My research focuses on several challenges that came about with the advancement of digital technologies, such as  misinformation, micro-targeting, online content moderation, AI and LLM's (ChatGPT), and - more broadly speaking - the role of social media in our daily media-diet. I am particularly interested in the extent to which the numerous interventions against these potentially harmful phenomena are effective, especially to what extent such interventions may cause unintended spill-over effects, and -- more currently -- how these negative effects can be prevented. 

To give an example, in one project titled 'Elusive Effects of Misinformation and the Media's Attention to it'  I argue that the amount of attention to misinformation in the media (i.e. the media covering misinformation as an issue) may not be in proportion to the magnitude of the problem of misinformation. Relatedly, in my recently published paper titled  'Interventions against Misinformation Reduce Misperceptions but Increase Skepticism', I show that fact-checking, media literacy efforts and coverage of misinformation come at a cost. 

My work has been published at leading scopus-indexed peer-reviewed journals, including Nature Human Behavior, Political Communication, Communications Psychology, Scientific Reports, European Political Science Review, European Journal of Political Research and the Journal of Quantitative Description (JQD). 

Method-wise, I enjoy designing survey- and field-experiments, and use computational social science approaches leveraging digital trace-data. 

In my free time, you can find me in the swimming pool or behind my piano. 

PUBLICATIONS

* denotes equal contribution

Altay, S., de Angelis, A., & Hoes, E.* (2024). Media Literacy Tips Promoting Reliable News Improve Discernment and Enhance Trust in Traditional Media. Communications Psychology, 2 (74). 

Hoes, E., Aitken, B., Gackowski, T., Zhang, J., & Wojcieszak, M. (2024). Prominent Misinformation Interventions Reduce Misperceptions but Increase Skepticism. Nature Human Behavior, 1-9. 

Marchal, N., Hoes, E., Klüser, K. J., Hamborg, F., Katzenbach, C., Alizadeh, M., & Kubli, M. (2024). The Role of Media Coverage in Platform Policy Change. Political Communication, 1-19.

Nasr, M. & Hoes., E. (2023). The Times They Are A-Changing: An experimental assessment of the causes and consequences of sudden policy U-turns. European Journal of Political Research, DOI: 10.1111/1475-6765.12650

Alizadeh, M., Hoes, E., & Gilardi, F. (2023).* Tokenization of social media engagements increases the sharing of false (and other) news but penalization moderates it. Scientific Reports, 13.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-40716-2 

Hoes, E., Kamphorst, J., & Krouwel, A. (2023). Prominence over Proximity? The Effects of Terrorist Attacks on Party Preferences for Incumbent versus Populist Radical Right Parties. European Political Science Review, 1-19.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S175577392300019X

Alizadeh, M., Gilardi, F., Hoes, E., Klüser, K. J., Kubli, M., & Marchal, N. (2022).* Content Moderation As a Political
Issue: The Twitter Discourse Around Trump’s Ban. Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media, 2. https://doi.org/10.51685/jqd.2022.023

WORK IN PROGRESS

(FAKE) NEWS & INTERVENTIONS

Elusive Effects of Misinformation and the Media's Attention To It

Evidence from Experimental and Behavioral Trace Data [together with Bernhard Clemm, Theresa Gessler, Magdalena Wojcieszak, and Sijia Qian] [under review] [pre-print on PsyArXiv]

(Dis)information for Hire?

Disspelling Exaggerated Concerns about Social Media Influencers' Role in Spreading Misinformation [together with Jonathan Klüser] [pre-print on PsyArXiv]

The Effect of a Real-World, Long-Term Media Literacy Intervention

A Difference-in-Differences Approach [pre-print on PsyArXiv]

ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE

Leveraging ChatGPT for Efficient Fact-Checking [together with Sacha Altay and Juan Bermeo] [pre-print on PsyArXiv]

From Existential Threats to Immediate Harms: The Impact of AI Media Narratives [together with Fabrizio Gilardi] [under review]

Disclosure of AI-Generated News Increases Engagement [together with Fabrizio Gilardi, Sabrina di Lorenzo, Juri Ezzaini, Beryl Santa, Benjamin Streiff and Eric Zurfluh] [under review] 

AI-Generated Deepfakes: Impact on Political Figures' Attributed Credibility and Competence [together with Sophie Klüser and Jonathan Klüser]

SOCIAL MEDIA 

Is News Consumption on Social Media Bad For You? 

Evidence from a WhatsApp and Instagram Field Experiment in France and Germany [together with Sacha Altay and Magdalena Wojcieszak] [under review] [pre-print on PsyArXiv] 

CONTENT MODERATION

A Computational Analysis of the Main Reasons for Twitter Account Suspensions from 2016 to 2022 A First Look Into a Novel Twitter Dataset [together with Maël Kubli and Natalia Umansky] [pre-print on SocArXiv] 

CONSPIRACY THEORIES & BELIEFS

The Prevalence of Conspiracy Theories From Web 1.0 to 3.0 [together with Maël Kubli]

EXPERIMENTAL METHODS

Tool for Online Discussions (TOD) A New Experimental Research Platform to Examine Live User Interactions on Social Media [together with Jonathan Klüser] [under review] [pre-print on PsyArxiv]