Apophenia

omg girls’ bodies are fascinating: embracing the gendered side of quantified self

2012-10-01T15:21:51Z

Ever since I broke my neck as a teenager, I’ve had a love-hate relationship with my body. Truth be told, I’d much rather be a cyborg or a brain on a stick. I prize my brain, but the rest just tends to get in my way, break down, or reach annoying limits...(read more)

Free Speech, Context, and Visibility: Protesting Racist Ads

2012-09-28T01:18:29Z

On Tuesday, Egyptian-American activist Mona Eltahawy was arrested for “criminal mischief” – or “the willful damaging of property” – when she responded to disturbingly racist ads that were posted in the New York City subway system with spray paint. Her...(read more)

Three conversations for parents: navigating networked publics

2012-09-18T18:11:12Z

This post was originally written for A Platform For Good.org, a new site dedicated to creating opportunities for young people and adults to engage with technology in a healthy way. Parenting is hard. Many parents find parenting in an era of social media...(read more)

“Socially Mediated Publicness”: an open-access issue of JOBEM

2012-09-13T14:50:21Z

I love being a scholar, but one thing that really depresses me about research is that so much of what scholars produce is rendered inaccessible to so many people who might find it valuable, inspiring, or thought-provoking. This is at the root of what...(read more)

What Anti-Trafficking Advocates Can Learn from Sex Workers: The Dynamics of Choice, Circumstance, and Coercion

2012-08-15T16:25:47Z

For the last year, I’ve been trying to get my head around different aspects of human trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation of minors. I’ve been meeting with a variety of relevant actors, including anti-trafficking advocates, law enforcement...(read more)

Participatory Culture: What questions do you have?

2012-08-02T16:21:11Z

Henry Jenkins, Mimi Ito, and I have embarked on an interesting project for Polity. Through a series of dialogues, we’re hoping to produce a book that interrogates our different thoughts regarding participatory culture. The goal is to unpack our differences...(read more)

CFP: public-facing papers on Youth Movements / Youth Organizations

2012-06-21T15:05:38Z

Scholars, researchers, & academics – we need your help! Below is a “Call for Papers” on issues that many of you know about. We’re looking for your help in translating some of the amazing scholarly work out into a format that can be shared with advocates,...(read more)

Bringing Research to Bear on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Minors (a.k.a. “child sex trafficking”)

2012-06-13T15:27:17Z

I believe that technology can be leveraged to empower people in amazing ways, but I also recognize that it can also be used in deeply disturbing ways. All too often, when we as a society see technology being used in horrible ways, we want to blame and...(read more)

Why “We’re Oversold – Just Deal With It” Isn’t Acceptable

2012-06-08T23:10:14Z

On Wednesday night, I arrived at the Hilton Doubletree in Washington DC after an intense day of meetings ready to do a few more hours of work. When I got to the desk, the clerk told me that the hotel was oversold. I raised my eyebrows. The news worsened....(read more)

Microsoft Research opens New York City lab

2012-05-03T03:09:12Z

I am giddy with pleasure to share Jennifer Chayes’ announcement that Microsoft Research is opening a new lab in New York City that will be filled with computational social science types. The New England lab that I call home combines qualitative social...(read more)

Reflections on Fear in a Networked Society

2012-03-26T12:41:48Z

I’ve been trying to work through some ideas on how fear operates in a networked society. At Webstock in New Zealand, I gave a talk called “Culture of Fear + Attention Economy = ?!?!” Building on this, I gave a talk at SXSW called “The Power of Fear in...(read more)

Reflecting on Dharun Ravi’s conviction

2012-03-19T13:45:47Z

On Friday, Dharun Ravi – the Rutgers student whose roommate Tyler Clementi killed himself – was found guilty of privacy invasion, tampering with evidence, and bias intimidation (a hate crime). When John Palfrey and I wrote about this case three weeks...(read more)

The Power of Youth: How Invisible Children Orchestrated Kony 2012

2012-03-14T14:24:44Z

To many people unfamiliar with Invisible Children, the Kony 2012 campaign looked like a brilliant example of “viral” media spread. The center of the campaign is a compelling 30-minute film where a father talks to his son about the evil practices of the...(read more)

Born This Way Foundation: guided by research

2012-03-02T02:19:20Z

Yesterday, Cynthia Germanotta and her daughter Lady Gaga launched their new initiative to empower youth: the Born This Way Foundation. The Foundation wants to create a kinder, braver world so that youth can be the change-agents that we all need them to...(read more)

Stop the Cycle of Bullying

2012-02-24T18:37:00Z

[John Palfrey and I originally wrote this as an op-ed for the Huffington Post. See HuffPo for more comments.] On 22 September 2010, the wallet of Tyler Clementi – a *** freshman at Rutgers University – was found on the George Washington Bridge; his body...(read more)