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# New Jersey selects Rutgers for social-media center with public reporting requirements
- URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/state-news-new-jersey-2026-10-20-a/
- Published: 2026-10-20T17:29:01.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-20T17:29:01.000Z
- Description: Rutgers will host New Jersey’s social-media research center with a $500,000 state grant. The program calls for free school training, policy recommendations and annual reporting, while future funding is not guaranteed.
- Author: News Desk
- Tags: Tech, New Jersey

New Jersey has selected Rutgers University to run its Social Media Research Center, giving the state’s online-safety initiative a research partner and a defined set of public obligations. Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Higher Education Secretary Margo Chaly [announced October 19](https://www.nj.gov/governor/news/2026/approved/20261019a.shtml?ref=theamericanquorum.com) that Rutgers won a competitive process for a $500,000 grant funded in the fiscal 2027 budget.

The assignment is to study social-media use and develop responses, not to announce that particular interventions already work. The [governor’s office](https://www.nj.gov/governor/news/2026/approved/20261019a.shtml?ref=theamericanquorum.com) describes assessment, intervention and prevention as the center’s three priorities. Its research agenda includes examining whether warning labels can discourage compulsive use.

The center follows an [August package](https://www.nj.gov/governor/news/2026/20260811a.shtml?ref=theamericanquorum.com) establishing new online protections and a university research center. The administration said a separate measure directs research into warning labels and disclaimers, followed by findings and policy recommendations. Selecting a host now advances the research component; it is not itself a completed evaluation of those approaches.

## What schools and families are promised

[Rutgers says](https://www.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-selected-lead-new-jersey-social-media-research-center?ref=theamericanquorum.com) its researchers will develop online courses and training modules available free to New Jersey schools. Plans also include a central website with educational resources and workshops for parents, educators and health professionals. These are announced deliverables, rather than a claim that every resource is already available.

According to [Rutgers](https://www.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-selected-lead-new-jersey-social-media-research-center?ref=theamericanquorum.com), psychology associate professor Jessica Hamilton will direct the center, with Jeffrey Lane and Vivien Wen Li Anthony as faculty co-directors. Rutgers describes a cross-campus effort working with young people, schools, state agencies and community organizations. Hamilton emphasized examining what young people experience online and differences in vulnerability, rather than treating screen time alone as the entire research question.

The university also [plans longitudinal research](https://www.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-selected-lead-new-jersey-social-media-research-center?ref=theamericanquorum.com) tracking how young people’s habits and online experiences change over time. That design is intended to investigate relationships with well-being; an announced research plan should not be mistaken for published findings or proof that a specific platform caused a particular outcome.

## The grant’s limits and accountability

The state’s [funding notice](https://www.nj.gov/highereducation/documents/pdf/NGO%5FSocialMediaResearchCenter.pdf?ref=theamericanquorum.com) requires the selected institution to spend the award by September 30, 2027\. It also says future state appropriations are not assured and the host must be able to sustain the center through other funding opportunities. The initial $500,000 therefore is not a permanent annual commitment. The notice also asked applicants to identify research and outreach they could publish within the center’s first six and 12 months.

Under that same [notice](https://www.nj.gov/highereducation/documents/pdf/NGO%5FSocialMediaResearchCenter.pdf?ref=theamericanquorum.com), annual reports to the governor and Legislature must identify current research, funding amounts and sources, agency research requests and the expected direction of future work. Research publications must also reach the state officials and agencies that supplied data. The requirements create a way to compare promised activity with documented output.

For schools, the practical commitment is free training; for policymakers, it is research and recommendations. The [grant terms](https://www.nj.gov/highereducation/documents/pdf/NGO%5FSocialMediaResearchCenter.pdf?ref=theamericanquorum.com) make both part of the assignment, while leaving the center responsible for producing usable work and a sustainable operation beyond its initial funding period.