Alicia Ernst is a research and teaching associate in the Computational Communication research group at the Department of Communication since September 2022. In 2022, she received her M.A. in Communication Studies with a focus on Corporate Communication from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and the University of Gothenburg. Her master’s thesis was entitled “Connected or Drained? Informal Communication and Well-Being During Work from Home”. From 2016 to 2019, she completed her Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies (major) and Film Studies (minor) at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz with a thesis on the topic of finding inspiration on Instagram.

During her studies, she worked in various positions as a student assistant at the Department of Communication (Research Group Media Effects and Media Psychology; Corporate Communication Group). She also gained practical experience in various media areas, including as a PR intern at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt am Main and as an editorial assistant in the New Media department of Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) in Mainz.

  • Media selection in algorithmically curated environments
  • Turning away from, avoiding, and non-use of media (e.g., disengagement)
  • Digital media, entertainment experiences, and well-being (e.g., social media, mobile media use, computer-mediated communication)
  • Survey methods (e.g., intensive longitudinal/in-situ designs)
  • Computational Methods (e.g., digital behavioral data, simulation)
  • 2025 – Top Paper Award (2nd place) of the Media Use and Reception Division of the German Association for Communication Studies (DGPuK) (with Felix Dietrich, Benedikt Rohr, Leonard Reinecke & Michael Scharkow)
  • 2023 – Paul Lazarsfeld Fellowship from the Paul Lazarsfeld Society and the DGPuK’s Methods Division for methodologically innovative student theses
  • 2022 – Top Poster Award of the Communication & Technology Division at the 72nd Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA) (with Leonard Reinecke)
  • 2022 – Master’s degree in Corporate Communication, sponsored by LAUTENBACH SASS and organized by the Alumni Foundation of the Institute for Communication Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Ernst, A., and Schnauber-Stockmann, A. (2025). Won’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough? Determinants of Disengaging From Mobile Media Apps in Daily Life. COMMUNICATION RESEARCH. Published. DOI Author/Publisher URL
Dietrich, F., Ernst, A., Kreling, R., et al. (2025). The differential effects of algorithmic recommendations on user experience: Enjoyment and serendipity in everyday music streaming. Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference of the ACM Greek SIGCHI Chapter, 8-16. DOI
Denner, N., Koch, T., Viererbl, B., Ernst, A. (2025). Feeling connected and informed through informal communication: a quantitative survey on the perceived functions of informal communication in organizations. JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT, 29(1), 71-93. DOI Author/Publisher URL
Ernst, A., Schnauber-Stockmann, A. (2024). Won’t stop ’til you get enough? Determinants of disengaging from mobile media apps in daily life. In Center for Open Science. DOI
Ernst, A., Dietrich, F., Rohr, B., et al. (2024). Revisiting the Digital Jukebox in Daily Life: Applying Mood Management Theory to Algorithmically Curated Music Streaming Environments. In Center for Open Science. DOI


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  • Ernst, A., & Schnauber-Stockmann, A. (2025, June). Won’t stop ’til you get enough? Determinants of disengaging from mobile media apps in daily life. 75th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), Denver, Colorado.
  • Ernst, A., Dietrich, F., Rohr, B., Reinecke, L., & Scharkow, M. (2025, January). Eine Experience Sampling-Studie zur alltäglichen Stimmungsregulierung in Musikstreamingumgebungen [An experience sampling study on mood management in daily music streaming environments]. Annual conference of the subject group Reception and Effects Research in the German Association for Communication Studies (DGPuK), Bamberg, Germany.

    2024
  • Ernst, A., & Dietrich, F. (2024, June). Agency and serendipity as key concepts for algorithmically curated digital media use in everyday life. 74th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), Gold Coast, Australia.
  • Ernst, A., & Schnauber-Stockmann, A. (2024, June). (Almost) 50 ways to leave an app. Situational deselection of TikTok . 74th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), Gold Coast, Australia.
  • Dietrich, F., Ernst, A., Rohr, B., Reinecke, L., & Scharkow, M. (2024, June). Music was my first love: An experience sampling study of biographic resonance through algorithmically curated music listening. 74th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), Gold Coast, Australia.
  • Schnauber-Stockmann, A., & Ernst, A. (2024, January). (Almost) 50 ways to leave an App. Situative Deselektion von TikTok . Annual Conference of the Reception and Impact Research subject group of the German Association for Communication Studies (DGPuK), Fribourg, Switzerland.
  • Ernst, A., & Schnauber-Stockmann, A. (2024, January). Situational TikTok use and the conceptual explication of algorithmic curation: An explorative primer. Annual conference of the subject group Reception and Effects Research in the German Association for Communication Studies (DGPuK), Fribourg, Switzerland.
  • Ernst, A., Dietrich, F., Schnauber-Stockmann, A., Gilbert, A., & Scharkow, M. (2024, January). Temporal structures of digital entertainment media use: An exploratory analysis of digital behavioral data. Annual Conference of the Reception and Effects Research subject group of the German Association for Communication Studies (DGPuK), Fribourg, Switzerland.

    2023
  • Ernst, A. (2023, September). Connected or drained? An experience sampling study on informal communication and well-being during from home. Annual conference of the subject group Methods in the German Society for Communication Studies (DGPuK), Potsdam, Germany.
  • Rohr, B., Ernst, A., Dietrich, F., & Scharkow, M. (2023, July). Opportunities and challenges of real-time data linkage designs – A case study using the Spotify API. 10th Conference of the European Survey Research Association (ESRA), Milan, Italy.
  • Ernst, A., Dietrich, F., Rohr, B., Reinecke, L., & Scharkow, M. (2023, May). The digital jukebox revisited: Applying Mood Management Theory to algorithmically curated music streaming environments. 73rd Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
  • Dietrich, F., Ernst, A., Rohr, B., Reinecke, L., & Scharkow, M. (2023, May). (I can’t get no) satisfaction: Music listeners’ algorithmically curated entertainment experience. 73rd Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
  • Ernst, A., Gilbert, A., & Meier, A. (2023, January). Seeking Serendipity Online: An exploratory study of seeking and finding inspiration in social media. Annual conference of the subject group Reception and Impact Research in the German Association for Communication Studies (DGPuK), Augsburg, Germany.

    2022
  • Ernst, A., & Reinecke, L. (2022, May). Informal communication and well-being during work from home: What is the role of modality? [poster presentation]. 72nd Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA), Paris, France.

    2020
  • Ernst, A., & Meier, A. (2020, January). “If inspiration doesn’t come to me, I go halfway to meet it” – Theoretical modeling of a process of finding inspiration on Instagram. Annual conference of the subject group Reception and Impact Research in the German Association for Communication Studies (DGPuK), Würzburg, Germany.
  • Datafied Society (MA Digital Communication Research) (Winter Term 2025/26)
  • Internal Communication (MA Strategic Communication) (Winter Term 2025/26)
  • Current Topics in Communication Science (BA Communication Science) „Approaches to the avoidance, turning away, and non-use of media“ (Summer Term 2025)
  • Survey Research: Media Uses and Effects, taught within the Computational Methods Track (BA Communication Science)
    • „The role of algorithms in everyday TikTok media use/Mixed Methods“ (2024)
    • “Selection of and within TikTok/Intensive longitudinal linkage designs“ (2023)
  • Current Topics in Media History, Law, and Politics (BA Communication Science) „Media Panics“ (Winter Term 2022/23)
  • Introduction to Scientific Reading and Writing (BA Communication Science) (Winter Term 2024/25, Winter Term 2023/24)
  • Concepts and Theories in Communication Science (BA Communication) (Winter Terms 2024/25, 2023/24, 2022/23)