Meet the 2023 SMC Sociotechnical Systems PhD Interns!

The MSR Social Media Collective put the call out for PhD students studying sociotechnical systems from interdisciplinary perspectives that foster careful (and caring) critique. We were, once again, BLOWN away by the amazing applications (the force is strong in us, friends!) Here is the intern cohort joining us for our 2023 cycle: Negin Alimohammadi is …

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The SMC is hiring a Research Assistant in the New England lab

The Social Media Collective is looking for a Research Assistant to work with us at Microsoft Research New England in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MSR Social Media Collective in New England currently consists of Nancy Baym, Tarleton Gillespie, Mary L. Gray, and Elena Maris in Cambridge, as well as faculty visitors and Ph.D. interns affiliated with the MSR New England. …

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Playing to the NYC Crowd and other SMC outings

As I hope you've heard by now, the SMC is publishing books like mad. Tarleton Gillespie's Custodians of the Internet is blazing a trail through the content moderation debate, Mary Gray and Sid Suri's Ghost Work will be out in May, and my own Playing to the Crowd has hit the road seeking readers. In that vein, here are some upcoming …

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We’re Hiring a Research Assistant

The Social Media Collective is looking for a Research Assistant to work with us at Microsoft Research New England in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MSR Social Media Collective currently consists of Nancy Baym, Tarleton Gillespie, Mary L. Gray, Dan Greene, and Dylan Mulvin in Cambridge, Kate Crawford and danah boyd in New York City, as well as faculty visitors and …

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Reminder! MSR Social Media Collective PhD Intern Call, Cycle 2016!

APPLICATION DEADLINE: JANUARY 29, 2016 Microsoft Research New England (MSRNE) is looking for advanced PhD students to join the Social Media Collective (SMC) for its 12-week 2016 Intern Program. The Social Media Collective scholars at MSRNE bring together empirical and critical perspectives to address complex socio-technical issues. Our research agenda draws on a social scientific/humanistic …

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Re-assembling the Assembly Line: Digital Labor Economies and Demands for an Ambient Workforce

Watch Mary Gray's talk at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society where she discusses her findings from a two-year collaborative study on crowdwork --“the process of taking tasks that would normally be delegated to an employee and distributing them to a large pool of online workers, the ‘crowd,’ in the form of an open call." In …

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The Social Media Collective is Hiring Postdocs

The Social Media Collective at Microsoft Research New England (MSRNE) is looking for two social media postdoctoral researchers (start date: 5 July, 2016). This position is an ideal opportunity for a scholar whose work draws on anthropology, communication, media studies, sociology, and/or science and technology studies to bring empirical and critical perspectives to complex socio-technical issues. Application …

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Co-creation and Algorithmic Self-Determination: A study of player feedback on game analytics in EVE Online

We are happy to share SMC's intern Aleena Chia's presentation of her summer project titled "Co-creation and Algorithmic Self-Determination: A study of player feedback on game analytics in EVE Online".   Aleena's project summary and the videos of her presentation below: Digital games are always already information systems designed to respond to players’ inputs with …

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Hello Andrea (SMC’s 2015-16 Research Assistant Extraordinaire!)

As we say goodbye to the *amazzzzing* Rebecca Hoffman <serious sad face emoji>, we have the solace of welcoming Andrea Alarcón to SMC's ranks. Andrea received her MSc degree from the Oxford Internet Institute, and her BSc in online journalism from the University of Florida. She has researched ICT4D, online language barriers and data collection by international corporations in developing nations. …

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