Ankolika De

Ankolika De

Inaugural Postdoctoral Fellow
Vanderbilt University
College of Connected Computing
Computing + Society
About Me

Hello! I'm Ankolika,
a transdisciplinary researcher.

I am a Postdoctoral Fellow at Vanderbilt University's College of Connected Computing, in the Computing + Society program. I study how people engage with and adapt to platform technologies, including but not limited to AI systems and social media. I also analyze how technological change is framed in corporate and public discourse.

I collaborate with communities to design more inclusive and accountable systems. Using methods such as interviews, focus groups, content and discourse analysis, and participatory design, I center user perspectives. My research draws from Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Science, Information Sciences, Sociology, Media Studies, Design, Critical Platform Studies, and Science and Technology Studies.

I hold a Ph.D. in Informatics from Pennsylvania State University and a B.S. in Computer Science with a minor in Psychology from City University of Hong Kong, where I graduated with First Class Honours. My work has been presented and published at ACM CHI, CSCW, FAccT, AIES, ICA, AOIR and in journals including New Media & Society, Platforms & Society, and Convergence.

Outside of research, I'm an avid Bharatanatyam dancer and was part of Natya, Penn State's only competitive classical dance team. I enjoy swimming, reading, cooking, and travelling. I also participate in open mic poetry, and enjoy reading, writing and listening to the same.

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Research Agenda

I study how power, its production, stabilization, reconfiguration and negotiation in sociotechnical systems. To do so, I try to study platform appropriation, institutional discourse, and the politics of research itself.

Read My Research Statement →
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Selected Publications

View All on Google Scholar →
2026
What is Safety? Corporate Discourse, Power, and the Politics of Generative AI Safety
De, A., Lima, G., & Zou, Y.
ACM CHI 2026
2026
The Discursive Flexibility of Changecraft: Platform Change Discourse in Meta, TikTok, YouTube, and X
De, A. & Cotter, K.
Platforms & Society
2025
"Business on WhatsApp is tough now—but am I really a businesswoman?" Exploring Challenges with Adapting to Changes in WhatsApp Business
De, A.
ACM CHI 2025
2025
Who Gets Heard? Calling Out the "Hard-to-Reach" Myth for Non-WEIRD Populations' Recruitment and Involvement in Research
De, A., Kanthawala, S., & Maddox, J.
ACM FAccT 2025
2025
Who is a Good Digital Activist? Exploring Social Justice Activists' Adaptation to Instagram's Algorithmic Changes
De, A. & Cotter, K.
Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact.
2025
Towards Experience-Centered AI: A Framework for Integrating Lived Experience in Design and Development
Gautam, S., Chandra, M., De, A., Chakravorti, T., et al.
AAAI/ACM AIES 2025
2024
#PoetsofInstagram: Navigating the Practices and Challenges of Novice Poets on Instagram
De, A. & Lu, Z.
ACM CHI 2024
2023
Algorithmic Conspirituality: Explicating its Emergence, Dimensions, and Persuasibility
Kanthawala, S., Cotter, K., Ritchart, A., De, A., et al.
New Media & Society
★ Best Paper ICA 2023
View All 17 Publications on Google Scholar →
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Education

2022 — 2026
Ph.D. Informatics
Human-Centered Computing & Social Informatics
Pennsylvania State University
College of Information Sciences and Technology
Advisor: Dr. Kelley Cotter
Thesis: Decentered End Users' Tensions Due to Rapid Platform Change
2018 — 2022
B.S. Computer Science
Minor in Psychology
City University of Hong Kong
Department of Computer Science
First Class Honors · Advisor: Dr. Zhicong Lu
★ Best Undergraduate Research Award — Pan-Delta Competition
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Honors & Awards

2026
Graduate Student Residency Grant — Penn State Humanities Institute
$5,000 seed funding for "Platform Discourses and User Experiences: When Design and Practice Are at Odds."
2025
Alumni Association Graduate Fellowship — Fox Graduate School, Penn State
$5,000 award for outstanding research, given university-wide to select graduate students.
2025
Runner-Up, Research Excellence in Penn State IST
One of the highest annual honors in the College of Information Sciences and Technology.
2025
Best Doctoral Consortium Presentation — ACM GROUP
Best poster and presentation at the ACM GROUP Doctoral Consortium.
2024
Liberatory Tech Fellow — Logic(s) by Columbia University
$4,000 fellowship supporting research at the intersection of technology and critical theory.
2023
Best Paper Award — ICA 2023, Communication and Technology Division
For "Algorithmic Conspirituality: Explicating its Emergence, Dimensions, and Persuasibility."
2022
Graham Endowment Fellowship — Penn State
Competitive $4,000 grant awarded at the start of the PhD program.
2018
Full Tuition Fee Scholarship — City University of Hong Kong
Merit-based scholarship covering full tuition for all four undergraduate years (~$60,000 USD).
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Updates

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