Short (official) bio:
Jessica Vitak is an associate professor in the College of Information Studies and director of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL) at the University of Maryland. Her research evaluates the privacy and ethical implications of big data, the internet of things, and other “smart” technologies. She seeks to understand how privacy concerns play a role in technology adoption and use, and she develops tools and resources to help children and adults make more informed decisions when using technology and sharing sensitive data. For more information, visit https://pearl.umd.edu.
Long(er) bio:
I attended Elon University in North Carolina for my undergrad, an amazing small, liberal arts school. There I fell in love with media studies. I can’t speak highly enough of the School of Communications there and the impact it has had on me academically. I worked at the radio station (WSOE) all four years, including as general manager, and was an editor for the weekly newspaper (The Pendulum). I graduated in 2002 with a dual bachelor’s degree in communications (broadcast and corporate) and journalism.
After college, I moved to the DC area and began a five-year stint as an editor at PR Newswire, an international news distribution service. I loved the job, but it wasn’t intellectually challenging enough (and I’d planned to eventually go to grad school since I was an undergrad). I attended Georgetown University, enrolling in their Communication, Culture & Technology (CCT) program, and wrote my master’s thesis on the role social network sites play in changing the face of interpersonal communication, with a focus on potential negative outcomes. This research was facilitated by a survey of more than 600 Georgetown University undergraduates. A digital copy of the thesis can be accessed here (but please, don’t read it!).
While at Georgetown, I had the pleasure of working with the wonderful folks at the Pew Internet & American Life Project. I coauthored the Project’s Digital Footprints report, released in December 2007, and its Teens & Video Games report, released in September 2008, and later served as a consultant while at MSU.
While writing my thesis, I became very interested in social capital, thanks in large part to a recently published article by Nicole Ellison and Cliff Lampe. After making the decision to pursue a PhD, I wrote to Nicole to express my interest in working with her and was met with an enthusiastic reply. And the rest, as they say, is history. While I was accepted to other schools in (ahem) preferable locations, there was never a doubt in my mind as to which school was the best fit for me academically. So it was off to the icy wastelands of the north for the next three and a half years.
At MSU, I spent most of my time working on a NSF-funded grant in The Online Interaction Lab (TOIL), looking at collaboration on social network sites with Nicole and Cliff. The lab was quite productive, with presentations at ICA, NCA, HICSS, iConference, CHI, and ICWSM. Nicole and Cliff also served as some of the best mentors I could have ever asked for.
I then landed at the University of Maryland, where I started as an Assistant Professor in the iSchool in fall 2012. I received tenure in Spring 2019. I work with some amazing colleagues on a wide range of research areas, with my primary focus being on the privacy, surveillance, and ethical challenges people face in maintaining their privacy and managing their online identity in the digital age (see the Research Tab on this site or visit my lab page for a deep dive into my privacy, ethics, and surveillance research). I also direct the Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL), the oldest HCI lab in the US, which has nearly 100 active faculty and student members.
In my free time, I’m a crafter, video gamer, and baker/cook. I have a Zelda half-sleeve that was my tenure gift to myself, and I could play Breath of the Wild (or Tears of the Kingdom) for years without getting bored. I’ve also been a big sci-fi/fantasy nerd since I was a kid (Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books carried me through middle/high school), and I will read anything that Brandon Sanderson ever decides to publish.
Each Christmas, my family and I make 4000 cookies over 3-4 days and then give them away to pretty much everyone we know (the picture shows the box I took to work in 2022 containing 30 types of cookies). It’s uber stressful, but it’s also one of my favorite times of the year. I was even featured in this Eater article about mailing cookies during the holiday (highlight of my career)! I also live-tweeted my 2020 cookie weekend experience, if you want to see what happens behind the scenes.
I think it’s very important to have a strong balance between work and non-work spaces, so I make a concerted effort to carve out time to do fun and relaxing activities, and I encourage this in my colleagues and students as well.
If you’d like to contact me, I can be reached here.
jessica vitak, phd 