Andrew Flanagin

Andrew Flanagin is a Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). He previously served as Director of the Center for Information Technology & Society (CITS) at UCSB, focusing on research and education about technology’s cultural and social impacts. His work examines social influence in digital environments, including credibility assessment of online information, metacognition in information-saturated contexts, and collective action via technology.

Flanagin holds a Ph.D. in Communication Theory from the University of Southern California (1996), an M.A. from the same institution (1995), and a B.A. in Sociology and American Studies from Yale University (cum laude, 1990s). Before academia, he worked as a Management Systems Consultant, Systems Analyst, and Technology Transfer Specialist.

His research interests span digital media’s role in information sharing, credibility evaluation, and social organization. Recent work explores metacognitive effects of information access, toxicity in social media positivity, and misinformation dynamics. He teaches courses on social media, research methods, and communication theory.

Flanagin’s publications include Kids and Credibility (2010) and Collective Action in Organizations (2012). His articles address topics like geospatial concordance in information evaluation, corrective information effects on political disinformation, and the interplay of cognitive and social influences in digital communication.