Philipp Lorenz-Spreen is leading the research group “Computational Social Science” at the Center Synergy of Systems at TU Dresden. He has also been conducting research at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development since completing his Ph.D. in theoretical physics at TU Berlin, where he studied the dynamics of collective attention. His research focuses on the complexity of self-organized online discourse and its impact on democracies worldwide. His goal is to better understand the interplay between human behavior and the connectivity and functioning of online platforms, particularly how this affects public discourse. However, he also aims to challenge the status quo and explore how this technology offers untapped opportunities for an improved information ecosystem and participatory democracy in the online sphere.