Publications

2026

CHI
Best Paper
Crafting Remembrance Beyond the Self: Older Adults’ Digital and Material Legacies Ramprabu Thangaraj, Jed R. Brubaker, Emma Dixon, and Alisha Pradhan
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2026)
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3772318.3791813
Artifacts encode memories and shape how one is remembered after death. Older adults, given their life stage, are often engaged in intentional end-of-life planning, making their perspectives on curation for remembrance post-mortem valuable. While HCI has examined older adults’ curation of memory artifacts (e.g., to support well-being), little is known about their curation preferences with the intent of shaping how one is remembered after death. Drawing on interviews with older adults, our work provides insights into how individuals think about remembrance after death, including who is remembered (subject) and who remembers (audience), and how physical, temporal, or relational traces captured in artifacts mediate remembrance. These findings offer design implications for legacy crafting systems to support remembrance that transcends the self, account for the intentional legacy crafting work for distinct audiences, and support hybrid artifacts that allow memories to move across physical and digital spaces.
DIS
Best Paper Honorable Mention
Designing Conversations with the Dead: How People Engage with Generative Ghosts Jack M. Manning, Daniel Sullivan, Dylan Thomas Doyle, Anthony T. Pinter, and Jed R. Brubaker
ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS 2026)
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3800645.3813090
We examine how people experience two choices in the design of generative ghosts, AI systems that are trained on data of the dead: representation, where an AI speaks about a deceased person in the third person, and reincarnation, where the AI speaks as the deceased in the first person. Through a qualitative user study with 16 participants, we explore how each shaped authenticity, affect, and risk. Reincarnation was preferred for its immediacy, but participants shared fears of over-reliance. Representation was preferred for engaging with memory over conversational presence, though participants often ignored this distinction, engaging in dialogue despite third-person framing. Across both modes, participants privileged affective resonance over factual fidelity. We conclude by showing how factors such as tone, language, and conversational rhythm – factors unique to the user’s memory of the deceased – shape interactions with generative ghosts, and argue that those interactions are always collaborative.
CHIPanel
From Remote Space to Remote Time Hiroshi Ishii, Hye Jun Youn, Jie Li, Xiao Xiao, Eugene Ch’ng, Jed R. Brubaker, Jayne Wallace, and Pat Pataranutaporn
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2026), Extended Abstracts
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3772363.3790071
We explore a design vision that reimagines human connection not only across distance but also across time, extending even beyond physical lifespans. While Telepresence was developed to connect remote spaces, this panel shifts the focus to remote time—the desire to be remembered, to reconnect with the past, and to speculate on possible futures. We bring together perspectives from generative AI, cultural heritage, and HCI to examine how connection across time can be mediated and reinterpreted. AI researchers develop synthetic agents "ghost bots" that reconstruct identities from fragmented data. Scholars in archaeological heritage investigate how artifacts carry memory across centuries, offering insight into how cultural traces become embodied knowledge. HCI researchers study interactive systems that honor the presence of absence. Together, this inter-disciplinary dialogue across digital reconstruction, archaeological preservation, and practices of cherishing material traces raises broader philosophical questions about how emerging technologies shape relationships across past, present, and future.
CSCW
What Is Most Important: The Tradeoffs of Structuring Value Documentation in Electronic Health Records Dylan Thomas Doyle and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 10, CSCW: 1–34
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3817038
Advance Care Planning (ACP) enables patients to articulate the values that guide their end-of-life decisions, thereby improving health outcomes as they near death. However, Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems often fail to consistently support the documentation and transfer of these values across care settings. To investigate how ACP values are encoded, transmitted, and interpreted between hospital-based palliative care teams and hospice professionals, we conducted a narrative network analysis of twelve interviews with clinicians from both domains. Our analysis maps ACP value documentation workflows and reveals technical and organizational barriers – such as incompatible systems, unstructured or non-searchable formats, and mismatched assumptions about roles – that disrupt continuity of care. While more structured EHR fields may enhance usability, most value documentation remains under-structured, unstructured, or omitted, limiting searchability and interoperability. Building on prior CSCW research on healthcare coordination across distributed stakeholders, this study offers design recommendations for EHR systems and organizational practices to better support value documentation in clinical settings.

CSCWPoster

Factors Impacting the Abandonment and Closure of Accounts Camille Butera, Joseph J. Trybala, and Jed R. Brubaker
ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2026), Companion

Reference
BibTeX
DOI: 10.1145/3785651.3831518

@inproceedings{buteraFactorsImpactingAbandonment2026,
  tags = {digital-legacy-clinic, account-closure},
  author = {Butera, Camille and Trybala, Joseph J. and Brubaker, Jed R.},
  title = {Factors Impacting the Abandonment and Closure of Accounts},
  year = {2026},
  booktitle = {ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2026), Companion},
  series = {CSCW Companion '26},
  pages = {218--223},
  publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
  address = {Salt Lake City, UT, USA},
  doi = {10.1145/3785651.3831518},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3785651.3831518},
  keywords = {account abandonment, account closure, non-use, digital identity},
  pubtype = {Poster}
}

Journal
Speculating the Afterlife: Reimagining Possibilities for AI and Its Impact on Memorialization, Grief, and Continuing Bonds Jed R. Brubaker, Tamara Borovica, Katrin Gerber, Caitlin McGrane, and Larissa Hjorth
Thanatos 14
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.57124/thanatos.162347
Popular narratives about artificial intelligence (AI) and the afterlife provide a narrow vision of grief, memory, and technology. To foster a broader view of what AI might make possible in the context of death, we hosted a speculative design workshop with interdisciplinary experts. Through a series of design exercises and group discussions, participants were encouraged to develop novel ideas including memorialization and critically reflect on the opportunities and challenges. Our analysis identified four thematic areas: reimagining memorialization practices; grappling with ethical and practical concerns around data; reshaping continuing bonds with the dead; and confronting the commercial and infrastructural challenges of sustaining grief technologies. In our discussion, we argue that AI technologies offer openings for cultural critique and emotional insight. In broadening our vision for AI, this paper provides a more pluralistic and emotionally attuned vision for how AI might shape experiences of grief and memorialization.

2025

CSCW
XOXO or XX/XY? Gender Essentialism and Queer Exclusion on Dating Apps Katy Weathington, Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 9, CSCW
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3711109
In a world with shrinking queer spaces, dating apps serve as a useful way to find romantic or sexual partners, make friends, and develop connections in an often fragmented community. However, dating app structures may exclude queer users more than their cisgender heterosexual counterparts. We examined how gender and sexuality are formatted as data in dating app profiles and algorithmically curated matchmaking functions. Based on an analysis of ten popular dating apps, we found gender and sexuality were often divided into descriptive labels and functional categories, which systematically marginalize or exclude queer identities from the matching process despite appearing inclusive.
DIS
"That’s something that as a senior person you have to consider now": Unpacking Older Adults’ Preferences for End-of-Life Data Planning Ramprabu Thangaraj, Jed R. Brubaker, Nathan Malkin, and Alisha Pradhan
ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS 2025)
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3715336.3735821
Through interviews with 16 older adults, we examine their preferences and motivations for managing everyday digital data (e.g., text messages, social media, photos) after death. Designing for digital legacy requires input from individuals across all life stages, as motivations to plan vary with age. Our findings surface several implications for end-of-life data planning, including creating awareness about digital legacy and associated risks.
CSCW
How Data Workers Shape Datasets: The Role of Positionality in Data Collection and Annotation for Computer Vision Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, Allison Woodruff, and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 9, CSCW Article 300
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3757481
Data workers play a key role in the big data industry. Clients hire data workers to collect and annotate data with human identity concepts, like demographic categories or clothing items. Through interviews and ethnographic observations of data workers, we show how worker positionality influences decisions during data work. We propose positional (il)legibility as an approach to data work that embraces the reality of positionality in classification practices.
TOCHI
Transphobia Is in the Eye of the Prompter: Trans-Centered Perspectives on Large Language Models Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, Katy Weathington, Adrian Petterson, Dylan Thomas Doyle, Dipto Das, Michael Ann DeVito, and Jed R. Brubaker
ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction 32, 5 Article 52
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3743676
Large language models (LLMs) are rapidly being integrated into products and services, often in chatbots. LLM-powered chatbots are expected to respond to any number of topics, including topics central to gender identity. In light of rising anti-trans discourse, we examined how two popular LLMs responded to real-world English-language questions about trans identity taken from Quora. We employed reflexive analysis that centered our situated knowledges of the trans community. We found that LLMs return pro-trans responses, even when presented with highly transphobic user prompts. While we also found highly transphobic LLM responses, anti-trans sentiment in LLMs was often subtle, requiring a deep positional understanding from diverse trans stakeholders to interpret.
Chapter
Conservateur of a Former Self: Algorithmic Curation, Identity Exhibition, and Digital Well-Being Anthony T. Pinter, Annie Margaret, and Jed R. Brubaker
Oxford Intersections: Social Media in Society and Culture
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1093/9780198945253.003.0113
This research explores how people do identity in online spaces, building on Goffman’s dramaturgical approach and Hogan’s exhibitional approach. We introduce the conservateur role to describe how people make choices about their identity collection and what data the algorithmic curator can access to create identity exhibitions.
CHI
Generative Ghosts: Anticipating Benefits and Risks of AI Afterlives Meredith Ringel Morris and Jed R. Brubaker
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2025) Article 536
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3706598.3713758
As AI systems quickly improve in both breadth and depth of performance, they lend themselves to creating increasingly powerful and realistic agents, including the possibility of agents modeled on specific people. We anticipate that within our lifetimes it may become common practice for people to create custom AI agents to interact with loved ones and/or the broader world after death; indeed, the past year has seen a boom in startups purporting to offer such services. We call these generative ghosts since such agents will be capable of generating novel content rather than merely parroting content produced by their creator while living. In this paper, we reflect on the history of technologies for AI afterlives, including current early attempts by individual enthusiasts and startup companies to create generative ghosts. We then introduce a novel design space detailing potential implementations of generative ghosts. We use this analytic framework to ground a discussion of the practical and ethical implications of various approaches to designing generative ghosts, including potential positive and negative impacts on individuals and society. Based on these considerations, we lay out a research agenda for the AI and HCI research communities to better understand the risk/benefit landscape of this novel technology to ultimately empower people who wish to create and interact with AI afterlives to do so in a beneficial manner.
CSCW
Assessing Support for Mortality: An Environmental Scan of Online Platforms Dylan Thomas Doyle, Casey Paul, and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 9, CSCW
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3710930
Though online platforms have begun to include support for end-of-life needs, their development has been piecemeal and varies from platform to platform. We present the results of a large-scale, multi-platform analysis of end-of-life support, summarizing the current state and identifying gaps. We find that online platforms support a narrow range of end-of-life needs, with many platforms providing no support or necessitating unsanctioned workarounds to meet those needs.
CSCW
Navigating Value Elicitation: Insights from Palliative Care Providers Dylan Thomas Doyle, Colleen Campbell, Adrian Petterson, and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 9, CSCW: 1–26
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3757495
Healthcare providers play a crucial role in developing care plans for patients at the end of their lives. As value elicitation becomes increasingly integrated into advance care planning, digital tools have been proposed to support providers. However, the development of these tools has primarily focused on facilitating communication of values from patients to providers. To address providers’ specific needs and barriers, such as using values to create and manage medical care plans, we conducted an exploratory study capturing provider perspectives. Through interviews with 18 palliative care providers, we identified what they consider the typical value elicitation process, its associated challenges, and their visions for an ideal future process. Based on our findings, we argue that future work should focus on designing digital tools that support the provider-specific tasks of care plan creation and management to improve value elicitation.

