TLDR; I would like to study the Fediverse and I am looking for recommendations and connections with like minded people/researchers.

I have a CS degree and I have aspirations for an academic career. In the past, I was interested in programming languages and the theory of computation. The past year I have been more interested in social issues like isolation, freedom of press, misinformation, and access to information. I have been following the fediverse closely and I truly believe in its potential.

My goal is to study social media as a computational system, how a bunch of people interacting with each other can generate reliable information. Topics I have been thinking about include: How neurodivergency awareness has been booming through social media, how scientific research can be done in a global collaborative environment instead of an institution focused, and how misinformation could be combatted with small interconnected social circles like mastodon.

I have been considering getting a master's degree in a related field like social computing. The Human Technology Interaction program of Eindhoven University seems interesting, especially the Behavioural and Social Computing track. Also, there is the option of diving into a PhD right away.

Either way I am broke right now, so I should probably start studying on my own while I try to create a safety net that would allow me to make my next step in 2025.

So, if you made it through my autistic info dump, I thank you and I was hoping to get your feedback. While any feedback is appreciated, I have the following questions in my mind:

1. Are there any other terms like social computing that would help me understand the field?
2. Are there any researchers you would I suggest I follow?
3. Any books or papers recommendations?
4. If you are a researcher/student with similar concerns, would like to have a chat? You can find my matrix handle on my profile.
5. Any other universities I should look into?

Last but not least, let me know if you are interested for me to make a follow-up post with any information I gather.