Ahmer Arif

I'm an assistant professor in the School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin. My research falls at the intersection of computer science and social science and is situated within the fields of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). I currently study how people use communication technologies like social media to spread, shape and confront disinformation and misinformation. I also conduct research into designing experiences in which we can observe and reflect on our participation in these information spaces and the effects that is having on us. Beyond academia, I’ve had the good fortune to work as a researcher and consultant with several large organizations like Facebook, Yahoo!, The World Bank and the UN.

Education

Ph.D. in Human Centered Design & Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Supervised by Dr. Kate Starbird & Dr. Jennifer Turns.
M.S. in Computer Science, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan. Thesis written under the supervision of Dr. Naveed Arshad on Integrating Renewables & Demand Side Management in Micro-grids via a Genetic Algorithm based Approach. Member of Dean’s Honor List for graduating with academic distinction.
B.Sc. (Honors) in Computer Science w/minor in Social Sciences, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan. Member of Dean’s Honor List for graduating with academic distinction.

Publications

Peer Reviewed Articles

2020 Arif, A., Troubling Matters: Examining the Spread of Misinformation and Disinformation on Social Media During Mass Disruption Events. PhD Diss.
2019 Starbird, K., Arif, A., & Wilson, T. Disinformation as Collaborative Work: Surfacing the Participatory Nature of Strategic Information Operations. In Proceedings of the 22th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (CSCW '19).
2018 Arif, A., Stewart, L.G., & Starbird, K. Acting the Part: Examining Information Operations Within #BlackLivesMatter Discourse. In Proceedings of the 21th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (CSCW '18).
2018 Starbird, K., Arif, A., Wilson, T., Koevering, V.K., Yefimova, K., & Scarnecchia, D. Ecosystem or Echo-System? Exploring Content Sharing across Alternative Media Domains. In Proceedings of the 11th AAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM '18).
2018 Stewart, L.G., Arif, A., Nied, A.C., Spiro, S.E., & Starbird, K. Drawing the Lines of Contention: Networked Frame Contests Within #BlackLivesMatter Discourse. In Proceedings of the 21th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (CSCW '18).
2017 Arif, A., Robinson, J. J., Stanek, S. A., Fichet, E., Townsend, P., Worku, Z., & Starbird, K. A Closer Look at the Self-Correcting Crowd: Examining Corrections in Online Rumors. In Proceedings of the 20th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (CSCW '17).
2016 Arif, A., Shanahan, K., Chou, F.J., Dosouto, Y., Starbird, K., & Spiro, E. How Information Snowballs: Exploring the Role of Exposure in Online Rumor Propagation. In Proceedings of the 19th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (CSCW '16).
2016 Atman, C.J., Arif, A., Shroyer, K.E., Turns, J., & Borgford-Parnell, J. “Spend another day in our class talking about this research please”: Student insights from a research-based design thinking exercise. In Proceedings of the 2016 Design Research Society Annual Conference (DRS `16).
2014 Arif, A., Javed, F., & Arshad, N. Integrating renewables economic dispatch with demand side management in micro- grids: a genetic algorithm-based approach. Energy Efficiency, 7(2), 271-284.

Lightly reviewed Papers and Workshops

2018 Stewart, L.G., Arif, A., & Starbird, K. When Bad Actors Adhere to Group Norms. Workshop Paper In Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI `18).
2018 Stewart, L.G., Arif, A., & Starbird, K. Examining Trolls and Polarization with a Retweet Network. In Proceedings of the 2018 WSDM workshop on Misinformation and Misbehavior Mining on the Web (MIS2).
2017 Arif, A. Considering Corrective Behaviors in Conceptualizing, Creating, & Controlling Constructive and Controversial Comments. Workshop Paper in the 20th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (CSCW '17).
2017 Turns, J.A., Arif, A., Lovins, T., & Chinh, B. “It is helpful but having it due a week out might be too long”: How Engineering Students Experience Reflection Activities. In Proceedings of the Research in Engineering Education Symposium (REES `17).
2017 Turns, J.A., Scalone, G., Arif, A., Lovins, T., & Atman, C. Dimensions in Designing Reflection Activities. In Proceedings of the World Engineering Education Forum Conference (WEEF `17).

Industry

Facebook User experience research intern with the Ads Platform team during the summer of 2017. Informed the design of Facebook's tools for managing ads by conducting multiple qualitative research studies with Facebook users, global sales organizations and small businesses.
Yahoo! Research intern with the Mail Anti-spam team during the summer of 2015. Supported the design of machine-learning classifiers to reduce spam by conducting quantiative research to understand the relationship between user login behaviors and mail abusing ones.
Carefully Crafted Senior software engineer at a web-consultancy from 2013-2014.
United Nations Development Programme Consultant for the Papua New Guinea office on a mobile-banking related project during 2013. Promoted financial inclusion in underserved rural areas by helping inform the UNDP strategy via research.
Developyst Chief technology officer for an education and data advocacy non-profit from 2012-2013. Supported multiple data transparency initiatives by managing multiple vendor & client relationships and an 8 person technology team.
The World Bank Consultant for the ICT Sector Unit on mobile governance related projects in Punjab during 2012. Automated the collection and reporting of key health and education indicators in the Punjab province by researching, engineering and implementing a mobile and web-based platform.
TimeSvr Part-time software engineer for a web-based startup from 2008-2009.

Teaching

Theories & Concepts In Human Computer Interaction delivered course lectures and graded assignments as a TA for a senior level undergraduate course at the University of Washington during Spring 2017. Taught students about postcolonial computing and the intertwined nature of society & technology.
Experimental Research Methods Ran tutorials and graded assignments for a Masters level course at the University of Washington during Fall 2014. Taught students about statistical tools like R and study design.
Graph Theory delivered course lectures as teaching associate for a junior level undergraduate course at the University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore during Winter 2011.
Theories of Literary Criticism Facilitated course discussions and provided writing support as the senior TA for multiple course offerings of Literary Theory, Greek & Shakespearean Tragedy and Introduction to Literature at the Lahore University of Management Sciences between 2009-2010.
Computing Structures Ran labs, delivered tutorials and graded assignments as a TA for a sophomore level undergraduate course at the Lahore University of Management Sciences between Fall 2008. Taught students programming fundamentals like recursion and time complexity of algorithms.