September 2022 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Out now: Internet Histories double special issue 6 (1-2), Dead and Dying Platforms
by Muira McCammon 06 Sep '22

06 Sep '22

Hi, everyone: On behalf of my co-editor, Jessa Lingel, I wanted to share the exciting news that our double special issue on dead-and-dying platforms is now completed and available online. Full details are below. We owe a debt to many people on this listserv, who kindly offered their support in different ways along the way. We began this effort in 2020 <https://twitter.com/muira_mccammon/status/1262510666533023744> and benefited greatly as well from the editorial guidance of Niels Brügger, Ian Milligan, and others belonging to the editorial board at *Internet Histories*. We hope the contents inspire others, who are thinking and writing about endings, technological failure, infrastructural frailty, and the ethics of exhuming the web that was. All my best, Muira *Muira McCammon* *Ph.D. candidate, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania * *M.L., University of Pennsylvania Law School (2020)* *Twitter: @muira_mccammon* *** The journal Internet Histories Volume 6 Issue 1-2 has been completed and is available online. This is a special double issue "Dead and Dying Platforms" by guest editors Muira McCammon & Jessa Lingel. Two articles are Open Access, and one is Free Access for a limited time. The double issue may be accessed here: https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rint20/6/1-2 < https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rint20/6/1-2> Contents: Editorial Situating dead-and-dying platforms: technological failure, infrastructural precarity, and digital decline Muira McCammon & Jessa Lingel Interview Dead-and-dying platforms: a roundtable Muira McCammon, Diami Virgilio, Cody Ogden, Kevin Ackermann, Ethan Zuckerman, Robert Gehl, Saima Akhtar, Sultan Al-Azri, Catherine Knight Steele, Amber M. Hamilton, Anat Ben-David, Sarah Wasserman, Sara Namusoga-Kaale & Joy Lisi Rankin Articles Why does a platform die? Diagnosing platform death at Friendster’s end Frances Corry “Tom had us all doing front-end web development”: a nostalgic (re)imagining of Myspace | Open Access Kate M. Miltner & Ysabel Gerrard The four deaths of Couchsurfing and the changing ecology of the web Karolina Mikołajewska-Zając & Attila Márton Porn bans, purges, and rebirths: the biopolitics of platform death in queer fandoms Diana Floegel “Everything on the internet can be saved”: Archive Team, Tumblr and the cultural significance of web archiving | Open Access Jessica Ogden Forgotten passwords and Long-Gone exes: the life and death of Renren Lianrui Jia “They’re describing Yelp in 1992!”: revisiting the Blacksburg Electronic Village Tamara Kneese The rise and fall of MapQuest Rowan Wilken “Yakety yak: Don’t talk back”: An autopsy of anonymity gone awry Kathryn Montalbano r/WatchRedditDie and the politics of reddit’s bans and quarantines Julia R. DeCook A ‘lifetime of indentured servitude:’ rights, labor, and gender anxieties in a dead men’s rights newsgroup Alexis de Coning The death of GeoCities: seeking destruction and platform eulogies in Web archives Katie Mackinnon | Free Access Book Reviews Social Media and the Automatic Production of Memory: Classification, Ranking, and Sorting of the Past by Ben Jacobsen and David Beer, Bristol University Press, Bristol, 2021. Hardcover, pp. 116, ISBN: 978-1-5292-1815-2 Kira Allmann Wikipedia @ 20, stories of an incomplete revolution, edited by joseph reagle and jackie koerner, the MIT press (2020), cambridge, Massachusetts; london, England, U.S. $27.95 Helen Hockx-Yu

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Healthier Information Ecosystems Paper Development Workshop Submission Deadline Extension
by Brian McKernan 06 Sep '22

06 Sep '22

The deadline for submitting abstracts for the Healthier Information Ecosystems Paper Development Workshop has been extended to September 14, 2022. This online paper development workshop will provide an opportunity for those interested in submitting to the “Healthier Information Ecosystems” special issue of the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST) to present their in-progress papers and receive feedback and guidance from the guest editors on how to develop their research into papers suitable for the special issue. For those interested in participating in the workshop, please submit an extended abstract of up to 1,000 words by September 14, 2022 via the following form: https://forms.gle/D4d1TGVKQ6VYca1u7. Participation in the workshop is not required for submissions to the special issue, but we encourage those interested in submitting to the special issue to take advantage of this opportunity and receive feedback prior to submitting papers for consideration in the special issue. To learn more about the workshop and the special issue, please view the full CFP here: https://www.asist.org/2022/08/17/call-for-papers-jasist-special-issue-healt… -- Brian McKernan, Ph.D. Research Assistant Professor School of Information Studies Syracuse University Syracuse, New York 13244

