Publications
De, A., Cotter, K. (2026). The discursive flexibility of changecraft: Platform change discourse in Meta, TikTok, YouTube, and X. Platforms & Society, 3, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1177/29768624251408212
Cotter, K., De, A., Proferes, N., Flowers, B., Antolini, M., Battocchio, A.F., Thorson, K. (2026). Volunteer moderation as situated civic labor in local information infrastructures. In the 2026 ACM CHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). ACM Digital Library. https://doi.org/10.1145/3772318.3790469
De, A., Cotter, K., Kanthawala, S., Ritchart, A., McAtee, H. (2025). ‘Whoever needs to see it, will see it’: Motivations and labor of creating algorithmic conspirituality content on TikTok. In the 28th ACM SIGCHI Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing. ACM Digital Library. https://doi.org/10.1145/3757447
De, A., Cotter, K. (2025). What does it mean to be a good digital activist? Impact of constant platform changes on digital activism. In the Proceedings of the 2025 ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (CSCW). ACM Digital Library. https://doi.org/10.1145/3757440
Jonas, R., De, A., Cotter, K., (2024). “We happen to be different and different is not bad”: Designing for intersectional fat-positive information-seeking. In the Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). ACM Digital Library. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642599
Cotter, K., Jonas, R., De, A. (2025). “Why can’t I just be fat and exist on the internet?”: The embeddedness of anti-fatness on TikTok. Platforms & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/29768624251377163
Tran, S., Lin, C., Dosono, B., Cotter, K. (2025). TikTok as a Tool for Identity Work Among the Hoa Ethnic Community. Social Media + Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251363215
Proferes, N.,Cotter, K., Thorson, K., Chang, C.F., De, A., Battocchio, A.F. (2025). Imagining community technoutopia: The discursive construction of volunteer moderation in local communities on social media platforms. Platforms & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/29768624251356761
Hampton, K. Cotter, K. (2025). Disrupting Echo Chambers? How social media is related to social tolerance through network diversity: A study of linked lives over a major life course event. Information, Communication & Society. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2025.2460556.
Cotter, K., Ritchart, A., De, A., Foyle, K., Kanthawala, S., McAtee, H., Watson, T.X. (2024). If you’re reading this, it’s meant for you: The reflexive ambivalence of algorithmic conspirituality. Convergence. https://doi.org/10.1177/135485652412589
Cotter, K., Kumar, P., Tan, R., De, A. (2024). Technology is a wish your heart makes: How Disney harnesses practical magic discourse to legitimize MyMagic+. New Media & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448241230923
Jonas, R., De, A., Cotter, K., (2024). “We happen to be different and different is not bad”: Designing for Intersectional Fat-Positive Information-Seeking. In the Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, May 2024. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642599
Kanthawala, S., Cotter, K., Ritchart, A., De, A., McAtee, H., Yun, C., DeCook, J. (2023). Algorithmic conspirituality: Explicating its emergence, dimensions, and persuasibility. New Media & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231217425
Cotter, K., DeCook, J., Kanthawala, S., Foyle, K. (2022). In FYP we trust: The divine force of Algorithmic conspirituality. International Journal of Communication. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/19289
Cotter, K. (2022). Practical knowledge of algorithms: The case of BreadTube. New Media & Society. DOI: 10.1177/14614448221081802
DeCook, J., Cotter, K., Kanthawala, S., Foyle, K. (2022). Safe from “harm”: The governance of violence by platforms. Policy & Internet. DOI: doi.org/10.1002/poi3.290
Cotter, K. (2022). Selling political data: How political ad tech firms’ discourses legitimate microtargeting. The Proceedings of the iConference: International Conference on Information. Virtual, February-March 2022.
Cotter, K., DeCook, J.R., Kanthawala, S. (2022). Fact-Checking the crisis: COVID-19, infodemics, and the platformization of truth. Social Media + Society. DOI: 10.1177/20563051211069048
Cotter, K. (2021). “Shadowbanning is not a thing”: black box gaslighting and the power to independently know and credibly critique algorithms. Information, Communication & Society. DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2021.1994624
Cotter, K., Medeiros, M., Pak, C., Thorson, K. (2021). “Reach the right people”: The politics of “interests” in Facebook’s classification system for ad targeting. Big Data & Society. DOI: 10.1177/2053951721996046
Thorson, K., Medeiros, M., Cotter, K., Chen, Y., Rodgers, K., Bae, A., Baykaldi, S. (Forthcoming). Platform civics: Facebook in the local information infrastructure. Digital Journalism. DOI: 10.1080/21670811.2020.1842776.
Thorson, K., Cotter, K., Medeiros, M., Pak, C. (2021). Algorithmic inference, political interest, and exposure to news and politics on Facebook. Information, Communication & Society, 24(2), 183-200. DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2019.1642934
Cotter, K., Reisdorf, B. (2020) Algorithmic knowledge gaps: A new dimension of (digital) inequality. International Journal of Communication, 20, 745-765. Link.
Cotter, K. (2019). Playing the visibility game: How digital influencers and algorithms negotiate influence on Instagram. New Media & Society, 21(4), 895-913. DOI: 10.1177/1461444818815684. Supplementary Materials
Rader, E., Cotter, K., Cho, J. Explanations as mechanisms for supporting algorithmic transparency. In the Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). Montreal, Canada, April 2018. DOI: 10.1145/3173574.3173677.
Cotter, K., Cho, J., and Rader, E. Explaining the News Feed algorithm: An analysis of the “News Feed FYI” blog. In CHI 2017 Extended Abstracts. Denver, CO, 2017. DOI: 10.1145/3027063.3053114.
Cotter, K., & Sasso, M.D. (2016). Libraries protecting privacy on social media: Sharing without “oversharing.” Pennsylvania Libraries: Research & Practice, 4(2), 73–89.
