Get to Know Berkman Klein Fellow Hyunjin Seo
a spotlight on one of our 2018-2019 BKC Fellows
This blog profile is part of a collaborative effort between the summer 2018 BKC interns and the Communications team to showcase the tremendous work and backgrounds of our 2018 -'19 BKC fellows.
Hyunjin Seo is an Associate Professor of Strategic Communication and Docking Faculty Scholar in the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Kansas. Dr. Seo’s specializes in social media, network analysis, and strategic communication. She has previously conducted research on the structure of digital communication networks, social media and international communication, and teenager’s usage of social media and collective action. Prior to becoming an academic, Dr. Seo worked as a diplomatic correspondent and an international strategic communications consultant. Dr. Seo earned a Master’s degree in the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri, Columbia and Ph.D. from the Ph.D. from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Dr. Seo was profiled by Amber Hamilton, a summer intern at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society.
Read more stories from our Interns and Fellows!
During her fellowship tenure at the Berkman Klein Center, Dr. Seo is working on a project titled “Collective Action in the Digital Age: A Multilevel Approach.” I had the opportunity to interview her about this project and her goals during her time in Cambridge.
I began the interview by asking Dr. Seo about her previous research endeavors. Specifically, I asked about her project about teen’s social media use and collective action. About this project, Dr. Seo says, “Several years ago, Kansas City experienced some youth-led events turning violent and resulting in shootings and injuries. My team worked with the Kansas City Mayor’s office and other relevant entities to conduct research and present policy recommendations with regard to the city's engagement with youth.”
“Several years ago, Kansas City experienced some youth-led events turning violent and resulting in shootings and injuries. My team worked with the Kansas City Mayor’s office and other relevant entities to conduct research and present policy recommendations with regard to the city's engagement with youth.”
She talked more in depth about the project’s research design saying, "We conducted ten focus groups with a wide cross-section of businesses around the Kansas City area. In addition, we conducted a survey of 200 city-youth between ages 18 to 30 and then examined their use of social media, understanding of flash mobs and other types of interactions and social psychological and demographic information.” She continued with, "One of the findings from this study is that the city's youth programs did not meet the teen’s needs, especially during the summer time. Based on our findings and policy recommendations, the city has assessed that areas programs.”
"One of the findings from this study is that the city's youth programs did not meet the teen’s needs, especially during the summer time. Based on our findings and policy recommendations, the city has assessed that areas programs.”
Dr. Seo’s fellowship year at the Berkman Klein Center focuses on “develop[ing] a multilevel model of collective action for analyzing the role of communication in protests social movements and other types of social change initiatives.” Dr. Seo has conducted several empirical studies about how popular social media platforms are used for collective actions in different countries in the Middle East and Africa. She hopes to use these studies to propose a multilevel model of collective action.
During her time in Cambridge, Dr. Seo hopes to develop a multilevel model of offering policy implications to reconciling and incorporating perspectives from different disciplines. She expects to find a diverse mix of scholars, practitioners, and policy makers involved in the Center to be both compelling and valuable to her.
Read more about our Open 2019 - '20 Fellows Call for applications!
Interviewer
Amber Hamilton
Amber Hamilton is a third year PhD student in Sociology at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Broadly, her research interests focus on race and social media, looking at how Black woman collectively respond to racialized misogyny online. At the Berkman Klein Center, Amber worked as an intern on with the Digital Communication, Politics, and Collective Action team during the summer of 2018.