The rise of parallel chat in online meetings: how can we make the most of it?

Our SMC collaborators at Microsoft Research Cambridge (UK) have a new post on the Microsoft Research blog about parallel chat in online meetings. Enjoy! Find the original blog post here. By Advait Sarkar, Senior Researcher Sean Rintel, Principal Researcher I’ll put a link to that doc in the chat” “Sorry, my internet is terrible, I’ll …

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The SMC needs a new full-time Research Assistant. Accepting Applications NOW (to start late-July 2021)

The Microsoft Research Social Media Collective, based in the Cambridge, MA lab location, consists of Nancy Baym, Tarleton Gillespie, and Mary L. Gray, as well as postdoctoral researchers, faculty visitors, and Ph.D. interns affiliated with MSR New England. We are looking for a full-time Research Assistant who will take over from the current RA and …

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The fragmentation of (digital) well-being

The potential well-being costs of the pandemic are many and harsh. Financial well-being is said to be at risk due to shrinking employment opportunities; physical well-being due to stay-at-home orders; social well-being due to limited interactions with loved ones; digital well-being due to increased reliance on remote communication. The list goes on. Dividing up the …

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Digital Time/Power Symposium, April 12 2021

Join panelists Taina Bucher (University of Oslo), Brian Jefferson (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), and Niall Docherty (Microsoft Research) to discuss digital temporalities as they intersect with apparatuses of power and knowledge. Monday April 12th -- 9am CDT/3pm BST/4pm CEST -- Online Hosted by the Social Media Collective Each speaker will give a ten-minute presentation, followed …

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Update on the MSR SMC PhD Internship, Cycle 2021

LATEST UPDATES: That's a wrap! The 2021 application process is NOW CLOSED. Contact Mary (details below) if you have any problems. On letters of reference: Requests for letters have been sent (automatically, from the submissions portal). Applicants: Your application is considered complete, as long as we have the 6 items listed in the call (the …

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Internship Opportunity: (Dis)Trust in Public-Sector Data Infrastructures

The Social Media Collective in the New England Lab has multiple internships for PhD students. See here for more information. This call relates to a NYC Lab internship opportunity so it is separate, but related. This opportunity is more narrowed in scope. Candidates are welcome to apply to both opportunities. Application Link: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/job/940484/Research-Intern-Dis-Trust-in-Public-Sector-Data-Infrastructures Deadline: December 23, …

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book launch: Sarah Brayne, Predict and Surveil: Data, Discretion, and the Future of Policing

The SMC loves good books. And we especially love books that tackle vital societal problems in a way that's timely but also deeply researched, that ask biting questions of institutions without turning them into straw men, that investigate technology in its real use contexts, and that complicate things that may at first appear simple. And …

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SMC is looking for a postdoc. Apply now!

APPLICATION DEADLINE: December 1, 2020 The Social Media Collective at Microsoft Research New England (MSRNE) is looking for a two-year social media postdoctoral researcher. This position is an ideal opportunity for a scholar whose work draws on communication, media studies, anthropology, sociology, and/or science & technology studies to bring empirical and critical perspectives to bear …

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