Laurent Wang is an assistant professor in the Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations of the Moody College of Communication. His research focuses on the social and psychological uses and effects of information communication technologies (e.g., social media, AI), with particular emphasis on how people negotiate online privacy decisions and navigate digital inequality challenges. He has published in leading journals in his field, such as Communication Research, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Journal of Advertising, Communication Monographs and New Media & Society. His research activities have been supported by various funding sources, such as the National Science Foundation and the Washington Media Scholars Foundation. He has also received prestigious research awards at UC Santa Barbara, such as the James J. Bradac Award and the Steven H. Chaffee Award for Excellence in Research. His current research investigates the effectiveness of message-based interventions designed to evoke human resistance to dataveillance and to combat feelings of privacy helplessness in algorithm-driven digital contexts.