2024

CHI
Cruising Queer HCI on the DL: A Literature Review of LGBTQ+ People in HCI Jordan Taylor, Ellen Simpson, Anh-Ton Tran, Jed R. Brubaker, Sarah E Fox, and Haiyi Zhu
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2024) Article 507
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3613904.3642494
LGBTQ+ people have received increased attention in HCI research, paralleling a greater emphasis on social justice in recent years. However, there has not been a systematic review of how LGBTQ+ people are researched or discussed in HCI. In this work, we review all research mentioning LGBTQ+ people across the HCI venues of CHI, CSCW, DIS, and TOCHI. Since 2014, we find a linear growth in the number of papers substantially about LGBTQ+ people and an exponential increase in the number of mentions. Research about LGBTQ+ people tends to center experiences of being politicized, outside the norm, stigmatized, or highly vulnerable. LGBTQ+ people are typically mentioned as a marginalized group or an area of future research. We identify gaps and opportunities for (1) research about and (2) the discussion of LGBTQ+ in HCI and provide a dataset to facilitate future Queer HCI research.
CHI
Best Paper
Products of Positionality: How Tech Workers Shape Identity Concepts in Computer Vision Morgan Klaus Scheuerman and Jed R. Brubaker
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2024) Article 762
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3613904.3641890
There has been a great deal of scholarly attention on issues of identity-related bias in machine learning. Much of this attention has focused on data and data workers, workers who do annotation tasks. Yet tech workers—like engineers, data scientists, and researchers—introduce their own “biases” when defining “identity” concepts. More specifically, they instill their own positionalities, the way they understand and are shaped by the world around them. Through interviews with industry tech workers who focus on computer vision, we show how workers embed their own positional perspectives into products and how positional gaps can lead to unforeseen and undesirable outcomes. We discuss how worker positionality is mutually shaped by the contexts in which they are embedded. We provide implications for researchers and practitioners to engage with the positionalities of tech workers, as well as those in contexts outside of development that influence tech workers.
CSCW
I’m Working on Erasing You, Just Don’t Have the Proper Tools: Supporting Online Identity Management After the End of Romantic Relationships Anthony T. Pinter and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 8, CSCW1 Article 66
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3637343
After a break-up, people are left with data representative of their lost relationship - pictures, posts, and connections that exist because of that relationship. As part of breaking up and moving on, people often make decisions about managing that data. Prior work has identified two broad types of curatorial philosophies people adopt in data management: archivists and revisionists. However, what drives individuals to one approach remains unknown and is difficult to design sociotechnical systems for. Through focus group interviews with couples still together, we present a decision-making framework for data management. We outline factors that can influence individuals’ decision to act as an archivist or revisionist in the wake of a break-up. From our data and framework, we identify six implications for design to improve user experiences in the wake of a break-up, and from those implications, offer concrete suggestions for design for social media platforms.
ICWSM
Stories That Heal: Characterizing and Supporting Narrative for Suicide Bereavement Dylan Thomas Doyle, Jay K. Ghosh, Reece Suchocki, Brian C. Keegan, Stephen Voida, and Jed R. Brubaker
International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM 2024)
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1609/icwsm.v18i1.31319
Clinical group bereavement therapy often promotes narrative sharing as a therapeutic intervention to facilitate grief processing. Increasingly, people turn to social media to express stories of loss and seek support surrounding bereavement experiences. This paper reports the results of a computational linguistic analysis of narrative expression within an online suicide bereavement support community.
CSCW
Designing for Researcher Access in the U.S. Mortality Data Ecosystem Dylan Thomas Doyle, Casey Fiesler, Jessica Pater, and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 8, CSCW2 Article 493
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3687032
Access to mortality data is critical for researchers for various reasons, including the development of life-saving medical interventions. However, high-quality mortality data is typically unavailable for researchers to access in a timely manner due to bottlenecks and inefficiencies in the coordination of managing mortality data across a vast information ecosystem. To identify opportunities to improve access to mortality data, we conducted a qualitative interview study with 20 experts with direct knowledge and experience with mortality data systems.
CHI
"I Am So Overwhelmed I Don’t Know Where to Begin!" Towards Developing Relationship-Based and Values-Based End-of-Life Data Planning Approaches Dylan Thomas Doyle and Jed R. Brubaker
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2024) Article 219
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3613904.3642250
To support people at the end of life as they create management plans for their assets, planning approaches like estate planning are increasingly considering data. HCI scholarship has argued that developing more effective planning approaches to support end-of-life data planning is important. However, empirical research is needed to evaluate specific approaches and identify design considerations. To support end-of-life data planning, this paper presents a qualitative study evaluating two approaches to co-designing end-of-life data plans with participants. We find that asset-first inventory-centric approaches, common in material estate planning, may be ineffective when making plans for data. In contrast, heavily facilitated, mission-driven, relationship-centric approaches were more effective. This study expands previous research by validating the importance of starting end-of-life data planning with relationships and values, and highlights collaborative facilitation as a critical part of successful data planning approaches.
CSCW
"I Hate You. I Love You. I’m Sorry. I Miss You." Understanding Online Grief Expression Through Suicide Bereavement Letter-Writing Practices Dylan Thomas Doyle, Charlie Blue R. Brahm, and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 8, CSCW1 Article 69
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3637346
When bereaved individuals seek online support in response to the suicide of a loved one, their expressions of grief take many forms. Although the intense grief expressions individuals bereaved by suicide commonly share in private therapeutic settings can be helpful in healing from traumatic loss, these same expressions may potentially cause harm to others when shared in a public online support community. In this study, we present a qualitative analysis of letters posted on the r/SuicideBereavement subreddit, and comments replying to those posts, to explore what diverse expressions of grief additionally demand of platform design. We find that letter posts contain potentially harmful grief expressions that, in this community, generate mutual support among community members. Informed by our findings, this study considers the design challenges for online platforms as they simultaneously support users receiving support and healing through sharing certain grief expressions, while also supporting users who will be harmed by exposure to those grief expressions. Taking inspiration from offline therapy modalities, we consider the design implications of creating specialized online grief support spaces for diverse grief expressions.
CSCW
Safety and Community Context: Exploring a Transfeminist Approach to Sapphic Relationship Platforms Michael Ann DeVito, Jessica L. Feuston, Erika Melder, Christen Malloy, Cade Ponder, and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 8, CSCW1 Article 203
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3653694
Relationship platforms (e.g., dating apps) are crucial tools for sapphics (trans women, cisgender women, and nonbinary people who are attracted to other sapphics). However, current platforms are not designed in a way that accounts for sapphic lived experience, especially the lived experience of sapphics who hold multiple marginalized identity characteristics. Even on platforms that do exist for sapphics, transgender women and nonbinary people are often subject to discrimination, fetishization, and stigmatization. To aid in the design of platforms that better serve the needs of multiply marginalized sapphics, we engaged a diverse group of 25 sapphics in six rounds of community discussion on key topics for relationship platform design. Based on participant discussions, we identify key challenges when designing for multiply marginalized sapphics around relationship structures, gender and sexuality classification, and safety priorities for interaction. We present two design priorities alongside community-sourced design directions which can help future designers address these challenges: identity-centric safety and community-based information formats.
CHI
The “Colonial Impulse" of Natural Language Processing: An Audit of Bengali Sentiment Analysis Tools and Their Identity-based Biases Dipto Das, Shion Guha, Jed R. Brubaker, and Bryan Semaan
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2024) Article 769
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3613904.3642669
While colonization has sociohistorically impacted people’s identities across various dimensions, those colonial values and biases continue to be perpetuated by sociotechnical systems. One category of sociotechnical systems–sentiment analysis tools–can also perpetuate colonial values and bias, yet less attention has been paid to how such tools may be complicit in perpetuating coloniality, although they are often used to guide various practices (e.g., content moderation). In this paper, we explore potential bias in sentiment analysis tools in the context of Bengali communities who have experienced and continue to experience the impacts of colonialism. Drawing on identity categories most impacted by colonialism amongst local Bengali communities, we focused our analytic attention on gender, religion, and nationality. We conducted an algorithmic audit of all sentiment analysis tools for Bengali, available on the Python package index (PyPI) and GitHub. Despite similar semantic content and structure, our analyses showed that in addition to inconsistencies in output from different tools, Bengali sentiment analysis tools exhibit bias between different identity categories and respond differently to different ways of identity expression. Connecting our findings with colonially shaped sociocultural structures of Bengali communities, we discuss the implications of downstream bias of sentiment analysis tools.
CHIWorkshop
AI and the Afterlife Jed R. Brubaker, Meredith Ringel Morris, Dylan Thomas Doyle, Casey Fiesler, Martin Gibbs, and Joanna McGrenere
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2024), Extended Abstracts Article 458
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3613905.3636321
AI technologies are likely to impact an array of existing practices (and give rise to a host of novel ones) around end-of-life planning, remembrance, and legacy in ways that will have profound legal, economic, emotional, and religious ramifications. At this critical moment of technological change, there is an opportunity for the HCI community to shape the discourse on this important topic through value-sensitive and community-centered approaches. This workshop will bring together a broad group of academics and practitioners with varied perspectives including HCI, AI, and other relevant disciplines (e.g., law, economics, religious studies, etc.) to support community-building, agenda-setting, and prototyping activities among scholars and practitioners interested in the nascent topic of how advances in AI will change socio-technical practices around death, remembrance, and legacy.
CSCWPanel
Generative AI Going Awry: Enabling Designers to Proactively Avoid It in CSCW Applications Jed R. Brubaker, Casey Fiesler, Michael Madaio, John Tang, and Richmond Y. Wong
ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2024), Companion
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3678884.3689133
The rapid development and deployment of generative AI technologies creates a design challenge of how to proactively understand the implications of productizing and deploying these new technologies, especially with regard to negative design implications. In this panel, researchers from academia and industry reflect on their experiences with ideas, methods, and processes to enable designers to proactively shape the responsible design of genAI in collaborative applications.
TOCHI
Algorithmic Subjectivities Eric P. S. Baumer, Alex S. Taylor, Jed R. Brubaker, and Micki McGee
ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3660344
This paper considers how subjectivities are enlivened in algorithmic systems. We first review related literature to clarify how we see "subjectivities" as emerging through a tangled web of processes and actors. We then offer two case studies exemplifying the emergence of algorithmic subjectivities: one involving computational topic modeling of blogs written by parents with children on the autism spectrum, and one involving algorithmic moderation of social media content. Drawing on these case studies, we then articulate a series of qualities that characterizes algorithmic subjectivities. We also compare and contrast these qualities with a number of related concepts from prior literature to articulate how algorithmic subjectivities constitutes a novel theoretical contribution, as well as how it offers a focal lens for future empirical investigation and for design. In short, this paper points out how certain worlds are being made and/or being made possible via algorithmic systems, and it asks HCI to consider what other worlds might be possible.

