Federal Project Grant Award Summary

Cornell University received a $449,425 project grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Computing and Communication Foundations under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) program (CFDA 47.070) on April 15, 2026, for a five-year project concluding March 31, 2031. This CAREER award supports research examining how people share information and govern communities within private social media platforms that prioritize user privacy through encryption and closed group memberships. The research advances methods for ethically studying these groups and develops novel tools and design approaches to facilitate community self-governance, democratic participation, and constructive discourse among members.

The project delivers three primary research activities: an empirical examination of how group administrators and members create and enforce rules in private groups through interviews, surveys, and online discussion analysis; participatory design of tools enabling collaborative rule-setting and group management; and exploration of digital tools, including conversational agents, that promote reflection on diverse viewpoints and constructive engagement. Beyond research outputs, the award funds the development of public-facing educational videos and workshops with U.S. civil society organizations to amplify the impact of findings on deliberative discourse and collaborative governance practices in digital communities.