TEchnology and Society

The pervasive integration of technology into society has had a massive impact, both positive and negative. While technological advancements have undeniably fostered unprecedented connectivity, facilitated global communication, and driven economic progress, they have also created significant societal shifts.  The proliferation of digital platforms has reshaped social interactions, altered information dissemination, and raised concerns regarding over-use, privacy and data security.

In this stream of research, I study the impact of digital platforms both on online and offline behavior across many areas including the role of social media in amplifying book bans, privacy concerns on health apps after Dobbs, adoption of digital technologies at the bottom of the pyramid and TikTok. Recently, I work a lot on sports gambling and the impact of letting consumers to carry around a casino in their pockets!

Published/Publication Process

Book Bans in American Libraries: Impact of Politics on Inclusive Content Consumption (link): Uttara M Ananthakrishnan (CMU), Naveen Basavaraj (CMU),  Sabari Rajan (GMU), Ananya Sen (CMU),  Michael D. Smith (CMU) - Marketing Science (2025)

The Chilling Effect of Dobbs: A Study of Mobile Health Apps Usage (link) :  Naveen Basavaraj (CMU), Uttara M Ananthakrishnan (CMU),  Catherine Tucker (MIT) - Under Review - Information Systems Research

Bollywood Beats Boredom: Designing Alerts to Address Users’ Limited Attention in Life-Improvement Apps:  Anuj Kumar (UFL), Uttara M Ananthakrishnan (CMU), Tharanga K. Rajapakshe (UFL), Debjit Roy (IIM A) - Preparing to submit to PNAS

Social Media and Well-Being: Impact of TikTok on Screentime and Sleep Patterns (link) : Saharsh Agarwal (ISB), Uttara M Ananthakrishnan (CMU), - Revising for Second Round Review - Management Science 

Work in Progress

Now You See Me: How Streaming Platforms Enable Diversity in Movies - Naveen Basavaraj (CMU), Uttara M Ananthakrishnan (CMU), Beibei Li (CMU) Michael D. Smith (CMU) - Preparing to submit to Management Science

Impact of Sports Gambling Legalization on Crime - Kailing Mao (CMU), Saharsh Agarwal (ISB), Uttara M Ananthakrishnan (CMU), Dan Nagin (CMU) - Work in Progress

Impact of Sports Legalization on Lottery Sales -  Poet Larsen (USC), Uttara M Ananthakrishnan (CMU), Davide Proserpio (USC) - Work in Progress

Binge Watching and the Long-Tail - Kailing Mao (CMU), Uttara M Ananthakrishnan (CMU), Rahul Telang