JaeWon Kim

PhD Candidate @ UW iSchool

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Email:

jaewonk at uw dot edu

Hi! :) I am a 3rd year PhD candidate at the University of Washington Information School, advised by Prof. Alexis Hiniker at the User Empowerment Lab.

My research lies broadly in human-computer interaction (HCI) and social computing. I combine empirical work with design and system-building approaches to envision social technologies for meaningful social connections, especially with the youth 👯. Specifically, I study ways that social media can center relationship building, drawing inspiration from archetypal platforms like BeReal to community-based spaces like Discord, 3D games, and physical world interactions 🤝.

I am especially passionate about Positech research (centering human flourishing in social technology design) and am open to collaborations aligning with this vision—plus just about any concept in positive psychology ✨. I am also actively exploring topics that align with my broader research, including social AR/VR 🥽, AI-mediated communication, and personal growth.

Outside of research, you can find me singing, daydreaming, and slowly running, biking, and swimming with hopes of a triathlon someday (emphasis on “slowly”).




selected publications

  1. arXiv
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    Discord’s Design Encourages “Third Place” Social Media Experiences
    JaeWon Kim , Thea Klein-Balajee, Ryan M Kelly, and Alexis Hiniker
    arXiv e-prints, Jan 2025
  2. CSCW ’25
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    Privacy as Social Norm: Systematically Reducing Dysfunctional Privacy Concerns on Social Media
    JaeWon Kim , Soobin Cho*Robert Wolfe*, Jishnu Hari Nair, and Alexis Hiniker
    Jan 2025
  3. CSCW ’24
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    “Sharing, Not Showing Off”: How BeReal Approaches Authentic Self-Presentation on Social Media Through Its Design
    JaeWon Kim Robert Wolfe, Ishita Chordia, Katie Davis, and Alexis Hiniker
    Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, Nov 2024
  4. CSCW ’24 Workshop
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    Envisioning new futures of positive social technology: Beyond paradigms of fixing, protecting, and preventing
    JaeWon Kim Lindsay PopowskiAnna FangCassidy Pyle, Guo Freeman, Ryan M Kelly , Angela Y Lee, Fannie Liu, Angela D R Smith, Alexandra To , and Amy X Zhang
    In Companion Publication of the 2024 Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing, Nov 2024