Assistant professor Nazanin Andalibi will be the keynote speaker at the Third Annual Reddit Mod Summit on Sept. 17. The virtual event  brings together moderators on the popular social media site Reddit to discuss what’s new on the platform and interact with each other and the company’s leadership. 

Her talk, “The Promises and Perils of Online Communities for Social Support and Wellbeing,” will highlight Andalibi’s in how social media can facilitate both social support and community as well as harm and exclusion for marginalized people.

“I am excited about the opportunity to share key insights from my research with an audience that is so well-positioned to make practical changes for improving online communities,” says Andalibi. “To me, this invitation is a signal of my work's broader impact beyond the academic community.”

Andalibi hopes that her talk inspires Reddit moderators, designers, and decision-makers to “consider how where and for whom inequities manifest in subreddits, and how to foster and sustain more explicitly and meaningfully inclusive and compassionate online spaces supportive of diverse, marginalized, life experiences and identities.”

She adds, “If Reddit, as a platform, decides to implement some of my design recommendations, then all the better!”

This summit is being held online and is open only to invited participants. 

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Read more about assistant professor Nazanin Andalibi’s research. 

Read more about Andalibi’s expertise in The Atlantic, Tech Monitor, and The Conversation.