Matthew Zent Wins Graduate Category at ACM SIGCHI Student Research Competition

Department of Computer Science & Engineering Ph.D. student Matthew Zent won the top prize in the graduate category at the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (ACM SIGCHI) Student Research Competition. Zent is a member of the GroupLens Lab at the University of Minnesota and works closely with his advisor and associate professor Lana Yarosh. 

Zent’s winning research focused on how our digital identities shape online social support for people in recovery from drugs and alcohol. The goal of this work is to guide online communities in promoting positive social interaction that respects people’s desires for anonymity. The preliminary results suggest that sharing similar social identity characteristics has a small positive effect on how helpful comments are perceived. However, people have different expectations for which characteristics are important based on their approaches to recovery.

Prior to attending the University of Minnesota, Zent spent two years working at Microsoft in Fargo, North Dakota. After moving back to Minnesota, he decided to shift back toward academia, which led to his Ph.D. work with the GroupLens Lab. 

“I've had some great professors that I've really connected with at the University of Minnesota,” Zent said. “The faculty here have been wonderful in encouraging me throughout my Ph.D. and played a major role in supporting me during the competition.”

To read more about Matthew Zent’s research, visit his personal website and the competition submission.