Dr. Cato Waeterloos

Affiliated Researcher
KU Leuven

Cato Waeterloos is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Media Studies (IMS) at KU Leuven. Her main research interests include different aspects of the interaction between new media and citizens’ civic and political participation, including political socialization and learning, news consumption, civic media literacies and social media uses.

Cato holds a master’s degree in Communication Sciences with a specialization in New Media and Society (2018, Ghent University). In 2022, she obtained her PhD in Communication Sciences (Ghent University) under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Koen Ponnet and Prof. Dr. Michel Walrave.

In a four-year BOF-funded research project, she investigated the role of social media in citizens’ political and civic participation. The main aim was to understand how and why citizens employ social media as platforms for political participation and expression on social issues. Cato investigated how these innovative forms of participation exist next to more established participatory acts (such as voting, protesting, or signing petitions). In addition, her research explored which factors influence the choices people make in the democratic landscape (such as news consumption and different attitudes).

After obtaining her PhD, Cato worked as lead postdoctoral researcher at imec-mict-ugent (Department of Communication Sciences, Ghent University) on a 'Gemeente Zonder Gemeentehuis' project. The project was a collaboration between the city of Ghent and Ghent University and investigated how young citizens could be engaged in local participation processes through digital instruments.

As of May 2023, Cato is working on the iBOF project POLKNOW as a postdoctoral researcher under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Michaël Opgenhaffen and Prof. Dr. Desirée Schmuck. In the project, she studies the role of social media interventions in the formation of political knowledge among youth.

Publications