Harmony Labs

03/20/2025

This year, we’re launching a new research tool that helps us understand the underlying stories that represent people’s most closely held beliefs. Unlike existing tracking surveys, the Deep Story Survey System captures not just what audiences say they want, but how they make meaning through the stories they consume. Read more about our approach:

Our new survey system reveals audiences’ deep stories, connecting attitudes and opinions with media consumption patterns

03/10/2025

Audience research shouldn’t constrain creativity—it should fuel it. Our PBS Digital Studios partnership demonstrates how researchers and creators can work together to develop audience-first content that drives innovation and reaches new corners of the internet.

Expanding YouTube audiences by tapping into unique curiosity

01/29/2025

How does entertainment influence people's ideas about democracy? Our new research with Democracy 2076 shows how stories of transformation—not stability—help Americans imagine better futures. Catch the highlights and watch our research briefing here:

Democracy stories in entertainment are not only prevalent, they are also popular and persuasive.

01/17/2025

Our new research with Democracy 2076 is officially live ✨ This public briefing had our largest turnout yet. Watch the expert discussion and get the full report now:

Democracy stories in entertainment are not only prevalent, they are also popular and persuasive.

01/13/2025

Last chance to join tomorrow’s democracy research briefing, happening at 12pm ET! Only a handful of spots remain for a 60-minute session hosted by Democracy 2076 and Harmony Labs exploring the impact of government portrayals in entertainment media on attitudes towards democracy. We're close to a full house so secure your spot soon:

Democracy 2076 and Harmony Labs recently teamed up to explore how depiction of government in entertainment media informs people’s understanding of democracy, and how those depictions might give them agency and hope for a future of American democracy that they are optimistic about. What we found mi...

01/07/2025

⚡️ 🎬 🇺🇸 New Research Briefing 1/14 🇺🇸 🎬 ⚡️

Democracy 2076 and Harmony Labs recently teamed up to understand how entertainment media might be shaping people’s understanding of democracy.

On January 14 at 12pm ET, we will share findings from our first-of-its-kind research on how four different U.S. audiences encounter government in the streaming content they engaged with over one year, and how this engagement shapes attitudes toward democracy and the future.

Expect a-ha moments, actionable insights, as well as what’s next for this important work. Register here to join us in a 60-minute learning session, happening next week:

Register now for our latest research briefing on January 14, 2025 @ 12 pm ET

12/18/2024

🚨 New Research Alert! We just launched Part 2 of our Move Them or Lose Them series with Harmony Labs! 🚀

In this new report, we explore strategies for reaching the "Moveable Middle" audience—a large portion of Americans across racial and ethnic backgrounds who are moveable on the issue of immigration.

👉 Part 1 (already out!) focused on understanding who the “Moveable Middle” is. Now, in Part 2, we're giving you the tools to connect with them where they are and move them toward action.

Check out parts 1 & 2 here: https://defineamerican.com/research/move-them-or-lose-them/

11/26/2024

At Harmony Labs, much of our work explores how people’s values intersect with their media habits, and whether those patterns reveal opportunities to foster connection. As we head into the holiday season, we highlight shows and movies that might help bridge any divides that emerge around the table this year. Read more here:

Bridging the Thanksgiving Divide with Television

10/31/2024

Harmony is hiring!

We're looking for a Senior Research Scientist to join our team. In this role, you'll design and implement data-driven research to analyze cultural consumption and media narratives, while also helping communicate methodologies and findings to key stakeholders.

Interested or know someone who might be a great fit? Learn more and apply here:

The Senior Research Scientist will play a pivotal role in conducting data-driven research and analysis to understand narratives about important issues in media.

10/03/2024

The latest from the lab: part 2 in our series on responsible AI at Harmony Labs.

Here, we explore how our core organizational values and a human-led approach shape how we use AI in our work, from protecting partner data to ensuring that AI complements—rather than replaces—human creativity and analysis.

These commitments underscore one key question we ask ourselves when considering creating something with AI: “Will people touched by this product be empowered and enriched, whether as users, audiences of its outputs, or as invisible contributors?”

If you're interested in how we're balancing innovation with responsibility, you can read the full post below. We'd also welcome any feedback on our approach—as the data and tools we have access to continue to evolve, so will we.

Part 2—Our Commitments

09/26/2024

We're thrilled to participate in this Narrative Initiative session as they launch their Narrative Election Guide for Immigrant Futures!

