October 2026 issue has been released! Huge thanks to all contributors. 💡Research Spotlight💡 Alicia Ernst et al. highlight shortcomings of Mood Management Theory in predicting algorithmically curated music streaming. Read the full paper here doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqaf030

We are happy to welcome our new editorial assistant, Jay Rose, to the HCR team. We extend huge thanks to our former EA, Hee Jung Cho, for her service. Jay will be assisting Dr. Peng in addressing HCR questions and issues, and the editorial contact email will remain the same.

🚨 26 days left! Submit an extended abstract for the special issue: "Who Are We Studying in Communication Research? Revisiting Audience in a Transforming Media Environment" Deadline: Aug. 31, 2026 Full papers: March 2027 More info: academic.oup.com/hcr/pages/s…

Call for Papers - Human Communication Research We're now accepting submissions for a special issue: "Who Are We Studying in Communication Research? Revisiting Audience in a Transforming Media Environment" Extended abstract deadline: August 31, 2026 academic.oup.com/hcr/pages/s…

New in HCR: Stewart M. Coles (2026) finds that social media endorsements from co-partisans increased exposure intentions for a fictitious television program. This co-partisan endorsement effect was stronger among White participants. Read more: doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqaf032

New in HCR: Zhu et al. (2026) show that larger choice sets increased overall and cross-cutting news selection, while choice set composition shaped cross-cutting exposure. Attitudes and behavioral intentions did not significantly change in the short term. doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqaf031

We’re excited to announce that HCR is now on LinkedIn! Stay connected with us: linkedin.com/company/human-c…

New @HCR_Journal issue out now! Featuring research on interparental conflict and parent-child triangulation, body-positive and fitspirational influencers, communicated sense-making in social groups, and digital panopticon/dataveillance. academic.oup.com/hcr/issue/5…

New in HCR: Across two experiments, Appel et al. (2025) show that congeniality bias persisted regardless of fiction vs. non-fiction labeling, emerging for positive portrayals but not for negative ones, with non-fiction slightly preferred overall. Read: doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqaf027

New in HCR: @wliao229, Ya-Ching Lee, @haoning_xue, and @EmilyKMcKinley find that AI use (N = 2,187) is driven by self-agency and machine-communion, highlighting how trait perceptions operate within relational schemas and evolve with trust over time. Read: doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqaf026

New in HCR: Meier & Masur (2025) study the "digital panopticon" via a 3-wave longitudinal experiment. While dataveillance links to privacy resignation between-person, critical privacy literacy is the key within-person predictor of self-inhibition. Read: doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqaf025

📢 New in HCR by @R_AmandaCooper & @alice_fanari: Returning Christian missionaries use metaphors, memorable messages & personification filtered through Christian in-group vernacular to make sense of their experiences and post-missionary identity. Read: doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqaf028

📢 New in HCR by @y_anthony_chen & @catalina_toma: Two preregistered experiments show Instagram self-presentation is self-affirming and, when it comes before upward social comparison, can buffer envy; well-being effects may depend on activity sequence. doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqaf022

📢 New in HCR: Influencers can mobilize! In two experiments and a field study, influencer posts with collective response efficacy increased collective efficacy beliefs and action intentions, especially among followers with strong parasocial bonds. Read: doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqaf024

📢 New in HCR by @JanaDreston and @AndreasNanz: Both intentional search and accidental exposure to election info on social media boost political knowledge—but don’t improve vote-choice alignment. Intentional seekers just feel more confident. Read: doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqaf023

📢 New in HCR! Vol. 51, Issue 4 (Oct 2025)! Studies on intellectual humility, AI imaginaries, media parenting, gender and sexist behavior, political communication, identity, and parent-child conversations about mental health. Read the full issue here: academic.oup.com/hcr/issue/5…

📢 New in HCR: “What do people watch under adversity?" Netflix viewing histories with diary data show no evidence that daily adversity predicts content choice. Instead, coping strategies shape genre preferences. 🔗 academic.oup.com/hcr/advance… #Coping #MoodManagement #DiaryData