Nicole B Ellison

Biographic Data

ID92848
NAMENicole B Ellison
GIVEN NAMESNicole B
FAMILY NAMEEllison
SIGNATUREELLISON N B
AFFILIATIONSUniversity of Michigan
ORCID0000-0003-2793-4842
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS51
TOTAL CITATIONS2851
AUTHOR COUNT51
EDITOR COUNT0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR1999
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2026
H-INDEX14

  • Seeing like an API: Platform-mediated research and the politics of access

    Open AccessZoë Cullen, Zoë Natalia Cullen et al.ARTICLEBig Data & Society2026

    This study examines the challenges that researchers faced while accessing, interpreting, and assessing data accessed via Meta's now-sunset CrowdTangle (CT) application programming interface (API). Drawing on interviews with 20 academic users, we introduce the framework of Seeing like an API to illustrate how CT's technical design, governance rules, and platform-mediated knowledge networks shaped what researchers could see, ask, and conclude about…

  • “It’s Your Finsta at the End of the Day . . . Kind of”: Understanding Emerging Adults’ Self-Presentational Changes on Secondary Accounts

    Open AccessMichelle Tao, Nicole B EllisonARTICLESocial Media + Society2023

    This study explores emerging adults’ reflections about how their secondary Instagram account (“Finsta” or Fake Instagram) self-presentation evolved over time, from account creation to their present use. Drawing on interview data collected from female emerging adults ( N = 17) who had at least one Finsta and one Rinsta (i.e., Real Instagram), we use Emerging Adulthood as a frame for understanding how their content-sharing practices changed, reflec…

  • On My Head About It: College Aspirations, Social Media Participation, and Community Cultural Wealth

    Open AccessMichael G Brown, Cassidy Pyle et al.ARTICLESocial Media + Society2022Cited by: 1References: 41

    Given the widespread use of social media among adolescents, online interactions that facilitate high school students' college knowledge acquisition could have a transformative impact on college access patterns, especially for underrepresented students. Our study uses interview data collected from Black high school students in Detroit ( N = 24) to examine their experiences and perceptions as they prepare for the transition to post-secondary educat…

  • From observation on social media to offline political participation: The social media affordances approach

    Open AccessD H Kim, Nicole B EllisonARTICLENew Media & Society2021Cited by: 15References: 17

    Building on prior studies suggesting that social media can facilitate offline political participation, this study seeks to clarify the mechanism behind this link. Social media may encourage social learning of political engagement due to their unique affordances such as visibility (i.e. once-invisible political activities by others are now visible on social media feeds). By analyzing a two-wave survey conducted before the 2016 presidential electio…

  • Rejection sensitivity and interaction quality in everyday life

    Open AccessJoseph B Bayer, Penny Trieu et al.ARTICLEJournal of Social and Personal…2021Cited by: 3References: 69

    The elevated satisfaction that comes from interacting with close ties, as opposed to distal ties, is well-established in past research. What remains less clear is how the quality of daily interactions between close versus distal ties may vary as a function of personality. Drawing on data from a 2-week experience sampling study ( N = 108 participants, N = 7755 observations), we consider how trait rejection sensitivity (RS)-or the tendency to worry…

  • Implications of Facebook Engagement Types and Feed's Social Content for Self-Esteem via Social Comparison Processes

    Open AccessPenny Trieu, Nicole B Ellison et al.ARTICLESocial Media + Society2021Cited by: 2References: 42

    Self-esteem, generally understood as subjective appraisal of one's social worth and qualities, is related to how people use social media and the gratifications derived from their use-processes driven in part by social comparison. Two major components of the social media experience drive social comparison processes: (1) what content people engage with (feeds content) and (2) how they engage with such content (engagement type). We conducted an eye-…

  • The Strength of Weak Ties Revisited: Further Evidence of the Role of Strong Ties in the Provision of Online Social Support

    Open AccessNicole C Krämer, Vera Sauer et al.ARTICLESocial Media + Society2021Cited by: 6References: 65

    In this work, we challenge the assumption that weak ties play uniquely important social support roles on social network sites, particularly regarding informational support. To overcome methodological limitations of earlier research, we present a mixed-methods study. Forty-one participants were interviewed and asked to identify five weak, medium, and strong ties each and to report on perceived and actually received social support (emotional, infor…

