Eugenia Ha Rim Rho

I’m a PhD Candidate at the School of Information & Computer Sciences at the University of California Irvine.

My research examines the nature of online engagement around substantive social issues & identities and how the design of online spaces shape such interactions. I use both qualitative (interviews studies, content analysis, controlled experiments) & quantitative (machine learning, statistics) approaches to examine online interactions, discourse, and perceptions around social topics.

In doing so, I explore to what extent design choices influence online interaction around loaded social & political issues. Through a large-scale experimental survey, I have examined how the presence of political hashtags & affective comments on social media news articles shape how people perceive and discuss news content. Through my work, I have also explored how design choices around anonymity and moderation in online spaces shape how communities are formed & how people find support around extremely sensitive topics.

Overall, my work is motivated by pressing concerns around how online spaces can be designed to foster interaction and discourse that can bridge rather than sharpen social differences.

Recently, I have worked at Facebook (Menlo Park) & the University of Chicago as a PhD Research Intern. Prior to UCI, I studied Political Science at Columbia University and worked as a management consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers & Opera Solutions in NYC and Seoul.

Please visit eugeniarho.com to see my published work.