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Post-doc at Oxford on trustworthy AI, law and policy - Oxford Internet Institute - Deadline 27 September
by Brent Mittelstadt 06 Sep '22

06 Sep '22

The Oxford Internet Institute<https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/> is currently recruiting a postdoctoral researcher<https://my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.display_form?p_c…> to work on legal and policy aspects of interpretability & fairness in machine learning and AI. You'll be working with Prof Sandra Wachter<https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/profiles/sandra-wachter/>, Prof Brent Mittelstadt<https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/profiles/brent-mittelstadt/>, and Dr. Chris Russell<https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/profiles/chris-russell/> at the University of Oxford on an exciting project on interpretability & fairness in machine learning and AI within our Governance of Emerging Technologies Research Programme<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.oii.ox.ac.uk_resea…>. The post is part of an exciting project<https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/research/projects/trustworthiness-auditing-for-ai/> exploring the legal aspects of trustworthy AI in medicine, healthcare & open science focusing on fairness, accountability & transparency in AI and machine learning, as well as product liability and public sector technology procurement. Application deadline: 12.00 midday (BST) on 27 September 2022. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me (brent.mittelstadt(a)oii.ox.ac.uk<mailto:brent.mittelstadt@oii.ox.ac.uk>) or Prof. Sandra Wachter (sandra.wachter(a)oii.ox.ac.uk<mailto:sandra.wachter@oii.ox.ac.uk>). All the best, Brent --------------------------------------- Prof. Brent Mittelstadt Director of Research Associate Professor and Senior Research Fellow Oxford Internet Institute University of Oxford 1 St. Giles, Oxford, OX1 3JS @b_mittelstadt +44 (0)1865 287221 http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/?id=365 PA: Sophie Cray, pa.sophiecray(a)oii.ox.ac.uk<mailto:pa.sophiecray@oii.ox.ac.uk>

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ethics suggestions?
by Charles M. Ess 06 Sep '22

06 Sep '22

Dear colleagues, I've been asked to offer some advice to a colleague undertaking research on the participation and interaction behaviors of participants in online worship services, using online ethnography. (This takes place in a German-speaking country, and so GDPR also directly applies.) The particular environment of research is a service held via Zoom; as well, the project will look at (public) Instagram posts and stories. Ideally, the researchers want to record the Zoom service, which would include ca. 24 or more participants simultaneously - which already results in fairly small faces on screen. Most of us can quickly see not only the challenges but also some fairly standard approaches to preserving anonymity, confidentiality, etc. - as well as standard requirements for data management, both from the perspective of Human Subjects Protections as well as the GDPR. My sense is that good research ethics practices for collecting and analyzing the Instagram materials as (more or less) public, are pretty well established. Broadly, the data needs to be handled securely by the researchers, and no direct copies of, e.g., profile photos or direct quotes from texts in final publications unless the person(s) in question are prominent public figures. Generally, no such direct quotes, etc. are needed - rather, pseudonymised and/or aggregate identities will be constructed for use in publication. (But if direct copies / quotes were to be used for some reason - especially as all of this takes place within religiously-defined spaces / events - informed consent from the individual(s) involved, in my view, would be an absolute requirement.) I am less confident about how to treat the possible recording of the Zoom meeting. 1) While asking for informed consent from each participant is feasible - there is the usual researchers' (well-grounded) worry that asking for consent will result in an occasional no, which will thereby reduce the richness of participation, etc. 2) I wonder if something analogous to earlier approaches, e.g., lurking in a chat room or listserve, etc. might work here - i.e., requesting permission to do the recording from the event organizers, being sure to make clear to them all the steps that will be taken to protect individual identities and the data collected overall? Such an approach also strikes me as more ethically defensible than it once might have. For example, our colleague Soraj Hongladarom, among others, has documented how a collective or relational version of informed consent is more appropriate to the Thai society. Others have also argued this approach in relation to many other societies and cultures that entail more relational understandings of selfhood, etc. Such an approach seems increasingly feasible to me, FWIW: as has been abundantly documented and discussed, especially with the rise of social media, notions of selfhood and identity in "the West" have become increasingly relational as well, and so a collective form of informed consent may be all the more defensible. None of this would mitigate, of course, the steps needed to be taken with the material gathered subsequently, starting with secure data management and then avoiding publishing material that could point back to an individual (at least not without specific consent). There is also the fine but important wrinkle here that even with pseudonymization and aggregate identities, persons within the comparatively small communities involved may still recognize an individual source. (My take on this is that careful judgments then need to be made regarding possible risks to specific individuals vis-a-vis benefits of the research, etc.) But I'm sure I'm missing at least a few important points and, even better, suggestions for how to resolve the ethical issues involved here. Hence, comments and suggests - best of all, examples and references in relevant literatures - would be deeply appreciated. Many thanks in advance, - charles -- Professor Emeritus University of Oslo <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html> 3rd edition of Digital Media Ethics now available: <http://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9781509533428>

