Lightweight Social Computing Tools for Undergraduate Research Community Building
This program is tentative and subject to change.
Many barriers exist when new members join a research community, including imposter syndrome. These barriers can be especially chal- lenging for undergraduate students who are new to research. In our work, we explore how the use of social computing tools in the form of spontaneous online social networks can be used in small research communities to improve sense of belonging, peripheral awareness, and feelings of togetherness within an existing CS research com- munity. Inspired by spontaneous online social networks (SOSNs) such as BeReal, we integrated a Wizard-of-Oz photo sharing bot into a computing research lab to foster community building among members. Through a small sample of lab members (N = 17) over the course of 2 weeks, we observed an increase in participants’ sense of togetherness based on pre and post-study surveys. Our surveys and semi-structured interviews revealed that this approach has the potential to increase awareness of peers’ personal lives, increase feelings of community, and reduce feelings of disconnectedness.