Authors Flashcards
Bory
Week 1
the dominant narrative of internet history, characterized by a US-centric, teleological (a linear, progressive view of internet history, leading inevitably to the present form) perspective that focuses on a limited timeframe and celebrates a few key individuals, has obscured the complex and diverse reality of internet development
2020
The internet myth: From the internet imaginary to network ideologies (Chapter 1)
Hobbis & Hobbis
Week 1
localized Internets, such as the one in the Solomon Islands, are shaped by both human and non-human “infrastructural assemblages” (which include people in addition to the physical things)
access to the internet itself is shaped by a complex interplay of social, economic, and technological factors
the internet is not a monolithic entity but is instead localized and adapted to specific contexts
2020
Non-/human infrastructures and digital gifts: The cables, waves and brokers of Solomon Islands internet
Jasanoff
Week 1- Infrastructures/Imaginaries
sociotechnical imaginaries - collectively held, institutionally stabilized, and publicly performed visions of desirable futures
2015
Future imperfect: Science, technology, and the imaginations of modernity. In Dreamscapes of
Modernity: Sociotechnical imaginaries and the fabrication of power
Munn
Week 1- Infrastructures/Imaginaries
information infrastructures, such as data centers and undersea cables, actively shape knowledge production
example of TKO Express underwater cable that connected Hong Kong business district to outer industrial area, displacing a community center; highlights difference between “fast knowledge” and “slow knowledge” via Orr - argues that both the cable and community center are information infrastructure, just different kinds
2022
Thinking through silicon: Cables and servers as epistemic infrastructures
Plantin & de Seta
Week 1- Infrastructures/Imaginaries
WeChat is both a platform and an infrastructure. It has platform features, such as user participation and third-party development. And, it has has acquired infrastructural properties like scale, ubiquity, and criticality of use. Example of how an app can move from tool to platform to infrastructure.
2019
WeChat as infrastructure: the techno-nationalist shaping of Chinese digital platforms
Heeks
Week 2 - Inequality
digital divide is no longer enough, need to understand how inequality emerges from digital inclusion
adapts development/poverty studies framework for “adverse digital incorporation” concept - which looks at how more-advantages groups extract disproportionate value from the labor, resources, or data of less advantaged groups (within a digital context)
drivers: ignorance/deception, compulsion, lack of choice/exclusion from alternatives
processes: exploitation (extractivate process, potentially to the point of being criminal), commodification (something previously
untraded is turned into a traded item), cost-shifting, legibility (making a previously unknown entity known to exploiters), enclosure (transfer from community owned to private owned)
2022
Digital inequality beyond the digital divide: conceptualizing adverse digital incorporation in the global South
Helsper
Week 2 - Inequality
critiques simplistic views of the “digital divide,” aregues that digital inequality is deeply intertwined with pre-existing social inequality
“socio-digital inequalities” - focus on outcomes resulting from ICT use rather than just access/skills
creates three levels of digital divides - access, skills, outcomes
utilizes Corresponding Fields framework - maps online activities onto Bourdieusian capitals (economic, social, cultural), suggests that online resources will align with offline resources
2021
The digital disconnect: The social causes and consequences of digital inequalities
Mannell et al
Week 2 - Inequality
looking at the entanglement between forced disconnection and voluntary disconnection - study of low-income families in remote Australia that were part of a program that provided internet service/equipment
main take-away is that a simplistic connected/disconnected view misses some of the nuance, many reasons for voluntary disconnection in addition to the disconnection forced upon them
2024
‘Taking the router shopping’: How low-income families experience, negotiate, and enact digital dis/connections
Chimbunde
Week 2 - Inequality
implementation of an ICT curriculum in Zimbabwean schools was meant to create equal opportunitiy, but actually just exacerbated the existing divide between existing low-income/high-income schools
uses Van Dijk’s earlier work on digital divide / “theory on resources and appropriation” - basically existing categories inequalities lead to unequal access to resources (infrastructure, teachers, etc.) and thus unequal access to digital technologies.
it’s not just about access to literal computers and internet, the broader social inequality context matters
2022
Is the implementation of the ICT curriculum in low income schools in Africa swimming against or with the tides? The case of selected schools in Zimbabwe
Cascone & Bonini
Week 2 - Inequality
migrants and asylum seekers cannot afford Western-style digital disconnection (like “digital detox”)
instead they practice unique forms of “disconnection through connection”
migrants create multiple social media profiles to disconnect from family pressures
asylum seekers use multiple profiles to evade state surveillance while maintaining political engagement.
