Research
Sorin Adam Matei - Professor and Director of Purdue Data Storytelling Network - studies the relationship between information technology, group behavior, and social structures in a variety of contexts. His most recent book, Structural Differentiation in Social Media studied 10 years-worth of Wikipedia editing or 250 million individual contributions to the site. The volume offers a new view on how online groups emerge. It identifies specific evolutionary phases, including a bureaucratic one. The book emphasizes the role of strong although temporary leaders for the success of any online project. His latest research program investigates the role played by social media cognition and emotional responses on risk-prone or risk-averse behavior in natural emergencies. His most current work continues his interest in online social behavior explored in his past projects. He is also known for his work on ethics in big data and for his multidisciplinary, international projects, such as Kredible.Net ([http://kredible.net)]http://kredible.net). Dr. Matei leads the Global Communication Study Abroad program organized with support experts from the French National Assembly and from the French Superior Council for Audio-Visual Media (FCC equivalent).
He has published 9 book and tens or articles in the Journal of Communication, Communication Research, Information Society, and Foreign Policy. His work was funded by the National Science Foundation and is conducted in collaboration with colleagues from a variety of campus units, such as Computer Science and Engineering. Dr. Matei's teaching portfolio includes social media analytics, online interaction and facilitation, and global social media research. His teaching makes use of a number of software platforms he has codeveloped, such as Visible Effort or Visible Past. Dr. Matei is also known for his media work. He is a former BBC World Service journalist whose contributions have been published in Esquire and leading Romanian newspapers. In Romania, he is known for his books Boierii Mintii (The Mind Boyars), Idolii forului (Idols of the forum), and Idei de schimb (Spare ideas).
Representative Publications (Dr. Matei's most recent publications)
- Collmann, J. & Matei, S. A. (2016). Ethical Reasoning in Big Data. Springer: New York. http://amzn.to/2g751D4
- Matei, S.A., Russell, M. & Bertino, E. (2015). Transparency in social media. Springer: New York. http://amzn.to/2h2vHqA
- Matei, S. A., & Bertino, E. (2014). Roles, Trust, and Reputation in Social Media Knowledge Markets: Theory and Methods. New York: Springer New York. http://amzn.to/2gZsxDD
- Matei, S. A., & Bruno, R. J. (2015). Pareto’s 80/20 law and social differentiation: A social entropy perspective. Public Relations Review, 41(2), 178–186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2014.11.006
- Brunswicker, S., Matei, S. A., Zentner, M., Zentner, L., & Klimeck, G. (2016). Creating impact in the digital space: digital practice dependency in communities of digital scientific innovations. Scientometrics, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-016-2106-z
- Lee, S., Monge, P., Bar, F., & Matei, S. A. (2007). The emergence of clusters in global telecommunications network. Journal of Communication, 57, 415-434.
- Matei, S. A. (2006). Globalization and heterogenization: Cultural and civilizational clustering in telecommunicative space (1989-1999). Informatics and Telematics, 23 , 316-331.
- Matei, S. A. and Ball-Rokeach, S. (2005). Watts, the 1965 Los Angeles riots and the communicative construction of the “fear epicenter” of Los Angeles. Communication Monographs, 72, 301-323.
- Matei, S. A. (2005). From counterculture to cyberculture: Virtual community discourse and the dilemma of modernity. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication. Vol. 10(3). Retrieved July 1, 2006, from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue3/matei.html.
- Matei, S.A., (2004). The Mind Boyars. Compania: Bucharest. http://matei.org/boyars
