Lydia Laurenson Polarisation and Peacebuilding Strategy on Digital Media Platforms: Current Research 13 The Author Lydia Laurenson has spent her career working on media, technology, community-building, and social good. She has done in-depth research and digital product development at both social media and digital journalism companies. She has also written extensively about tech, media, and culture: about digital pseudonyms for The Atlantic; about digital media business models for Harvard Business Review; about San Francisco’s very own secret society startup for Vice’s tech publication Motherboard; and more. Find her on Twitter @lydialaurenson. Research Assistants Shauna Gordon-McKeon was trained as a neuroscientist before switching her focus to technology. She has worked as a web developer and data analyst for ten years, and is an expert in open source software development, open science, and reproducibility. Rachel Lazerus received her MPP at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. She has been working for the Coalition for Responsible Home Education as a research analyst and Director of Operations since its founding in 2013. Her research interests include the intersection of technology, education, and belief systems. Toda Peace Institute The Toda Peace Institute is an independent, nonpartisan institute committed to advancing a more just and peaceful world through policy-oriented peace research and practice. The Institute commissions evidence-based research, convenes multi-track and multi-disciplinary problem-solving workshops and seminars, and promotes dialogue across ethnic, cultural, religious and political divides. It catalyses practical, policy-oriented conversations between theoretical experts, practitioners, policymakers and civil society leaders in order to discern innovative and creative solutions to the major problems confronting the world in the twenty-first century (see www.toda.org for more information). Contact Us Toda Peace Institute Samon Eleven Bldg. 5th Floor 3-1 Samon-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0017, Japan Email: contact@toda.org