Hi! I'm Emerson Johnston (she/her), a technology policy researcher at Stanford University. I currently work as a research assistant at the Hoover Institution’s Technology Policy Accelerator, where I contribute to the Stanford Emerging Technology Review and lead research on emerging technologies and their implications for national security. I’m also an affiliate of the Stanford Social Media Lab, where my research investigates social media users’ interactions with, and understandings of, content-recommendation algorithms and other platform-based technological affordances.

    More broadly, my research examines the sociocultural and geopolitical implications of digital platforms, algorithmic governance, and the internet. I’m particularly interested in how digital infrastructures—from early internet networks to contemporary social media platforms—shape identity, civic engagement, and sociopolitical dynamics. My work draws on ethnographic methods, network analysis, and archival research. It has been published by the Hoover Institution, the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI, and the Stanford International Policy Review. I’ve also presented my research at various conferences, most recently at the American Sociological Association Annual Meeting in Chicago, the International Network for Social Network Analysis’ Sunbelt Conference in Paris, and the University of Westminster’s 50th Anniversary Conference in London.

    As of 2025, I am currently on leave from Stanford’s M.A. program in the History of Science, Technology, Environment, and Medicine, where my thesis examines how institutional and historical legacies have shaped the framing of the internet as a telecommunications system rather than a civic or social space. Previously, I received my B.S. in ‘Politics, Philosophy, and Economics’ and in ‘History, Culture, and Law’, summa cum laude, from Northeastern University, and my M.A. in International Policy from Stanford, where I’m also a Knight-Hennessy Scholar.

    In another life, I served five years in the U.S. Army Reserve as a 38B Civil Affairs Specialist, and spent two years working as a Political Officer for the U.S. Department of State. These experiences continue to inform my perspective on digital governance, diplomacy, and the evolving role of civic institutions in technological society.

    If you’re here and interested in my work, don’t be a stranger. I’m always happy to connect and collaborate!

While you're here...

# Check out and follow the custom feed I run on BlueSky that tracks developments and discussions on internet cultures, subcultures, and countercultures.

And for a laugh...

# Find out which subatomic particle you are with this cute persona quiz I made for my girlfriend (who's a particle physicist if that wasn't clear).

# Watch my 2024 N.O.B.E.L. (not official but exceedingly ludacris) theories night presentation about the birth lottery and overlooked factors in academic success.