Kelley Cotter
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View article: 'Whoever needs to see it, will see it': Motivations and Labor of Creating Algorithmic Conspirituality Content on TikTok
'Whoever needs to see it, will see it': Motivations and Labor of Creating Algorithmic Conspirituality Content on TikTok Open
Recent studies show that users often interpret social media algorithms as mystical or spiritual because of their unpredictability. This invites new questions about how such perceptions affect the content that creators create and the commun…
View article: Who Is a Good Digital Activist? Exploring Social Justice Activists' Adaptation to Instagram's Algorithmic Changes
Who Is a Good Digital Activist? Exploring Social Justice Activists' Adaptation to Instagram's Algorithmic Changes Open
Through interviews with 16 social justice activists, we explore their challenges of adapting to Instagram, particularly in light of the platform's evolving algorithm. Our findings reveal that the frequent changes in these algorithms signif…
View article: Local platformized utopias? corporate discourse, community groups, and volunteer moderation on Facebook, Reddit, and NextDoor
Local platformized utopias? corporate discourse, community groups, and volunteer moderation on Facebook, Reddit, and NextDoor Open
Residents of communities increasingly rely on geographically focused groups on online social media platforms to access local information. These local groups have the potential to enhance the quality of life in communities by helping reside…
View article: TikTok as a Tool for Identity Work Among the Hoa Ethnic Community
TikTok as a Tool for Identity Work Among the Hoa Ethnic Community Open
Popular discourse around race tends to categorize people in static ethnic and racial categories, overlooking the complexity of people with multi-ethnicities. To understand how ethnic communities resist the described practice, this article …
View article: EPISTEMIC-DEMOCRATIC TENSION IN THE BOTTOM-UP GOVERNANCE OF ALGORITHMS
EPISTEMIC-DEMOCRATIC TENSION IN THE BOTTOM-UP GOVERNANCE OF ALGORITHMS Open
The governance of platform algorithms presents a critical challenge as these technologies increasingly pose threats to privacy, agency, fairness, and equity, often reenacting and mediating existing power systems. Traditional governance mod…
View article: LOCALIZED VOLUNTEER MODERATION AND ITS DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION
LOCALIZED VOLUNTEER MODERATION AND ITS DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION Open
The social media industry has begun more prominently positioning itself as a vehicle for tapping into local community. Facebook offers hundreds of region-specific community groups, proudly touting these in nation-wide commercials. Reddit h…
View article: Taking Responsibility for Meaning and Mattering: An Agential Realist Approach to Generative AI and Literacy
Taking Responsibility for Meaning and Mattering: An Agential Realist Approach to Generative AI and Literacy Open
Questions and concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in education reached a fever pitch with the arrival of publicly accessible, user‐facing generative AI systems, especially ChatGPT. Many of these issues will require reg…
View article: If you’re reading this, it’s meant for you: The reflexive ambivalence of algorithmic conspirituality
If you’re reading this, it’s meant for you: The reflexive ambivalence of algorithmic conspirituality Open
Growing awareness of the ubiquity of algorithms online has established a new discursive space for making sense of their role in individuals’ lives and society writ large. Within this space, social media users have come to think of algorith…
View article: "I Got Flagged for Supposed Bullying, Even Though It Was in Response to Someone Harassing Me About My Disability.": A Study of Blind TikTokers’ Content Moderation Experiences
"I Got Flagged for Supposed Bullying, Even Though It Was in Response to Someone Harassing Me About My Disability.": A Study of Blind TikTokers’ Content Moderation Experiences Open
The Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) community has consistently focused on the experiences of users moderated by social media platforms. Recently, scholars have noticed that moderation practices could perpetuate biases, resulting in the ma…
View article: "We happen to be different and different is not bad": Designing for Intersectional Fat-Positive Information-Seeking
"We happen to be different and different is not bad": Designing for Intersectional Fat-Positive Information-Seeking Open
Fat liberation is a social movement advocating for equal treatment of fat people, who are currently subjected to harmful stereotypes, harassment, discrimination at school and work, and medical mistreatment, and is an understudied movement …
View article: Technology is a wish your heart makes: How Disney harnesses practical magic discourse to legitimize MyMagic+
Technology is a wish your heart makes: How Disney harnesses practical magic discourse to legitimize MyMagic+ Open
This article explores how Disney employs magical discourse to legitimize its MyMagic+ system. Through an analysis of the Disney Parks blog, we introduce the concept practical magic discourse , which entices users to indulge in the fantasy …
View article: "I Got Flagged for Supposed Bullying, Even Though It Was in Response to Someone Harassing Me About My Disability.": A Study of Blind TikTokers' Content Moderation Experiences
"I Got Flagged for Supposed Bullying, Even Though It Was in Response to Someone Harassing Me About My Disability.": A Study of Blind TikTokers' Content Moderation Experiences Open
The Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) community has consistently focused on the experiences of users moderated by social media platforms. Recently, scholars have noticed that moderation practices could perpetuate biases, resulting in the ma…
