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Like, swipe, match… “you vaxxed?”

Like, swipe, match… “you vaxxed?”

How Hinge and Tinder have adapted their affordances to the COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic caused a spike in dating app usage while simultaneously altering the standard dating practices. To analyze how dating apps have responded to this change,...
By Simran Tamber on 10/27/21 Comments Off on Like, swipe, match… “you vaxxed?”
The Big Problem with Uber’s Big Data: Ethics and Regulation of Data Ownership

The Big Problem with Uber’s Big Data: Ethics and Regulation of Data Ownership

“Technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral”. That is why it is key to understand how we, as users and moderators, give additional meaning to technological features and participate in the complex chain of interactions they...
By on 10/20/21 Comments Off on The Big Problem with Uber’s Big Data: Ethics and Regulation of Data Ownership
How to Study Shadow Curators? Biases in the YouTube Algorithm

How to Study Shadow Curators? Biases in the YouTube Algorithm

It is getting harder to pinpoint the interferences when it comes to our experience in digital media. We are constantly living under the flood of content the internet has to offer, never really realizing that our choices are being...
By on 10/04/21 Comments Off on How to Study Shadow Curators? Biases in the YouTube Algorithm
“Hey Siri, are you sharing my private data”: A commentary on the impact virtual personal assistants have on surveillance capitalism and user information consumption

“Hey Siri, are you sharing my private data”: A commentary on the impact virtual personal assistants have on surveillance capitalism and user information consumption

For a digitally immersed society driven by technological developments and innovations, personal voice-controlled virtual assistants such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple Siri have become a crucial component to task completion, user interaction, and information consumption. Virtual personal...
By on 10/03/21 Comments Off on “Hey Siri, are you sharing my private data”: A commentary on the impact virtual personal assistants have on surveillance capitalism and user information consumption
Tracking the Stars: Co-star and the Creation of the Digital Celestial

Tracking the Stars: Co-star and the Creation of the Digital Celestial

Ayoub Samadi Introduction A centuries old practice clad in contemporary systems of information processing. For millenia, astrology has been engulfed in the depths of time and rationality and has not only until recently began to regain the reverence it...
By on 10/03/21 Comments Off on Tracking the Stars: Co-star and the Creation of the Digital Celestial
The Greedy Algorithm: An investigation into Facebook’s mismanagement of Big Data

The Greedy Algorithm: An investigation into Facebook’s mismanagement of Big Data

In 2018, Facebook was issued a lawsuit by the developers of a now-defunct organisation called Six4Three. In this, they stated that Facebook had grossly mistreated access to users’ private data, while also collecting huge amounts of information on their...
By on 10/03/21 Comments Off on The Greedy Algorithm: An investigation into Facebook’s mismanagement of Big Data
Is Evgeny Morozov’s The Syllabus the real Google antidote?

Is Evgeny Morozov’s The Syllabus the real Google antidote?

In the autumn of 2019, technology critic and writer Evgeny Morozov launched the online information-service “The Syllabus”: a curated expert guide to the digital public sphere, containing a constantly updated selection of books, academic articles, podcasts and videos on...
By Sara Getz on 12/08/20 Comments Off on Is Evgeny Morozov’s The Syllabus the real Google antidote?
Can you change the world with a homemade DeepFake?

Can you change the world with a homemade DeepFake?

Kenza Sabri (kenzasabri5@gmail.com)  Zuzanna Kędzia (zuzanna.k0987@gmail.com) Daria Kochetkova (daria.kochetkova.08@gmail.com) “At the most basic level, deepfakes are lies disguised to look like truth. If we take them as truth or evidence, we can easily make false conclusions with potentially disastrous...
By Kenza Sabri on 10/21/20 Comments Off on Can you change the world with a homemade DeepFake?

Algorithmic Culture and Big Data: Spotify’s recommendation algorithm

Have you ever listened to music on Spotify and wondered how it is possible that the recommended music perfectly suits your personal taste and sometimes even introduces you to music you didn’t even know you enjoy? Most people don’t...
By on 09/28/20 Comments Off on Algorithmic Culture and Big Data: Spotify’s recommendation algorithm
Social Media Discrimination: TikTok as a platform that was openly hiding disabled people’s content.

Social Media Discrimination: TikTok as a platform that was openly hiding disabled people’s content.

What is TikTok? In the 21st century, we have witnessed the birth and rise of a diversity of new social media platforms, which all aim at bringing all people together and let them share themselves, their views, and their...
By on 09/27/20 Comments Off on Social Media Discrimination: TikTok as a platform that was openly hiding disabled people’s content.
Who gets previewed? Racial Bias and User Experiments within Twitter’s Algorithmic Image Cropping

Who gets previewed? Racial Bias and User Experiments within Twitter’s Algorithmic Image Cropping

Recently Twitter users have been discovering the algorithmic bias of Twitter's image cropping system. How have they experimented and what do we do with the results? Why is Twitter selecting white faces? Why does it prefer Ted Cruz with...
By on 09/27/20 Comments Off on Who gets previewed? Racial Bias and User Experiments within Twitter’s Algorithmic Image Cropping
A(m)I beautiful? – Questioning AI through a Biometric Mirror

A(m)I beautiful? – Questioning AI through a Biometric Mirror

As AI integrates its way into everyday life, it raises more and more questions on whether to see this technology as assisting or oppressive. Facial recognition art installation Biometric Mirror (2018) contributes to this critical approach, challenging the ethics...
By on 09/26/20 Comments Off on A(m)I beautiful? – Questioning AI through a Biometric Mirror
Old Town Road to Success: How Music Becomes Popular on Spotify

Old Town Road to Success: How Music Becomes Popular on Spotify

Spotify has become an established phenomenon in our daily routines. How do songs become successful on the platform? Follow us as we explore the (Old Town) road to success.
By Tamar Hellinga on 10/24/19 Comments Off on Old Town Road to Success: How Music Becomes Popular on Spotify
‘Quiet Ride’ in Uber: Technology Defeats Small Talk.

