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We are an interdisciplinary research group mining the technology invisible threads that weave society

Based on the perspectives of Information and Communication interdisciplinary research, we seek to better understand the relationship between emerging technologies/new media and social, cultural, physical and virtual spaces through digital methods and data science analytics and visualization

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Smart Media & Users Hosts Open Meeting with Dr. Colin Agur

June, 2026

SMU recently hosted an open meeting with Dr. Colin Agur, Associate Professor at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota. The event brought together researchers and members of the public for a discussion on the evolving role of digital communication technologies in contemporary society.

FAPESP Approves New Research Project Led by Prof. Dr. Alan Angeluci

June, 2026

Professor Alan Angeluci, SMU leader, has received funding from the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) through its Regular Research Grant program. The approved project, “Decoding Brazil’s Infocommunicational Phenomena Through Digital Methods,” will investigate contemporary communication phenomena in Brazil using digital research methods.

Smart Media & Users Research Group Offers an Open Meeting With Dr. Colin Agur 

June, 2026

The Smart Media & Users research group invites students, scholars, and the public to join an open research meeting featuring Dr. Colin Agur, Associate Professor in the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Alan Angeluci Translates Doing Digital Methods into Portuguese

December, 2025

Professor and Dr. Alan Angeluci translated the book Doing Digital Methods, by Richard Rogers, into Portuguese, making one of the leading references on digital methods more accessible to Portuguese-speaking researchers and students. The book is available as an open-access publication through Editora Fi here.



About

SMU research group was founded in 2014 and operated within the vibrant atmosphere of the Municipal University of São Caetano do Sul (USCS), in São Caetano do Sul, right in the powerful industrial pole of ABC region of São Paulo metropolitan area, Brazil.

In 2022, SMU became part of the School of Communications and Arts of the University of São Paulo (ECA-USP) – the best university in Latin America and the Caribbean and among the top one hundred in the world according to the QS World University Rankings. The new house in São Paulo and the contemporary technological transformations, combined with the group’s tradition, brought with greater force the demands for applied research that seek to better understand the relation between emerging technologies/new media and social, cultural, physical and virtual spaces through digital methods and data science analytics and visualization.

Over ten years, SMU has collaborated with the scientific training of more than fifty students, researchers and professionals, who have worked and work permanently or intermittently with the group’s projects.

SMU is deeply interested in international partnerships for R&D with companies, research institutions and universities. If you want to be a R&D partner or sponsor, contact us: smartmediausers@gmail.com.

SMU is a formally registered group in the directory of CNPq research groups.

Main Publications

The aim of this study was to examine interactional practices in live broadcasts in digital platforms. The corpus consisted of collected comments from the chat of CNN’s live stream on YouTube during the Bolsonaro supporter’s demonstration on February 25, 2024, at Avenida Paulista. After a quantitative collection, approximately 14 thousand comments made during the two-hour broadcast were analyzed using sentiment analysis methodology. Subsequently, based on Sociossemiotics, the interactional practices performed by the participants were identified. As a result, it was observed that the polarization between supporters of Lula and Bolsonaro is expressed by the alternation of sentiments, reflecting a regime of regularity and intentionality; The association of sentiment analysis with a sociosemiotic approach proved fruitful, prompting further studies from this combination.

Dengue peaked in 2024, causing a significant epidemic in Brazil. This article uses big data analysis to understand public perception of dengue on social media platforms. Based on digital methods, the study employs social listening to identify patterns, sentiments, and discussions. It focuses on six topics: evolution of mentions, distribution by channel, gender, engagement, related terms, and sentiments. The results highlight trends, the most active channels, and political influence, providing valuable insights for policymakers and social media strategists.

Conducted a survey study with 6,434 participants from 21 countries, examining the impact of digital media addiction on subjective wellbeing. Used various scales to assess addiction and its effects. Found that loneliness and satisfaction with relationships fully mediate the link between digital media addiction and flourishing. Highlights the need for further exploration of social factors in understanding digital media’s effects on wellbeing.