View article: PLATFORMS AND THE PRECARITY OF CREATOR (IN)VISIBILITY
PLATFORMS AND THE PRECARITY OF CREATOR (IN)VISIBILITY Open
This panel examines the tension between visibility and invisibility in the platform-creator relationship with a focus on highly precarious areas of cultural production, including online sex workers, body activists, and LGBTQ+ content creat…
View article: Practical knowledge of algorithms: The case of BreadTube
Practical knowledge of algorithms: The case of BreadTube Open
The growing ubiquity of algorithms in everyday life has prompted cross-disciplinary interest in what people know about algorithms. The purpose of this article is to build on this growing literature by highlighting a particular way of knowi…
View article: Safe from “harm”: The governance of violence by platforms
Safe from “harm”: The governance of violence by platforms Open
A number of issues have emerged related to how platforms moderate and mitigate “harm.” Although platforms have recently developed more explicit policies in regard to what constitutes “hate speech” and “harmful content,” it appears that pla…
View article: Fact-Checking the Crisis: COVID-19, Infodemics, and the Platformization of Truth
Fact-Checking the Crisis: COVID-19, Infodemics, and the Platformization of Truth Open
During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, various officials flagged the critical threat of false information. In this study, we explore how three major social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube) responded to this “infodemic” …
View article: It’s the Methodology For Me: A Systematic Review of Early Approaches to Studying TikTok
It’s the Methodology For Me: A Systematic Review of Early Approaches to Studying TikTok Open
Research on TikTok has grown along with the app’s rapidly rising global popularity. In this systematic review, we investigate 58 articles examining TikTok, its users, and its content. Focusing on articles published in journals and proceedi…
View article: “Shadowbanning is not a thing”: black box gaslighting and the power to independently know and credibly critique algorithms
“Shadowbanning is not a thing”: black box gaslighting and the power to independently know and credibly critique algorithms Open
Efforts to govern algorithms have centerd the ‘black box problem,’ or the opacity of algorithms resulting from corporate secrecy and technical complexity. In this article, I conceptualize a related and equally fundamental challenge for gov…
View article: SAFE FROM “HARM”: THE GOVERNANCE OF VIOLENCE BY PLATFORMS
SAFE FROM “HARM”: THE GOVERNANCE OF VIOLENCE BY PLATFORMS Open
Platforms have long been under fire for how they create and enforce policies around hate speech, harmful content, and violence. In this study, we examine how three major platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube) conceptualize and implemen…
View article: “Reach the right people”: The politics of “interests” in Facebook’s classification system for ad targeting
“Reach the right people”: The politics of “interests” in Facebook’s classification system for ad targeting Open
Political campaigns increasingly rely on Facebook for reaching their constituents, particularly through ad targeting. Facebook’s business model is premised on a promise to connect advertisers with the “right” users: those likely to click, …
View article: Intermedia Reliance and Sustainability of Emergent Media: A Large-Scale Analysis of American News Outlets' External Linking Behaviors
Intermedia Reliance and Sustainability of Emergent Media: A Large-Scale Analysis of American News Outlets' External Linking Behaviors Open
Although concerns over the sustainability of news outlets online have prevailed for the past decade, niche media—with partisan news outlets as a notable example—have been gaining more influence on public discourse. This study suggests info…
View article: Algorithmic Knowledge Gaps: A New Horizon of (Digital) Inequality
Algorithmic Knowledge Gaps: A New Horizon of (Digital) Inequality Open
Algorithms serve as gatekeepers and arbiters of truth online. Understanding how algorithms influence which information individuals encounter better enables them to properly calibrate their reception of the information. Yet, knowledge of pl…
View article: Playing the visibility game: How digital influencers and algorithms negotiate influence on Instagram
Playing the visibility game: How digital influencers and algorithms negotiate influence on Instagram Open
Algorithms are said to affect social realities, often in unseen ways. This article explores conscious, instrumental interactions with algorithms, as a window into the complexities and extent of algorithmic power. Through a thematic analysi…
View article: Explanations as Mechanisms for Supporting Algorithmic Transparency
Explanations as Mechanisms for Supporting Algorithmic Transparency Open
Transparency can empower users to make informed choices about how they use an algorithmic decision-making system and judge its potential consequences. However, transparency is often conceptualized by the outcomes it is intended to bring ab…
View article: Explaining the News Feed Algorithm
Explaining the News Feed Algorithm Open
Facebook uses algorithmic curation---automated selection and ranking of content---to present a personalized News Feed to each user for consumption. However, the News Feed user interface provides little information to help users understand …
View article: Libraries Protecting Privacy on Social Media: Sharing without "Oversharing"
Libraries Protecting Privacy on Social Media: Sharing without "Oversharing" Open
Libraries have increasingly adopted social media as an integral means of connecting with their users. However, social media presents many potential concerns regarding library patron privacy. This article presents the findings from a study …