Sophie Lecheler

Should teenagers put their phones down? Not so fast! 📱
We reached out to health communication and media-effects expert @mattminich.bsky.social, who studies how media affect minds and behaviours at #univie, to discuss his behavioural research on teenage digital media use. 👆
@ipkw.bsky.social

#UniVienna folks: save the date! 12 Mar 2026 is the 661st birthday @univie.ac.at.The program, an exclusive event for uni employees, incl an exciting afternoon panel w/Rector Sebastian Schütze, @timcrane.bsky.social, @solecheler.bsky.social, @pauluswagner.bsky.social. German w/English interpreter.

@univie.ac.at is advertising 40 paid PhD positions in the Social Sciences, Humanities & Cultural Studies. ⭐

All information on the call here: careers.univie.ac.at/en/praedoc/p...

Select the Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences (VIDSS) for available topics & supervisors in Communication. 😍

📢 Great possibility to pursue a PhD @univie.ac.at : 4-year funded position with lots of flexibility and room to explore your own ideas. Supervison teams within the department, embedded in the Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences. Includes a (modest) teaching load.

We (@stawi-univie.bsky.social) are hiring a PhD researcher:

- focus: representation, party competition, pol behavior, pol institutions, pol econ, or related
- 4 years, starting 1 Oct 26
- 30h/week, incl some teaching
- deadline: 28 Jan 26

jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Universi...

And more job opportunities: @univie.ac.at aims to fill 40 (!) doctoral positions in the social sciences, humanities and cultural studies

careers.univie.ac.at/en/praedoc/p...

🙋 Democratic Literacy: Why Participation Is a Skill | University of Vienna YouTube video by Universität Wien

Sociologist Katja Mayer explores in this video how digital technologies shape participation, power, and civic engagement. When systems start speaking for us, we risk becoming passive. #Democracy is not something we simply have, it is a skill that must be learned, practiced & renewed. #futureskills ⤵️

Shaping the digital future: Presenting our College to the Public at the kick-off - dighumcollege Vienna Doctoral College on Digital Humanism With the official launch of our Vienna Doctoral College for Digital Humanism on 19 November, the City of Vienna has demonstrated being the capital of Digital Humanism. The event marks the transition f...

With the official launch of the Vienna Doctoral College on Digital #Humanism on 19 Nov., the City of Vienna has demonstrated being the capital of #DigitalHumanism. 👏
The kick-off event provided valuable insights – from strategy of @wien.gv.at until its practical implementation in our DocCollege. ⤵️

Screenshot der Website des Shanghai Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2025. Im oberen Bereich befindet sich ein blau hinterlegter Header mit dem Titel „2025 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects“. Darunter ist die Kategorie „Communication“ ausgewählt. Die Rangliste zeigt Platz 1 bis 5: 1. University of Amsterdam (Niederlande, Score 278.6) 2. University of Vienna (Österreich, Score 225.6) 3. University of Texas (USA, Score 223.9) 4. Pennsylvania State University (USA, Score 223.1) 5. Michigan State University (USA, Score 201.5).

Im Shanghai Global Ranking of Academic Subjects ist @univie.ac.at in Kommunikationswissenschaft heuer auf Platz 2 aufgestiegen. Weiterhin das bestplatzierte Institut unserer Universität. Ein starkes Zeichen, dank aller engagierten Kolleg:innen, Projektmitarbeiter:innen & Studierenden. 🤝

Neue Theodor Herzl-Dozentin: @oliveras.bsky.social, Journalistin und Redakteurin bei @derstandard.at, spricht in drei öffentlichen Vorlesungen über #Diversität, #Migration und Sprache im #Journalismus. 🗞️ Los geht es am 24.11., hier mehr dazu 👉 publizistik.univie.ac.at/aktuelles/ak...

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Very proud!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to everyone who joined our inaugural PolCom Classics webinar with @rensvliegenthart.bsky.social !
🎥 The recording’s up on YouTube — see flyer for details.

Next up: @solecheler.bsky.social on Framing, now on Nov 6, from 12:00 - 13:00 CET.

📲 Register via the QR code or the link below

🔜 Reminder: Join us for the next #PolComClassics webinar with @solecheler.bsky.social on Framing next week!

🗓️Nov 6, 12:00–13:00 CET.

📲 Register via the QR code or the link below!

