Ziad Matni wants to better understand why and how we connect online, especially through the lens of socially-networked online communities and social media. Specifically, he is interested in using social media tools in novel ways to help us understand new and interesting things about ourselves, our social networks, our communities, and our neighborhoods. His research design approach is anchored in the quantitative end of things, such as designing web-based tools to collect data on participants’ information-related behaviors, but he also employs some qualitative approaches too.

His initial educational background is in electrical and computer engineering (ECE) and liberal arts and he has worked in industry for over 13 years - mostly in high speed digital communication system design and marketing in Southern California. His passion for teaching and academic research, however, has taken him back into academia and he earned his Ph.D. in Information Science at Rutgers University’s School of Communication and Information after teaching there (as instructor of record) for 6 years. At Rutgers, he was awarded the SC&I Fellowship for 3 years and won the Best Instructor award in 2016.

His hobbies include music performance, cooking, international travel, and staying sane in the face of raising two little human beings. He is very excited and grateful to pursue the start of his academic career at UC Santa Barbara!