I am a Ph.D. candidate in Communication at UCLA working at the intersection of computational social science and political communication. My research examines collective information dynamics on algorithmically curated platforms, with a focus on why and how individuals engage with politically uncongenial or discomforting information online and how these behaviors aggregate into broader outcomes such as audience fragmentation and distorted signals of public preferences.

My work spans three related strands: (a) how individuals engage with uncongenial political information across different stages of news use; (b) how algorithmic recommendation systems shape news engagement patterns and collective user segregation; and (c) how platform-level interventions, such as automated moderation, influence collective communication dynamics.

Methodologically, I combine large-scale digital trace data with computational text and network analysis to capture real-world behavior on platforms, alongside controlled experiments that isolate the causal mechanisms underlying engagement. 

Across this work, my goal is to advance empirically grounded understandings of how political participation and public debate are shaped on digital platforms, and to inform platform governance and design choices for more effective democratic communication.

I'm affiliated with the Political Communication & Behavior Lab (PCB) and recently joined the Computation and Language for Society (CoaLaS) Lab at UCLA.

Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications

Noh, S., & Soroka, S. (forthcoming). Engaging to Oppose: Cross-Cutting Patterns in Hostile News Commentary. The International Journal of Press/Politics.

— Presented at ICA 2024 (Gold Coast, Australia) and IC2S2 2024 (Philadelphia, PA, USA)

Kernell, G., & Noh, S. (forthcoming). The AI Referee: How Online Interventions Shape Incivility and User Engagement in News Discussions. Social Media+Society.

— Awarded research grant from UCLA Initiative to Study Hate (ISH) ($15,000); presented at MPSA 2023 (Chicago, IL, USA)

Noh, S., & Soroka, S. (2025). Negativity Biases Online: The Interplay of Individuals and Algorithms in News Consumption. Journal of Media Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105/a000479

— Presented at ICA 2025 (Denver, CO, USA)

Under Review

Noh, S. Expressive News Preferences: Identity-Signaling in News Selection. Revise & Resubmit. 

— Presented at APSA Political Communication Preconference 2024 (Philadelphia, PA, USA) and ICA 2025 (Denver, CO, USA)

Working Papers

Noh, S. Funnel of Engagement: User Segregation from Viewing to Clicking to Reading on Mobile News Feeds. (Manuscript in preparation, post-analysis stage)

— Presented at ICA Political Communication PhD Student Preconference 2024 (Denver, CO, USA); will be presented at APSA 2025 (Vancouver, Canada)

Noh, S. Human-Algorithm Temporal Interactions on Mobile News Feeds. (Manuscript in preparation, post-analysis stage)

— Presented at APSA Political Communication Preconference 2025 (Vancouver, Canada)

Noh, S., Soroka, S., & Bordes, Z. Screen Size and News Engagement. (Manuscript tin preparation, post-analysis stage). [OSF preregistration]

Noh, S., & Berwald, R. Correcting Misinformation, but Sustaining Conclusions: The Role of Emotional and Partisan Attachments in Narrative Persistence. (Data collection stage, online experiment). 

— Awarded UCLA Political Psychology Fellowship ($1,000)

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