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[2602.12207] VIRENA: Virtual Arena for Research, Education, and Democratic Innovation
Summary
VIRENA is a novel platform designed for controlled experimentation in social media environments, enabling researchers to study human-AI interactions and content moderation without programming skills.
Why It Matters
As digital platforms increasingly influence public discourse, VIRENA addresses the challenges of studying these dynamics by providing a controlled, ethical environment for research. This innovation has significant implications for understanding social media's impact on society and improving democratic processes.
Key Takeaways
- VIRENA allows for realistic social media simulations for research.
- The platform supports no-code experimentation, making it accessible to non-programmers.
- Researchers can manipulate variables such as content moderation and AI behavior.
- VIRENA is built on open-source technologies, ensuring data control and compliance.
- Current applications include collaborations at the University of Zurich.
Computer Science > Human-Computer Interaction arXiv:2602.12207 (cs) [Submitted on 12 Feb 2026 (v1), last revised 18 Feb 2026 (this version, v2)] Title:VIRENA: Virtual Arena for Research, Education, and Democratic Innovation Authors:Emma Hoes, K. Jonathan Klueser, Fabrizio Gilardi View a PDF of the paper titled VIRENA: Virtual Arena for Research, Education, and Democratic Innovation, by Emma Hoes and 2 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:Digital platforms shape how people communicate, deliberate, and form opinions. Studying these dynamics has become increasingly difficult due to restricted data access, ethical constraints on real-world experiments, and limitations of existing research tools. VIRENA (Virtual Arena) is a platform that enables controlled experimentation in realistic social media environments. Multiple participants interact simultaneously in realistic replicas of feed-based platforms (Instagram, Facebook, Reddit) and messaging apps (WhatsApp, Messenger). Large language model-powered AI agents participate alongside humans with configurable personas and realistic behavior. Researchers can manipulate content moderation approaches, pre-schedule stimulus content, and run experiments across conditions through a visual interface requiring no programming skills. VIRENA makes possible research designs that were previously impractical: studying human--AI interaction in realistic social contexts, experimentally comparing moderation interventions, and obser...