these interactions? Who do people choose to argue with, and what brings them back to repeated exchanges? In short, why do …
Good Decisions or Bad Outcomes? A Model for Group Deliberation on Value-Laden Topics
Agent-based models present an ideal tool for interrogating the dynamics of communication and exchange. Such models allow individual aspects of human interaction to be isolated and controlled in a way that sheds new insight into complex behavioral phenomena. This approach is particularly valuable in settings beset by confounding factors and mixed empirical evidence. The political communication setting of deliberation is one such salient setting: i…
Sustained Online Amplification of Covid-19 Elites in the United States
In the absence of clear, consistent guidelines about the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, many people use social media to learn about the virus, public health directives, vaccine distribution, and other health information. As people individually sift through a flood of information online, they collectively curate a small set of accounts, known as crowdsourced elites, that receive disproportionate attention for their COVID-19 content. Howev…
Categorizing the non-categorical: The challenges of studying gendered phenomena online
Studies of gendered phenomena online have highlighted important disparities, such as who is likely to be elevated as an expert or face gender-based harassment. This research, however, typically relies upon inferring user gender—an act that perpetuates notions of gender as an easily observable, binary construct. Motivated by work in gender and queer studies, we therefore compare common approaches to gender inference in the context of online settin…
Curation Bubbles
Information on social media is characterized by networked curation processes in which users select other users from whom to receive information, and those users in turn share information that promotes their identities and interests. We argue this allows for partisan "curation bubbles" of users who share and consume content with consistent appeal drawn from a variety of sources. Yet, research concerning the extent of filter bubbles, echo chambers,…
The Character of Connection: Platform Affordances and Connective Democracy
While social media optimistically holds the potential to ameliorate political divides by increasing cross-cutting political talk, numerous studies suggest that social media has instead exacerbated political polarization. Yet, social media is incredibly heterogeneous and variation in platform affordances may result in markedly different democratic outcomes. In this article, we turn to the principles of connective democracy to inform a cross-topic …
The Black Pill: (Re)conceptualizing the Black Right in the Era of YouTube Influencers
Political influencers use YouTube to share political media, a practice that has proven integral in the curation of alternative influence networks among the political right. This study examines how Black conservative influencers express Black conservative thought within the broader conservative ecosystem, examining their topics of discussion and comparing these narratives to those of other conservatives within these networks. We employ BERTopic mo…
Computer Science (5 works) · Political science (5 works) · Social Media and Politics (4 works) · Misinformation and Its Impacts (3 works) · Politics (3 works) · Psychology (3 works) · Sociology (3 works) · Communication (2 works) · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies (2 works) · Gender, Feminism, and Media (2 works)