Our Principal Scientist, Riki Conrey, will be joining to share new audience research we did in partnership with Define American, exploring the "moveable middle"—a group of people who do not have a committed position on immigration.

Details and registration link below. We hope to see you there!

On Monday, September 30th, Narrative Initiative is releasing a new guide: The Narrative Election Guide for Immigrant Futures. Our guidance is based off of new findings from Define American and Harmony Labs, and is intended as a tool for movement organizers, advocates, and artists working towards immigrant futures.

We are releasing the guide during a public briefing with Rinku Sen and Riki Conrey.

🟢 Register here: https://buff.ly/3zzbYvi

If you can't make it at 1 PM PT / 3 PM CT / 4 PM ET, no problem. All registrants will receive a copy of the briefing and the report.

08/16/2024

Exciting new opportunities at Harmony Labs! We're seeking two talented individuals to join our mission to research and reshape society's relationship with media through science, data, and creativity. Open positions include:

• Editorial Communications Lead
• Research Assistant

Learn more and apply here:

Different perspectives, skills, and disciplines simultaneously, always make our work go. Explore our open positions.

08/15/2024

New Research: Exploring the audience-narrative landscape for education in the U.S.

Most people don’t always draw the connection between “my school” and how the government, and their role as voters, helps shape education policy. We recently teamed up with Murmuration to establish a narrative foundation that can connect these “big” and “little” stories about education and schools and point us toward a future where the public education system in the U.S. works for every student.

Highlights include:
• Education is a “daylight” issue, one that separates substantially from partisanship, likely because education affects so many of us every day as students and as parents. Values define audiences, not policies.
• Voters who say that education is their top “political issue” are also the least likely to turn out to vote.
• “Culture war” narratives around education and schools appeal mostly to politically engaged audiences.
• The stories less political audiences seek out about education are about its characters: teachers and students.
• Audiences have specific narratives of education, and bring their personal school stories to “education” messaging.

Curious to learn more? Check out the full report here:

We are a media research lab, using science, data, and creativity to research and reshape our relationship with media.

07/11/2024

🔎🌐 Reimagining civic life online: a new interactive web report 🌐🔎

In collaboration with our longtime partner Equis Research, we explored the search behavior of U.S.-based Latinos to support Equis’ goal of understanding what engagement and curiosity looks like online, and how we might convert that curiosity into civic participation.

In the new report, you can:
🌌 Immerse yourself in the search queries that form "constellations," revealing the entire shape of the internet
💬 Learn how to capture audiences’ everyday search curiosity and turn it into lasting civic participation
🎯 Explore opportunities for civic engagement across top issues like health care, immigration, or climate change

Mapping the Latino digital landscape to build a culture of civic engagement online

06/25/2024

⚡️🔌🔋 New Research Report 🔋🔌 ⚡️

Electrification is critical for swift, comprehensive decarbonization. But policy incentives alone cannot establish this conversion to electrics.

In a new partnership with Rewiring America, we explored how people encounter “electrics” online, and used media behavior to learn how to reach and move people toward a narrative for a pro-electric future.

Discover our key findings: https://harmonylabs.org/news/audiences-for-electrics

Read the full report: https://harmonylabs.org/project/audiences-for-electrics

Winning Decarbonization By Making Stuff Cooler—Then the Planet

06/11/2024

The narrative that underlies events like January 6 isn’t just about protests turned violent. It follows a specific pattern that connects to historical precedent. Dubbed “palingenetic ultranationalism” by political theorist Roger Griffin in the 1990s, this narrative is one of national rebirth or, as we refer to it, “ultranationalism.”

In collaboration with Story Strategy Group, we examined the question—to what extent are young men engaging with content that carries the ultranationalist narrative? In short, the answer is complicated.

Read a summary of key findings from the research in our blogpost →→

Exploring one narrative associated with political violence in the United States, its audiences, and resilience building opportunities among young men

05/01/2024

Alex Garland’s new film Civil War begs the question: how can creators responsibly present powerful imagery to the public?

We polled people on political violence, democracy, and civil war after they watched the film’s trailer. In a new piece from Aditi Juneja and Brian Waniewski, read more about what we learned, and how we can keep testing the actual impact of films like these. ⤵️

We polled people on political violence, democracy, and civil war after they watched the film’s trailer.