2023

CSCW
Best Paper Honorable Mention Diversity and Inclusion Recognition
Queer Identities, Normative Databases: Challenges to Capturing Queerness On Wikidata Katy Weathington and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 7, CSCW1 Article 84
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3579517
The collection, organization, and retrieval of data about queer individuals and their identities challenge the creators and curators of highly structured database systems. While prior research in archival studies and demographics has examined processes of collecting and storing queer identities, they do not examine the complexities of highly democratized platforms that lack top-down mandates that often structure archival schemas. To examine the representation of queer people on open-platform databases, we performed a trace ethnography and thematic analysis of Wikidata, an open collaboration, highly structured database. We specifically examined the creation of, changes to, discussions around, and impacts of properties that encode queer identities, such assexual orientation andsex or gender. We found that changes often have unexpected impacts, that contributors struggled to determine vocabulary for queer identities which were accurate across the diverse cultural contexts of the Wikidata community, that the recording of queer identities could cause a stigmatizing effect for LGBTQ+ individuals, with further concerns of spreading rumors or outing closeted people, and that contributors proposing changes which would cause biased representations of queer people. Our analysis demonstrates inherent and unaddressed frictions when translating queer identities to the confines of a structured database. We conclude by discussing ways that the highly bottom-up, collaborative nature of platforms such as Wikidata, often seen as a major strength, can be vulnerable to individuals or small groups derailing and filibustering changes they disagree with on politically charged topics such as queer identities.
CSCW
From Human to Data to Dataset: Mapping the Traceability of Human Subjects in Computer Vision Datasets Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, Katy Weathington, Tarun Mugunthan, Remi Denton, and Casey Fiesler
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 7, CSCW1 Article 55
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3579488
Computer vision is a "data hungry" field. Researchers and practitioners who work on human-centric computer vision, like facial recognition, emphasize the necessity of vast amounts of data for more robust and accurate models. Humans are seen as a data resource which can be converted into datasets. The necessity of data has led to a proliferation of gathering data from easily available sources, including "public" data from the web. Yet the use of public data has significant ethical implications for the human subjects in datasets. We bridge academic conversations on the ethics of using publicly obtained data with concerns about privacy and agency associated with computer vision applications. Specifically, we examine how practices of dataset construction from public data-not only from websites, but also from public settings and public records-make it extremely difficult for human subjects to trace their images as they are collected, converted into datasets, distributed for use, and, in some cases, retracted. We discuss two interconnected barriers current data practices present to providing an ethics of traceability for human subjects: awareness and control. We conclude with key intervention points for enabling traceability for data subjects. We also offer suggestions for an improved ethics of traceability to enable both awareness and control for individual subjects in dataset curation practices.
AAAI
Taxonomizing and Measuring Representational Harms: A Look at Image Tagging Jared Katzman, Angelina Wang, Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, Su Lin Blodgett, Kristen Laird, Hanna Wallach, and Solon Barocas
AAAI
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1609/aaai.v37i12.26670
In this paper, we examine computational approaches for measuring the "fairness" of image tagging systems, finding that they cluster into five distinct categories, each with its own analytic foundation. We also identify a range of normative concerns that are often collapsed under the terms "unfairness," "bias," or even "discrimination" when discussing problematic cases of image tagging. Specifically, we identify four types of representational harms that can be caused by image tagging systems, providing concrete examples of each. We then consider how different computational measurement approaches map to each of these types, demonstrating that there is not a one-to-one mapping. Our findings emphasize that no single measurement approach will be definitive and that it is not possible to infer from the use of a particular measurement approach which type of harm was intended to be measured. Lastly, equipped with this more granular understanding of the types of representational harms that can be caused by image tagging systems, we show that attempts to mitigate some of these types of harms may be in tension with one another.
TOCHI
A Trade-off-centered Framework of Content Moderation Jialun "Aaron" Jiang, Peipei Nie, Jed R. Brubaker, and Casey Fiesler
ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction 30, 1: 1–34
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3534929
Content moderation research typically prioritizes representing and addressing challenges for one group of stakeholders or communities in one type of context. While taking a focused approach is reasonable or even favorable for empirical case studies, it does not address how content moderation works in multiple contexts. Through a systematic literature review of 86 content moderation articles that document empirical studies, we seek to uncover patterns and tensions within past content moderation research. We find that content moderation can be characterized as a series of tradeoffs around moderation actions, styles, philosophies, and values. We discuss how facilitating cooperation and preventing abuse, two key elements in Grimmelmann’s definition of moderation, are inherently dialectical in practice. We close by showing how researchers, designers, and moderators can use our framework of tradeoffs in their own work, and arguing that tradeoffs should be of central importance in investigating and designing content moderation.
CSCW
Digital Legacy: A Systematic Literature Review Dylan Thomas Doyle and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 7, CSCW2 Article 268
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3610059
To more effectively support the dying and bereaved in end-of-life contexts, over the past two decades HCI and social computing scholars have sought to understand digital legacy. In this paper, we argue that it is time to take stock of digital legacy scholarship, examining what we know, what gaps remain, and what areas are imperative for future work. Through a Grounded Theory Literature Review, we identify four foci in digital legacy research to date: how identity is navigated in the passing of digital legacy, how digital legacies are engaged with, how digital legacies are put to rest, and how technology interfaces with offline legacy technologies. Based on our analysis, we present a model depicting how digital legacy research examines a lifecycle of data as it is passed down. This model identifies that digital legacy data moves through three stages: encoding, accessing, and dispossessing. The model illustrates gaps in current research and charts possible inflection points for future social computing research. Specifically, we highlight the importance of multi-user and multi-generational networks of people in end-of-life scenarios. Additionally, the model exhibits emerging theoretical findings and major concepts in the nascent field of digital legacy research.

2022

Chapter
Going beyond cyberbullying: Adolescent online safety and digital risks Anthony T. Pinter, Arup Kumar Ghosh, and Pamela J. Wisniewski
Cyberbullying and Digital Safety: Applying Global Research to Youth in India
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
CSCW
Behold the Once and Future Me: Online Identity After the End of a Romantic Relationship Anthony T. Pinter and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 6, CSCW2: 1–35
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3555097
After a romantic relationship ends, individuals are left to deal with the digital remnants of the relationship. These possessions and connections pose difficulties for users – they are identity markers of an identity that one may no longer want legible to their online audiences. Further, they can cause upsetting moments that might impede moving on from the break-up. Through interviews with 11 women who had had a recent break-up, this empirical study examined how people managed their online identity after their break-up. We found that people took different actions towards their possessions and connections in service of creating a post-break-up identity. Using Brubaker & Hayes’s (2011) representational framework, we find users attempting to deal with connections as if they were possessions, creating tensions that our current systems are ill-suited to address. Turning to Hogan’s (2010) framework of the online identity ’exhibition’, we see users creating exhibitions for an audience of one – themselves – while also making decisions about who is allowed to see their public-facing exhibitions. We conclude by arguing that existing tools are ill-designed to support competing desires to present authentic past and future online identities and offer design suggestions for consideration.
CHI
Best Paper
Designing for the Bittersweet: Improving Sensitive Experiences with Recommender Systems Caitlin Lustig, Artie Konrad, and Jed R. Brubaker
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2022) Article 16
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3491102.3502049
It is difficult to design systems that honor the complex and often contradictory emotions that can be surfaced by sensitive encounters with recommender systems. To explore the design and ethical considerations in this space, we interviewed 20 people who had recently seen sensitive content through Facebook’s Memories feature. Interviewees typically described how (1) expectedness, (2) context of viewing, and (3) what we describe as “affective sense-making” were important factors for how they perceived “bittersweet” content, a sensitizing concept from our interviews that we expand upon. To address these user needs, we pose provocations to support critical work in this area and we suggest that researchers and designers: (1) draw inspiration from no/low-technology artifacts, (2) use empirical research to identify contextual features that have negative impacts on users, and (3) conduct user studies on affective sense-making. CAUTION: This paper discusses difficult subject matter related to death and relationships.
UIST
Scholastic: Graphical Human-AI Collaboration for Inductive and Interpretive Text Analysis Matt-Heun Hong, Lauren A. Marsh, Jessica L. Feuston, Janet Ruppert, Jed R. Brubaker, and Danielle Albers Szafir
ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST 2022)
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3526113.3545681
Interpretive scholars generate knowledge from text corpora by manually sampling documents, applying codes, and refining and collating codes into categories until meaningful themes emerge. Given a large corpus, machine learning could help scale this data sampling and analysis, but prior research shows that experts are generally concerned about algorithms potentially disrupting or driving interpretive scholarship. We take a human-centered design approach to addressing concerns around machine-assisted interpretive research to build Scholastic, which incorporates a machine-in-the-loop clustering algorithm to scaffold interpretive text analysis. As a scholar applies codes to documents and refines them, the resulting coding schema serves as structured metadata which constrains hierarchical document and word clusters inferred from the corpus. Interactive visualizations of these clusters can help scholars strategically sample documents further toward insights. Scholastic demonstrates how human-centered algorithm design and visualizations employing familiar metaphors can support inductive and interpretive research methodologies through interactive topic modeling and document clustering.
CSCW
Best Paper Honorable Mention Diversity and Inclusion Recognition
"Do You Ladies Relate?": Experiences of Gender Diverse People in Online Eating Disorder Communities Jessica L. Feuston, Michael Ann DeVito, Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, Katy Weathington, Marianna Benitez, Bianca Z. Perez, Lucy Sondheim, and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 6, CSCW2: 1–32
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3555145
The study of eating disorders online has a long tradition within CSCW and HCI scholarship. Research within this body of work highlights the types of content people with eating disorders post as well as the ways in which individuals use online spaces for acceptance, connection, and support. However, despite nearly a decade of research, online eating disorder scholarship in CSCW and HCI rarely accounts for the ways gender shapes online engagement. In this paper, we present empirical results from interviews with 14 trans people with eating disorders. Our findings illustrate how working with gender as an analytic lens allowed us to produce new knowledge about the embodiment of participation in online eating disorder spaces. We show how trans people with eating disorders use online eating disorder content to inform and set goals for their bodies and how, as gender minorities within online eating disorder spaces, trans people occupy marginal positions that make them more susceptible to harms, such as threats to eating disorder validity and gender authenticity. In our discussion, we consider life transitions in the context of gender and eating disorders and address how online eating disorder spaces operate as social transition machinery. We also call attention to the labor associated with online participation as a gender minority within online eating disorder spaces, outlining several design recommendations for supporting the ways trans people with eating disorders use online spaces. CONTENT WARNING: This paper is about the online experiences of trans people with eating disorders. We discuss eating disorders, related content (e.g., thinspiration) and practices (e.g., binge eating, restriction), and gender dysphoria. Please read with caution.
CHIWorkshop
Researcher Wellbeing and Best Practices in Emotionally Demanding Research Jessica L. Feuston, Arpita Bhattacharya, Nazanin Andalibi, Elizabeth A. Ankrah, Sheena Erete, Mark Handel, Wendy Moncur, Sarah Vieweg, and Jed R. Brubaker
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2022), Extended Abstracts Article 72
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3491101.3503742
HCI researchers increasingly conduct emotionally demanding research in a variety of different contexts. Though scholarship has begun to address the experiences of HCI researchers conducting this work, there is a need to develop guidelines and best practices for researcher wellbeing. In this one-day CHI workshop, we will bring together a group of HCI researchers across sectors and career levels who conduct emotionally demanding research to discuss their experiences, self-care practices, and strategies for research. Based on these discussions, we will work with workshop attendees to develop best practices and guidelines for researcher wellbeing in the context of emotionally demanding HCI research; launch a repository of community-sourced resources for researcher wellbeing; document the experiences of HCI researchers conducting emotionally demanding research; and establish a community of HCI researchers conducting this type of work.

