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Frank Waddell, Ph.D.

Frank Waddell, Ph.D.

Associate Professor - Department of Journalism

Office: 3067 Weimer

Phone: 352-294-1627

Email: frank.waddell@ufl.edu

Frank Waddell, Ph.D.

Associate Professor - Department of Journalism


Dr. T. Franklin Waddell is an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications.

His current research interests are at the intersection of new technology and online storytelling including work related to automated news, the psychology of online comments, and the effects of social television.

Dr. Waddell’s research has been published in a variety of journals including first author articles at Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, New Media & Society, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Communication Monographs, Digital Journalism, Journalism Studies, Electronic News, Journal of Media PsychologyInternational Journal of CommunicationPsychology of Popular Media CultureCyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, and ACM CHI, among other outlets. His work has also earned top paper honors at divisions of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Dr, Waddell teaches graduate and undergraduate classes in research methods, communication theory, and mass communication statistics. In 2017, he was awarded for “Outstanding Service on Behalf of Graduate & Professional Students” by the University of Florida Graduate Student Council. In 2018, he was awarded the “Excellence Award for Assistant Professors” at the University of Florida.

Areas of Expertise

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Communication Technology, Disinformation / Misinformation, Media Psychology and Media Effects, Trust

Education

Ph.D., Mass Communication, Pennsylvania State University, 2016
M.A., Communication, Virginia Tech, 2012
B.A., Communication, Virginia Tech, 2010

News

Publications

Refereed Journal Articles

Lewis, N., Nashmi, E., & Waddell, F. (2024). Testing the social media produsage hypothesis. Communication Studies. DOI: 10.1080/10510974.2023.2301133

Waddell, F., Sparks, J., & Moss, C. (2024). Using sex to get the story: Testing reliability and validity of a scale measuring a sexist stereotype of female reporters. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. DOI: 10.1080/08838151.2024.2337878

Moss, C., & Waddell, F. (2023). Is this us? Perceived realism and learning outcomes of entertainment media portrayals of transracial adoption. Communication Studies. DOI: 10.1080/10510974.2023.2263919

Moss, C., & Waddell, F. (2023). The happiest streaming platform on earth: The role of presumed influence in the parental control decision process. New Media and Society. DOI: 10.1177/14614448231215486

Waddell, F., & Moss, C. (Accepted). Fake news in the family: How family communication patterns and conflict history affect the intent to correct misinformation among family members. Communication Studies. DOI: 10.1080/10510974.2023.2196432

Waddell, F., Moss, C., Ivory, J., & Holz-Ivory, A. (2022). Character portrayals in digital games: A systematic review of more than three decades of existing research. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media.. DOI: 10.1080/08838151.2022.2100376

Moss, C., Waddell, F., & Thomas, S. (2022). Hesitancy in the home: The relationship between family communication patterns and willingness to converse about Covid-19 vaccination. American Behavioral Scientist. DOI: 10.1177/0002764222114611

Waddell, F., Chernin, K., Niemand, A., & Christiano, A. (Accepted). The effect of documentary and fictional narratives on dehumanization of refugees and stereotype reversal. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies.

Waddell, F., Overton, H., & McKeever, R. (Accepted). Does sample source matter for theory? Testing model invariance with the influence of presumed influence model across Amazon Mechanical Turk and Qualtrics Panels. Computers in Human Behavior. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2022.107416

Golan, G., Waddell, F., & Barnidge, M. (2021). Competing identity cues in the hostile media phenomenon: Source, nationalism, and perceived bias in news coverage of foreign affairs. Mass Communication & Society. DOI: 10.1080/15205436.2021.1884263

Kirilenko, A., Ma, D., Stephenkova, S., Su, L., & Waddell, F. (Accepted). Detecting early signs of overtourism: Bringing together indicators of tourism development with data fusion. Journal of Travel Research..

Waddell, F. (Accepted). Who thinks that female journalists have sex with their sources? Testing the association between sexist beliefs, journalist mistrust, and the perceived realism of fictional female journalists. Journalism Studies.

Shelton, S., & Waddell, F. (Accepted). Does ‘inspiration porn’ inspire? How disability and challenge impact attitudinal evaluations of advertising. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising. DOI: 10.1080/10641734.2020.1808125

Waddell, F., McClean, D., & Ivory, J. (Accepted). Toxic teammates or obscene opponents? How cooperation and competition influence hostility towards teammates and opponents in an online game. Journal of Virtual Worlds Research.

