Research Interests

My main research areas are technologically-mediated communication, multimodal discourse, and gender and digital technology. I am interested in understanding and describing the nature of these phenomena, their effects on interpersonal interaction, and their social impacts. I have also studied telepresence robot-mediated interaction, and I am fascinated by the concept of holographic telepresence. Recently, I have been thinking about the future of technologically-mediated communication, particularly the integration of AI into human-human communication. I am also interested in the implications of digital face modification, including "deepfake" technology, for self-presentation and for the concept of authenticity in video-mediated communication.

My current and recent doctoral students research credibility and fake news; self-presentation through Augmented Reality (AR) filters; (mis)construal of graphics in mobile messaging; social interaction through intelligent conversational assistants; abusive language detection; online metalinguistic discourse about language varieties; and crowdfunding through livestreaming.

What's New?

Call for Papers: Special Issue of Language@Internet on Computer-Mediated Communication Corpora

Guest edited by Céline Poudat and Ludovic Tanguy

We welcome all papers related to corpus building and analysis, and all reflections on CMC data use and methods, including research questions from the fields of corpus and computational linguistics, language technology, text technology, and machine learning.

Potential authors should submit a preliminary proposal of 750 to 1000 words by June 30th, 2025 to: celine.poudat@univ-cotedazur.fr and ludovic.tanguy@univ-tlse2.fr. Proposals should include the central research question, the theoretical and/or empirical basis for the paper, and preliminary findings or insights. Those interested in submitting a proposal are also encouraged to contact the guest editors with their questions and ideas. Authors whose proposals are accepted for inclusion will be invited to submit a full paper of roughly 7,000-10,000 words by November 1st, 2025. The anticipated publication date for the issue is July 2026.

For more information: https://homes.luddy.indiana.edu/herring/CFP_CMC_Corpora.pdf

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In preparation: New forms of humor and play in digital discourse

Edited by Susan Herring & Salvatore Attardo

This volume brings together research on cutting edge phenomena in interactive computer-mediated communication that are (intended to be) witty, humorous, or playful. In keeping with the multimodal nature of digital discourse, chapter proposals are invited that employ linguistic or semiotic methods of analysis. We expect that most chapters will use qualitative methods and draw in their interpretations on paradigms from pragmatics, humor studies, performance studies, and ludology. Empirical studies that make use of computational methods of data collection or analysis, corpus-assisted studies, and quantitative analyses of large datasets are also welcome.

The volume will be published by Routledge as part of the series: Routledge Advances in Language and Humor, Salvatore Attardo, series editor. Anticipated publication is in 2027.

For more information: https://homes.luddy.indiana.edu/herring/CFP.humor.pdf

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Language@Internet's new home

After 20 years at languageatinternet.org, the journal has moved to a new location: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/li.

Language@Internet is an open-access, peer-reviewed, scholarly electronic journal that publishes original research on language and language use mediated by the Internet, the World Wide Web, and mobile technologies. To submit a manuscript, see the Submission Preparation Checklist and Author Guidelines.

The 2024 volume features a special issue on "Graphicons in Digital Communication," guest edited by Yiqiong Zhang and Ashley Dainas. Access it here: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/li/issue/view/2445

Selected Recent Publications

Herring, S. C., & Dainas, A. R. (2025). Improbable conversations: Interactional dynamics in TikTok duets. Discourse, Context, & Media, 63, February 2025, 100821. Special issue, "At the interface: Discourse at the intersection of digital design and user agency," edited by E. Eriksson, C. Tagg, & C. Vasquez. Prepublication version: https://homes.luddy.indiana.edu/herring/herring.dainas.2024.pdf

Ge-Stadnyk, J., & Herring, S. C., & Sa, L. (2025). Multimodality in digital discourse: Exploring image-text interrelations in WeChat sticker use. In C. Vasquez & J. Chovanec (Eds.), Experiencing digital discourses: Multimodality, engagement, activism. Palgrave Macmillan. Prepublication version: https://homes.luddy.indiana.edu/herring/Ge-Stadnyk.Herring.Sa.pdf

Herring, S. C., Dedema, M., Rodriguez, E., & Yang, L. (2024). Strategic use of video face filter types: Influence of audience, gender, and culture. New Media & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448241230461. Prepublication version: https://homes.luddy.indiana.edu/herring/Filters_and_audiences.pdf

Herring, S. C., & Ge-Stadnyk, J. (2024). Emoji and illocutionarity: Acting on, and acting as, language. In: M. Gill, A. Malmivirta, & B. Warvik (Eds.), Structures in discourse: Studies in interaction, adaptability, and pragmatic functions, (pp. 124-165). John Benjamins. Prepublication version: https://homes.luddy.indiana.edu/herring/festschrift.prepub.pdf

Fox Tree, J., Herring, S. C., Nguyen, A., Whittaker, S., Martin, R.. & Takayama, L. (2023). Conversational fluency and attitudes towards robot pilots in telepresence robot-mediated interaction. Journal of Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10606-023-09476-5

Zhang, Y., Herring, S. C., Tan, R., Zhang, Q., & Shi, D. (2023). From compensation to competition: The impact of graphicons on language use in a Chinese context. Discourse & Communication. https://homes.luddy.indiana.edu/herring/zhang-et-al-2023.pdf

Herring, S. C., Dedema, M., Rodriguez, E., & Yang, L. (2022, July). Gender and culture differences in perception of deceptive video filter use. In HCI International 2022 - Late Breaking Papers. Interaction in New Media, Learning and Games. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 13517. Springer. https://homes.luddy.indiana.edu/herring/hcii2022.pdf

Fox Tree. J. E., Whittaker, S., Herring, S. C., Chowdhury, Y., Nguyen, A., & Takayama, L. (2021). Psychological distance in mobile telepresence. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 151(July 2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2021.102629

Herring, S. C., & Dainas, A. R. (2020.) Gender and age influences on interpretation of emoji functions. Transactions on Social Computing, [Special Issue on Emoji Understanding and Applications in Social Media], article 10, pp. 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1145/3375629. Prepublication version: https://homes.luddy.indiana.edu/herring/EmojiGenderandAge.pdf

Konrad, A., Herring, S. C., & Choi, D. (2020). Sticker and emoji use in Facebook Messenger: Implications for graphicon change. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 25(3), 217-235. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmaa003

More publications...