2021

CHIPoster
Protest Privacy Recommendations: An Analysis of Digital Surveillance Circumvention Advice During Black Lives Matter Protests Kandrea Wade, Jed R. Brubaker, and Casey Fiesler
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2021), Extended Abstracts
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3411763.3451749
This paper describes a qualitative study of media and advocacy publications about digital surveillance in the context of Black Lives Matter protests, including recommendations for techniques on how to circumvent such surveillance. We conducted a content analysis of the recommendations given for circumventing surveillance provided by media, news, activist, and commercial outlets. We describe the recommendations provided and identify common fears and implications of protest surveillance as expressed by these sources. We identified thematic categories of surveillance fears and implications, including ruined reputations, online harassment, arrest, lack of transparency, and the chilling of free speech and protest. Finally, we describe what we see as challenges protesters will have implementing the recommendations (for example, due to availability and accessibility of technology and certain types of expertise required), complicating the creation of the kind of security culture protesters need.
Journal
Auto-essentialization: Gender in automated facial analysis as extended colonial project Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, Madeleine Pape, and Alex Hanna
Big Data & Society 8, 2: 20539517211053712
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1177/20539517211053712
Scholars are increasingly concerned about social biases in facial analysis systems, particularly with regard to the tangible consequences of misidentification of marginalized groups. However, few have examined how automated facial analysis technologies intersect with the historical genealogy of racialized gender—the gender binary and its classification as a highly racialized tool of colonial power and control. In this paper, we introduce the concept of auto-essentialization: the use of automated technologies to re-inscribe the essential notions of difference that were established under colonial rule. We consider how the face has emerged as a legitimate site of gender classification, despite being historically tied to projects of racial domination. We examine the history of gendering the face and body, from colonial projects aimed at disciplining bodies which do not fit within the European gender binary, to sexology’s role in normalizing that binary, to physiognomic practices that ascribed notions of inferiority to non-European groups and women. We argue that the contemporary auto-essentialization of gender via the face is both racialized and trans-exclusive: it asserts a fixed gender binary and it elevates the white face as the ultimate model of gender difference. We demonstrate that imperialist ideologies are reflected in modern automated facial analysis tools in computer vision through two case studies: (1) commercial gender classification and (2) the security of both small-scale (women-only online platforms) and large-scale (national borders) spaces. Thus, we posit a rethinking of ethical attention to these systems: not as immature and novel, but as mature instantiations of much older technologies.
CHI
Revisiting Gendered Web Forms: An Evaluation of Gender Inputs with (Non-)Binary People Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, Jialun Aaron Jiang, Katta Spiel, and Jed R. Brubaker
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2021)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3411764.3445742
Gender input forms act as gates to accessing information, websites, and services online. Non-binary people regularly have to interact with them, though many do not offer non-binary gender options. This results in non-binary individuals having to either choose an incorrect gender category or refrain from using a site or service—which is occasionally infeasible (e.g., when accessing health services). We tested five different forms through a survey with binary and non-binary participants (n = 350) in three contexts—a digital health form, a social media website, and a dating app. Our results indicate that the majority of participants found binary “male or female” forms exclusive and uncomfortable to fill out across all contexts. We conclude with design considerations for improving gender input forms and consequently their underlying gender model in databases. Our work aims to sensitize designers of (online) gender web forms to the needs and desires of non-binary people.
CSCW
A Framework of Severity for Harmful Content Online Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, Jialun Aaron Jiang, Casey Fiesler, and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 5, CSCW2: Article 368
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3479512
The proliferation of harmful content on online social media platforms has necessitated empirical understandings of experiences of harm online and the development of practices for harm mitigation. Both understandings of harm and approaches to mitigating that harm, often through content moderation, have implicitly embedded frameworks of prioritization-what forms of harm should be researched, how policy on harmful content should be implemented, and how harmful content should be moderated. To aid efforts of better understanding the variety of online harms, how they relate to one another, and how to prioritize harms relevant to research, policy, and practice, we present a theoretical framework of severity for harmful online content. By employing a grounded theory approach, we developed a framework of severity based on interviews and card-sorting activities conducted with 52 participants over the course of ten months. Through our analysis, we identified four Types of Harm (physical, emotional, relational, and financial) and eight Dimensions along which the severity of harm can be understood (perspectives, intent, agency, experience, scale, urgency, vulnerability, sphere). We describe how our framework can be applied to both research and policy settings towards deeper understandings of specific forms of harm (e.g., harassment) and prioritization frameworks when implementing policies encompassing many forms of harm.
CSCW
Best Paper
Do Datasets Have Politics? Disciplinary Values in Computer Vision Dataset Development Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, Emily Denton, and Alex Hanna
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 5, CSCW2: Article 317
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3476058
Data is a crucial component of machine learning. The field is reliant on data to train, validate, and test models. With increased technical capabilities, machine learning research has boomed in both academic and industry settings, and one major focus has been on computer vision. Computer vision is a popular domain of machine learning increasingly pertinent to real-world applications, from facial recognition in policing to object detection for autonomous vehicles. Given computer vision’s propensity to shape machine learning research and impact human life, we seek to understand disciplinary practices around dataset documentation - how data is collected, curated, annotated, and packaged into datasets for computer vision researchers and practitioners to use for model tuning and development. Specifically, we examine what dataset documentation communicates about the underlying values of vision data and the larger practices and goals of computer vision as a field. To conduct this study, we collected a corpus of about 500 computer vision datasets, from which we sampled 114 dataset publications across different vision tasks. Through both a structured and thematic content analysis, we document a number of values around accepted data practices, what makes desirable data, and the treatment of humans in the dataset construction process. We discuss how computer vision datasets authors value efficiency at the expense of care; universality at the expense of contextuality; impartiality at the expense of positionality; and model work at the expense of data work. Many of the silenced values we identify sit in opposition with social computing practices. We conclude with suggestions on how to better incorporate silenced values into the dataset creation and curation process.
Chapter
Gender Recognition Technology Morgan Klaus Scheuerman and Jed R. Brubaker
The SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.4135/9781544393858.n114
FAccT
“You Can’t Sit With Us”: Exclusionary Pedagogy in AI Ethics Education Inioluwa Deborah Raji, Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, and Razvan Amironesei
ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT’21)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3442188.3445914
Given a growing concern about the lack of ethical consideration in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) field, many have begun to question how dominant approaches to the disciplinary education of computer science (CS)—and its implications for AI—has led to the current “ethics crisis”. However, we claim that the current AI ethics education space relies on a form of “exclusionary pedagogy,” where ethics is distilled for computational approaches, but there is no deeper epistemological engagement with other ways of knowing that would benefit ethical thinking or an acknowledgement of the limitations of uni-vocal computational thinking. This results in indifference, devaluation, and a lack of mutual support between CS and humanistic social science (HSS), elevating the myth of technologists as "ethical unicorns" that can do it all, though their disciplinary tools are ultimately limited. Through an analysis of computer science education literature and a review of college-level course syllabi in AI ethics, we discuss the limitations of the epistemological assumptions and hierarchies of knowledge which dictate current attempts at including ethics education in CS training and explore evidence for the practical mechanisms through which this exclusion occurs. We then propose a shift towards a substantively collaborative, holistic, and ethically generative pedagogy in AI education.
CSCW
Entering Doors, Evading Traps: Benefits and Risks of Visibility During Transgender Coming Outs Anthony T. Pinter, Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 4, CSCW3 Article 272
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3434181
Coming out and being visible online can offer transgender and/or non-binary people benefits not found elsewhere. However, it also can expose them to negative reactions and bad experiences. Through an analysis of 15 semi-structured interviews, we investigate the experiences of transgender and/or non-binary people coming out across social media sites (SMSs). We found that participants employed strategies around disclosure and visibility to limit the consequences of coming out and to access support. Using trans theory on visibility, we discuss how online spaces present metaphorical "doors" to resources, support, and recognition—but can also be "traps" for those that do not meet the expectations of the space. We discuss how visibility empowered participants to create "trapdoors" to new spaces within SMSs where they could create positive outcomes for themselves and their communities. We close with considerations for designers as they create online spaces, and present a broader call to action for the HCI community around designing online spaces.
PACM HCI
Supporting Serendipity: Opportunities and Challenges for Human-AI Collaboration in Qualitative Analysis Jialun Aaron Jiang, Kandrea Wade, Casey Fiesler, and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 5, 1: Article 94
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3449168
