Dr. Rosta Farzan receives Google award

February 28, 2014

The School of Information Sciences (the iSchool) congratulates Dr. Rosta Farzan on receiving a Google Research Award. Dr. Farzan’s project, Hyperlocal online communities as “third places,” will investigate arguments both in favor of and against the role of online communities as virtual third places.

Dr. Farzan asserts “third places,” such as coffee shops, community centers, and beauty salons, are essential to our societies. They tie together individuals in communities and strengthen the sense of community. Like many aspects of our lives, technology is changing the way we use third places. In studying third places, Farzan has two aims: (1) to study the role of a specific group of online communities, hyperlocal online communities, which focus on geographically bounded communities, in enhancement of virtual third places; and (2) to design and evaluate guidelines to improve hyperlocal online communities as more effective third places. In collaboration with one hyperlocal online community, Dr. Farzan will conduct qualitative research and experimental field studies to achieve these research goals.

The Google Research Awards program provides one-year unrestricted gifts to support full-time faculty pursuing research in areas of interest to Google’s mission. Learn more about Dr. Farzan and her research interests on her bio page or homepage.