2024
‘Disconnecting from my smartphone is a privilege I do not have’: Mobile connection and disconnection practices among migrants and asylum seekers in three migrant reception centres of Sicily
Bourdieu
Week 2 - Inequality
Capital exists in three fundamental forms - economic, cultural, and social
they can be converted into one another, though such conversions require time and effort
this multiplicity of capital forms structures social reproduction and inequality beyond purely economic mechanisms
different types of capital can be accumulated, invested, and transmitted across generations in both visible and disguised ways
1986
The forms of capital
Van Dijk
Week 2 - Inequality
Van Dijk’s theory from his first work, a little outdated now since it doesn’t really capture skill/outcomes
- Categorical inequalities in society produce an unequal distribution of resources.
- An unequal distribution of resources causes unequal access to digital technologies.
- Unequal access to digital technologies also depends on the characteristics of these technologies.
- Unequal access to digital technologies brings about unequal participation in society.
- Unequal participation in society reinforces categorical inequalities and unequal distributions of resources.
2005
The deepening divide: inequality in the information society
Gonzales
Week 2 - Inequality
the digital divide in the US has shifted from issues of initial access to technology to the challenges of technology maintenance, characterized by unstable access and frequent disconnection for low-income users
Dependable instability - the predictable and recurring cycle of internet access disruptions that low-income users experience due to broken devices, unpaid bills, and public access limitations, even though they generally have some form of internet access.
Technology Maintenance Theory - the ongoing economic and social costs of sustaining digital access and its impact on employment, health, and societal participation
2016
The contemporary US digital divide: from initial access to technology maintenance
Eklund et al
Week 3 - Individual
online anonymity should not be viewed as a simple dichotomy (anonymous vs. not anonymous), but rather as a complex relational process
three macro-level structures: legal (laws/regulation); commercial (platform policies, EULAs); technological (infrastructure)
which shape three micro/meso-level facets: factual (traceable info like names/ssn), social group (identity markers like gender/race), physical (embodied aspects, emotions, etc.)
2022
Beyond a dichotomous understanding of online anonymity: Bridging the macro and micro level
Hogan
Week 3 - Individual
distinguishes between two modes of self-presentation online, drawing from Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical framework: performances and exhibitions
Performances - synchronous, real-time interactions requiring continuous self-monitoring
Exhibitions - asynchronous, involving artifacts curated by third-party systems (e.g., social media algorithms) for diverse audiences
social media primarily operates via exhibitions - introduces concept of “lowest common denominator,” “curator,” “context collapse”
2010
The Presentation of Self in the Age of Social Media: Distinguishing Performances and Exhibitions Online
Hoffmann et al
Week 3 - Individual
structural constraints on user agency (interpersonal, cultural, technological, economic, and political) disproportionately affect different social groups, leading to unequal experiences of privacy cynicism
These constraints interlock and compound each other, potentially creating a negative feedback loop where increased privacy cynicism makes users more vulnerable to further constraints
2024
Inequalities in privacy cynicism: An intersectional analysis of agency constraints
Quinn & Papacharissi
Week 4 - Communication/Cuture
Social media transforms how we establish, maintain, and dissolve relationships by making our social connections tangible and visible, while requiring us to manage a “networked self” that performs identity across multiple audiences and contexts simultaneously.
the “networked self” - a relational self that is the center of overlapping social connections (online and offline) and must balance individual autonomy with social connection
“People use technologies to sustain a form of being that is primarily relational, even though, on occasion, their lives may be oversaturated with technology”
2018
Our networked selves: Personal connection and relational maintenance in social media use
Liu et al
Week 4 - Communication/Cuture
dating apps attract users (here, rural Chinese migrant workers) with promises of connection but cannot address the underlying materialistic expectations and class barriers in Chinese society
digital dating becomes a form of cruel optimism by generating romantic aspirations that the socioeconomic realities of migrant workers make impossible to achieve
“cruel optimism” - a condition where something you desire becomes an obstacle to your flourishing
2022
The cruel optimism of digital dating: Heart-breaking mobile romance among rural migrant workers in South China
Munn
Week 4 - Communication/Cuture
“stratified hate” - strategic layering of hate speech to evade moderation, appeal to broader audiences, and radicalize users gradually
Surface Hate (moderate, public-facing rhetoric that avoids overt slurs but subtly reinforces hate)
Sublevel Hate (explicit, dehumanizing, and often violent content hidden in comments and marginalized spaces)
2023
Surface and sublevel hate
Guzman
Week 4 - Communication/Cuture
studied how people differentiate computers from themselves - in the context of a communication partner
ontological boundaries - research via interviews - origin of being, degree of autonomy, status as tool/tool-user, level of intelligence, emotional capabilities, and inherent flaws
ontological boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred as technologies emulate more human-like qualities, such as emotion
“Human-machine communication is the creation of meaning among humans and machines”
2020
Ontological boundaries between humans and computers and the implications for human-machine communication
Miltner & Highfield
Week 4 - Communication/Cuture
The animated GIF is a central communicative tool in digital culture due to its technical affordances and cultural versatility.
