NU Social Media Lab

06/29/2021

LGBTQ+? Use social media and have feelings about it? Earn up to $100 to share your stories!

The Social Media Lab at Northwestern University invites you to join a 2-4 week online diary study! We’re exploring how LGBTQ+ people experience and express our true selves on social media, and what LGBTQ+ people would like to see from their online spaces. We hope to use the findings from this study to identify ways we can build better spaces for LGBTQ+ people online.

Participants will be asked to keep a diary of their experiences over 2-4 weeks.

For more information or to learn how to get involved, visit https://socialmedia.northwestern.edu/diary2021/.

Please contact [email protected] with any questions. Thank you!

The Social Media Lab at Northwestern University invites you to participate in a research study that explores how people who are LGBTQ+ experience and express our true selves online.

07/10/2019

Do you identify as LGBTQ+? Use social media and have opinions about it? Join our research “summer camp” and earn up to $75 by sharing your stories!

The Social Media Lab at Northwestern University is looking for people who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community (e.g., bi, gay, trans, ace/aro, etc.) and use social media for a research study. We’re exploring what LGBTQ+ people would like to see from their community spaces, and what it looks like when LGBTQ+ people build our own spaces from the ground up. Research will take place in an online group with other LGBTQ+ people, run by LGBTQ+ researchers.

For more information or to learn how to get involved, visit: https://socialmedia.northwestern.edu/opportunities/camp2019/.

05/28/2019

Do you identify as LGBTQ+? Post to social media frequently? Join a research project and earn up to $50 to share your stories!

The Social Media Lab at Northwestern University is looking for people that identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community (e.g., bisexual, gay, trans, etc.) and post to social media frequently for a research study. We’re exploring how LGBTQ+ folks manage their visibility and disclosure of their identity on platforms where privacy settings and the tools available to you might frequently change. Research will take place in an online research group with other LGBTQ+ people, run by LGBTQ+ researchers. For more information or to learn how to get involved, visit

The Social Media Lab at Northwestern University invites you to participate in a research study that explores how LGBTQ+ people manage their identity on social media platforms.

06/27/2018

Are you transgender or gender-nonconforming? Do you use dating apps or websites? Earn $25 participating in this research study!

The Social Media Lab at Northwestern University invites you to participate in a research study that aims to help us better understand the challenges faced by trans* and gender-nonconforming individuals when online dating, and find ways of designing apps and sites that are safer and allow for better self-expression. To participate, you must identify as transgender or gender-nonconforming, be at least 18 years old, and use dating apps, hookup apps, dating sites, or hookup sites at least once per week.

Participants will be compensated $25 for completing an activity and interview about their experiences with dating and hookup sites and apps. Interviews are expected to take 60-90 minutes. For more information, visit

The Social Media Lab at Northwestern University invites you to participate in a research study that explores how trans* and gender-nonconforming people represent themselves on dating profiles.

06/26/2018

Attracted to more than one gender? Use social media? Join a research community and earn up to $50 to share your stories!

The Social Media Lab at Northwestern University is looking for people that are attracted to more than one gender (e.g., bisexual, pansexual, q***r) and use social media for a research study. We’re exploring how people that are attracted to more than one gender interact with the larger LGBTQ+ community online. Research will take place in an online research community with other people who are attracted to more than one gender. For more information or to learn how to get involved, visit

The Social Media Lab at Northwestern University invites you to participate in a research study that explores how people that are attracted to more than one gender interact with and represent themselves to the larger LGBTQ+ community online.

04/04/2018

Do you have an Android phone? Earn a $20 Amazon gift card participating in this research study!

The Social Media Lab at Northwestern University is recruiting Android phone owners for a research study examining what factors affect how quickly people respond to text messages. For running our app for 1 week and filling out questionnaires, participants will be compensated with a $20 Amazon gift card for completing the study. For more information and to find out if you're eligible, click here!

Qualtrics sophisticated online survey software solutions make creating online surveys easy. Learn more about Research Suite and get a free account today.

07/26/2017

LGBTQ+? Use social media? Have some experiences to share? SML @ Northwestern is recruiting for an interview study on LGBTQ+ self-presentation online. $25 for 60-90 minutes of sharing your experiences anonymously.

Check out the study at http://socialmedia.northwestern.edu/opportunities/cpqc/ or email [email protected] to sign up.

11/16/2016

The NU Social Media Lab is recruiting current NU undergrad men who are 18 years of age or older, straight, single, and Facebook users for a research study on attraction. Participation lasts ~20 minutes, involves using a task on an iPad and a survey, and includes $10 cash compensation upon completion. Find out more and schedule an appointment here:

05/11/2016

You are invited to participate in an experiment of online task completion. This research is being conducted by the Northwestern University Social Media Lab, which is directed by Professor Jeremy Birnholtz. You can sign up by yourself or with a friend you have known for at least 3 months.

You’ll come to our lab space in Frances Searle Building and complete a task with a partner located in a different room using computers we provide. For participating in this 30 minute experiment, each individual will earn $5, whether you sign up alone or with a partner.

To be eligible the study you must be at least 18 years of age and be a native English speaker.

To sign up for the study, please contact Matthew Heston at [email protected].

IRB #: STU00202125

02/23/2016

Take a survey! Get a gift card!

We want you to participate in a research study that explores how you use your favorite social media platforms. Fill out our anoymous survey that takes less than 30 minutes, get a $5 gift card, and be entered to win an additional $50 gift card.

You must be 18 and use at least two social media platforms once a week or more. Email [email protected] to sign up.

05/27/2015

Check out our latest research video by Jenny Starrs about our research on Location-Based Networking Apps:

This is "Self Presentation in Location-Based Networking Apps" by NU Social Media Lab on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

10/03/2014

Oops, this pre-print of Colin's paper: http://t.co/jsnsSMnFKa