This study examined the media and information literacies of young Brazilians on Instagram during the Covid-19 pandemic. Through netnography, it analyzed profiles and “Dix” posts, finding a contrast in privacy settings and content strategies. Main profiles were more curated, while Dix posts were characterized by everyday content. The findings underscore the importance of media literacy in navigating online spaces and expressing emotions.

This study investigates the relationship between self-control and digital media addiction, exploring the potential mediating roles of media multitasking and time style. Surveys were conducted with 2193 participants across seven countries. Results indicate that higher self-control is associated with lower levels of problematic digital media use. Additionally, media multitasking serves as a significant mediator in this relationship. The findings suggest that strong self-control may mitigate impulsive social media behaviors, while weaker self-control may foster habitual digital media consumption.

Este estudo, de caráter exploratório, se propõe a investigar como a gamificação influencia na realização de as avaliações on-line, feitas no Google Maps, como fator que impulsiona a utilização da plataforma e fomenta a prática de realizar avaliações on-line, comportamento que vem sendo cada vez mais praticado em ambientes digitais na sociedade midiatizada. Este trabalho tem como objetivo geral entender a influência das avaliações online no comportamento humano, compreendendo a contribuição que causam na formação de opinião e decisões dos usuários do Google Maps, beneficiando ou prejudicando a percepção sobre determinados locais. E, também, como objetivos específicos, explorar abordagens teóricas produzidas sobre as avaliações online, e verificar de que forma a gamificação impulsiona os usuários do Google Maps a utilizarem as avaliações online como fator decisivo nas tomadas de decisão e construção de senso crítico. Inicialmente, são apresentadas diferentes visões sobre o entendimento de gamificação e o seu processo. Após, apresenta-se a metodologia utilizada para a extração dos dados: um script em linguagem Python para realizar a raspagem de dados, e então, a seleção de participantes para a realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas. Em sequência, apresenta-se resultados que demonstram o processo de gamificação como fator determinante para o estímulo e o engajamento dos usuários em realizar novas avaliações, expondo crescentemente as suas opiniões no ambiente digital, criando o hábito de realizar avalições on-line e aumentando a frequência de utilização da plataforma.

A Quarta Revolução Industrial inseriu na vida cotidiana a Inteligência Artificial (IA) e seus algoritmos. Essa nova realidade tecnológica requer uma profunda reflexão ética e enseja a necessidade de pensar sobre uma Ética Algorítmica. Partindo de uma pesquisa bibliográfica, este artigo propõe uma definição do termo e desenvolve uma reflexão sobre as principais questões suscitadas pela presença dos algoritmos nas mediações da vida humana contemporânea, referentes à falibilidade, opacidade, viés, discriminação, autonomia, privacidade e responsabilidade. Situando-a no domínio de uma ética aplicada, pondera-se sobre a conjunção das camadas humanas e computacionais na tomada de consciência diante dos dilemas.

With the spread of access and use of information through the web and social networks, information retrieval in large volumes of data has become unfeasible by manual methods. In this applied study, the contribution of the development and use of a prototype tool for automatic data scraping from online evaluations made on Google Maps – Discovery Stars – was reported. The retrieved data allowed us to investigate how these assessments can have the potential to influence the behavior of the platform’s users. Among the results, it was observed that the reading and posting of reviews impact the formation of opinion and motivations of Google Maps users.

Mobile phone addiction is a robust phenomenon observed throughout the world. The social aspect of mobile phone use is crucial; therefore, phubbing is a part of the mobile phone addiction phenomenon. Phubbing is defined as ignoring an interlocutor by glancing at one’s mobile phone during a face-to-face conversation. The main aim of this study was to investigate how the Phubbing Scale (containing 10 items) might vary across countries, and between genders. Data were collected in 20 countries: Belarus, Brazil, China, Croatia, Ecuador, India, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, UK, Ukraine and USA. The mean age across the sample (N = 7696, 65.8% women, 34.2% men) was 25.32 years (SD = 9.50). The cross-cultural invariance of the scale was investigated using multigroup confirmatory factor analyses (MGCFA) as well as the invariance analyses. Additionally, data from each country were assessed individually via confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs). We obtained two factors, based on only eight of the items: (a) communication disturbances and (b) phone obsession. The 8 items Phubbing Scale.

