-WELCOME-

I’m Jessica Renee Collier. 

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at Mississippi State University. I received my Ph.D. in Communication Studies, with a focus on political communication, from the University of Texas at Austin where I also completed a postdoc with the Center for Media Engagement. I hold an M.A. in Mass Communication from UNC-Chapel Hill and B.A. degrees in Psychology and Government from the University of Virginia.

I study how media organizations and technology platforms interact in ways that can be beneficial or detrimental to democracy. Currently, that includes exploring how exposure to fact-checks, misinformation, and hyperpartisan memes affect whether people hold accurate beliefs, polarize, or block/unfriend others on social media.

My work has been published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, International Journal of Communication, Digital Journalism, Mass Communication & Society, among others. I have presented at academic meetings of the International Communication Association, American Political Science Association, and American Association for Public Opinion Research as well as industry-led meetings by the International Fact-Checking Network, Facebook, and the Lenfest Institute for Journalism.