# Citation and Papers

The Truman Platform was first created in 2018 by [Dominic DiFranzo](https://difranzo.com/) and [Natalie Bazarova](https://cals.cornell.edu/natalie-bazarova) to study [bystander interventions on cyberbullying](https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3173574.3173785). 

Since then, the platform has been generalized to provide social scientists a research infrastructure to explore and study a variety of research questions and topics.

Below are papers and studies that have used The Truman Platform and VidShare (though not an exhaustive list) that may be helpful to understand how The Truman Platform and VidShare has been used.

<figure><img src="/files/Agn7pNvyBTIvANOif7ss" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### Papers

#### VidShare

Bae, I., Bazarova, N., Zhao, P., Kizilcec, R., Hui, W., & Margolin, D. (2025) Interplay of Harassment and Objection to Harassment. Presented at the 111*st National Communication Association Convention.* ([GitHub repository](https://github.com/cornellsml/truman_objection_socialnorms), [Demo site](https://truman-objections-socialnorms-6f157e8c837f.herokuapp.com/))

Zhao, P.; Bazarova, N.; Bae, I.; Hui, W.; Kizilcec, R. F.; Margolin, D. (2025). [Restorative justice appeals trump retributive vigilance on social media.](https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf255/63971952/pgaf255.pdf) *PNAS Nexus*, pgaf255. ([GitHub repository](https://github.com/cornellsml/truman_objection-v2), [Demo site](https://truman-objection-v2-s1-e7cc55b393c7.herokuapp.com/signup) - Study 1, [Demo site](https://truman-objections-v2-78b98f1a285a.herokuapp.com/signup) - Study 2)

Zhao, P., Bazarova, N. N., DiFranzo, D., Hui, W., Kizilcec, & Margolin, D. (2024). [Standing up to problematic content on social media: which objection strategies draw the audience’s approval? ](https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmad046)*Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication*, 29(1). ([<mark style="color:red;">GitHub repository</mark>](https://github.com/cornellsml/truman_objection/tree/study-1-official-code), [<mark style="color:red;">Demo site</mark>](https://truman-objections-v1-5d359188df22.herokuapp.com/feed_no?off_id=0\&obj_t_id=0\&obj_m_id=0))

#### The Truman Platform

Agha, Z., Park, J., Wan, R., Ali, N.S., Wang, Y., DiFranzo D., Badillo-Urquiola, K., & Wisniewski, P.J. (2024). [Tricky vs. Transparent: Towards an Ecologically Valid and Safe Approach for Evaluating Online Safety Nudges for Teens.](https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642313) In *Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI’24)*.

Aghajari, Z., Baumer, E., Lazard, A., Dasgupta N., & DiFranzo, D. (2024). [Investigating the Mechanisms by which Prevalent Online Community Behaviors Influence Responses to Misinformation: Do Perceived Norms Really Act as a Mediator?](https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3641939) In *Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI’24)*.

Aghajari, Z., Baumer, E., & DiFranzo, D. (2023). [What’s the Norm Around Here? Individuals’ Responses Can Mitigate the Effects of Misinformation Prevalence in Shaping Perceptions of a Community.](https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3544548.3580946) In *Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'23)*. ([<mark style="color:red;">GitHub repository</mark>](https://github.com/ZhilaAghajari/truman_norm), [<mark style="color:red;">Demo site</mark>](https://truman-socialnorms-misinfo-b5026dae9ab0.herokuapp.com/))

Bhandari, A., Ozanne, M., Bazarova, N. N., & DiFranzo, D. (2021). [Do you care who flagged this post? Effects of moderator transparency on bystander behavior.](https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmab007) *Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication*, 26(5), 284-300. ([<mark style="color:red;">GitHub repository</mark>](https://github.com/cornellsml/truman_content_moderation),[ ](https://github.com/cornellsml/truman_content_moderation)[<mark style="color:red;">Demo site</mark>](https://truman-content-moderation.herokuapp.com/))

Masur, P., DiFranzo, D., & Bazarova, N. (2021). [Behavioral contagion on social media: Effects of social norms, design interventions, and critical media literacy on self-disclosure.](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254670) *PLoS ONE 16(7)*, e0254670. ([<mark style="color:red;">GitHub repository</mark>](https://github.com/difrad/social_norms_truman),[ ](https://github.com/difrad/social_norms_truman)[<mark style="color:red;">Demo site</mark>](http://truman-socialnorms.herokuapp.com/))

Taylor, S., DiFranzo, D., Choi, Y. H., Sannon, S., and Bazarova, N. (2019). [Accountability and empathy by design: Encouraging bystander intervention to cyberbullying on social media](https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3359220). *Proceedings of the ACM on Human Computer Interaction Journal (PACM CHI Journal)*, 3, 1-26. ([<mark style="color:red;">GitHub repository</mark>](https://github.com/difrad/truman_esl_empathy), [<mark style="color:red;">Demo site</mark>](http://truman-esl-empathy.herokuapp.com/))

DiFranzo, D., Choi, Y.H., Purington, A., Taft, J.G., Whitlock, J., Bazarova, N.N. (2019). [Social Media TestDrive: Real-World social media education for the next generation](https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3290605.3300533). In *Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI’19)*. Glasgow, UK. ([<mark style="color:red;">GitHub repository</mark>](https://github.com/social-media-testdrive/truman_testdrive))

DiFranzo, D., Taylor, S. H., Kazerooni, F., Wherry, O. D., & Bazarova, N. N. (2018). [Upstanding by Design: Bystander intervention in cyberbullying](https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3173574.3173785). In *Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI’18).* ([<mark style="color:red;">GitHub repository</mark>](https://github.com/difrad/truman_ESL_cyberbully), [<mark style="color:red;">Demo site</mark>](https://truman-esl-cyberbully.herokuapp.com/))

DiFranzo, D. & Bazarova, N. N. (2018). [The Truman Platform: Social media simulation for experimental research](https://socialmedialab.cornell.edu/files/2020/10/Truman_ICWSM_workshop.pdf). Workshop paper presented at The 12th International Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM ’18), Stanford, CA.

## Citing The Truman Platform in your research paper

You may use the following citation when citing The Truman Platform in your research paper:

DiFranzo, D. & Bazarova, N. N. (2018). [The Truman Platform: Social media simulation for experimental research](https://socialmedialab.cornell.edu/files/2020/10/Truman_ICWSM_workshop.pdf). Workshop paper presented at The 12th International Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM ’18), Stanford, CA

## Sharing your findings with us through email

We would love to hear about your study findings and contribution to the research community. Please email us a study report after you have completed your study to[ cornellsocialmedia@gmail.com](mailto:cornellsocialmedia@gmail.com).


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