Niina Sormanen

I am a Postdoctoral Researcher in Communication Sciences at the LUT School of Engineering Science. My current research is centered on how people consume information in the digital and social media age coming from traditional and new forms of journalistic media and other influential actors in society (e.g. social media influencers, science, decision makers), how people engage with the information, and what consequences come from the information consumption practices, which can be critical for many aspects of society. I am particularly interested in young people’s journalistic media consumption, participation, news and media literacy skills, and mis- and disinformation detection capabilities (both nationally and globally).

I am associated with the Disinformation, Propaganda & Soft Power Research Lab (https://www.lut.fi/en/research-groups/disinformation-propaganda-soft-power-research-lab-dps-lab).

I also teach courses in Communication Sciences (focused on interaction, engagement and agency in the digital society, workplace communication, and organizational communication) at LUT School of Engineering Science.

Previously (2024-2025), I worked as a Senior Researcher in Economic Sociology at the University of Turku. There I conducted research in two international projects focused on investigating the spread of unreliable scientific information (scientific mis- and disinformation) on social media and through journalistic media, and their effects on society from public health to environmental policy and technologies.

Before that (2020-2024), I worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy (sociology), University of Jyväskylä. There I conducted research in varied consortium and international projects focused on digital, journalistic media and information behavior of people and young people’s agency and participation in society.

I received my PhD in 2018 at the University of Jyväskylä, Department of Communication (subject of Journalism), focused on the communicative power of online communities.

Publications (peer-reviewed scientific articles)

Sormanen, N. & Reinikainen, H. (2025). Young people as audiences, consumers and participants in digital news and information environments, In: Wilska, T-A & Nyrhinen, J.  (Eds.), Young People in Digital Environments. Agency, Risks and Opportunities. Cheltenham: Edvard Elgar. Forthcoming (2025).

d'Haenens, L., Vissenberg, J., Puusepp, M., Edisherashvili, N., Martinez-Castro, D., Helsper, E. J., Tomczyk, Ł., Azadi,T., Opozda-Suder, S., Maksniemi, E., Spurava, G., Salmela-Aro, K., Sormanen, N., Tiihonen, S., Wilska, T-A., Hietajärvi, L., Martínez, G., Larrañaga, N., Garmendia, M., Olveira-Araujo, R., Donoso, V., Pedaste, M., Sepielak, D. (2025). Fostering Media Literacy and Digital Skills: A Systematic Evidence Review of Intervention Effectiveness for Diverse Target Groups. Media and Communication, 13(Article 8901). https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.8901

Tuominen, J., Sormanen, N., Hietajärvi, L., Luoma-aho, V., & Wilska, T-A. (2025). Young Consumers’ Brand Distrust Model: Understanding the Antecedents of Young Consumers’ Distrust of Brands. Journal of Business Research, 190, 115250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115250

Laapotti, T., Iikkanen, P., Kerttula, T., Koistinen, A-K., Martin, A., & Sormanen, N. (2025). Multiliteracies in the Making – Multidisciplinary Conceptualization. Journal of Literacy and Technology, 26(1), 16–41. https://literacyandtechnology.org/current-issue/

Sormanen, N., Rantala, E., Lonkila, M., & Wilska, T-A. (2023). Moderate Digital Traditionalists, Minimalist Social Media Stumblers and Frequent Omnivores: News Consumption Repertoires among Finnish Adolescents. Nordicom Review, 43(2), 234–253. https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2022-0014

Sormanen, N., Reinikainen, H., & Wilska, T-A. (2022). Strategies of Eliciting Young People’s Affective and Quick Participation in a Youth Magazine’s Instagram Community. Journalism Practice, 17(8), 1790–1809. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2021.2016070

Sormanen, N. (2018). Business and News Media Perspectives on the Power of Social Media Publics: Case Finland. Journal of Social Media in Society, 7(2), 141–163. https://thejsms.org/index.php/JSMS/article/view/450

Sormanen, N., Lauk, E., & Uskali, T. (2017). Facebook’s Ad Hoc Groups: A Potential Source of Communicative Power of Networked Citizens. Communication & Society, 30(2), 77–95. https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12259/128719

Jouhki, J., Lauk, E., Penttinen, M., Sormanen, N., & Uskali, T. (2016). Facebook’s Emotional Contagion Experiment as a Challenge to Research Ethics. Media and Communication, 4(4), 75–85. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v4i4.579

Sormanen, N., & Dutton, W.H. (2015). The Role of Social Media in Societal Change: Cases in Finland of Fifth Estate Activity on Facebook. Social Media + Society, July-December, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305115612782

Sormanen, N., Rohila, J., Lauk, E., Uskali, T., Jouhki, J., & Penttinen, M. (2015). Chances and Challenges of Computational Data Gathering and Analysis: The Case of Issue-Attention Cycles on Facebook. Digital Journalism, 4(1), 55–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2015.1096614

Niskala, N., & Hurme, P. (2014). The Other Stance: Conflicting Professional Self-Images and Perceptions of the Other Profession among Finnish PR Professionals and Journalists. Nordicom Review, 35(2), 105–121. https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2014-0018