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UBEL Doctoral studentships in Birkbeck’s Department of Film, Media and Cultural Studies
by Scott Rodgers 06 Sep '22

06 Sep '22

Doctoral studentships are available in Birkbeck’s Department of Film, Media and Cultural Studies<https://www.bbk.ac.uk/departments/culture/> for entry in 2023/24. This funding is awarded by the UCL, Bloomsbury and East London (UBEL) Doctoral Training Partnership<https://ubel-dtp.ac.uk/>, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), of which Birkbeck is a member. Both Home and International students are eligible to apply. UBEL funding for doctoral research in media and cultural studies is available through the Sociology<https://ubel-dtp.ac.uk/esrc-studentships2/pathways/sociology/> and Gender and Sexuality<https://ubel-dtp.ac.uk/esrc-studentships2/pathways/gender-and-sexuality/> pathways How to apply The best proposals are developed jointly with your potential supervisor, so you must contact them as early as possible. Please consult the list of academic staff<https://www.bbk.ac.uk/departments/culture/our-staff> in the Department of Film, Media and Cultural Studies, and ideally make contact with potential supervisors no later than 1 October 2022. Getting in touch with potential supervisors early will allow adequate time for the further development your research proposal, and for weaving that proposal into the specific requirements of UBEL DTP applications. Full details on Birkbeck’s UBEL funding application process are outlined at this website<https://www.bbk.ac.uk/student-services/financial-support/phd-funding/ubel-e…>. About our research Research in the Department of Film, Media and Cultural Studies encompasses journalism, film and television, artistic practice and cultural policy, and digital media politics, culture and design. Our work is critically engaged, challenging conventional assumptions about the functions and influence of media and culture, scrutinising institutions, organisations and work practices in the creative industries, and rethinking what media can mean and do. We place a special emphasis on practice-based research, in which ideas and issues are investigated through activities such as creative film-making, curatorial practice and digital design. The department is thoroughly interdisciplinary, and incorporates both historical research and contemporary explorations of our rapidly-changing media landscapes. Further information * Complete details on Birkbeck’s UBEL funding application process<https://www.bbk.ac.uk/student-services/financial-support/phd-funding/ubel-e…>. * Further information on our research culture and postgraduate student community<https://www.bbk.ac.uk/departments/culture/research> in Film, Media and Cultural Studies. * Questions about doctoral research in Birkbeck’s Department of Film, Media and Cultural Studies? Contact Dr Scott Rodgers<https://www.bbk.ac.uk/our-staff/profile/8005868/scott-rodgers>, Director of Postgraduate Research.

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Re: [Air-L] Fulbright in Digital Culture at the University of Bergen
by Jill Walker Rettberg 06 Sep '22

06 Sep '22

If you’re a US citizen who would be interested in spending the 2023/24 academic year in Europe, please consider applying for the Fulbright in Digital Culture at the University of Bergen. It’s a teaching Fulbright, where you would spend about half your time teaching and the rest on your research. Application deadline is 15 September: https://fulbrightscholars.org/award/digital-culture We have a very active research environment in Digital Culture, with weekly research group meetings that usually gather around 12-20 researchers with a balance of senior and junior scholars. We emphasise inclusivity and really value having a collaborative environment where people actually talk about their research with each other. We have an ERC project on machine vision in everyday life<https://www.uib.no/en/machinevision>, just got funding for a large project on “Extending Digital Narratives<https://www.uib.no/hf/156437/millionstøtte-til-humaniora-prosjekter>” (about storytelling using AI, VR and more), host the ELMCIP database of electronic literature<http://elmcip.net/>, and are finalists for a Center for Research Excellence on Digital Narrative that we’ll be hearing the results of this month, we hope. There are lots of other interesting research groups in Bergen too, ranging from the MediaFutures Center<https://mediafutures.no/>, which combines research with innovation in industry collaborations, and UiB AI<https://www.uib.no/en/ai>, which coordinates AI research across all faculties. Every spring our university hosts the Holberg Prize<https://holbergprize.org/en>, which is the humanities and social science version of a Nobel Prize, and there are big events and seminars with that year’s laureate. Bergen is Norway’s “gateway to the fjords”<https://en.visitbergen.com/>, surrounded by seven mountains, and offers amazing natural beauty, a walkable city and lots of cultural activities, including Piksel<https://piksel.no/>, an open source art festival held every November, and a dedicated center for electronic art<https://bek.no/en/>. Feel free to get in touch if you have questions. Jill Jill Walker Rettberg Professor of Digital Culture Leader of Machine Vision in Everyday Life<https://www.uib.no/en/machinevision/> (ERC-CoG) University of Bergen https://www.uib.no/en/persons/Jill.Walker.Rettberg

