Decoding our Internet-Mediated Lives: Behaviour, Attitudes, and Wellbeing
Dr. Juhi Kulshrestha, Aalto University
When: March 31, 2026; 13:00-13:45
Location: Aalto CS Building, T4
Abstract: Much of our everyday life now unfolds online, from the information we consume to the opinions we form and the decisions we make, leaving behind rich digital traces of human behaviour. In this talk, I will discuss how digital behavioural data can be used to study our internet-mediated lives. By combining passive web browsing traces with online surveys, experiments, and computational analysis of web content, we can link patterns of online behaviour to attitudes, decisions, and mental health & wellbeing. These approaches offer new ways to understand how digital environments shape behaviour and experiences both online and offline.
Bio: Juhi Kulshrestha is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science, where she leads the Computational Social Science Lab (css.aalto.fi). She received her PhD from the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems and subsequently worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Media Research (HBI) and the Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences (GESIS). Before joining Aalto, she held a Junior Professorship in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Konstanz. She was recently awarded RCF’s Academy Fellowship (2025-2029) for studying the interplay between online polarization and mental wellbeing.
Upcoming speakers
Dr. Verena Zimmermann, ETH Zurich
When: May 06, 2026; 14:00-14:45
Location: Online
Title and abstract: To be announced
Bio: Verena Zimmermann has been an Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) for Security, Privacy and Society at ETH Zurich since 2022. Her research focuses on the human aspects of safety, IT security, and privacy. She has a background in psychology and completed her dissertation in the interdisciplinary field of Usable Security at TU Darmstadt. As part of ATHENE, the German National Center for Applied Cybersecurity, she worked on several security-related research projects, ranging from usable authentication to privacy-friendly smart-home concepts.
At ETH Zurich, her research group investigates how to empower users to become active contributors to security rather than being viewed as “the weakest link.” Current topics include supporting phishing detection, measuring human cybersecurity behaviors, and designing human–AI collaboration in high-stakes cybersecurity environments.
Future speakers
Dr. Annika Svedholm-Häkkinen, Helsinki University (May 20, 2026; 14:00-14:45)
Dr. Heiko Hecht, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (June, hosted by Robin Welsch)
Current organizer
Verena Distler, Assistant Professor, Computer Science Department