About

Jessica R. Collier is an assistant professor in the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University. Her research employs experimental and survey methodologies to examine how media organizations and technology platforms interact in ways that can influence democracy. Her current studies focus on how exposure to social media content such as fact checks, misinformation, or political memes impacts the accuracy of individuals' beliefs, levels of polarization, and online behaviors like blocking or unfriending others. She is also engaged in projects exploring the social and political implications of using social media for news, especially in contexts where traditional local news outlets are absent. Collier enjoys teaching courses related to political communication and the connections between media, technology, and politics. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin and was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Center for Media Engagement at UT-Austin. Her work has been published in several academic journals, including Political Communication, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, New Media & Society, International Journal of Communication, and Digital Journalism.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Political Science
• Advertising
• Sociology
• Business
• Internet privacy
• Psychology
• Communication
• Social psychology
• Human–computer interaction
• Medicine
• Multimedia
• Cognitive psychology
• Public relations
• Neuroscience
• World Wide Web

Selected publications

• Media Trust in the Americas, 2008–2023

  Public Opinion Quarterly · 2026-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Concerns about media trust are especially salient given increased attention to issues of information quality and possible ramifications for countries and governments globally. In this Trends article, I use AmericasBarometer survey data to analyze media trust in North, South, and Central America, and the Caribbean from 2008 to 2023, reporting differences in trust based on each country. I plot trends in media trust across countries based on macro-level indicators of the media environment such as political system, perceived press freedom, and trust in elections. Finally, I present trends in media trust based on attention to news and political interest, individual factors that are influential to understanding media trust. Overall, downward trends in media trust are documented across countries and political and media systems.

  PublisherDOI

• A Community Resilience Approach to Understanding News Deserts and Their Residents

  Digital Journalism · 2025-10-16

  article1st authorCorresponding

  The absence or decline of local journalism has damaging consequences for communities. Just as communities differ in the degree to which they successfully navigate crises, there may be differing degrees of community resilience observable within news deserts. The present study pairs a survey of residents of U.S. news deserts (<i>n</i> = 1,007) with a content analysis of posts (<i>n</i> = 3,010) from Facebook pages identified as distributors of local information in news deserts. Findings indicate that community attributes like flexibility and social cohesion are associated with greater perceptions of access to local news, feelings of being informed, local issue knowledge. Evidence also suggests social media meet critical information needs in these areas, rarely promoting false claims. Implications exist for the conceptualization of news deserts, including incorporating community resilience within frameworks for understanding news desert audiences. Approaches for improving information flow and quality within news deserts are discussed.

  PublisherDOI

• You’re Just Not My Type: How Attitudes Toward Fonts Explain Affective Polarization

  Visual Communication Quarterly · 2025-10-02

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• The composition and amplification of mainstream political memes: evidence from 4 U.S. election cycles

  Journal of Information Technology & Politics · 2024-10-29 · 4 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• The normatively troubling impact of attitudes toward the role of money in politics on external political efficacy

  Social Science Quarterly · 2024-03-10 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Objective We explore whether Americans’ attitudes about the role of money spent on political campaigns and separately their attitudes about the influence of corporations impact their external political efficacy (EE) or perception that the government is responsive to them. Methods We conduct three independent sample surveys (total N = 2789) to measure individuals’ attitudes toward the role of money in politics (ARMP), attitudes toward corporations, and EE. We also measure political partisanship to test for moderating effects. Results ARMP are strongly and positively associated with EE: those who are more favorable of the role money plays in politics view government as more responsive to them. This finding is specific to ARMP and does not extend to corporations, suggesting that public awareness of campaign spending is shaping individuals' views of government responsiveness. We find no evidence that this relationship is moderated by partisanship, despite differing views of money in politics between Democrats and Republicans. Conclusion Our results are normatively troubling and suggest that as campaign spending continues to rise, individuals will increasingly feel that the government is less responsive to their concerns.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Multiple-choice quizzes improve memory for misinformation debunks, but do not reduce belief in misinformation

  Cognitive Research Principles and Implications · 2023 · 12 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Psychology
  • Cognitive psychology

