R.L. Bince

The global communications terrain is a minefield.

Navigating it means traversing politically inflamed topics, scandals, cultural and technological transformations, and the shifting sands of global trade policy. I help teams read the terrain, develop a strategy for crossing it, and handle challenges that emerge along the way.

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R.L. Bince

Strategic Insights for Complicated Times

The global communications terrain is a minefield.

Navigating it means traversing politically inflamed topics, scandals, cultural and technological transformations, and the shifting sands of global trade policy. I use research-based insights, training and development skills to help teams read the terrain, develop a strategy for crossing it, and handle challenges that emerge along the way.

Scroll to the Projects section for a portfolio of frameworks, models, procedures, and case studies that I've developed to that end.

PhD, Northwestern University, 2025
MA, Syracuse University, 2017

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Download Curriculum Vita

Projects

Effects of Infilitration on Digital Organizations

Using two case studies, I model how infiltration and security measures in crowd-enabled online organizations create a "security culture" with challenging organizational consequences.

This project was presented at two communication research conferences.

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Ethnography that Serves Communities Under Study

This collaboration with Bailey Flynn and Sarah Layden explores how to conduct field research that is grounded in the needs and interests of community partners.

This research article was published in Communication Studies.

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How Fake Profiles Offer Unique User Data

Through ethnographic interviews with social media users who routinely switch between multiple fake profiles, I outline how these profiles offer unique insights into how users modulate their identities across different contexts.

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How to Flourish Alongside Nonhuman Entities

I taught a 6-week intensive module that helped students set intentions for living in harmony with both human and nonhuman entities.

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A Module for Navigating Tech Transformations and Geopolitical Uncertainty

I was repeatedly tapped to help teach this module on navigating transformations in technology and global trade policy at Northwestern University.

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Tracking Social Influence at a Network Scale

By following several examples of international information warfare conducted online, I show how network analysis helps us understand how influence works on digital social media platforms.

This research article was published in Argumentation and Advocacy.

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Digital Social Connection after COVID-19

Commonplace concerns about contagion during COVID-19 propelled “contactless” services from technological novelty to the ordinary way of doing business. As a result, digital technology solidified its position as mediator between humans who would otherwise experience face-to-face contact.

This article was published in Lo Squaderno.

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Strike and Tangle: Crowds, Influence, and Digital Security

Exploring how two key digital brands—CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm, and CrowdTangle, a social analytics service—talk about their relationship to crowds helps explain the role of crowds in the digital world.

This article was published in Explorations in Media Ecology.

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How Civil Infrastructure Affects Civic Engagement

By analyzing statistics from the Crowd Counting Consortium alongside geographic data from three U.S. cities, I demonstrate how civic engagement is influenced by transit network structures and the location of symbolically significant sites.

This project was presented at a national conference.

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How Leadership Emerges in Crowds

I adapt models from leadership theory, crowd theory, and cognitive science to develop a framework for tracking co-constructed and emergent models of leadership in crowds.

This project marked the completion of my doctoral qualifying exams.

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How Art Communities Can Stimulate Civic Engagement

Through ethnographic interviews of residents at "punk houses," I identify how avant-garde art networks can support activist mutual aid organizations.

This project was presented at multiple conferences and earned the National Communication Association's award for Top Master's Thesis.

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Training Engineers in Public Speaking

Here's how I created a customized learning module to teach students at the McCormick School of Engineering valuable, function-specific communication strategies.

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R.L. Bince

R.L. Bince

Projects

Using two case studies, I model how infiltration and security measures in crowd-enabled online organizations create a "security culture" with challenging organizational consequences. ​ This project was presented at two communication research conferences.​

This collaboration with Bailey Flynn and Sarah Layden explores how to conduct field research that is grounded in the needs and interests of community partners. ​ This research article was published in Communication Studies.

Through ethnographic interviews with social media users who routinely switch between multiple fake profiles, I outline how these profiles offer unique insights into how users modulate their identities across different contexts.

I taught a 6-week intensive module that helped students set intentions for living in harmony with both human and nonhuman entities.

I was repeatedly tapped to help teach this module on navigating transformations in technology and global trade policy at Northwestern University.

By following several examples of international information warfare conducted online, I show how network analysis helps us understand how influence works on digital social media platforms. ​ This research article was published in Argumentation and Advocacy.

Exploring how two key digital brands—CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm, and CrowdTangle, a social analytics service—talk about their relationship to crowds helps explain the role of crowds in the digital world. ​ This article was published in Explorations in Media Ecology.

By analyzing statistics from the Crowd Counting Consortium alongside geographic data from three U.S. cities, I demonstrate how civic engagement is influenced by transit network structures and the location of symbolically significant sites. This project was presented at a national conference.

I adapt models from leadership theory, crowd theory, and cognitive science to develop a framework for tracking co-constructed and emergent models of leadership in crowds. ​ This project marked the completion of my doctoral qualifying exams.

Through ethnographic interviews of residents at "punk houses," I identify how avant-garde art networks can support activist mutual aid organizations. This project was presented at multiple conferences and earned the National Communication Association's award for Top Master's Thesis.

Here's how I created a customized learning module to teach students at the McCormick School of Engineering valuable, function-specific communication strategies.

Contact Me

Using two case studies, I model how infiltration and security measures in crowd-enabled online organizations create a "security culture" with challenging organizational consequences.

This project was presented at two communication research conferences.

This collaboration with Bailey Flynn and Sarah Layden explores how to conduct field research that is grounded in the needs and interests of community partners.

This research article was published in Communication Studies.

By following several examples of international information warfare conducted online, I show how network analysis helps us understand how influence works on digital social media platforms.

This research article was published in Argumentation and Advocacy.

Exploring how two key digital brands—CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm, and CrowdTangle, a social analytics service—talk about their relationship to crowds helps explain the role of crowds in the digital world.

This article was published in Explorations in Media Ecology.

By analyzing statistics from the Crowd Counting Consortium alongside geographic data from three U.S. cities, I demonstrate how civic engagement is influenced by transit network structures and the location of symbolically significant sites.

This project was presented at a national conference.

I adapt models from leadership theory, crowd theory, and cognitive science to develop a framework for tracking co-constructed and emergent models of leadership in crowds.

This project marked the completion of my doctoral qualifying exams.

Through ethnographic interviews of residents at "punk houses," I identify how avant-garde art networks can support activist mutual aid organizations.

This project was presented at multiple conferences and earned the National Communication Association's award for Top Master's Thesis.