A Department of Homeland Security Emeritus Center of Excellence led by the University of Maryland

Social Media


Social Media

Project Title Investigators Project Period
Developing Impact and Effectiveness Assessment Tool for Influence Operations Steve Sin January, 2021 to December, 2021
Social Media Influencers: Re-domaining Fashion Industry Forecasting to Anticipate Online Extremist Radicalization Barnett S. Koven, Ramon F. Brena March, 2018 to September, 2019
Computational Modeling of Grievances and Political Instability Through Global Media Gary LaFree September, 2014 to September, 2019
Two to Tango: Government and Terrorist Group Actions in Colombia Barnett S. Koven March, 2018 to June, 2018
Resources and Resilience: A Computational Model of Strategic Influence January, 2018 to June, 2018
Comprehensive Testing of Imminent Threat Public Messages for Mobile Devices (MDP) Brooke Liu, Hamilton Bean, Marcus A. Boyd, Michele Wood June, 2012 to June, 2015
Mapping and Evaluating Online Salafi-Jihadism Arie Kruglanski, Jarret Brachman, Michele Gelfand July, 2012 to December, 2014
Social Media Use during Disasters Brooke Liu July, 2012 to October, 2013
The Role of the Media in the Recruitment of Terrorists: Mass Communication and the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of Muslims in Indonesia Douglas M. McLeod June, 2007 to May, 2009
Textual Analysis of Electronic Media Coverage of Homeland Security-Related Risks Lisa Keranen September, 2006 to May, 2009
Project Title Publication Date START Authors Publication Type
#JESUISPARIS?: An Appeal to Hypocrisy and Justifications for Mass Casualty Violence October 2019 Ligon, Gina Scott Journal Article
A Comparison of ISIS Foreign Fighters and Supporters Social Media Posts: An Exploratory Mixed-method Content Analysis November 2019 Freilich, Joshua Journal Article
A Practical Taxonomy for Online Terrorist Content July 2021 Braniff, William Report
An Information, Motivation, and Behavioral Skills Perspective on Terrorist Propaganda August 2019 Lemieux, Anthony Book Chapter
Beyond Image Repair: Suggestions for Crisis Communication Theory Development September 2014 Liu, Brooke; Fraustino, Julia Journal Article
Can taking down websites really stop terrorists and hate groups? September 2017 Freilich, Joshua; Chermak, Steven Discussion Point
Clearing the Smoke and Breaking the Mirrors: Using Attitudinal Inoculation to Challenge Online Disinformation by Extremists September 2020 Braddock, Kurt Book Chapter
Comparing Social Media and Traditional Surveys Around the Boston Marathon Bombing April 2016 McGrath, Erin; LaFree, Gary Conference Paper
Computational Social Science: Understanding Terrorist Attacks on Twitter July 2016 McGrath, Erin Discussion Point
Crisis Information Seeking and Sharing (CISS): Scale Development for Measuring Publics’ Communicative Behavior in Social-Mediated Public Health Crises April 2019 Jin, Yan Journal Article
Cultivating Trust and Perceptions of Source Credibility in Online Counternarratives Intended to Reduce Support for Terrorism April 2018 Braddock, Kurt Journal Article
Data-Driven System Identification of the Social Network Dynamics in Online Postings of an Extremist Group June 2016 Freilich, Joshua; Chermak, Steven Conference Paper
Digital Participation Roles of the Global Jihad: Social Media’s Role in Bringing Together Vulnerable Individuals and VEO Content March 2018 Ligon, Gina Scott White Paper
Disaster Warnings in Your Pocket: How Audiences Interpret Mobile Alerts for an Unfamiliar Hazard March 2016 Liu, Brooke; Mileti, Dennis; Bean, Hamilton; Sutton, Jeannette; Wood, Michele; Madden, Stephanie Journal Article
Disentangling Social Media Influence in Crises: Testing a Four-factor Model of Social Media Influence with Large Data November 2018 Liu, Brooke Journal Article
Domestic Terrorism and Digital Media: Planning in Cyberspace August 2019 Smith, Brent; Gruenewald, Jeff; Fitzpatrick, Kevin Book Chapter