‘Quiet Ride’ in Uber: Technology Defeats Small Talk.

In May 2019, Uber announced that they have added the quiet ride feature. People who call an uber can now make a preference for the level of conversation they want to have with their driver: prefer quiet, or let...
By Cem Akca on 09/23/19 Comments Off on ‘Quiet Ride’ in Uber: Technology Defeats Small Talk.
Discerning Familiarity in the Rise of Facial Recognition

Discerning Familiarity in the Rise of Facial Recognition

Facial recognition is ‘hot’: it has been in science fiction since the 1960’s, but nowadays biometric technologies – the technologies that recognize individuals based on biological aspects – are advancing and are increasingly being adapted by tech giants and...
By Sanne Kalf on 09/23/19 Comments Off on Discerning Familiarity in the Rise of Facial Recognition
Free Trial Surfing or how to reshape affordances through institutional legitimization

Free Trial Surfing or how to reshape affordances through institutional legitimization

DoNotPay is a company that announced a new app called ‘Free Trial Surfing’ which generates fake credit card details that users can use to sign up for free trials of (web) services without risking having to pay after the...
By Dimitri Koehorst on 09/22/19 Comments Off on Free Trial Surfing or how to reshape affordances through institutional legitimization
Neurchi d’algorithmes

Neurchi d’algorithmes

In 2017 Mark Zuckerberg decided that he wanted to help Nigerian women and reinvigorate Facebook’s business model. Somehow it triggered a renaissance in French memes.
By on 09/22/19 Comments Off on Neurchi d’algorithmes
A.I. Influencers: Preaching to the Choir?

A.I. Influencers: Preaching to the Choir?

As virtual influencers are gaining popularity on social media platforms such as Instagram, an increasing amount of money is being invested into the development of so-called A.I. influencers. Will such influencers cause a shift in the relationship between different...
By Dieuwertje Luitse on 09/22/19 Comments Off on A.I. Influencers: Preaching to the Choir?
AI Fact Checking: Artificial? Yes. Intelligent?

AI Fact Checking: Artificial? Yes. Intelligent?

The phenomenon of ‘Fake news’ is now a household discussion, journalists and fact-checking platforms working solely to analyze and debunk these false pieces of information are now becoming increasingly visible. While it’s becoming harder than ever to tackle the...
By Sagar Hugar on 09/22/19 Comments Off on AI Fact Checking: Artificial? Yes. Intelligent?
Sherlock Holmes of the Data-Driven world: ‘Big Data Policing’

Sherlock Holmes of the Data-Driven world: ‘Big Data Policing’

The emergence and rise of ‘Data Policing’, all around the world, is noticeable. And it is not a traditional use of technology by police, For instance, surveillance cameras in some public places. Nowadays we are encountering a completely novel...
By Arman Eslambolchi on 09/21/19 Comments Off on Sherlock Holmes of the Data-Driven world: ‘Big Data Policing’
China’s Dystopian Social Credit System Within Western Borders

China’s Dystopian Social Credit System Within Western Borders

Imagine a world where your every move, online and offline, gets monitored and scored by big companies and the government. This idea gets even more chilling when your online activities, behaviour, relationships and financial data ultimately determine whether you...
By Oana Patrichi on 10/24/18 Comments Off on China’s Dystopian Social Credit System Within Western Borders
Qutoutiao: Make Digital Reading More “Valuable”

Qutoutiao: Make Digital Reading More “Valuable”

With 48.8 million “employees”，Qutoutiao Inc. (means “fun headlines”), a two-year old mobile-news company becomes one of the biggest news and video aggregator in China. Being available at application stores since Jun. 2016, the number of Qutoutiao’s users has witnessed...
By Jueling Hu on 09/24/18 Comments Off on Qutoutiao: Make Digital Reading More “Valuable”
Online to Offline, Customers Have Nowhere to Hide —A New Targeting Technology via Wifi on Mobile Devices

Online to Offline, Customers Have Nowhere to Hide —A New Targeting Technology via Wifi on Mobile Devices

Have you ever received the promotion advertisements from some brands? The answer for most of us probably is: yes. Based on customers’ preferences, retailers offer the information of their upcoming products by the eye-catching advertisements. However, have you ever...
By Jing Shi on 09/24/18 Comments Off on Online to Offline, Customers Have Nowhere to Hide —A New Targeting Technology via Wifi on Mobile Devices
From Cable TV to IGTV: The media might indeed be the message.

From Cable TV to IGTV: The media might indeed be the message.

Abstract –  Instagram’s new application, IGTV brings about a change in how we consume media. Will it act as a replacement for platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo or Snapchat sending them out of business? IGTV also raises questions about...
By Shikha Bajaj on 09/24/18 Comments Off on From Cable TV to IGTV: The media might indeed be the message.