Waddell, F. (Accepted). When inspiration comes with baggage: How prior moral transgressions affect feelings of elevation and disgust. Communication Research Reports. DOI: 10.1080/08824096.2019.1641479

Waddell, F. (Accepted). Attribution practices for the man-machine marriage: How perceived human intervention, automation metaphors, and byline location affect the perceived bias and credibility of purportedly automated content. Journalism Practice. DOI: 10.1080/17512786.2019.1585197

Waddell, F. (Accepted). Can an algorithm reduce the perceived bias of news? Testing the effect of machine attribution on news readers’ evaluations of bias, anthropomorphism, and credibility. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly.

Waddell, F., & Bailey, E. (Accepted). Is social television the "anti-laugh track?" Testing the effect of negative comments and canned laughter on comedy reception. Psychology of Popular Media Culture. DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000154

Waddell, F., Bailey, E., & Davis, S. (Accepted). Does elevation reduce viewers’ enjoyment of media violence? Testing the intervention potential of inspiring media. Journal of Media Psychology.

Waddell, F. (Accepted). A robot wrote this? How perceived machine authorship affects news credibility. Digital Journalism. DOI: 10.1080/21670811.2017.1384319

Waddell, F. (Accepted). The Authentic (and Angry) Audience: How Perceptions of Comment Authenticity and Sentiment Impact News Evaluation. Digital Journalism.

Waddell, F. (Accepted). When Comments and Quotes Collide: Testing the Effects of Crowd Produced and Journalist Selected Exemplars. Journalism Studies. DOI: 10.1080/1461670X.2018.1533415

Waddell, F., & Sundar, S. (Accepted). #thisshowsucks! The overpowering influence of negative social media comments on television viewers. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media.

Sundar, S., Jung, E., Waddell, F., & Kim, K. (Accepted). Cheery companions or serious assistants? Role and demeanor congruity as predictors of robot attraction and use intentions among senior citizens. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. DOI: International Journal of Human-Computer Studies

Waddell, F., & Bailey, A. (Accepted). Inspired by the crowd: The effect of online comments on elevation and universal orientation. Communication Monographs. DOI: 10.1080/03637751.2017.1369137

Waddell, F. (Accepted). The effect of counter-exemplars and victim expectations on crime perceptions and hostile attitudes towards racial minorities. International Journal of Communication. Retrieved from http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/6798

Waddell, F. (Accepted). This tweet brought to you by a journalist: How comment gatekeeping influences online news credibility. Electronic News. DOI: 10.1177/1931243117739946

Waddell, F. (Accepted). What does the crowd think? How online comments and popularity metrics affect news credibility and issue importance. New Media & Society. DOI: 10.1177/1461444817742905

Dardis, F., Schmierbach, M., Sherrick, B., Waddell, F., Aviles, J., Kumble, S., & Bailey, E. (Accepted). Adver-where? Comparing the effectiveness of banner ads and video ads in online video games. Journal of Interactive Advertising. DOI: 10.1080/15252019.2016.1223572

Waddell, F. (Accepted). The allure of privacy or the desire for self-expression? Identifying users’ gratifications for ephemeral, photograph-based communication. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2015.0677

Ott, H., Pavan, S., Vafeiadis, M., & Waddell, F. (Accepted). The more informative, the better: The effect of message interactivity on product attitudes and purchase intentions. Journal of Promotion Management. DOI: 10.1080/10496491.2015.1107011

Waddell, F., Sundar, S., & Auriemma, J. (2015). Can customizing an avatar motivate exercise intentions and health behaviors among those with low health ideals?. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 18(11), 687-690. DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2014.0356

Waddell, F., & Ivory, J. (2015). It’s not easy trying to be one of the guys: The effect of avatar attractiveness, avatar sex, and user sex on the success of help-seeking requests in an online game. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 59(1), 112-129. DOI: 10.1080/08838151.2014.9982 21

Limperos, A., Waddell, F., Ivory, A., & Ivory, J. (2015). Psychological and physiological responses to stereoscopic 3D presentation in handheld digital gaming: Comparing the experiences of frequent and infrequent game players. PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 23(4), 343-351. DOI: 10.1162/PRES_a_00204

Ivory, A., Fox, J., Waddell, F., & Ivory, J. (2014). Sex role stereotyping is hard to kill: A field experiment measuring social responses to user characteristics and behavior in an online multiplayer first-person shooter game. Computers in Human Behavior, 35, 148-156. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.02.026

Sherrick, B., Hoewe, J., & Waddell, F. (2014). The role of stereotypical beliefs in gender-based activation of the Proteus Effect. Computers in Human Behavior, 38, 17-24. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.05.010

Waddell, F., Ivory, J., Conde, R., Long, C., & McDonnell, R. (2014). White man’s virtual world: A systematic content analysis of gender and race in massively multiplayer online games. Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, 7(2), 1-14. DOI: 10.4101/jvwr.v7i2.7096

Research

Research Keywords

Online News, Automated Journalism, Social Television, Media Violence

Research Areas

  • Media Effects, Media Psychology

Courses