Problematic mobile phone use can be related to negative mental states. Some studies indicate that behavioural dependency is related to variables associated with the country of origin. The aim of our study was to investigate if country indicators moderated the relationship between phubbing and psychological distress. Our sample consisted of 7,315 individuals from 20 countries, who completed the Phubbing Scale and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6). The analyses also included country indicators: the Gender Gap Index (GGI), the Human Development Index (HDI), the Social Progress Index (SPI), Hofstede’s dimensions of culture, and the World Happiness Index (WHI). Our results showed that psychological distress was related to at least one dimension of phubbing (i.e., to communication disturbance or phone obsession) in all countries, which means this relationship is culturally universal. The results of the study demonstrate the importance of testing measurement invariance to determine what type of analysis and what type of conclusion are valid in a given study or comparison. Moreover, the increasing or decreasing correlation between phubbing and distress is related to some culture-level indices.

Neste estudo, buscou-se investigar quais seriam as principais competências e habilidades necessárias para atuar como profissional de jornalismo de dados no Brasil. Para isso, uma revisão teórico-conceitual foi realizada e dados foram coletados em 14 entrevistas semiestruturadas com dois grupos: o primeiro, com profissionais que atuam com jornalismo de dados no mercado; e o segundo, com pesquisadores em universidades do país. Na análise dos resultados, feita com apoio do software ATLAS.ti e respaldada nos estudos de Bardin, foram organizadas seis categorias em uma matriz que, entre outros aspectos, indicam como competências e habilidades necessárias o raciocínio lógico e analítico na apropriação de linguagens de programação e a capacidade de contar histórias por visualizações interativas. Os resultados foram disponibilizados na versão beta do 2030 Data Journalism – cartografia interativa que visa acompanhar, por meio de geolocalização e informações multimídias, as tendências dessa especialidade nos próximos anos.

Este artigo aborda a disseminação de mensagens no Twitter e os papéis de seus atores em torno do último debate dos candidatos a presidência do Brasil de 2018. Ampara-se na formação da estrutura da rede com base em postagens sobre o debate, em especial na identificação dos principais atores e das diferentes funções exercidas pelos usuários que tuitaram sobre o evento. Os resultados apontam a relevância da imprensa na produção de conteúdos, agregada ao papel fundamental de usuários comuns no sentido de espalhar o conteúdo produzido por estes veículos.

No contexto do contemporâneo hiperconectado, a literatura aponta que os jovens tendem a se informar, se educar, se divertir e se relacionar mediados pelas mídias móveis digitais. Com o objetivo de discutir como a recente migração de uso de mídias baseadas em ambiente de computador desktop para dispositivos móveis está relacionada com a intensidade de uso e apropriação de informações digitais, este estudo se debruça sobre um conjunto de dados quantitativos coletados através de um survey focado em estudantes do ensino fundamental e médio residentes em São Caetano do Sul, região metropolitana de São Paulo (Brasil), pertencentes a diferentes estratos sociais. Os resultados indicam que a renda influencia nos processos de posse, bem como na intensidade do uso de aplicativos de imagens, como Snapchat e Instagram, notadamente maior nas classes altas. No caso de plataformas educacionais, a renda influencia no menor uso para as classes baixas. Os jovens das classes baixas também buscam soluções alternativas para se conectar à Internet, como, por exemplo, descobrindo senhas de redes fechadas ou buscando áreas de conectividade gratuita.

