Lab Platform Governance, Media and Technology (PGMT)

Dr. Rebecca Scharlach

Dr. Rebecca Scharlach is a postdoctoral researcher in the Platform Governance Media and Technology Lab. She has received research funding from the University of Bremen for her postdoctoral project (2024-2027): “Re-evaluating Governing Principles: Navigating the Integration of Generative AI in Social Media Platforms”. In this project, Dr. Scharlach will investigate how big tech companies shape the integration of generative AI and what conditions are necessary to preserve core values in the face of technological and regulatory change.

Her work has been published in leading international journals such as New Media & Society, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Journal of Communication and Communication Theory.

Rebecca completed her PhD in September 2024 at the Department of Communication & Journalism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her dissertation entitled “The Construction of Values by Social Media Platforms” was supervised by Prof. Dr. Limor Shifman as part of the ERC-funded DigitalValues project.

Research interests

  • Platform Governance
  • Social Media Research
  • Platform Power
  • Values
  • Technological Systems

Memberships

  • Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR)
  • International Communication Association (ICA)

Publications

  • Shifman, L., Trillò, T., Hallinan, B., Mizoroki, S., Green, A., Scharlach, R., & Frosh, P. (2025). The expression of values on social media: An analytical framework. New Media & Society, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448241307035
  • Scharlach, R. (2024). How to Spark Joy: Strategies of Depoliticization in Platform’s Corporate Social Initiatives. Social Media + Society, 10(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241277601
  • Scharlach, Rebecca and Blake Hallinan (2023). “The Value Affordances of Social Media Engagement Features”. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 28(6), 1-11. https://academic.oup.com/jcmc/article/28/6/zmad040/7326084?searchresult=1&login=false#421922698
  • Scharlach, Rebecca, Blake Hallinan, and Limor Shifman (2023). “Governing Principles: Articulating Values in Social Media Platform Policies”. New Media & Society. Online First, 1-20. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14614448231156580
  • Trillò, Tommaso; Hallinan, Blake; Green, Avishai; Kim, Bumsoo; Mizoroki, Saki; Scharlach, Rebecca; Frosh, Paul; Shifman, Limor (2023). “I Love This Photo! I Can Feel Their Hearts”. How Users Across the World Evaluate Social Media Portraiture. Journal of Communication. Online First, 1-22. https://academic.oup.com/joc/article/73/3/235/7078537
  • Trillò, Tommaso, Rebecca Scharlach, Blake Hallinan, Bumsoo Kim, Saki Mizoroki, Paul Frosh, and Limor Shifman (2021). “What Does #Freedom Look Like? Instagram and the Visual Imagination of Values.” Journal of Communication 71 (6), 875-897. https://academic.oup.com/joc/article/71/6/875/6358707
  • Hallinan, Blake, Rebecca Scharlach, and Limor Shifman (2022). “Beyond Neutrality: Conceptualizing Platform Values.” Communication Theory 32 (2), 201-222. https://academic.oup.com/ct/article/32/2/201/6333289
  • Hallinan, Blake, Bumsoo Kim, Saki Mizoroki, Rebecca Scharlach, Tommaso Trillò, Mike Thelwall, Elad Segev, and Limor Shifman (2021). “The Value(s) of Social Media Rituals: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of New Year’s Resolutions.” Information, Communication, & Society. Online First, 1-22. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2021.1983003
  • Hallinan, Blake, Bumsoo Kim, Rebecca Scharlach, Tommaso Trillò, Saki Mizoroki, and Limor Shifman (2021). “Mapping the Transnational Imaginary of Social Media Genres.” New Media & Society 25 (3), 875-897. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14614448211012372
  • Ackermann, Judith; Egger, Benjamin and Rebecca Scharlach (2019). “Programming the Postdigital: Curation of Appropriation Processes in (Collaborative) Creative Coding Spaces.” Journal of Postdigital Science and Education (2), 416-441.

Book review

  • Scharlach, Rebecca. “Digitale Medien zwischen Transparenz und Manipulation. Internet und politische Kommunikation in der repräsentativen Demokratie.” TV Diskurs.