Qualitative inductive methods are widely used in CSCW and HCI research for their ability to generatively discover deep and contextualized insights, but these inherently manual and human-resource-intensive processes are often infeasible for analyzing large corpora. Researchers have been increasingly interested in ways to apply qualitative methods to "big" data problems, hoping to achieve more generalizable results from larger amounts of data while preserving the depth and richness of qualitative methods. In this paper, we describe a study of qualitative researchers’ work practices and their challenges, with an eye towards whether this is an appropriate domain for human-AI collaboration and what successful collaborations might entail. Our findings characterize participants’ diverse methodological practices and nuanced collaboration dynamics, and identify areas where they might benefit from AI-based tools. While participants highlight the messiness and uncertainty of qualitative inductive analysis, they still want full agency over the process and believe that AI should not interfere. Our study provides a deep investigation of task delegability in human-AI collaboration in the context of qualitative analysis, and offers directions for the design of AI assistance that honor serendipity, human agency, and ambiguity.
Journal
Understanding international perceptions of the severity of harmful content online Jialun Aaron Jiang, Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, Casey Fiesler, and Jed R. Brubaker
PLOS ONE 16, 8: 1–22
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256762
Online social media platforms constantly struggle with harmful content such as misinformation and violence, but how to effectively moderate and prioritize such content for billions of global users with different backgrounds and values presents a challenge. Through an international survey with 1,696 internet users across 8 different countries across the world, this empirical study examines how international users perceive harmful content online and the similarities and differences in their perceptions. We found that across countries, the perceived severity consistently followed an exponential growth as the harmful content became more severe, but what harmful content were perceived as more or less severe varied significantly. Our results challenge platform content moderation’s status quo of using a one-size-fits-all approach to govern international users, and provide guidance on how platforms may wish to prioritize and customize their moderation of harmful content.
Journal
Living With Everyday Evaluations on Social Media Platforms Blake Hallinan and Jed R. Brubaker
International Journal of Communication 15 19
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
The Like button is simultaneously a means of social interaction and a tool to evaluate social media content. Likes are built into the infrastructure of platforms, fueling personalized searches, recommendations, and targeted advertisements while contributing to the economic valuation of platforms and users alike. Working at the intersection of infrastructure and practice, we analyze the experience of everyday evaluations on social media to understand how platforms shape what people care about. Based on in-depth interviews with 25 artists who use Instagram, we identify three overlapping orientations to the Like button: affective, relational, and infrastructural. We show how the flexibility of the button creates ambiguity around the meaning of a Like which drives practices of metaevaluation, and argue that the platform architecture incentivizes an economic approach to evaluation that crowds out other value schemas, shaping how artists use the platform, make art, and even understand themselves. We conclude with a discussion of the broader implications of everyday evaluations, algorithms, and platforms.
PACM HCI
Getting Your Facebook Affairs in Order: User Expectations in Post-mortem Profile Management Katie Z. Gach and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 5, 1: Article 174
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3449248
Legacy Contact is a Facebook feature that allows account holders to choose someone to manage their profile after they have died. This study evaluates the Legacy Contact setup process, and asks how users form and communicate expectations about what an active post-mortem manager’s responsibilities would be. We conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with adult Facebook account holders in the US who either configured their own settings or were chosen for future delegation by someone else. We found that account holders chose the Facebook Friend they felt closest to, and that selection was often reciprocated. Both account holders and legacy contacts felt confident that they had communicated (or could communicate) well about the legacy contact’s responsibilities, but their expectations did not align with the actual functionality of the Legacy Contact system. We argue that the misalignment of user expectations and system functionality indicates a failed setup process. Our findings suggest that post-mortem management systems require a setup process that is fundamentally different from the quick-clickthrough standards of everyday interaction design. The ramifications of a post-mortem manager’s expectations not being met during a time of grief, points to the urgent need for a setup process that prompts thoughtfulness and deliberation, and forms accurate expectations for account holders and future post-mortem managers alike.
CSCW
Putting Tools in Their Place: The Role of Time and Perspective in Human-AI Collaboration for Qualitative Analysis Jessica L. Feuston and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 5, CSCW2: 1–25
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3479856
Large datasets or ’big data’ corpora are typically the domain of quantitative scholars, who work with computational tools to derive numerical and descriptive insights. However, recent work asks how computational tools and other technologies, such as AI, can support qualitative scholars in developing deep and complex insights from large amounts of data. Addressing this question, Jiang et al. found that qualitative scholars are generally opposed to incorporating AI in their practices of data analysis. In this paper, we provide nuance to these earlier findings, showing that the stage of qualitative analysis matters for how scholars believe AI can and should be used. Through interviews with 15 CSCW and HCI qualitative researchers, we explore how AI can be included throughout different stages of qualitative analysis. We find that qualitative scholars are amenable to working with AI in diverse ways, such as for data exploration and coding, as long as it assists rather than automates their analytic work practice. Based on our analysis, we discuss how incorporating AI into qualitative research can shift some analytic practices, and how designing for human-AI collaboration in qualitative analysis necessitates considering tradeoffs in scale, abstraction, and task delegation. CCS Concepts: • Human-centered computing → Collaborative and social computing theory, concepts and paradigms; Collaborative and social computing design and evaluation methods.
PACM HCI
Best Paper Honorable Mention
Values (Mis)alignment: Exploring Tensions Between Platform and LGBTQ+ Community Design Values Michael Ann DeVito, Ashley M. Walker, and Julia R. Fernandez
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 5, 1: Article 88
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3449162
Social platforms hold great promise for supporting marginalized communities, such as the LGBTQ+ community, yet they are frequently sites of further stigmatization and harm. By engaging a diverse sample of 31 US LGBTQ+ users in five qualitative, design-based value elicitation exercises, we find that misalignments between perceived platform values and the values of the marginalized users they serve are at the heart of this disconnect. We inductively identify two community-based design values for supporting LGBTQ+ users: self-determination and inclusion. These values can be used as design heuristics for both improving existing platforms as well as guiding future new platform development. Based on participant feedback, we provide directions for enacting these values to better align platform values with this marginalized population’s needs.
CHISIG
Queer in HCI: Strengthening the Community of LGBTQIA+ Researchers and Research Michael Ann DeVito, Caitlin Lustig, Ellen Simpson, Kimberley Allison, Tya Chuanromanee, Katta Spiel, Amy Ko, Jennifer Rode, Brianna Dym, Michael Muller, Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, Ashley Marie Walker, Jed Brubaker, and Alex Ahmed
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2021), Extended Abstracts
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3411763.3450403
As Queer Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) becomes an established part of the larger field, both in terms of research on and with queer populations and in terms of employing queering theories and methods, the role of queer researchers has become a timely topic of discussion. However, these discussions have largely centered around member-researcher status and positionality when working with queer populations. Based on insights gathered at multiple ACM events over the past two years, we identified two pressing issues: (1) we need to better support queer people doing HCI research not specific to queer populations, and (2) we need to identify how to best support member-researchers in leading Queer HCI while including collaborators beyond the queer community. This Special Interest Group (SIG) aims to directly address these challenges by convening a broad community of queer researchers and allies, working not only on explicitly-queer topics but across a broad range of HCI topics.
CSCW
Best Paper Honorable Mention
Adaptive Folk Theorization as a Path to Algorithmic Literacy on Changing Platforms Michael Ann DeVito
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 5, CSCW2: Article 339
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3476080
The increased importance of opaque, algorithmically-driven social platforms (e.g., Facebook, YouTube) to everyday users as a medium for self-presentation effectively requires users to speculate on how platforms work in order to decide how to behave to achieve their self-presentation goals. This speculation takes the form of folk theorization. Because platforms constantly change, users must constantly re-evaluate their folk theories. Based on an Asynchronous Remote Community study of LGBTQ+ social platform users with heightened self-presentation concerns, I present an updated model of the folk theorization process to account for platform change. Moreover, I find that both the complexity of the user’s folk theorization and their overall relationship with the platform impact this theorization process, and present new concepts for examining and classifying these elements: theorization complexity level and perceived platform spirit. I conclude by proposing a folk theorization-based path towards an extensible algorithmic literacy that would support users in ongoing theorization.
CHI
Best Paper Honorable Mention
‘‘It’s Complicated’’: Negotiating Accessibility and (Mis)Representation in Image Descriptions of Race, Gender, and Disability Cynthia L. Bennett, Cole Gleason, Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, Jeffrey P. Bigham, Anhong Guo, and Alexandra To
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2021)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3411764.3445498
Content creators are instructed to write textual descriptions of visual content to make it accessible; yet existing guidelines lack specifics on how to write about people’s appearance, particularly while remaining mindful of consequences of (mis)representation. In this paper, we report on interviews with screen reader users who were also Black, Indigenous, People of Color, Non-binary, and/or Transgender on their current image description practices and preferences, and experiences negotiating theirs and others’ appearances non-visually. We discuss these perspectives, and the ethics of humans and AI describing appearance characteristics that may convey the race, gender, and disabilities of those photographed. In turn, we share considerations for more carefully describing appearance, and contexts in which such information is perceived salient. Finally, we offer tensions and questions for accessibility research to equitably consider politics and ecosystems in which technologies will embed, such as potential risks of human and AI biases amplifying through image descriptions.