  • Social Media Elements, Ecologies, and Effects

    Joseph B Bayer, Penny Trieu et al.ARTICLEAnnual Review of Psychology2020

    This review delineates core components of the social media ecosystem, specifying how online platforms complicate established social psychological effects. We assess four pairs of social media elements and effects: profiles and self-presentation; networks and social mobilization; streams and social comparison; and messages and social connectedness. In the process, we describe features and affordances that comprise each element, underscoring the co…

  • Why We Don’t Click: Interrogating the Relationship Between Viewing and Clicking in Social Media Contexts by Exploring the “Non-Click”

    Open AccessNicole B Ellison, Penny Trieu et al.ARTICLEJournal of Computer-Mediated…2020Cited by: 26References: 8

    Motivated by work that characterizes view-based social media practices as “passive use,” contrasting it with more desirable, interactive “active use,” this study explores how social media users understand their viewing and clicking practices and the empirical relationship between them. Employing a combination of eye tracking, survey, and interview methods, our study (N = 42) investigates the non-click—instances where people intentionally and thou…

  • Who likes to be reachable? Availability preferences, weak ties, and bridging social capital

    Penny Trieu, Joseph B Bayer et al.ARTICLEInformation Communication & Society2019

    In this paper, we investigate how individual differences in availability preferences are related to (1) self-reported quality of interaction with strong and weak ties and (2) perceptions of bridging social capital. We employed experience sampling methods and collected data over the course of two weeks—combined with surveys at baseline and endpoint, from a random sample of college students (N = 154). We show that individuals who prefer to be more …

  • Channel Navigation in Interpersonal Communication

    Penny Trieu, Nicole B EllisonCHAPTERNetworked Self and Love2018

    This chapter focuses on channel navigation in interpersonal communication contexts: individuals' use of multiple communication channels to maintain their relationships and the relational implications of such use. It first explicates why it is important for researchers to undertake a holistic view of interactions by considering multiple platforms—not just the subset of interactions that occur on one specific channel—when studying interpersonal int…

  • Benefits and Costs of Social Media in Adolescence

    Yalda T Uhls, Nicole B Ellison et al.ARTICLEPEDIATRICS2017

    In 2015, American adolescents aged 13 to 18 years reported using social media 1 hour and 11 minutes a day, 7 days a week. Social media are used for a variety of activities, including sharing information, interacting with peers, and developing a coherent identity. In this review of the research, we examine how social media are intertwined with adolescent development and assess both the costs and benefits of adolescent social media use. We include …

  • Sources of Segregation in Social Networks: A Novel Approach Using Facebook

    Open AccessB Hofstra, R Corten et al.ARTICLEAmerican Sociological Review2017Cited by: 59References: 89

    Most research on segregation in social networks considers small circles of strong ties, and little is known about segregation among the much larger number of weaker ties. This article proposes a novel approach to the study of these more extended networks, through the use of data on personal ties in an online social network. We illustrate this method's potential by describing and explaining the degree of ethnic and gender segregation on Facebook a…

  • A Cross-Cultural Perspective on the Privacy Calculus

    Open AccessSabine Trepte, Leonard Reinecke et al.ARTICLESocial Media + Society2017Cited by: 26References: 12

    The 'privacy calculus' approach to studying online privacy implies that willingness to engage in disclosures on social network sites (SNSs) depends on evaluation of the resulting risks and benefits. In this article, we propose that cultural factors influence the perception of privacy risks and social gratifications. Based on survey data collected from participants from five countries (Germany [ n = 740], the Netherlands [ n = 89], the United King…

  • Mapping the two levels of digital divide: Internet access and social network site adoption among older adults in the USA

    REBECCA P YU, Rebecca Yu et al.ARTICLEInformation Communication & Society2016

    Older adults have increasingly adopted Internet and social network sites (SNSs), but little communication scholarship has explored systematic differences in access within this population. Using a nationally representative sample of Americans over the age of 50 years from the 2012 Health and Retirement Study, we examine Internet access (N = 18,851) and SNS adoption patterns (N = 869) among this sample and explore how these patterns vary by age. Re…

  • Facebook in context(s): Measuring emotional responses across time and space

    Open AccessJoseph B Bayer, Joseph Bayer et al.ARTICLENew Media & Society2016Cited by: 6References: 14

    This article advances a contextual approach to understanding the emotional and social outcomes of Facebook use. In doing so, we address the ambiguity of previously reported relationships between Facebook use and well-being. We test temporal (shorter vs longer time spans) and spatial (at home vs away from home) dimensions of Facebook activity using an innovative approach. By triggering smartphone surveys in response to users’ naturalistic Facebook…

