Apr 26Too Big to Challenge?I find it deeply disturbing that the tech industry represents 9% of the U.S. GDP and only five Big Tech companies account for 25% of the S&P 500. Prior to Covid, most of the growth in stock market came from Big Tech (not the Trump Administration…). Now, as the U.S…AI5 min readAI5 min read
Apr 21Deskilling on the JobWhen it comes to AI’s potential future impact on jobs, Camp Automation tends to jump to the conclusion that most jobs will be automated away into oblivion. The progressive arm of Camp Automation then argues for the need for versions of universal basic income and other social services to ensure…AI7 min readAI7 min read
Apr 10Protect Elders! Ban Television!!(Some thoughts on the efforts to regulate children’s use of social media) Have you noticed how many people ages 65+ watch television every day? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost 90% of those in this age bracket watch TV Every.Single.Day!!!! ::gasp:: And that data was collected before the…Social Media11 min readSocial Media11 min read
Apr 5Resisting Deterministic ThinkingAI is here and it will change everything! OMG the sky is falling! Programmers are now obsolete. No, they are needed more than ever before. Large language models will destroy journalism, democracy, society. No, they will free us from drudgery and we will all be happier. Cancer will be solved…Artificial Intelligence9 min readArtificial Intelligence9 min read
Dec 5, 2022What if failure is the plan?I’ve been thinking a lot about failure lately. Failure comes in many forms, but I’m especially interested in situations in which people *perceive* something as failing (or about to fail) and the contestations over failure that often arise in such situations. Given this, it’s hard not to be fascinated by…Twitter14 min readTwitter14 min read
Nov 8, 2022CFP: The Politics of Data and Quantification in the Public Sector2023 American Sociology Association / Science, Knowledge, and Technology Section Organizers: danah boyd, Microsoft Research Chuncheng Liu, UC San Diego Governments around the world leverage data and statistics to legitimize themselves and shape public policy. There is robust literature looking backward at statistics and state-building. However, the new politics of…Sociology2 min readSociology2 min read
Published inData & Society: Points·Oct 4, 2022Here’s a Toast…Marking exactly ten years since I put pen to paper to envision Data & Society, I have decided to step down from its board of directors in March 2023 and join the organization’s advisory group. — In early March of 2013, I schemed a crazy scheme — one that would evolve into Data & Society, an amazing organization filled with brilliant people doing important work. Since then, I have played many roles in the organization. Event planner. Fundraiser. IKEA chair builder. Research coordinator. While many aspects…Danah Boyd4 min readDanah Boyd4 min read
Dec 1, 2021Statistical Imaginaries: An Ode to Responsible Data ScienceThis text was first presented as a talk at the 2021 Microsoft Research Summit. If you would prefer to watch the talk, you may do so here. Three hundred thirty one million, four hundred forty nine thousand, two hundred and eighty one. According to the US Census Bureau, that is…19 min read19 min read
Oct 29, 2021In the Pursuit of Knowledge, There Be DragonsThis is a talk script from my keynote at IEEE Vis 2021. Good afternoon! I’m honored to be here today, speaking with you, in no small part because you have given me the opportunity to try to connect disparate parts of my career together into a coherent message. I started…Data Science15 min readData Science15 min read
May 20, 2021Knitting a Healthy Social Fabric.Many people see the roots of polarization and hate in the information ecosystem in which we are embedded. This leads us to conversations about disinformation, platform power, and the politics of speech. I see the roots differently. In my mind, polarization and hate are expressions of a fractured social graph…Society29 min readSociety29 min read