2020

CSCWWorkshop paper
Harm and Data Science: Framing Negative Human Outcomes as a Data Science Problem K. Weathington and M. K. Scheuerman
Workshop on Interrogating Data Science at CSCW 2020
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
After researching predictive policing practices, and with police violence an ever present horror, the first author found herself motivated to consider the real human harm that can result from data driven decisions. We examine how certain data science practices associated with predictive policing contribute to and are complicit with human suffering caused by police brutality. We then put forward an idea of data scientists internally motivated to center their work around minimizing negative human consequences rather than traditional goals of performance optimization or increasing profits. We encourage further research into the disciplinary norms which distance model builders from practical implementations of their work, and how academics can intervene.
CSCW
Best Paper Diversity and Inclusion Recognition
How We’ve Taught Algorithms to See Identity: Constructing Race and Gender in Image Databases for Facial Analysis Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, Kandrea Wade, Caitlin Lustig, and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 4, CSCW1: Article 58
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3392866
Race and gender have long sociopolitical histories of classification in technical infrastructures-from the passport to social media. Facial analysis technologies are particularly pertinent to understanding how identity is operationalized in new technical systems. What facial analysis technologies can do is determined by the data available to train and evaluate them with. In this study, we specifically focus on this data by examining how race and gender are defined and annotated in image databases used for facial analysis. We found that the majority of image databases rarely contain underlying source material for how those identities are defined. Further, when they are annotated with race and gender information, database authors rarely describe the process of annotation. Instead, classifications of race and gender are portrayed as insignificant, indisputable, and apolitical. We discuss the limitations of these approaches given the sociohistorical nature of race and gender. We posit that the lack of critical engagement with this nature renders databases opaque and less trustworthy. We conclude by encouraging database authors to address both the histories of classification inherently embedded into race and gender, as well as their positionality in embedding such classifications.
ICWSMDataset paper
P4KxSpotify: A Dataset of Pitchfork Music Reviews and Spotify Musical Features A. T. Pinter, J. M. Paul, J. Smith, and J. R. Brubaker
International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM 2020)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3603330
- Dataset
Algorithmically driven curation and recommendation systems like those employed by Spotify have become more ubiquitous for surfacing content that people might want hear. However, expert reviews continue to have a measurable impact on what people choose to listen to and the subsequent commercial success and cultural staying power of those artists. One such site, Pitchfork, is particularly known in the music community for its ability to catapult an artist to stardom based on the review that an album receives. In this paper, we present P4KxSpotify: a dataset of Pitchfork album reviews with the corresponding Spotify audio features for those albums. We describe our data collection and dataset creation process, including the ethics of such a collection. We present basic information and descriptive statistics about the dataset. Finally, we offer several possible avenues for research that might utilize this new dataset.
CSCWPoster
Characterizing Community Guidelines on Social Media Platforms Jialun "Aaron" Jiang, Skyler Middler, Jed R. Brubaker, and Casey Fiesler
ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2020), Companion
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3406865.3418312
Social media platforms use community guidelines to enact governance and moderate content, but the limitation in their moderation capacity forces them to choose the types of misbehavior they focus more on. In this work, we analyze these choices through a content analysis of the community guidelines of 11 major social media platforms. We find 66 different types of rules across their community guidelines, with great variability in the coverage of these rules across different platforms. Our research reveals the types of misbehavior that platforms chose to focus on, and motivates further inquiries into policymaking and content moderation in specific problem areas such as inciting violence and voter suppression.
Doctoral Consortium
Identifying and Addressing Design and Policy Challenges in Online Content Moderation Jialun "Aaron" Jiang
CHI 2020 Doctoral Consortium
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3334480.3375030
My doctoral research identifies and addresses the design and policy challenges of content moderation on the levels of smaller communities and larger platforms, using a combination of interviews and surveys. My prior work studies voice-based communities on Discord, and shows that voice as a new technology brings unique challenges to community moderators and highlights the fundamental evidentiary need in content moderation. My dissertation expands on this work by (1) quantifying severity of violations as a way to address social media platforms’ challenge of prioritization, and (2) empirically evaluating existing moderation approaches and design recommendations by soliciting moderator and user perceptions of them. Combining these perspectives, my dissertation will provide guidelines for improving content moderation in online communities.
CSCWPoster
Understanding Law Enforcement and Common Peoples’ Perspectives on Designing Explainable Crime Mapping Algorithms MD Romael Haque, Katherine Weathington, Joseph Chudzik, and Shion Guha
Poster presented at CSCW 2020
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3406865.3418330
In recent years, with growing concerns of making predictive policing less-biased and less-risky, the HCI and CSCW research communities have focused on designing more explainable and accountable algorithms in the criminal justice system. In this extended abstract, we present a preliminary, qualitative analysis of the perceptions of people with different backgrounds (n=60) from Milwaukee, USA on algorithmic crime mapping. Our initial results suggest the need for algorithmic interaction and the database transparency of the system. Taken these suggestions together will inspire to design an explainable crime mapping algorithms that pay attention to the values and needs of law enforcement and common peoples.
Journal
Experiences of Trust in Postmortem Profile Management Katie Z. Gach and Jed R. Brubaker
ACM Trans. Soc. Comput. 3, 1: Article 2
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3365525
In the landscape of online social networking sites, many platforms are reaching a scale and longevity that require designers to address the postmortem data interactions that follow people’s deaths. To evaluate the experiences and challenges people face when caring for memorialized profiles, we conducted 28 qualitative interviews with people serving as legacy contacts for memorialized Facebook accounts. We report on who legacy contacts are and their practices and their expectations, and find that people were chosen to be a legacy contact for one major reason: trust. In our analysis, we find disconnects between how people understand trust in the context of interpersonal relationships and how trust is technically implemented. We conclude by discussing the persistent challenges of representing the ambiguity of interpersonal trust in impersonal, computational systems.
CHIWorkshop paper
Designing Postmortem Profile Deletion as a Community Ritual Katie Z. Gach and Jed R. Brubaker
Workshop on HCI at End-of-Life and Beyond at the 2020 ACM SIGCHI Conference
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
The ephemerality of the digital world is strangely incompatible with our physical, mortal existence. This is most evident when people who use social media die and leave behind a digital footprint that insinuates their presence. The lack of recognition of the emotional significance of the deceased’s social media presence has made post-mortem profile deletion a barrier to the ongoinginess of survivors. The work described here incorporates community ritual practices with principles of slow HCI to develop a planning tool for ritualizing profile deletion that honors both the deceased’s wishes, and the healthy ongoingness of bereaved survivors. Those closest to the deceased will plan a ritual that recognizes and honors their attachments to the deceased’s digital presence, while completing the task of deleting the specified account. We believe that making profile deletion a community ritual will support bereaved people by giving them permission and instructions to honor the significance of the deceased’s digital footprint.
Doctoral Consortium
How to Delete the Dead: Honoring Negative Affective Experiences with Postmortem Data Katie Z. Gach
CSCW 2020 Doctoral Consortium
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
Formative experiences in human lives are often unpleasant. Yet social technologies today are designed to presume positive experiences; “design for delight” is even a principle in user interface development [9]. So when humans have negative life experiences like the loss of a loved one, which often include technology-related tasks, the designs of their technologies can exacerbate that negativity [5]. It is these negative experiences—interactions that trigger negative affects related to human sadness or distress— that design and engineering can and must honor. My dissertation will frame death as a key example of a difficult life experience that often requires digital interactions and digital tasks, yet currently lacks adequate tools to facilitate compassionate and meaningful interactions in a digital context. Incorporating empirical work in human-computer interaction with roots in cultural anthropology, I propose a project that will examine the role of ritual in technologically mediated human interactions during times of grief. Through interviews, participant observation, and tech support, I will create ritual-based practices around postmortem data that will honor the experiences people have of the presence of the deceased within that data, while maintaining the necessary control or closure of accounts that may be preferred.
CSCW
Best Paper Honorable Mention
Conformity of Eating Disorders through Content Moderation Jessica L Feuston, Alex S Taylor, and Anne Marie Piper
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 4, CSCW: 1–28
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3392845
For individuals with mental illness, social media platforms are considered spaces for sharing and connection. However, not all expressions of mental illness are treated equally on these platforms. Different aggregates of human and technical control are used to report and ban content, accounts, and communities. Through two years of digital ethnography, including online observation and interviews, with people with eating disorders, we examine the experience of content moderation. We use a constructivist grounded theory approach to analysis that shows how practices of moderation across different platforms have particular consequences for members of marginalized groups, who are pressured to conform and compelled to resist. Above all, we argue that platform moderation is enmeshed with wider processes of conformity to specific versions of mental illness. Practices of moderation reassert certain bodies and experiences as ’normal’ and valued, while rejecting others. At the same time, navigating and resisting these normative pressures further inscribes the marginal status of certain individuals. We discuss changes to the ways that platforms handle content related to eating disorders by drawing on the concept of multiplicity to inform design.
CSCWWorkshop paper
Defining Data: Questions of Numerical Facts M. Dietrich, M. Scheuerman, and K. Weathington
Workshop on Interrogating Data Science at CSCW 2020
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
The terms "data" and "information" have different meanings depending on who is asked. The first author, in an effort to unpack these different meanings in relation to ontological and epistemological understandings of the world and how knowledge is produced, interviewed individuals from both professions that interact with "data" and individuals from the general population. We unpack some of the preliminary findings prior to proposing an intervention that suggests providing more clarity and background in the process of using and displaying "data".
Workshop paper
Bringing the People Back In: Contesting Benchmark Machine Learning Datasets Emily Denton, Alex Hanna, Razvan Amironesei, Andrew Smart, Hilary Nicole, and Morgan Klaus Scheuerman
ICML Workshop on Participatory Approaches to Machine Learning
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2007.07399
In response to algorithmic unfairness embedded in sociotechnical systems, significant attention has been focused on the contents of machine learning datasets which have revealed biases towards white, cisgender, male, and Western data subjects. In contrast, comparatively less attention has been paid to the histories, values, and norms embedded in such datasets. In this work, we outline a research program - a genealogy of machine learning data - for investigating how and why these datasets have been created, what and whose values influence the choices of data to collect, the contextual and contingent conditions of their creation. We describe the ways in which benchmark datasets in machine learning operate as infrastructure and pose four research questions for these datasets. This interrogation forces us to "bring the people back in" by aiding us in understanding the labor embedded in dataset construction, and thereby presenting new avenues of contestation for other researchers encountering the data.
CHISIG
Queer in HCI: Supporting LGBTQIA+ Researchers and Research Across Domains Michael Ann DeVito, Ashley Marie Walker, Caitlin Lustig, Amy J. Ko, Katta Spiel, Alex A. Ahmed, Kimberley Allison, Morgan Scheuerman, Briana Dym, Jed R. Brubaker, Ellen Simpson, Naveen Bagalkot, Noopur Raval, Michael Muller, Jennifer Rode, and Mary L. Gray
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2020), Extended Abstracts
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3334480.3381058
As Queer Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) becomes an established part of the larger field, both in terms of research on and with queer populations and in terms of employing queering theories and methods, the role of queer researchers has become a timely topic of discussion. However, these discussions have largely centered around member-researcher status and positionality when working with queer populations. Based on insights gathered at multiple ACM events over the past year, we identified two pressing issues: (1) we need to better support queer people doing HCI research not specific to queer populations, and (2) we need to identify how to best support member-researchers in leading Queer HCI while including collaborators beyond the queer community. This Special Interest Group (SIG) aims to directly address these challenges by convening a broad community of queer researchers and allies, working not only on explicitly-queer topics but across a broad range of HCI topics.
Design, Implementation, and Reflections on the Teaching of Computer Programming Modules to Underrepresented Students Kayla M. Booth, Joslenne Peña, Elizabeth V. Eikey, Aisling Quigley, Anthony T. Pinter, and Joe Sanchez
Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (SITE 2020)
- Reference
- BibTeX