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2022 Policy & Internet Conference, 28-29 September - Open for Registrations
by Jonathon Hutchinson 06 Sep '22

06 Sep '22

With apologies for cross-posting. Dear Colleagues, We are delighted to announce registrations are open for the 2022 Policy & Internet Conference, to be held at the University of Sydney, September 28 and 29. https://internet-policy-meco.sydney.edu.au/datafication-platformization-met… With a focus on the immediate crises in our communication space, our invited speakers will address the conference theme, Datafication. Platformization. Metaverse. The state of global internet policy, to explore how the current developments within digital media spaces has a regulatory impact. The conference will present cutting edge research from around the globe that address issues such as what is the current state of play for the platform society and its associated internet regulation, how internet regulation includes/excludes groups and individuals, and the consequences of contemporary communication on the environment. This conference will be held in a hybrid mode, so if you can’t make it to Sydney for the live event, please consider registering for the streaming online alternative. The conference will feature the following Keynote presentations: Professor Rohan Samarajiva, Chair of LIRNEasia Associate Professor Tanya Lokot, Dublin City University Professor John Hartley, A.M., University of Sydney Associate Professor Crystal Abidin, Curtin University With a series of specialist panels featuring the work of: Dr Damar Juniarto, Executive Director of Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network Dr Matthew Nguyen, Tony Blair Institute Dr Jay Thompson, RMIT University Professor Terry Flew, University of Sydney Professor Julian Thomas, RMIT University Dr Joanne Gray, University of Sydney Associate Professor Diana Bossio, Swinburne University Professor Kim Weatherall, University of Sydney Professor Gerard Goggin, University of Sydney Professor Katie Ellis, Curtin University Dr Wayne Hawkins, Director of Inclusion, ACCAN Dr Natasha Layton, Monash University Associate Professor Paul Harpur, University of Queensland More speakers will be announced soon. Looking forward to seeing you there, and for any further information, please contact Dr Jonathon Hutchinson [jonathon.hutchinson(a)sydney.edu.au] or Milica Stilinovic [millica.stilinovic(a)sydney.edu.au] DR JONATHON HUTCHINSON | Senior Lecturer Online Communication and Media Department of Media and Communication | Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Postgraduate Research Coordinator Editor-in-Chief, Policy & Internet Journal [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19442866] Treasurer of Australian and New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA) Faculty of Arts and Design Distinguished Fellow 2022, University of Canberra THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY Rm N233, John Woolley Building (A20) | The University of Sydney | NSW | 2006 T +61 2 9351 2821 | F +61 2 9351 2434 | M +61 421 178 971 E jonathon.hutchinson(a)sydney.edu.au<mailto:jonathon.hutchinson@sydney.edu.au> | W sydney.edu.au<http://sydney.edu.au> | W jonathonhutchinson.com.au<http://www.jonathonhutchinson.com.au/> A globally ranked university <https://www.sydney.edu.au/about-us/our-world-rankings.html> 4th for graduate employability* *QS Graduate Employability rankings 2022 Giving today. Changing tomorrow. See the impact<https://sydney.edu.au/alumni-giving/gifts-with-impact.html> CRICOS 00026A This email plus any attachments to it are confidential. Any unauthorised use is strictly prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please delete it and any attachments.

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Fulltime Post in Journalism, Media and Communication at University of Strathclyde
by chamil rathnayake 05 Sep '22

05 Sep '22

Dear colleagues, The deadline for the post of Lecturer in Journalism, Media and Communication at the University of Strathclyde is approaching. This is a full time permanent post equivalent to Assistant Professor in the American system and includes teaching as well as a research component. Glasgow is a lovely city to live and work, and Strathclyde is located in the merchant district near the city centre. We expect the new colleague to start from the beginning of January. Please contact me at chamil.rathnayake(a)strath.ac.uk if you have any questions about this post. https://strathvacancies.engageats.co.uk/ViewVacancyV2.aspx?enc=mEgrBL4XQK0+… Best wishes, Chamil Rathnayake Lecturer in Media and Communication University of Strathclyde

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Meme Studies Research Forum
by Seong-Young Her 02 Sep '22

