Matthew R. DeVerna

Matthew R. DeVerna is a computational social scientist based at Indiana University Bloomington, affiliated with the Observatory on Social Media under Dr. Filippo Menczer. In September 2025, he will join Stanford's Cyber Policy Center as a postdoctoral scholar in the Social Media Lab led by Dr. Jeffrey Hancock. His research bridges artificial intelligence, social media analysis, and misinformation dynamics, with a focus on their societal and public health implications.

• Education:
  • PhD in Informatics, Indiana University (2025)
  • MA in Psychology, New York University (2020)

DeVerna’s research examines how artificial intelligence shapes information access and human interaction on digital platforms. Key projects include modeling misinformation’s role in disease spread, analyzing ideological polarization on social media, and developing tools like the Top FIBers dashboard to track misinformation superspreaders. His work often employs computational methods and agent-based modeling to address systemic challenges in information integrity.

His peer-reviewed publications span journals like PNAS, npj Complexity, and Scientific Reports, with recurring themes in misinformation correction, vaccine hesitancy, and platform governance. He has received multiple awards, including a $10,000 Cognizant Trust and Safety scholarship and fellowships from the Institute for Humane Studies and Michigan Institute for Data Science.

DeVerna actively mentors students, notably through Indiana University’s UROC program, and develops open-source tools such as the Python packages py_misinfo_exposure and OsoMeTweet. He co-organizes academic workshops like CySoc and leads initiatives like the Awesome Speakers event series to foster interdisciplinary dialogue on social media manipulation.