Li Zeng

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Methodology and Statistics at Tilburg University. I received my Ph.D. in Information Science from the University of Washington. I also hold an M.S. in Information Science from the University of Washington and a B.A. in Information Management and Information Systems from the Communication University of China.

I study how social interaction, information, and digital systems shape human behavior and social outcomes. I am particularly interested in how these processes are structured in digital environments, and how they produce patterns of information diffusion and social dynamics.

My early research focuses on how information emerges, evolves, and spreads in online social systems, particularly in high-stakes contexts such as crises and emergencies. I study how rumors form and diffuse on social media, examining how individual behavior and network structures jointly shape collective information dynamics. Extending this perspective, I investigate how interaction patterns, social ties, and activity structures emerge in digital communities, and how these processes give rise to broader social dynamics, shaping participation, motivation, and behavioral outcomes.

More recently, my research examines how emerging digital environments shape communication, behavior, and decision processes. I study how features of socio-technical systems—such as platform design, information infrastructures, and algorithmic mediation—configure how individuals are exposed to information, interact with others, and make decisions. I examine these questions across evolving online ecosystems as well as digitally mediated market and health contexts, where I study how these structural conditions shape access, choice, and inequality.