Prof @ischoolUMD / Director @hcil_umd. Research: privacy, surveillance, ethics. HCI/CMC/CSCW. Fantasy nerd. Crafter. OT7. Spoonie kicking cancer's ass. she/her
Jun 24, 2022 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
I'm not sure I have much more to add to this conversation than what has already said, but I do believe now, more than ever, we need to push for better privacy protections for our data and clearer explanations of how our data is being used. A short, rambling 🧵
"Just don't use X app" may not be possible for people, and it certainly isn't that simple. Much like many people rely on apps like Facebook for social connection that cannot be easily obtained through other services, people have many reasons to share sensitive person information.
Sep 30, 2021 • 13 tweets • 4 min read
So I just tweeted about Senator Blumenthal (erroneously) suggesting Instagram can "stop" Finstas, which aren't a hard-wired feature in the system but an alternative account that is often private and just for close friends. Some folks are pushing back, so I'm going to double down.
Problem 1 with "Finsta" is the name. Finsta is short for "Fake Instagram." This is distinguished from Rinsta (Real Instagram). These names are misleading. There's nothing inherently "fake" about Finstas. They simply serve to let users accomplish different self-presentation goals.
Jul 7, 2021 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
Since March, I've had three of my PhD students successfully defend their dissertations, and I'd like to take a moment to brag about them and their amazing work. [thread]
First, all three students wrote their dissertations during a global pandemic, so kudos to them for pushing through. They all exhibited a strong work ethic and I am so impressed with what they accomplished during the shitstorm that was COVID-19.
Apr 11, 2018 • 30 tweets • 7 min read
Important point from Rep Rodgers Q about a specific instance of FB's algorithm taking down content that wasn't in violation of ToS. No algorithm is 100% accurate--90% accuracy is quite high. Now imagine applying that algorithm to the hundreds of thousands of posts every minute.
Algorithms suffer from both false positives (Type 1 error) and false negatives (Type 2 error). My favorite visual aid for when I teach this in stats:
Apr 10, 2018 • 17 tweets • 6 min read
It's weird to be listening to the Zuckerberg testimony and feel like, in some twisted way, this is the culmination of the last 11 years of my academic research on Facebook, disclosure, data sharing practices, and privacy.
Also, if you're looking for people who have been writing about these topics extensively over the years, some suggestions from academia are @mzimmer, @zeynep, @pamwis, and @alicetiara, to name a couple. Also, the @pervade_team is focused on ethical implications of these topics.
