[Note: this is cross-posted from my blog multicast. --CS] I study the Internet. That's what I do. We're coming up on the Internet's 42nd birthday. We just passed the Web's 20th birthday. Why is it so hard to teach freshmen about them? That is, why are so many of our courses about the Internet and …
Category: Commentary
Shouting Fire in a Crowded Hashtag
Narco Censorship The press is one of the many casualties of Mexico's ongoing violence, in particular, the local media. Newspapers and TV stations are caught in a battle between censorship, control and threats from the drug cartels, and the local governments. In some cities, people often witness shootings, grenade attacks and other violent events, but …
Do Anonymous Websites Work?
Some advocates of "real name" policies argue that pseudonymity is far too easy to abuse. They suggest that "real name" policies help reduce spamming and trolling. This might be true, however, you can still get a fair amount of troll-like behavior and hateful discourse in "real name" sites. Just sit on these Facebook searches for …
Riots, social media, and the value of ‘first responders’
David Cameron has vowed to do 'whatever it takes' to restore order after the riots: this seems to include blocking access to social networking sites. "Everyone watching these horrific actions will be struck by how they were organized via social media," Cameron said. "And when people are using social media for violence we need to …
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“If you don’t like it, don’t use it. It’s that simple.” ORLY?
We've had a controversial week here at SMC, with both danah and Bernie jumping into the fray over Real Names (TM) and social network sites. I'm not engaging with that mess, but I am interested in the response to it. Over, and over, and over again, when anyone-- academic, pundit, journalist, blogger, regular person without …
Continue reading “If you don’t like it, don’t use it. It’s that simple.” ORLY?
Designing for Social Norms (or How Not to Create Angry Mobs)
In his seminal book "Code", Larry Lessig argued that social systems are regulated by four forces: 1) the market; 2) the law; 3) social norms; and 4) architecture or code. In thinking about social media systems, plenty of folks think about monetization. Likewise, as issues like privacy pop up, we regularly see legal regulation become …
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The Oversharer (and Other Social Media Experiments)
What new norms are we evolving via the use of social media? Way back in 1967 sociologist Harold Garfinkel proposed that the social world was filled with hidden rules for behavior that were so taken for granted it could be very difficult to notice them even if you tried to. To make this point he …
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Hello from new RA at MSR
I'd like to introduce myself as a new RA at Microsoft Research's Social Media Collective. I'll be around for the next year, and hopefully interesting posts and updates will accompany that. I've also added a link to my *new* blog in the sidebar (no posts yet but stay tuned!). Hopefully I'll be using that space …
Location-based social media in Boston
As part of the Social Media Collective this summer, I've been working on a couple of projects involving location-based social media, Foursquare in particular. For one of these projects I've been interviewing a range of Foursquare participants, as well as a variety of Boston area vendors who utilize Foursquare for their respective businesses. I've been …
Rethinking Homophobia(s)
Dear SMC readers: I work at the intersections of queer studies, digital media, and ethnography. Sometimes I like to dip deeply into the disciplinary wells of one area and serve it up to the other audiences I hope I engage with my research. The review below highlights some of the best work coming out of …
Social Media Collective 