Each year, Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering asks our students engaged in summer research to tell us about themselves, their work and the goals of the research they are working with professors on. This year, the questionnaire was completed by intrepid scientists, mathematicians, engineers and tech experts on campus at Loyola Marymount University — and beyond the bluff!
Raihana Zahra ’26, a computer science student whose research was overseen by professor Lanyu Shang, worked this summer on a project analyzing misinformation in social media posts. They also teamed up with student researchers from the mathematics department, overseen by professor Junyuan Lin to compile and compare the data.
Can you describe your research for those outside your field of study?
My research involves looking at social media posts on 3 different platforms to analyze whether the information being shared is misinformed or accurate for the audience. We look at videos from Reddit, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts to figure out whether health related videos should be taken as truthful or falsely spreading information.
What do you think readers will find most interesting about your project?
Social media is the most common platform to spread news to audiences of all age ranges. It is important to make sure that the videos posts that are appearing on there are accurate so that people are not misinformed on their health.
What have you learned about doing research that other students might benefit from?
Research complements coursework by allowing you to apply the knowledge that you’ve learned in the classroom to the field. While it is not the same as a typical corporate job, the experience while doing research helps you learn more than you would ever do normally. I think the classroom teaches a lot more theory but research lets you explore more of that theory to the real world.
What advice would you give to someone on the fence about doing research?
Just do it! There will be days where things are more fun than others, but at the end of the day, you will be proud of all the work that you’ve accomplished. Each small task leads up to a bigger result which is how you’ll know you did something right with your research.