Frank Waddell

Frank Waddell has been published in a variety of outlets including the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, PRESENCE and Computers in Human Behavior, among others. He also has presented at a range of conferences including ICA, AEJMC and the American Psychological Association. He has also processed more than a thousand papers in his role as an editorial assistant for the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (2013-present), the flagship journal of ICA for research on the psychological effects of technological mediation.

He is interested in the ways that nascent trends in digital media (e.g., dual screen interaction) are moderating the psychological effects that media elicit. His research focuses on the ability of emerging media to serve as a source of communication, both individually and collectively. This includes technologies that either allow users to express themselves (e.g., avatar-mediated communication, video games) or that afford the ability to monitor the collective sentiment of others (e.g., social media, social television). Frank’s passion for media effects was fostered by his interests as an aspiring film student at Virginia Tech, where his coursework in documentary production led to a fascination regarding the possible prosocial influence of film. Although he has ventured away from Hollywood aspirations, he remains driven by the desire to understand the ways that new media shape our perceptions of the world around us.