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 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?
After being hosted since its inception in 2004 by the University Libraries Center in Cologne, Germany, as part of the Digital Peer Publishing NRW (DiPP) project, Language@Internet has moved to a new location: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/li. The journal continues to be fully open access -- there is no charge to read or publish articles.A special issue of Language@Internet on "Graphicons and Social Media" is currently in preparation, guest edited by Yiqiong Zhang and Ashley Dainas. Publication is scheduled for late 2024 or early 2025.
Selected Recent Publications
Ge-Stadnyk, J., & Herring, S. C., & Sa, L. (In press, 2024). 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