Encouraging and Assessing the Validity of Answers to Questions about Radicalization: The Use of Meta-opinions March 2018 McCauley, Clark; Moskalenko, Sophia White Paper
Examining the Online Expression of Ideology among Far-Right Extremist Forum Users January 2020 Freilich, Joshua; Chermak, Steven Journal Article
Examining the Role of Social Media in Effective Crisis Management: The Effects of Crisis Origin, Information Form, and Source on Publics' Crisis Responses August 2017 Liu, Brooke; Jin, Yan Journal Article
Experiencing Disasters Indirectly: How Traditional and New Media Disaster Coverage Impacts Youth January 2008 Pfefferbaum, Betty Journal Article
How Disaster Information Form, Source, Type, and Prior Disaster Exposure Affect Public Outcomes: Jumping on the Social Media Bandwagon? January 2015 Liu, Brooke; Fraustino, Julia; Jin, Yan Journal Article
Instruments and Arrangements against Online Terrorism Relating to International Cooperation August 2019 Leuprecht, Christian Book Chapter
Legal Restrictions and Challenges for Police and Law Enforcement Authorities August 2019 Hodwitz, Omi Book Chapter
Legislation Specifically Targeting the Use of the Internet to Recruit Terrorists August 2019 Freilich, Joshua; Chermak, Steven Book Chapter
Lethal Brands: How VEOs Build Reputations May 2015 Ligon, Gina Scott Journal Article
Loners, Colleagues, or Peers? Assessing the Social Organization of Radicalization April 2018 Freilich, Joshua; Chermak, Steven Journal Article
Miscommunication during the anthrax attacks: How events reveal organizational failures January 2007 Chess, Caron Journal Article
Narrative Persuasion and Violent Extremism: Foundations and Implications February 2020 Braddock, Kurt Book Chapter
On My Way January 2010 Conference Paper
Online Networks of the Italian and German Extreme Right: An Explorative Study with Social Network Analysis February 2009 Caiani, Manuela Journal Article
Powers and Problems of Integrating Social Media Data with Public Health and Safety September 2015 LaFree, Gary Conference Paper
Psychology and Morality of Political Extremists: Evidence from Twitter Language Analysis of Alt-right and Antifa May 2019 Cioffi-Revilla, Claudio Journal Article
Retweeting Risk Communication: The Role of Threat and Efficacy August 2018 Sutton, Jeannette Journal Article
Rumor Response, Debunking Response, and Decision Makings of Misinformed Twitter Users during Disasters May 2018 Zhuang, Jun Journal Article
Search Engines: Terrorism's Killer App July 2008 Harwood, Paul; Asal, Victor Journal Article
Social Media Use during Disasters: A Review of the Knowledge Base and Gaps December 2012 Liu, Brooke; Fraustino, Julia; Jin, Yan START Reports
Social Media Use during Disasters Fact Sheet May 2013 Liu, Brooke; Fraustino, Julia; Jin, Yan Project Fact Sheet
Strategic Uses of the Internet by Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia November 2008 McLeod, Douglas M. Book Chapter
Taking Effective Risk and Crisis Communication for Granted? August 2013 Liu, Brooke; Petrun, Elizabeth Discussion Point
Terror, Trauma, and Text: Writing Counterrevolution in Colonial Algeria November 2009 Book Chapter
Terrorist Propaganda After the Islamic State: Learning, Emulation, and Imitation December 2019 Braddock, Kurt Book Chapter
Terse Message Amplification in the Boston Bombing Response May 2014 Sutton, Jeannette Conference Paper
The Internet in the Islamic world: No panacea for democracy. January 2008 McLeod, Douglas Journal Article
The Online Caliphate: Internet Usage and ISIS Support in the Arab World May 2019 Piazza, James A. Journal Article
The Paradox of Source Credibility in Canadian and U.S. Domestic Counterterrorism Communications April 2018 Szmania, Susan Journal Article
The Scared, the Outraged, and the Anxious: How Crisis Emotions, Involvement, and Demographics Predict Publics' Conative Coping April 2016 Liu, Brooke; Fraustino, Julia; Jin, Yan Journal Article
The Social-Meditated Crisis Communication (SMCC) Model: Identifying the Next Frontier December 2020 Liu, Brooke; Jin, Yan Book Chapter