⭐

De overtuigingskracht van politieke targeting Xiaotong Chu promoveert op het proefschrift: 'The Persuasiveness of Political Targeting'. Promotoren zijn prof. dr. S. Kruikemeier en prof. dr. S.K. Lecheler. Copromotoren zijn dr. L.P. Otto en prof. ...

The Persuasiveness of Political Targeting.

That is the title of Xiaotong Chu's timely and important PhD dissertation which she defends today. Go Tong!🚀

Proud supervisors: @skruikemeier.bsky.social @solecheler.bsky.social @lukotto.bsky.social and 🙋

www.uva.nl/content/even...

Tackling (misleading) incivility online: a user-centric evaluation of different comment moderation strategies Uncivil online comments, e.g., in the form of insults or misinformation, come with severe consequences for platforms, users, and democratic processes – making effective moderation essential. Howeve...

1/
I’m thrilled (and a little proud 🤗) to share my first single-authored publication!
It’s now out open access in Information, Communication & Society:
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/1369...

The Role of Choice Architecture in Mitigating News Avoidance News avoidance has become more common and is associated with negative democratic outcomes. However, only a handful of studies have explored solutions to reduce news avoidance, with nudges offering ...

🚫📰 Can we use nudges to mitigate news avoidance?
Yes and no — it depends on what nudges we use!
Together with @hajoboo.bsky.social & @solecheler.bsky.social I wanted to test whether nudges can reduce news avoidance as limited news consumption—and to do so beyond established Western democracies. 🧵👇

Amazing, congratulations! 🎉

If you submit to one new exciting conference in 2026, this could be it:

@epssnet.bsky.social

Deadline Nov 7

New kid on the block, with the right value set 💪🏽

@sarahobolt.bsky.social
@simonhix.bsky.social

#polisky #Belfast

epssnet.org/belfast-2026/

Solutions that Move Us? The Role of Responsibility Framing in Audience Reactions to Sustainability Stories Research on the effectiveness of solutions journalism in influencing self-efficacy, responsibility perception, and behavioral intentions has produced mixed results. While emotional responses to sol...

🚨📝 New publication: Svenja Schäfer w/ Lea Gorski and PolCom members @hannahgreber.bsky.social + @solecheler.bsky.social explored whether solutions are effective in sustainability communication and examined the attribution of responsibility through an experiment. 🔗 doi.org/10.1080/1751...

Today @ #ViennaChildren'sUniversity 🧒
How can YOU stay safe on social media? 🤔
Our @solecheler.bsky.social & @amplanitzer.bsky.social, with @julianeidhardt.bsky.social & @allanhanbury.bsky.social, explored counter speech 🗣️ & algorithmic moderation 🤖 via roleplay, annotation games & a kindness wall 💛

Had so much fun at our workshop on incivility and content moderation, based on our @wwtf.at Digital Humanism project, at the Vienna children’s university today! @amplanitzer.bsky.social @allanhanbury.bsky.social @julianeidhardt.bsky.social 😎🫶🏼😆

Big congratulations to Dr. @dbetakova.bsky.social, who defended her dissertation today with excellent results! Thank u so much to the reviewers @skruikemeier.bsky.social & @antoniskalog.bsky.social, & committee chair @desireeschmuck.bsky.social ! @hajoboo.bsky.social and I are more than proud. 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

⭐️

Another windowless room (but this time way bigger) in which I got to present first preliminary findings on how strategic politicians can *actually* be about their emotions in election campaigns

📷 @amplanitzer.bsky.social

What are the content-level characteristics of selectively avoided news? 🤔
@dbetakova.bsky.social presenting her impressive two-study research using computational text analysis and baysian modelling /w @solecheler.bsky.social & @hajoboo.bsky.social at an engaging #ICA25 panel on news avoidance 👏

What kinds of content do users themselves want to see moderated on platforms? 👀
Surprisingly, it's less about the incivility of language and more about authorial intention, target vulnerability and platform affordances /w @solecheler.bsky.social, @pia-p.bsky.social & Svenja Schäfer 🙂 #ICA25 #PolComm

⚡️⚡️⚡️
Interested in…
…negativity, incivility, intolerance?
…comparative and experimental data on the perception and effects of attack politics?
… personality, contextual influences?
Get all this with a discount!
📚📚📚🤩🤩🤩

@ipk-univie.bsky.social is wrapping up #ica25 in Denver!

From awards to withdrawn presentations, we‘ve had it all this year. Sending warm greetings & thoughts to all colleagues who could not participate 🫶✨