2019

CSCWWorkshop paper
Researcher Positionality for Qualitative Interviews Within Diverse Populations Kandrea Wade
CSCW 2019 Workshop on Qualitative Research for CSCW: Challenges and Opportunities
- Reference
- BibTeX
CHIWorkshop
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Exploring the Intersection of Philosophy and HCI Norman Makoto Su, Victor Kaptelinin, Jeffrey Bardzell, Shaowen Bardzell, Jed R. Brubaker, Ann Light, and Dag Svanaes
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2019), Extended Abstracts
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3290607.3299020
The aim of this one-day workshop is to provide a forum for HCI researchers to discuss a wide range of issues at the intersection of philosophy and HCI.
CHISIG
Queer(ing) HCI: Moving Forward in Theory and Practice Katta Spiel, Os Keyes, Ashley Marie Walker, Michael Ann DeVito, Jeremy Birnholtz, Emeline Brulé, Ann Light, Pınar Barlas, Jean Hardy, Alex Ahmed, Jennifer A. Rode, Jed R. Brubaker, and Gopinaath Kannabiran
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2019), Extended Abstracts
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3290607.3311750
The increasing corpus on queer research within HCI, which started by focusing on sites such as location-based dating apps, has begun to expand to other topics such as identity formation, mental health and physical well-being. This Special Interest Group (SIG) aims to create a space for discussion, connection and camaraderie for researchers working with queer populations, queer people in research, and those using queer theory to inform their work. We aim to facilitate a broad-ranging, inclusive discussion of where queer HCI research goes next.
CSCW
Best Paper
How Computers See Gender: An Evaluation of Gender Classification in Commercial Facial Analysis and Image Labeling Services Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, Jacob M Paul, and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 3, CSCW: Article 144
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3359246
Investigations of facial analysis (FA) technologies-such as facial detection and facial recognition-have been central to discussions about Artificial Intelligence’s (AI) impact on human beings. Research on automatic gender recognition, the classification of gender by FA technologies, has raised potential concerns around issues of racial and gender bias. In this study, we augment past work with empirical data by conducting a systematic analysis of how gender classification and gender labeling in computer vision services operate when faced with gender diversity. We sought to understand how gender is concretely conceptualized and encoded into commercial facial analysis and image labeling technologies available today. We then conducted a two-phase study: (1) a system analysis of ten commercial FA and image labeling services and (2) an evaluation of five services using a custom dataset of diverse genders using self-labeled Instagram images. Our analysis highlights how gender is codified into both classifiers and data standards. We found that FA services performed consistently worse on transgender individuals and were universally unable to classify non-binary genders. In contrast, image labeling often presented multiple gendered concepts. We also found that user perceptions about gender performance and identity contradict the way gender performance is encoded into the computer vision infrastructure. We discuss our findings from three perspectives of gender identity (self-identity, gender performativity, and demographic identity) and how these perspectives interact across three layers: the classification infrastructure, the third-party applications that make use of that infrastructure, and the individuals who interact with that software. We employ Bowker and Star’s concepts of "torque" and "residuality" to further discuss the social implications of gender classification. We conclude by outlining opportunities for creating more inclusive classification infrastructures and datasets, as well as with implications for policy.
iConference
The Black at the End of the Rainbow: Online Discrimination Among LGBTQ African Americans E. J. Rivera, M. Poldruhi, C. R. Ward, G. E. Jenkins II, E. Nichols III, and A. T. Pinter
iConference 2019
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.21900/iconf.2019.103350
Both the LGBTQ and African-American communities are marginalized and at greater risk of both online and offline discrimination when compared to the non-LGBTQ and white communities; yet little is known about the LGBTQ and African-American intersectional community’s online experiences with discrimination. Extant literature indicates that this discrimination has negative consequences on mental health and identity. In this literature review, we present a synthesis of the existing research at the intersection of these identities to inform how online community-based sites and social media platforms serve as both spaces of victimization, as well as environments of support. Altogether, we found that past research has primarily focused on these communities separately, and the research that exists about African-Americans in the LGBTQ community mainly studies the intersectionality of these identities offline and information seeking behaviors around HIV. Our literature review indicates that further research is necessary to study the online experiences of these online users and the potential effects on mental health.
CSCW
"Am I Never Going to Be Free of All This Crap?": Upsetting Encounters With Algorithmically Curated Content About Ex-Partners Anthony T. Pinter, Jialun "Aaron" Jiang, Katie Z. Gach, Melanie M. Sidwell, James E. Dykes, and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 3, CSCW: Article 70
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3359172
Every day on social media, people see streams of content curated by algorithms that leverage their relationships, preferences, and identities. However, algorithms can oversimplify the complexity of people’s social contexts. Consequently, algorithms can present content to people in ways that are insensitive to their circumstances. Through 19 in-depth interviews, our empirical study examines instances of contextually insensitive content through the lens of people’s upsetting encounters with content about their ex-romantic partners on Facebook. We characterize the encounters our participants had with content about their exes, including where on Facebook it occurred, the types of social connections involved in the content, and participants’ perceptions of why the content appeared. Based on our findings, we describe the "social periphery"—the complex social networks and data that enable inferred connections around otherwise explicit relationships—and discuss the design challenges that the periphery presents designers.
CSCWWorkshop paper
Designing and Carrying Out Conscientious Research With Marginalized Groups A. T. Pinter, M. K. Scheuerman, and J. R. Brubaker
CSCW 2019 Workshop on Social Technologies for Digital Wellbeing Among Marginalized Communities
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
CSCW
Technological Frames and User Innovation: Evidence from Online Community Moderation Teams Charles Kiene, Jialun "Aaron" Jiang, and Benjamin Mako Hill
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 3, CSCW: Article 44
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3359146
Management of technological change in organizations is one of the most enduring topics in the literature on computer-supported cooperative work. The successful navigation of technological change is both more challenging and more critical in online communities that are entirely mediated by technology than it is in traditional organizations. This paper presents an analysis of 14 in-depth interviews with moderators of subcommunities of one technological platform (Reddit) that added communities on a new technological platform (Discord). Moderation teams experienced several problems related to moderating content at scale as well as a disconnect between the affordances of Discord and their assumptions based on their experiences on Reddit. We found that moderation teams used Discord’s API to create scripts and bots that augmented Discord to make the platform work more like tools on Reddit. These tools were particularly important in communities struggling with scale. Our findings suggest that increasingly widespread end user programming allow users of social computing systems to innovate and deploy solutions to unanticipated design problems by transforming new technological platforms to align with their past expectations.
CSCWWorkshop
Volunteer Work: Mapping the Future of Moderation Research C. Kiene, S. Jhaver, E. Chandrasekharan, B. Dosono, B. Dym, S. Gilbert, J.A. Jiang, K. Lo, J. Seering, K. Shores, and D.Y. Wohn
Workshop Organized at CSCW 2019
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
Research on the governance of online communities often requires exchanges and interactions between researchers and moderators. While a growing body of work has studied commercial content moderation in the context of platform governance and policy enforcement, only a small number of studies have begun to explore the work of unpaid, volunteer community moderators who manage the millions of different subcommunities that exist on platforms. This workshop will create a pathway for future scholars to tackle the challenges and opportunities of research on volunteer community moderators and establish best practices for engaging with volunteer moderators without disrupting their work. Through lightning talks, collaborative brainstorming exercises, and small-group activities applying principles to research practice, workshop participants will bring together their diverse experiences and perspectives to map the future of moderation research. Both industry and academic researchers as well as experienced moderators will lead this one-day workshop that may accommodate up to 20 participants.
CSCW
Moderation Challenges in Voice-based Online Communities on Discord Jialun "Aaron" Jiang, Charles Kiene, Skyler Middler, Jed R. Brubaker, and Casey Fiesler
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 3, CSCW: Article 55
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3359157
Online community moderators are on the front lines of combating problems like hate speech and harassment, but new modes of interaction can introduce unexpected challenges. In this paper, we consider moderation practices and challenges in the context of real-time, voice-based communication through 25 in-depth interviews with moderators on Discord. Our findings suggest that the affordances of voice-based online communities change what it means to moderate content and interactions. Not only are there new ways to break rules that moderators of text-based communities find unfamiliar, such as disruptive noise and voice raiding, but acquiring evidence of rule-breaking behaviors is also more difficult due to the ephemerality of real-time voice. While moderators have developed new moderation strategies, these strategies are limited and often based on hearsay and first impressions, resulting in problems ranging from unsuccessful moderation to false accusations. Based on these findings, we discuss how voice communication complicates current understandings and assumptions about moderation, and outline ways that platform designers and administrators can design technology to facilitate moderation.
Journal
Unexpected expectations: Public reaction to the Facebook emotional contagion study Blake Hallinan, Jed R. Brubaker, and Casey Fiesler
New Media & Society
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1177/1461444819876944
How to ethically conduct online platform-based research remains an unsettled issue and the source of continued controversy. The Facebook emotional contagion study, in which researchers altered Facebook News Feeds to determine whether exposure to emotional content influences a user’s mood, has been one focal point of these discussions. The intense negative reaction by the media and public came as a surprise to those involved—but what prompted this reaction? We approach the Facebook study as a mediated controversy that reveals disconnects between how scholars, technologists, and the public understand platform-based research. We examine the controversy from the bottom up, analyzing public reactions expressed in comments on news articles. Our analysis reveals fundamental disagreements about what Facebook is and what a user’s relationship to it should be. We argue that these divergent responses emphasize the contextual nature of technology and research ethics, and conclude with a relational and contextual approach to ethical decision-making.
Talk
What to Do When You Find Out Dr. Wesch was Wrong Katie Z. Gach
Keynote at the Sapiens Symposium at the Kansas State University Department of Anthropology
- Reference
- BibTeX
CSCWWorkshop
Qualitative Methods for CSCW: Challenges and Opportunities Casey Fiesler, Jed R. Brubaker, Andrea Forte, Shion Guha, Nora McDonald, and Michael Muller
ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2019), Companion
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3311957.3359428
Qualitative methods have long been an important component of CSCW research. However, it can be challenging to make qualitative work legible to a broader set of researchers, which is critical as mixed methods research becomes more common. Moreover, the shift towards larger scales of data and increasing calls for open data and more transparency pose new questions for qualitative methods in terms of data collection, analysis, reporting, and sharing. This workshop brings together researchers to discuss these challenges as well as new opportunities for qualitative methods, with goals to help build norms and best practices for (1) conducting qualitative research, (2) reporting that research, and (3) engaging and collaborating with CSCW researchers from other methodological traditions.
CSCW
"Coming Out Okay": Community Narratives for LGBTQ Identity Recovery Work Brianna Dym, Jed R. Brubaker, Casey Fiesler, and Bryan Semaan
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 3, CSCW: Article 154
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3359256
Online communities provide support for those who are vulnerable, such as LGBTQ people while coming out. Research shows that social support and personal narrative construction are important when recovering from personal crises and traumatic events. As an online community focused on writing fanfiction and also consisting of a large number of LGBTQ members, transformative fandom provides an opportunity to examine the relationship between support, crisis, and narrative. Through an interview study with 31 LGBTQ fanfiction authors, our findings mirror Herman’s model of trauma recovery: these spaces self-organize to support recovery work through constructing "community narratives" that help LGBTQ people establish safety when exploring their identity and build LGBTQ support structures without publicly outing themselves before they are ready, challenge stereotypes, and support others through reshaping existing media that perpetuate inaccurate or harmful LGBTQ narratives. These online communities embody "selective visibility"–that is, though not specifically designed as support structures for identity work and recovery, their design allows people to selectively find and create communities of support for stigmatized issues that they might be unable to safely seek out in other spaces. Based on lessons learned, we generate insights that can inform the design of safe support spaces online.
CSCW
Best Paper Honorable Mention
Orienting to Networked Grief: Situated Perspectives of Communal Mourning on Facebook Jed R. Brubaker, Gillian R. Hayes, and Melissa Mazmanian
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 3, CSCW: Article 27
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3359129
Contemporary American experiences of death and mourning increasingly extend onto social network sites, where friends gather to memorialize the deceased. That "everyone grieves in their own way” may be true, but it forecloses important questions about how people evaluate these expressions, their relationship to others who are grieving, and impacts on their own experiences of grief. Drawing from mixed-methods research conducted over five years, we describe how individuals position themselves within and evaluate expressions of networked grief. We start by identifying five orientations – reinforcing, supporting, transferring, objecting, and isolating – that describe how individuals evaluate actions of grievers, position themselves relative to the network, and act when they encounter grief. We then describe factors and tensions that influence how individuals arrive at these orientations. Based on our findings, we argue that the design of social media can be sensitized to diverse needs by adopting a situated perspective within a dynamic post-mortem network.

