Microsoft Research (MSR) is looking for a Research Assistant to work with the Social Media Collective in the New England lab, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MSR Social Media Collective consists of Nancy Baym, Sarah Brayne, Kevin Driscoll, Tarleton Gillespie, Mary L. Gray, and Lana Schwartz in Cambridge, and Kate Crawford and danah boyd in …
The Facebook “It’s Not Our Fault” Study
Today in Science, members of the Facebook data science team released a provocative study about adult Facebook users in the US "who volunteer their ideological affiliation in their profile." The study "quantified the extent to which individuals encounter comparatively more or less diverse" hard news "while interacting via Facebook’s algorithmically ranked News Feed."* The research found that …
A very exciting announcement!
The Social Media Collective is thrilled to announce that Tarleton Gillespie has joined Microsoft Research New England as a Principal Researcher. He joins Nancy Baym and Mary Gray in New England and danah boyd and Kate Crawford in New York City in forming the permanent core of the SMC. Tarleton is known for his influential work …
Should You Boycott Traditional Journals?
(Or, Should I Stay or Should I Go?) Is it time to boycott "traditional" scholarly publishing? Perhaps you are an academic researcher, just like me. Perhaps, just like me, you think that there are a lot of exciting developments in scholarly publishing thanks to the Internet. And you want to support them. And you also …
Introducing the 2015 MSR SMC PhD Interns!
Well, after a truly exciting spell of reviewing an AMAZING set of applications for our 2015 PhD Internship Program, we had the absolutely excruciating task of selecting just a few from the pool (note: this is our Collective's least favorite part of the process). Without further ado, we are pleased to announce our 2015 Microsoft Research SMC PhD interns: …
Facebook’s improved “Community Standards” still can’t resolve the central paradox
On March 16, Facebook updated its "Community Standards,” in ways that were both cosmetic and substantive. The version it replaced, though it had enjoyed minor updates, had been largely the same since at least 2011. The change comes on the heels of several other sites making similar adjustments to their own policies, including Twitter, YouTube, Blogger, …
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Update on the 2015 SMC PhD Internship season
Hello! We wanted to post a quick update on the status of the 2015 SMC PhD Internship Program. The application season closed January 31 and we ended up with more than 240 stellar candidates to the program. Thank you for your patience with our application process and please forgive the delays in sending an update. The …
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The Google Algorithm as a Robotic Nose
Algorithms, in the view of author Christopher Steiner, are poised to take over everything. Algorithms embedded in software are now everywhere: Netflix recommendations, credit scores, driving directions, stock trading, Google search, Facebook's news feed, the TSA's process to decide who gets searched, the Home Depot prices you are quoted online, and so on. Just a …
[C-SPAN] The Communicators feat. Mary Gray
Our own Mary Gray was featured on C-SPAN's "The Communicators," discussing the ethical implications of personal data collection online and its use in commercial and academic contexts. You can watch this special here. via The Communicators | Communicators with Mary Gray [12/3]
5 Years of New Media in 38 Words
In the fall of 2009, I sent the manuscript for my book Personal Connections in the Digital Age off to press. I've just finished the index for a second edition, which will be published by Polity in mid-2015 (in time for fall classes!). The list of terms I added provides a fun little peek into the last …
Social Media Collective 