This research program examines digital vulnerability, algorithmic culture, and self-presentation dynamics in platform societies. The projects integrate interdisciplinary theoretical and methodological approaches to analyze how sociotechnical infrastructures and cultural contexts influence digital experiences, aesthetic normativity, and well-being. Ongoing projects include psychometric scale development, replication studies, and cross-cultural comparative research between Brazil and Portugal.
Project 1
Social media platforms increasingly shape how individuals perceive themselves, their bodies, and their social value. Yet, we still lack robust instruments to systematically assess individuals’ vulnerability to algorithmic visibility dynamics and platform-driven aesthetic norms.
Project overview
This project develops and validates the Digital Vulnerability Scale, a psychometric instrument designed to measure individuals’ susceptibility to platform-driven aesthetic norms, algorithmic visibility dynamics, and self-presentation pressures on Instagram. The project integrates theories from communication studies, information science, and digital psychology to conceptualize digital vulnerability as a multidimensional construct shaped by platform affordances and algorithmic infrastructures.
This project was funded by CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel), Brazil, and the Araucária Foundation for Research Support through a full doctoral fellowship (2021–2025). International research mobility was supported by a competitive CAPES PhD research mobility fellowship, enabling a 10-month research stay at the University of Aveiro, Portugal.
Project 2
Digital vulnerability is a global phenomenon, yet most existing research remains culturally and geographically bounded, limiting our understanding of how platform effects unfold across contexts.
Project overview
This project replicates the original Digital Vulnerability Scale study in Portugal, applying the same survey instrument and methodological procedures used in the Brazilian context. The replication aims to validate the scale in a European sociocultural and regulatory environment, contributing to methodological robustness and cross-contextual reliability in digital media research.
Expected outcomes and impact
This replication study strengthens the scale’s methodological robustness and contributes to replication research in digital media studies. The findings will inform research on digital well-being and platform effects in European contexts and support the scale’s international applicability.
Project 3
In platform societies, vulnerability is not merely individual but infrastructural, emerging from algorithmic architectures that shape visibility, comparison, and self-worth.
Project overview
Building on the Brazilian and Portuguese datasets, this project conducts a cross-cultural comparative analysis of digital vulnerability across Latin American and European contexts. The study examines how sociocultural, regulatory, and platform-related factors shape vulnerability patterns, algorithmic visibility, and aesthetic normativity on Instagram.
Expected outcomes and impact
This project will generate one of the first cross-cultural comparative datasets on digital vulnerability, contributing to global debates on algorithmic culture, platform governance, and digital well-being. The findings have implications for digital literacy policies and regulatory frameworks in both European and Latin American contexts.