I am a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Computational Social Science at the University of Edinburgh School of Informatics, in the Institute for Language, Cognition and Computation. In my research, I primarily use computational methods from agent-based modelling, natural language processing and social network analysis to study social media and related technologies. A key focus of my research is to explore different aspects of social media, such as misinformation, hate speech, and the malicious use of automation (bots), as well as how social media can be used effectively for social good, such as in crisis communication. I also examine issues with these methods, from data collection practices to research data management.
At Edinburgh, I am a co-director of the SMASH group. Before working here, I was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Duisburg-Essen, where I also completed my PhD. I am a member of the Association for Information Systems and an Associate Editor of Business & Information Systems Engineering.
- Computational social science
- Social computing
- Information systems
- Social media analytics and communication
- Social network analysis, agent-based modelling and simulation, natural language processing and text classification for social media
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PhD, 2019
University of Duisburg-Essen
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MSc in Computer Science, 2016
University of Münster
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Exchange year, 2014-5
University of Strasbourg
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BSc in Information Systems, 2013
University of Münster
Selected articles
- Jung, Anna-Katharina; Ross, Björn; Stieglitz, Stefan (2020). Caution: Rumors ahead – The debunking of false information on social media. Big Data & Society 7(2).
- Winter, Stephan; Neubaum, German; Stieglitz, Stefan; Ross, Björn (2020). #OpinionLeaders: A comparison of self-reported and observable influence of Twitter users. Information, Communication & Society (ICS).
- Stieglitz, Stefan; Meske, Christian; Ross, Björn; Mirbabaie, Milad (2020). Going Back in Time to Predict the Future – The Complex Role of the Data Collection Period in Social Media Analytics. Information Systems Frontiers (ISF) 22, pp. 395–409.
- Ross, Björn; Pilz, Laura; Cabrera, Benjamin; Brachten, Florian; Neubaum, German; Stieglitz, Stefan (2019). Are social bots a real threat? An agent-based model of the spiral of silence to analyse the impact of manipulative actors in social networks. European Journal of Information Systems (EJIS), 28(4), pp. 394–412.
- Stieglitz, Stefan; Mirbabaie, Milad; Ross, Björn; Neuberger, Christian (2018). Social Media Analytics – Challenges in Topic Discovery, Data Collection, and Data Preparation. International Journal of Information Management (IJIM) 39, pp. 156–168.
Supervision
PhD
Current PhD students
I am currently supervising two PhD students who started in September 2020 in the Centre for Doctoral Training in NLP. Agostina Calabrese is working on explainable models to detect abusive language online, while Eddie Ungless researches social biases in text analysis services. We are all members of the SMASH group within the School of Informatics, which I co-direct.
Prospective PhD students
I am looking for more talented and motivated PhD students to join our group. If you are interested in pursuing a PhD and working with us, please familiarise yourself with my research and send me an email with your research interests and CV. If I think that it could be a good fit, we can then talk over Skype where I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Please also have a look at the relevant information on the web pages of the School, Institute and NLP CDT, where you can learn about the application process and funding options.
MSc
Current MSc students
I am supervising three MSc projects this year. Abhinav Reddy Seerapu is working on deplatforming and social media fragmentation, while Huo Yaoran and Li Yaqiao are working on COVID-19 misinformation.
Contact
- b.ross@ed.ac.uk
- Informatics Forum, 10 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, Scotland EH8 9AB