GIFs convey polysemic, layered meanings through decontextualized, looping snippets, enabling both affective expression and displays of cultural knowledge.
GIFs function as a form of “social steganography” (hiding meanings in plain sight) while also noting how these communicative affordances have led to increasing commodification of the format.
2017
Never gonna GIF you up: Analyzing the cultural significance of the animated GIF
Altay et al
Week 5 - Politics
argues that research often overstates prevalence/impact of misinformation
people are more likely to be uninformed than misinformed
six misconceptions: (1) misinformation is just a social media problem; (2) internet is rife with misinformation; (3) falsehoods spread faster than truth; (4) people believe everything they see on the internet; (5) large number of people are misinformed; (6) misinformation has strong influence on people’s behavior
2023
Misinformation on Misinformation: Conceptual and Methodological Challenges
Grover
Week 5 - Politics
India’s simultaneous pursuit of universal internet connectivity through “Digital India” while leading the world in state-ordered internet shutdowns reveals a paradoxical “m-governance” (mobile governance) regime that uses mobile connectivity as both a tool for digital citizenship and a mechanism of control.
This creates a bifurcated experience where marginalized communities face “contingent connectivity” - their digital citizenship rights can be suspended through targeted shutdowns.
2023
Contingent connectivity: Internet shutdowns and the infrastructural precarity of digital citizenship
Evangelista & Bruno
Week 5 - Politics
The 2018 Brazilian election of Jair Bolsonaro was facilitated by a sophisticated WhatsApp-based communication strategy that combined micro-targeting, disinformation, and the exploitation of WhatsApp’s structural features (affordances)
specific affordances: trust architecture, limit visibility/encryption, group limit, zero-rating (doesn’t consume data/attractive to low-income)
platform became a political tool
2019
WhatsApp and political instability in Brazil: Targeted messages and political radicalisation
Aalders
Week 6 - Money
BNPL companies like Afterpay, Klarna and Zip position themselves and their products as more responsible alternatives to credit cards by redefining responsible consumption through their platform design. Rather than viewing credit as debt, they frame it as responsible consumption when used within their platforms’ constraints.
“This materialisation of responsibility thus allows BNPL companies to redefine their customers not as indebted users who spend other people’s money, but as responsible consumers, using their own (future) money within the protective enclosure of the BNPL platform.”
2023
Buy now, pay later: Redefining indebted users as responsible consumers
Komen & Ling
Week 6 - Money
This study examines how mobile banking (mPesa) and mobile phones affect gender dynamics in rural Kenya, particularly how married women navigate financial control in a patriarchal, polygynous society.
The paper finds that while mobile banking gives women more financial autonomy and control, it can also create household tensions and potentially undermine traditional collective savings groups (chamas) that provided important social support.
It argues that these technologies empower women by enabling independent financial management and participation in savings groups (chamas), yet simultaneously reinforce tensions in patriarchal households and erode traditional communal bonds through increased individualization.
2022
‘NO! We don’t have a joint account’: Mobile telephony, mBanking, and gender inequality in the lives of married women in western rural Kenya
Posada
Week 6 - Money
The paper argues that the “deep embeddedness” of digital payment systems in Venezuelan data work provides workers access to stable currencies but comes at the cost of reduced autonomy, financial risks, and diminished income due to intermediaries’ fees.
Tubaro’s concept of “deep embeddedness” - helps analyze how workers are situated within multi-level networks of firms and individuals in platform labor.
2024
Deeply embedded wages: Navigating digital payments in data work
MacKenzie et al
Week 6 - Money
two arguments about digital ad platforms:
(1) they are not neutral market infrastructure, rather are “stacks” of interdependent economization processes that layer different forms of economic activity in complex ways
(2) these processes are contexted and become sites of “material politics” - especially around mundane things configuratin settings, etc.