  • The relationships that matter: Social network site use and social wellbeing among older adults in the United States of America

    Open AccessREBECCA P YU, Rebecca Yu et al.ARTICLEAgeing and Society2016Cited by: 9References: 49

    An increasing number of middle-aged and older Americans are using social network sites (SNSs), but little research has addressed how SNS use is associated with social wellbeing outcomes in this population. Using a nationally representative sample of 1,620 Americans older than 50 from the 2012 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we examine the relationship between older adults’ SNS use and social wellbeing associated with non-kin and kin relations …

  • The Question Exists, but You Don't Exist With It: Strategic Anonymity in the Social Lives of Adolescents

    Open AccessNicole B Ellison, Lindsay Blackwell et al.ARTICLESocial Media + Society2016References: 29

    Anonymous interactions may have important implications for adolescents' social and psychological development. In this article, we use semi-structured interview data collected from US adolescents aged 13-18 years ( N = 22) to explore how the specific affordances of an online platform that enables selective anonymity shape adolescents' practices and perceptions. We contribute to scholarship on the effects of anonymous interaction online by surfacin…

  • Social Network Site Affordances and Their Relationship to Social Capital Processes

    Open AccessNicole B Ellison, Jessica VitakOTHERThe Handbook of the Psychology of…2015

    From both the literature and the everyday experiences, it seems clear that social media are enabling new patterns of communication, interaction, and affiliation; how, why, and to what ends social media use is related to social capital outcomes is the focus of this chapter. The chapter synthesizes the literature on social network sites (SNSs) and social capital in order to describe these dynamics. When studying social media, it is important to rem…

  • Sharing the small moments: Ephemeral social interaction on Snapchat

    Joseph B Bayer, Nicole B Ellison et al.ARTICLEInformation Communication & Society2015

    Ephemeral social media, platforms that display shared content for a limited period of time, have become a prominent component of the social ecosystem. We draw on experience sampling data collected over two weeks (Study 1; N = 154) and in-depth interview data from a subsample of participants (Study 2; N = 28) to understand college students’ social and emotional experiences on Snapchat, a popular ephemeral mobile platform. Our quantitative data dem…

  • The Use of Enterprise Social Network Sites for Knowledge Sharing in Distributed Organizations: The Role of Organizational Affordances

    Open AccessNicole B Ellison, Jennifer L Gibbs et al.ARTICLEAmerican Behavioral Scientist2015Cited by: 13References: 77

    Enterprise social network sites (ESNSs) are increasingly being introduced into large multinational organizations. In this article, we consider their potential for supporting knowledge-sharing practices within the organization. First, we build on prior work on affordances by applying notions of collective affordances and affordances for organizing to the study of social media, and we theorize how ESNSs may provide organizational affordances for kn…

  • Assessing structural correlates to social capital in Facebook ego networks

    Brandon Brooks, B Hogan et al.ARTICLESocial Networks2014

  • Social media and college access

    Open AccessNicole B Ellison, Donghee Yvette Wohn et al.ARTICLEinteractions2014

    Social media has become globally ubiquitous, transforming how people are networked and mobilized. This forum explores research and applications of these new networked publics at individual, organizational, and societal levels. --- Shelly Farnham, Editor

  • Social capital and resource requests on Facebook

    Open AccessNicole B Ellison, Rebecca Gray et al.ARTICLENew Media & Society2014Cited by: 21References: 8

    Facebook-enabled resource mobilization attempts—broadcasted status updates in which people ask questions or request information, favors, or other forms of assistance from one’s network—can provide insight into social capital dynamics as they unfold on Facebook. Specifically, these requests and the responses they receive can serve as a window into how, why, and with what results individuals turn to their Friends network for help. In this study, we…

  • Cultivating Social Resources on Social Network Sites: Facebook Relationship Maintenance Behaviors and Their Role in Social Capital Processes

    Open AccessNicole B Ellison, Jessica Vitak et al.ARTICLEJournal of Computer-Mediated…2014Cited by: 104References: 10

    This study explores the relationship between perceived bridging social capital and specific Facebook-enabled communication behaviors using survey data from a sample of U.S. adults (N=614). We explore the role of a specific set of Facebook behaviors that support relationship maintenance and assess the extent to which demographic variables, time on site, total and "actual" Facebook Friends, and this new measure (Facebook Relationship Maintenance Be…