Second screening is widespread worldwide, particularly in younger populations. We analyze a survey of college students in Brazil and the United States to compare second screening frequency, types, platforms, and motivations between the two countries. Despite lower Internet penetration, Brazilians second screen significantly more than Americans, a result of the country’s tradition of interacting with producers of television. In both countries, those who use the interactive affordances of social media are more likely to second screen. As such, we posit this unique audience-driven act works to bridge Web-connected devices and television to create a converged atmosphere.

Combining television and a second, web-connected screen, is challenging both in technical and production content issues, as they can influence users’ engagement with the content. The case study presented in this paper aims to discuss how the use of different content recognition techniques for TV set and mobile devices synchronization can impact for better or worse the users’ interactive experience. From a triangulation method approach, using a prototype, quantitative and qualitative questionnaires and focus groups, user test sessions were carried out in order to collect perceptions and reactions from participants using variations of QRcode, hashtag and audio watermark markers when second screening. Data analysis showed that a key factor for a fruitful content recognition for dual screening is not only the seamless communication by itself, but the influence level of each specific characteristics of a marker, such as size of images, number of characters and noises.

O neologismo phubbing, junção de palavras que remetem às atividades mediadas pelo telefone e efeitos de desprezo, fornece imperativos para acentuar a percepção ubíqua de ser aborrecido, ignorado e ofendido em razão de um dispositivo móvel presente em situações de interação pessoal. Seu sintomático registro acompanha importantes descobertas sobre a difusão de mídias móveis em países em desenvolvimento, em cujos jovens são os grupos sociais mais ativos nesse cenário.Incorporando e relacionando a teoria do deslocamento da mídia, focamo-nos na análise de um questionário sobre jovens brasileiros e chineses, identificando como compreendem e lidam com as tensões entre as mídias móveis e a interação face-a-face. Os resultados podem contribuir com novas nuances a discussão sobre deslocamento da mídia.

O artigo dedica-se ao estudo da internet, celulares, videogames e televisão no quetange aos seus usos, valorações, posse e acesso por parte de crianças e adolescentesbrasileiros em seus ambientes de interação social na era das telas digitais. O estudoé feito a partir de ampla coleta de dados quantitativos organizados em quatro eixosde análise, a partir dos quais a investigação da chamada geração interativa oferececontribuições para além da compreensão das literacias digitais emergentes e revelatraços da contemporaneidade da convergência, na qual a construção do conhecimentoe a ludicidade do entretenimento estão em constante sinergia.

Papers, books and chapters

News

OPEN MEETING WITH DR. COLIN AGUR
OPEN MEETING WITH DR. COLIN AGUR
FAPESP APPROVES NEW RESEARCH
FAPESP APPROVES NEW RESEARCH
OPEN MEETING WITH GUEST
OPEN MEETING WITH GUEST
ALAN ANGELUCI TRANSLATES
ALAN ANGELUCI TRANSLATES

People

Permanent members from 2025-2027 period:

Alan César Belo Angeluci

Beatriz Araújo Panza Pereira

Michael Felipe Souza Araújo (Mike)

Angelo Luiz Gozzi Mori

Carlos Henrique Sabino Caldas

Carolina Aguiar da Silva

Carolina Gois Falandes

João Otávio Cadó de Matos

Gustavo Moreira Calixto

Paulo Rogerio Nunes de Sousa

Silvana Comunian Soares

Anne Vitória Gomes do Rosário

Giovanna Cunha Soares Coelho

João Paulo Machado de Almeida

Marcello Tenorio de Farias

Yago Henrique Andrade Almeida 

Aparecido Antonio dos Santos Coelho

Helio Ohmaye

Geovanni José Basilio de Souza

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Universidade de São Paulo, Escola de Comunicações e Artes.
Av. Prof. Lúcio Martins Rodrigues, 443, Prédio Central, sala 265
Cidade Universitária
09530060 – São Paulo, SP – Brasil
Phone: +55 11 2648-1189