Zehring, Maximilian

Maximilian Zehring earned his bachelor’s degree in “Applied Media and Communication Science” at the Technical University of Ilmenau. From 2018 to 2020, he completed his master’s degree in “Media and Communication Science,” also at the Technical University of Ilmenau. In his master’s thesis, he investigated stereotypes about East Germans on Twitter and attempted to design a model using supervised machine learning and automated text analysis that would enable the automated filtering of stereotypical language directed at East Germans.

During his studies, he worked as a research assistant for Prof. Dr. Jens Wolling in the Department of Empirical Media Research and Political Communication and also for Prof. Dr. Emese Domahidi in the Department of Communication Science with a focus on Computational Communication Science. Since October 2020, Maximilian Zehring has been supporting Prof. Dr. Emese Domahidi in the latter department as a research assistant and doctoral student.

Maximilian Zehring's research interests include digital communication, far-right and conspiracy-theory networks, and computer-assisted methods.

Relevant links:

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8492-1389

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Y57UtaEAAAAJ&hl=de

Schulze, H., Buehling, K., & Zehring, M. (2025). The Telegram COVID-19 Protest Dataset 2020–2022. Computational Communication Research, 7(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.5117/CCR2025.1.9.SCHU

Zehring, M., & Domahidi, E. (2025). The language similarity between COVID-19 protest organizers on Telegram and German politicians on Twitter. Information, Communication & Society, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2025.2536160 

Jost, P., Heft, A., Buehling, K., Zehring, M., Schulze, H., Bitzmann, H., & Domahidi, E. (2023). Mapping a Dark Space: Challenges in Sampling and Classifying Non-Institutionalized Actors on Telegram. Media & Communication Studies, 71(3–4), 212–229. https://doi.org/10.5771/1615-634X-2023-3-4-212

Zehring, M., & Domahidi, E. (2023). German Corona Protest Mobilizers on Telegram and Their Relations to the Far Right: A Network and Topic Analysis. Social Media + Society, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231155106

Zehring, M., & Domahidi, E. (2022). Thirty Years After German Reunification—Exploring Stereotypes About East Germans on Twitter. International Journal of Communication, 16(2022), 4029–4049. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/19010/3868

Zehring, M. (2026, September 7–11). Far-right settlers on Telegram: Connections, locations, and communication [Paper presentation]. 11th European Communication Conference (ECC11), European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), Brno, Czech Republic.

Jost, P., Sick, H., Heft, A., Domahidi, E., Allchorn, W., Bene, M., Buehling, K., Buturoiu, R., Corbu, N., Höldrich, E., Jacobs, L., Kristensen, J. B., Kulichkina, A., Lasser, J., Luehring, J., Mayerhöffer, E., Schulze, H., Simon, M., Stürenburg, M., Tipaldou, S., & Zehring, M. (2026, September 7). Transnational or national bounded? Far-right communication networks on Telegram in thirteen European countries [Paper presentation]. ECREA 2026 Pre-conference: Instant Messaging as Political Communication Infrastructure, Brno, Czech Republic.

Heft, A., Jost, P., Domahidi, E., … King'ang'i, CW…. Zehring., M. (2026, June 4–8). Differential Appropriations of Telegram: Comparing Political Representatives’ Communication on Telegram Around the Globe [Paper presentation]. International Communication Association 76th Annual Meeting, Cape Town, South Africa.

Zehring, M. (2025, June 12–16). Far-Right Settlers on Telegram: Connections, Locations, and Communication [Paper presentation]. International Communication Association 75th Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado, USA.

Zehring, M., Schulze, H., & Buehling, K. (2025, June 12–16). The Telegram COVID-19 Protest Dataset 2020–2022 [Paper presentation]. International Communication Association 75th Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado, USA.

Zehring, M., & Domahidi, E. (2024, September 24–27). Tracing Appeasement: Language Similarity Between Corona Protest Mobilizers on Telegram and German Politicians on Twitter [Paper presentation]. 10th ECREA European Communication Conference, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Zehring, M., & Domahidi, E. (2023, May 25-29). German Corona Protest Mobilizers on Telegram and Their Relations to the Far Right: A Network and Topic Analysis [Paper presentation]. International Communication Association 73rd Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada.

Buehling, K., Schulze, H., & Zehring, M. (2024, March 13–15). Der Querdenken Telegram Datensatz 2020-2022 [Poster session]. 69th Annual Conference of German Association of Communication Science (DGPuK), Erfurt, Germany.

Best Journal Article in Communication Studies (March 14, 2024)
2nd prize for the publication "Mapping a dark space: Challenges in sampling and
classifying non-institutionalized actors on Telegram" awarded by the German
Communication Association (DGPuK)