Way back in 2008, Off the Bus reporter Mayhill Fowler filed a report on an appearance by Hillary Clinton during that spring's Democratic primary. The piece opens with a quote: "'Being here this morning is a gift,' Hillary Clinton says to the small band of supporters, several hundred strong, gathered under the Saturday morning sun …
Continue reading Reflections on technology and the 2016 elections
I am happy to announce the release of Queering the Countryside, with exciting contributions by great scholars and edited by Brian J. Gilley, Colin R. Johnson and myself. Find it in NYU Press, or order it from Amazon. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Rural queer experience is often hidden or ignored, and presumed to be alienating, lacking, and incomplete …
Continue reading Book release: Queering the Countryside-New Frontiers in Rural Queer Studies
A few months ago, I asked how we might reconsider Ph.D. education in light of digital media, social media, and the changing landscape of scholarly publishing. No matter what your Ph.D. aspirations are, all Ph.D.s are sort-of about publishing and dissemination of research and also reading research, and these activities are being transformed by digital media. …
What factors lead users in an online platform to join together in mass collective action to influence those who run the platform? Today, I'm excited to share that my CHI paper on the reddit blackout has received a Best Paper Honorable Mention! (Read the pre-print version of my paper here) When users of online platforms complain, we're often …
Continue reading How Do Users Take Collective Action Against Online Platforms? CHI Honorable Mention
This is a collection of some of our researchers' quotes, mentions, or writings in mainstream media. Topics include Facebook's supposed neutral community standards, sharing economy workers uniting to protest, living under surveillance and relational labor in music. Tarleton Gillespie in the Washington Post --> The Big Myth Facebook needs everyone to believe And yet, observers …
I wanted to share a new essay, "#Trendingistrending: When Algorithms Become Culture" that I've just completed for a forthcoming Routledge anthology called Algorithmic Cultures: Essays on Meaning, Performance and New Technologies, edited by Robert Seyfert and Jonathan Roberge. My aim is to focus on the various "trending algorithms" that populate social media platforms, consider what they do as a set, and then …
Continue reading #trendingistrending: when algorithms become culture
I've got a small Op-Ed from our crowdwork research in the Sunday's Los Angeles Times' print edition, published on January 10th, 2016 . It reflects on the challenges that workers face in a world of “taskified” labor—particularly the problem of getting paid when no one’s legally on the hook for sending you your last paycheck. Full …
Continue reading LA Times Op-Ed: Your job is about to get “taskified”
Now that we have said goodbye to our most recent long-term visitor, Henry Jenkins, we can look ahead to our next, Paul Dourish. It's a fine time to do so, as he has just been awarded two honors that testify to his important contributions to the study of computation and society. His 1992 paper "Awareness and Coordination …
Continue reading kudos for upcoming SMC visitor Paul Dourish
We have had the distinct privilege of having Henry Jenkins visit our research group for the past few months. Give the immense impact of his work on the study of digital culture and digital industries, fan communities and the creative repurposing of media texts, and political participation and new forms of online activism, it was …
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 …
Continue reading Reminder! MSR Social Media Collective PhD Intern Call, Cycle 2016!
Social Media Collective 