Zoe Cullen
Biography
Zoë Natalia Cullen is a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan School of Information, advised by Dr. Nicole Ellison. She studies AI-mediated communication, human-AI interaction, and platform epistemology, examining how AI systems and platforms shape social interaction, self-understanding, and knowledge. She is affiliated with the Social Media and Social Computing Lab at the University of Michigan and the Social Media Lab at Stanford University. Before her PhD, she was a marketing director and SEO specialist at a cybersecurity company.
Dissertation title
The Algorithmically Networked Self: How AI Curates, Interprets, and Co-Authors Relationships and the Self
Areas of interest
AI-mediated communication; Human-AI interaction; Conversational AI and LLMs; Self-presentation and identity; Social AI and well-being; Attribution; Relationships and social judgment
Education
BA, Journalism, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Commonwealth Honors College, 2019
Selected publications
Cullen, Z. N., Ellison, N. B., & Pasquetto, I. V. (2026). Seeing like an API: Platform-mediated research and the politics of access. Big Data & Society, 13(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517261461463
Cullen, Z. N., Lee, A. Y., Davidson, B., Hancock, J. T., & Ellison, N. B. (2025). Not just ‘for you’: How the algorithmic crystal mediates communication and identity work on TikTok’s FYP. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 9(CSCW2), Article 455. https://doi.org/10.1145/3757636
Pasquetto, I. V., Cullen, Z. N., Thomer, A., & Wofford, M. (2024). What is research data “misuse”? And how can it be prevented or mitigated? Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 75(12), 1413–1429. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24944
In the news
ACM CSCW Blog (October 2025). “TikTok knows you, and your friends too: How personalized algorithms shape what we see and share” by Zoë Natalia Cullen.
APX Luxury (September 5, 2025). “How RichTok Became the Ultimate Quiet Luxury Flex – Thanks to Becca Bloom” by Faye Bradley. Quoted on algorithmic personalization and the performance of wealth on TikTok.
University of Arizona College of Information Science (November 22, 2024). “Navigating the Risks of Open Research Data: Insights from Recent Study”. Coverage of our JASIST study on research data misuse.
LSE Impact of Social Sciences Blog (November 19, 2024). “Open research data poses real world risks that need to be managed” by Irene V. Pasquetto, Zoë Cullen, Andrea Thomer, and Morgan Wofford.