2023
The longest second: Header bidding and the material politics of online advertising
Sadowski
Week 6 - Money
argues that data should be analyzed as a distinct form of capital rather than just a commodity
data collection is driven by the perpetual cycle of capital accumulation (extraction), which drives organizations to construct and rely upon a universe where everything is made of data
(my take) When data is accumulated and held as a form of power that can be strategically converted into other forms of advantage over time, it functions as capital. When it is directly exchanged for money in a transaction, it functions as a commodity. - this is a good essay question in general, is data capital or commodity
2019
When data is capital: Datafication, accumulation, and extraction
Ratner & Elmholdt
Week 7 - Time
This paper compares two algorithmic systems in Danish child protection services to show how predictive algorithms construct different notions of risk.
One system aims to manage uncertainty in existing risk assessments, while the other seeks to preempt risks before they emerge by constructing parents as risk factors.
2023
Algorithmic constructions of risk: Anticipating uncertain futures in child protection services
Trillò et al
Week 7 - Time
While social media content appears chaotic, it is structured by underlying patterns called “social media rituals” - typified communicative practices that formalize and express shared values.
2022
A typology of social media rituals
Wajcman (a)
Week 7 - Time
The relationship between technological acceleration and the pace of life is not deterministic or straightforward.
While digital technologies have increased the speed of communications and processes, their impact on lived time depends on how people integrate them into daily practices.
critiques the assumption of technological determinism in discussions of a “high-speed society,” arguing that technology’s role in shaping time is deeply intertwined with social practices
emphasizes the mutual shaping of technology and society
2020
High-speed society: Is the pace of life accelerating?
Wajcman (b)
Week 7 - Time
Digital calendars are not neutral time-management tools, but rather embody and reinforce Silicon Valley’s techno-cultural values around productivity, efficiency, and individual control over time.
The grid-based calendar interface promotes a quantitative, mechanistic view of time as a resource to be optimized, while obscuring qualitative and collective aspects of temporal experience.
This reflects a broader trend of technology-driven “time mastery” that often exacerbates feelings of time scarcity rather than alleviating them.
“The shared narrative of my interviewees revolved around the urgent need to utilize time because they were so busy. However, they were also heavily invested in identifying themselves as constantly busy, this being a signifier of high status.”
2018
How Silicon Valley sets time
Mazmanian et al
Week 7 - Time
introduces the “autonomy paradox,” where knowledge professionals using mobile email devices gain flexibility and control in the short term but experience diminished autonomy over time
While they view constant connectivity as a personal choice reflecting their autonomy, their collective behavior creates expectations of constant availability, leading them to work everywhere/all the time.
They rationalize this diminished autonomy by attributing it to their personality traits (being “Type A”) rather than seeing it as a loss of control.
2013
The autonomy paradox: The implications of mobile email devices for knowledge professionals
Lange et al
Week 7 - Time
High-frequency trading (HFT) is not merely a technological advancement but a cultural phenomenon shaped by the interplay of algorithms, traders, and regulatory frameworks.
The paper explores HFT through a sociological lens, emphasizing situated knowledge, distributed cognition, and the evolving responsibilities within market ecosystems. It highlights the transformation of financial markets into algorithmically-driven systems, where liquidity and price formation are both technologically enabled and culturally contested.
The paper explores HFT through a sociological lens, emphasizing situated knowledge, distributed cognition, and the evolving responsibilities within market ecosystems. It highlights the transformation of financial markets into algorithmically-driven systems, where liquidity and price formation are both technologically enabled and culturally contested.
2016
Cultures of high-frequency trading: Mapping the landscape of algorithmic developments in contemporary financial markets
ten Brummelhuis et al
Scheerder et al
Week 8 - Space
This study examines digital inequality through the lens of domestication theory, revealing that educational background influences how families integrate and benefit from internet use.
Higher-educated families tend to approach internet adoption more critically and proactively, fostering reflective and productive use.
Conversely, lower-educated families often engage with the internet reactively, aiming to “keep up,” which perpetuates digital inequalities.
2019
Internet use in the home: Digital inequality from a domestication perspective
Lindell et al
Week 8 - Space
The paper argues that “place-exposing geomedia practices,” such as tagging or checking in on social media, reproduce and reinforce social class distinctions. Using Pierre Bourdieu’s framework, the study shows that these practices link social capital to cultural and spatial identity, amplifying class-specific lifestyles. It highlights how digital media expands the symbolic battlefield of social stratification by intertwining place-making and self-presentation.
2022
I’m here! Conspicuous geomedia practices and the reproduction of social positions on social media
