Gizmodo has released two important articles (1, 2) about the people who were hired to manage Facebook's "Trending" list. The first reveals not only how Trending topics are selected and packaged on Facebook, but also the peculiar working conditions this team experienced, the lack of guidance or oversight they were provided, and the directives they …
Continue reading Facebook Trending: It’s made of people!! (but we should have already known that)
For the last year, I've been working with Fordham's Center on Law and Information Policy to research what legal remedies are available to victims of online harassment. We investigated cyberharassment law, cyberstalking law, defamation law, hate speech, and cyberbullying statutes. We found that although online harassment and hateful speech is a significant problem, there are …
Continue reading New Report Released: Few Legal Remedies for Victims of Online Harassment
Current and future visitor TL Taylor spoke last week at the Berkman Luncheon series on "Live Streaming, Computer Games, and the Future of Spectatorship." Computer gaming has long been a social activity, complete with forms of spectatorship. With the growth of live-streaming the boundaries of audience are shifting. Professional e-sports players and amateurs alike …
Continue reading Video: TL Taylor on Pro Gaming, Live Streaming & Spectatorship
The popularity of ebooks has skyrocketed in the last few years. The Association of American Publishers reports that eBook sales by US publishers were up 300% in 2011: Total eBook net sales revenue for 2011 was $21.5 million, a gain of 332.6% over 2010; this represents 3.4 million eBook units sold in 2011, up 303.3 …
Welcome to a new semi-regular feature where I update what various SMC members have been up to lately (think of this like the class notes in your alumni magazine, without the weddings and with less babies). Kate Crawford joined SMC as a Principal Researcher in February. She has a number of new papers out: danah …
danah and I have a new piece in the Daily Beast. Summary: the more things change, the more they stay the same. In the last decade, we’ve studied how technology affects how teens socialize, how they present themselves, and how they think about issues like gender and privacy. While it’s true that teens incorporate social …
Continue reading Teens Text More than Adults, But They’re Still Just Teens
Warning: This post deals with eating disorder and self-harm content and is potentially triggering. Following up on Tarleton's terrific post on moderating Facebook comes Tumblr's announcement that it will no longer allow pro-eating disorder (pro-ED) or pro-self-harm blogs on the site. Active Promotion of Self-Harm. Don’t post content that actively promotes or glorifies self-injury or …
Continue reading Is blocking pro-ED content the right way to solve eating disorders?
Yesterday the Supreme Court ruled on United States vs. Jones [PDF of court opinion], a case in which the FBI/DC police placed a GPS tracking device on the Jeep Cherokee of Antoine Jones, a club owner in DC who was suspected of dealing cocaine. The cops tracked Mr. Jones for 28 days, and, based on …
Continue reading What the GPS Device on Antoine Jones’ Jeep Cherokee Means for Internet Privacy
I decided to put my slightly-dormant internet policy research skillz to work to figure this out. It was surprisingly difficult. Most stop PIPA/SOPA websites conflate them-- but they are different. (Note: The best resource was an article I found at Area 51 Technologies.) #1: SOPA's a House bill, PIPA is a Senate bill. SOPA = …
Continue reading What’s the difference between SOPA and PIPA?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3gdqNQ6cw0&list=UUV7zhPAJ8A4GXXDROkBYtzQ&index=1&feature=plcp
This is a really nice intro to the lab, the variety of work being done there, and how social media fits into all of it. Cameos by SMC members throughout, as well as many of the awesome 2011 summer interns.
Social Media Collective 