  Fact-checkers want people to both read and remember their misinformation debunks. Retrieval practice is one way to increase memory, thus multiple-choice quizzes may be a useful tool for fact-checkers. We tested whether exposure to quizzes improved people's accuracy ratings for fact-checked claims and their memory for specific information within a fact check. Across three experiments, 1551 US-based online participants viewed fact checks (either health- or politics-related) with or without a quiz. Overall, the fact checks were effective, and participants were more accurate in rating the claims after exposure. In addition, quizzes improved participants' memory for the details of the fact checks, even 1 week later. However, that increased memory did not lead to more accurate beliefs. Participants' accuracy ratings were similar in the quiz and no-quiz conditions. Multiple-choice quizzes can be a useful tool for increasing memory, but there is a disconnect between memory and belief.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Partisan Memes as a Catalyst for Homophilous Networks

  Political Communication · 2023-06-09 · 10 citations

  article

  Although diverse political networks are seen as democratically valuable, online social networks enable the construction and maintenance of networks that are less diverse. In this study, we explore the cultivation of like-minded networks through blocking those sharing counter-attitudinal partisan memes and engaging with pro-attitudinal partisan memes. We then test the efficacy of an intervention to reduce the spread of homophily-inducing partisan memes. We present four experiments. Study 1 establishes that people react differently to partisan memes than to partisan news. Studies 1–4 confirm that people react differently to pro- and counter-attitudinal memes. Studies 3 and 4 provide limited evidence that reminding people of the diversity of their online networks can reduce digital behaviors that produce more homophilous networks. The results provide initial evidence that partisan memes may give rise to a spiral of homophily.

  PublisherDOI

• The role of geolocation data in U.S. political campaigning: How digital political strategists perceive it

  Convergence The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies · 2023-09-16 · 3 citations

  article

  The use of geolocation data by political campaigns is often the subject of media concern. Research has investigated the role of data in and use by political campaigns, but less attention has been paid to digital political strategists largely responsible for decisions behind the assemblage and mining of voter databases to deliver micro-targeted messages on behalf of political campaigns. In this study, we conducted interviews with 14 leading industry professionals in the United States to examine the common scenarios and associated concerns of using geolocation data to target voters. Our findings reveal that geolocation data are an important asset in political campaigns, but their value is contingent on additional factors. Concerns regarding geolocation data, as interviewees suggested, may at times be influenced more by the popular media narratives than the true reality of data, their scope, and associated capabilities. Our results point to geolocation data’s greatest usefulness to campaigns not in their own right, but when data are paired with other insights about voters’ behaviors. Ultimately, the lack of industry regulation reveals discrepancies in best practices and raises concerns over the potential misuse of geolocation data in the political space.

  PublisherDOI

• In different worlds: The contributions of polarization and platforms to partisan (mis)perceptions

  New Media & Society · 2023-06-06 · 11 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Partisanship, polarization, and platforms are foundational to how people perceive contentious issues. Using a probability sample ( n = 825), we examine these factors in tandem across four political claims concerning US presidential elections and the COVID-19 pandemic. We find Democrats and Republicans differ in their belief in true and false claims, with each party believing more in pro-attitudinal claims than in counter-attitudinal claims. These results are especially pronounced for affectively polarized partisans. We also find interactions between partisanship and platform use where Republicans who use Google or Twitter are more likely to believe in false claims about COVID-19 than Republicans who do not use these platforms. Our findings highlight that Americans’ beliefs in political claims are associated with their political identity through both partisanship and polarization, and the use of search and social platforms appears critical to these relationships. These findings have implications for understanding why realities are malleable to voter preferences in liberal democracies.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Impact of News Trust and Scandal Knowledge on Political Efficacy

  American Behavioral Scientist · 2022-02-22

  article

  The Trump-era political environment in the United States is characterized by changes to our information environment, specifically discourse surrounding so-called "fake news," and knowledge of political scandals. We explore whether news trust or knowledge of Trump administration scandals impact individuals’ levels of internal, information, and external political efficacy. We find significant and surprising relationships between these measures and political efficacy outcomes. Results contribute to our understanding of how political efficacy is responsive to changes in the political environment.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Natalie Jomini Stroud

  Austin College

  4 shared

• Yujin Kim

  4 shared

• Katherine Haenschen

  Northeastern University

  3 shared

• John C. Tedesco

  Virginia Tech

  2 shared

• Caroline Murray

  Austin College

  2 shared

• Emily Van Duyn

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  2 shared

• Christian Staal Bruun Overgaard

  The University of Texas at Austin

  2 shared

• Katie Joseff

  Stanford University

  1 shared

Education

• PhD, Communication Studies

  University of Texas at Austin

  2021

• MA in Mass Communication, School of Media and Journalism

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  2016

• BA in Psychology and Government, Psychology & Politics

  University of Virginia

  2014

Awards & honors

• Alumni Awards