02 Sep '22

Dear all, We have a new forum dedicated to meme studies; a place to discuss new research and methodologies, share your work, exchange feedback, and collaborate with fellow meme scholars*.* It is designed so that the forum discussions themselves are persistent and citable, with each post having its own URI. There are currently around 300 members from various backgrounds including platform studies, philosophy, machine learning, and biology. We hope to help develop the new generation of meme studies scholarship through a post-disciplinary approach towards the subject matter. We welcome students and researchers with an interest in memes from all disciplines, even those seemingly unrelated to meme studies. Invite link: https://forum.memestudies.org/invites/VGzvVwtLuu Please feel free to circulate the above. Kind regards, Seong-Young Her

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Job Call: TT Assistant Professor of Critical Race and Digital Media Studies (Fordham University)
by Gregory Donovan 02 Sep '22

02 Sep '22

Hi Everyone - The Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University invites applications for a tenure-stream position in Critical Race and Digital Media Studies, to commence September 1, 2023. To ensure full consideration, complete applications should be received by 11:59pm, Sunday, October 2, 2022 through Interfolio: https://apply.interfolio.com/111366 <https://apply.interfolio.com/111366> __ Position Title: Assistant Professor of Critical Race and Digital Media We invite applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Critical Race and Digital Media, to commence September 1, 2023. The position is based at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus in Manhattan, with the potential opportunity to contribute to the Rose Hill campus in the Bronx as well. The successful candidate will be expected to contribute pedagogically to the department’s undergraduate major in Digital Technology and Emerging Media, with potential to also contribute to the department’s majors in Communication and Culture, Film and Television, and/or Journalism. The candidate would also have an opportunity to teach in our M.A. program in Public Media, the interdisciplinary program in New Media and Digital Design, and other programs across the university. Applicants are sought in the area of Critical Race and Digital Media Studies. The successful applicant will take a critical stance in their theoretical and methodological approach to understanding race and digital media, where critical implies a foregrounding of traditionally marginalized perspectives or a decentering of dominant structures, forms, aesthetics, and practices. Applicants’ approach to scholarship should be attentive to the mutual shaping of identity, culture, and technology and also the global historical shifts brought about by digitality in its infrastructural, political, geographical, and technological particularity. We are especially interested in interdisciplinary applicants whose scholarship and pedagogy engages the public in critical race theory and media studies through means such as policy, community-based learning, participatory research and design, or media production. Requirements: - Ph.D. in Communication, Media Studies, or related area, with focus on race or traditionally marginalized communities in digital or social media - Evidence of active and promising research and publication agenda - Ability to teach a variety of courses designed to evolve our major in Digital Technology and Emerging Media and deepen our curriculum in diversity and anti-racism across the department - Evidence of excellence in teaching - Commitment to mentoring and advising students Application Process: Interested applicants should submit via Interfolio http://apply.interfolio.com/111366 <http://apply.interfolio.com/111366> (1) a cover letter with qualifications, including approach to teaching and scholarship; (2) curriculum vitae; (3) 1-2 writing samples (approximately 30 pp maximum in total, solo-authored or first-authored); and (4) the names and contact information for three references. The deadline for applications is 11:59 PM on October 2, 2022. For specific questions, please contact the departmental administrator Michelle O’Dwyer at modwyer2(a)fordham.edu <mailto:modwyer2@fordham.edu>. About the Department: Fordham’s Department of Communication and Media Studies advocates the model of the publicly-engaged scholar and critically-informed practitioner who is civically and socially reflective and critical through analytical and/or applied means. Our faculty includes scholars and practitioners from a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives. We seek to attract and promote a diverse workforce to maintain the excellence of the University, and to offer students richly varied disciplines, perspectives, and ways of knowing and learning. We believe that cultural and intellectual diversity is central to the excellence of our academic program and we strive to create an academic community and campus culture that attracts and facilitates the development of promising teacher-scholars from varied backgrounds. We are especially interested in candidates with substantive experience and commitment to teaching and mentoring students with a range of social, cultural, and economic experiences, and who have successfully incorporated the research of women and scholars of color into their courses. Fordham is located in the heart of New York City, interacting on many levels with a diverse array of communities and institutions. Through research, teaching, and service, we are committed to developing and deepening our connections to the people and organizations around us. Fordham is an independent, Catholic University in the Jesuit tradition that welcomes applications from all backgrounds. Fordham is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and women, people of color, and people with disabilities are especially encouraged to apply. -- Gregory T. Donovan, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Communication and Media Studies Fordham University Joseph A. Martino Hall 45 Columbus Ave New York, NY 10023 https://gtd.nyc <https://gtd.nyc/>

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