The Use of Social Media by United States Extremists July 2018 Safer-Lichtenstein, Aaron ; Yates, Elizabeth; LaFree, Gary; Jensen, Michael; James, Patrick Research Brief
Toward More Audience-Oriented Approaches to Crisis Communication and Social Media Research January 2018 Liu, Brooke; Fraustino, Julia Book Chapter
Trends of Anashid Usage in Da‘esh Video Messaging and Implications for Identifying Terrorist Audio and Video January 2019 Lemieux, Anthony Journal Article
Triggered by Defeat or Victory? Assessing the Impact of Presidential Election Results on Extreme Right-Wing Mobilization Online August 2020 Freilich, Joshua; Chermak, Steven Journal Article
Understanding Motivated Publics during Disasters: Examining Message Functions, Frames, and Styles of Social Media Influentials and Followers October 2019 Liu, Brooke Journal Article
Using Google and Twitter to Measure, Validate and Understand Views about Religion across Africa June 2019 Adamczyk, Amy; LaFree, Gary Journal Article
Vaccinating Against Hate: Using Attitudinal Inoculation to Confer Resistance to Persuasion by Extremist Propaganda November 2019 Braddock, Kurt Journal Article
Weaponized Words: The Strategic Role of Persuasion in Violent Radicalization and Counter-Radicalization June 2020 Braddock, Kurt Book
Title Byline
UWT director speaks about influence operations for Laboratory for Analytic Sciences podcast Erin Copland
Taken to extremes: Faculty Q&A with Michael Jensen Liam Farrell
START formalizes commitment to Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism Erin Copland
UMD researchers win $1.5M Minerva Grant to understand social media information campaigns Jessica Rivinius
Farah Pandith explores how to defeat the extremist threat Erin Copland
Innovative START project wins UMD-TEC seed funding Zane Moses
Computational Social Science: Understanding terrorist attacks on Twitter Erin C. McGrath, Cody Buntain
Risk communication researchers earn top paper awards
START researchers earn $2.6 million NSF grant to investigate social media’s ability to predict political instability Jessica Rivinius
START’s TRACC receives FEMA approval Jessica Rivinius
Discussion Point: Taking Effective Risk and Crisis Communication for Granted? Elizabeth Petrun, Brooke Liu
Can verbal communication quell terrorist violence?
Under Secretary Sonenshine speaks to University of Maryland about State Department's public diplomacy successes Mary Beck
New Book: European and American Extreme Right Groups and the Internet
START to expand social media presence Mary Beck
START Research Brief: Al-Shabaab's use of Twitter
New report: Social media use during disasters
Detecting deception
START researcher awarded top paper
START researchers awarded nearly $1 million to improve effectiveness of emergency alert text messaging Nicholas Munson
Interns extend growing relationship between START and State Department Kelly Kline
START Releases 2011 Research Review
START Investigators Participate in 2011 American Sociological Association Annual Conference
START Announces 2009-10 Terrorism Research Awards
START Announces Fellowships for 2005-06
Image Title Job Title Institution
Alexandra Williams

Junior Researcher

 University of Maryland
Photo of Brooke Liu Brooke Liu

Professor of Communication and START Affiliated Faculty Member

 University of Maryland
Holly Roberts

Affiliated Faculty, Strategic Communications Lead at Akoya
Karina Panyan

Research Assistant, Global Terrorism Database (GTD), START

 University of Maryland
Kurt Braddock

Assistant Professor, American University

 American University
Max Erdemandi

Ph.D. Student, Communication Science and Social Cognition

 University of Maryland
Megan Rutter

Junior Researcher, START

 University of Maryland
Rhyner Washburn

Cyber Intelligence Researcher, START

 University of Maryland
Salma Bouziani

Project Manager/Researcher, START

 University of Maryland
Tyler A. Clark

Junior Researcher, UWT

 University of Maryland

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