2018

CSCWWorkshop
The Changing Contours of “Participation” in Data-driven, Algorithmic Ecosystems: Challenges, Tactics, and an Agenda Christine T. Wolf, Haiyi Zhu, Julia Bullard, Min Kyung Lee, and Jed R. Brubaker
ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2018), Companion
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3272973.3273005
Contributing to a growing attention to algorithms and algorithmic interaction in the CHI and CSCW communities, this workshop aims to deal centrally with the topic of human “participation” and its changing role to data-driven, algorithmic ecosystems. Such a focus includes projects that involve users in the design of algorithms and “human-in-the-loop” systems, broader investigations into the ways in which “participation” is situated in data-driven activities, as well as conceptual concerns about participation’s changing contours in contemporary social computing landscapes. This one-day workshop will be led by academic and industry researchers and sets out to achieve three goals: identify cases and ongoing projects on the topic of participation in algorithmic ecosystems; create a tactical toolkit of key challenges and strategies in this space; and set a forward-facing agenda to provoke further attention to the changing role of participation in contemporary sociotechnical systems.
CSCWWorkshop paper
Gender is not a Boolean: Towards Designing Algorithms to Understand Complex Human Identities Morgan Klaus Scheuerman and Jed R. Brubaker
Participation+Algorithms Workshop at CSCW 2018
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
Algorithmic methods are increasingly used to identify and categorize human characteristics. A range of human identities, such as gender, race, and sexual orientation, are becoming interwoven with systems. We discuss the case of automatic gender recognition technologies that algorithmically assign binary gender categories. Based on our previous work with transgender participants, we discuss the ways current gender recognition systems misrepresent complex gender identities and undermine safety. We describe plans to build on this by conducting participatory design workshops with designers and potential users to develop improved methods for conceptualizing gender identity in algorithms.
CSCW
Diversity and Inclusion Recognition
Safe Spaces and Safe Places: Unpacking Technology-Mediated Experiences of Safety and Harm with Transgender People Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, Stacy M. Branham, and Foad Hamidi
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 2, CSCW Article 155
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3274424
Transgender individuals in the United States face significant threats to interpersonal safety; however, there has as yet been relatively little research in the HCI and CSCW communities to document transgender individuals’ experiences of technology-mediated safety and harm. In this study, we interviewed 12 transgender and non-binary individuals to understand how they find, create, and navigate safe spaces using technology. Managing safety was a universal concern for our transgender participants, and they experienced complex manifestations of harm through technology. We found that harmful experiences for trans users could arise as targeted or incidental affronts, as sourced from outsiders or insiders, and as directed against individuals or entire communities.. Notably, some violations implicated technology design, while others tapped broader social dynamics. Reading our findings through the notions of ’space" and ’place," we unpack challenges and opportunities for building safer futures with transfolk, other vulnerable users, and their allies.
CHIWorkshop paper
Returning Control to the User: Digital Identity in a Post-Capitalist Future Anthony Pinter and Jed R. Brubaker
CHI 2018 Workshop: “Grand Visions” for Post-Capitalist HCI
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
CSCW
"The Perfect One": Understanding Communication Practices and Challenges with Animated GIFs Jialun "Aaron" Jiang, Casey Fiesler, and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 2, CSCW: Article 80
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3274349
Animated GIFs are increasingly popular in text-based communication. Finding the perfect GIF can make conversations funny, interesting, and engaging, but GIFs also introduce potentials for miscommunication. Through 24 in-depth qualitative interviews, this empirical, exploratory study examines the nuances of communication practices with animated GIFs to better understand why and how GIFs can send unintentional messages. We find participants leverage contexts like source material and interpersonal relationship to find the perfect GIFs for different communication scenarios, while these contexts are also the primary reason for miscommunication and some technical usability issues. This paper concludes with a discussion of the important role that different types of context play in the use and interpretations of GIFs, and argues that nonverbal communication tools should account for complex contexts and common ground that communication media rely on.
CSCW
Tending Unmarked Graves: Classification of Post-mortem Content on Social Media Jialun "Aaron" Jiang and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 2, CSCW: Article 81
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3274350
User-generated content is central to social computing scholarship. However, researchers and practitioners often presume that these users are alive. Failing to account for mortality is problematic in social media where an increasing number of profiles represent those who have died. Identifying mortality can empower designers to better manage content and support the bereaved, as well as promote high-quality data science. Based on a computational linguistic analysis of post-mortem social media profiles and content, we report on classifiers developed to detect mortality and show that mortality can be determined after the first few occurrences of post-mortem content. Applying our classifiers to content from two other platforms also provided good results. Finally, we discuss trade-offs between models that emphasize pre- vs. post-mortem precision in this sensitive context. These results mark a first step toward identifying mortality at scale, and show how designers and scientists can attend to mortality in their work.
ICWSMPoster
Describing and Classifying Post-Mortem Content on Social Media Jialun "Aaron" Jiang and Jed Brubaker
International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM 2018)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1609/icwsm.v12i1.15048
As the quantity of user profiles on social media grows, so does the number of post-mortem profiles. In this paper, we present a computational linguistic analysis of post-mortem social media profiles. Specifically, we provide an analysis of pre- vs. post-mortem language use, followed by a description of classifiers we developed that can accurately classify the mortality of social media profiles. These results shed initial lights into the ways in which people speak to the dead, and mark a first step toward accurately identifying mortality on a large scale.

CHIWorkshop paper

Righteous Devils: Unpacking the Ethics of Hacktivism Ethan Hanner and Jed R. Brubaker
CHI 2018 Workshop on Understanding Bad Actors

PDF
Reference
BibTeX

@inproceedings{hannerRighteousDevilsUnpacking2018,
  title = {Righteous {{Devils}}: {{Unpacking}} the Ethics of Hacktivism},
  booktitle = {CHI 2018 Workshop on Understanding Bad Actors},
  author = {Hanner, Ethan and Brubaker, Jed R.},
  year = {2018},
  annote = {[equal]},
  keywords = {workshop},
  pubtype = {Workshop paper}
}

CHI
Best Paper
Gender Recognition or Gender Reductionism?: The Social Implications of Embedded Gender Recognition Systems Foad Hamidi, Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, and Stacy M. Branham
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2018) Article 8
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3173574.3173582
Automatic Gender Recognition (AGR) refers to various computational methods that aim to identify an individual’s gender by extracting and analyzing features from images, video, and/or audio. Applications of AGR are increasingly being explored in domains such as security, marketing, and social robotics. However, little is known about stakeholders’ perceptions and attitudes towards AGR and how this technology might disproportionately affect vulnerable communities. To begin to address these gaps, we interviewed 13 transgender individuals, including three transgender technology designers, about their perceptions and attitudes towards AGR. We found that transgender individuals have overwhelmingly negative attitudes towards AGR and fundamentally question whether it can accurately recognize such a subjective aspect of their identity. They raised concerns about privacy and potential harms that can result from being incorrectly gendered, or misgendered, by technology. We present a series of recommendations on how to accommodate gender diversity when designing new digital systems.
ICWSM
Reddit Rules! Characterizing an Ecosystem of Governance Casey Fiesler, Jialun "Aaron" Jiang, Joshua McCann, Kyle Frye, and Jed Brubaker
International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM 2018)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1609/icwsm.v12i1.15033
The social sharing and news aggregation site Reddit provides a unique example of an ecosystem of community-created rules. Not only do individual subreddits create and enforce their own regulations, but site-wide guidelines and norms may also influence behavior. This paper reports on a mixed-methods study of 100,000 subreddits and their rules. Our findings characterize the types of rules across Reddit, the frequency of rules at scale, and patterns of rules based on subreddit characteristics. We find that rules appear to be context-dependent for individual subreddits but also share common characteristics across the site. Taken together, our findings provide a rich description of this ecosystem of rules, motivating further inquiry into underlying mechanisms for rule formation and enforcement in online communities.
Journal
“theyre all trans sharon”: Authoring gender in video game fan fiction Brianna Dym, Jed Brubaker, and Casey Fiesler
Game Studies 18, 3
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
Underrepresented fans of media, such as women, members of the LGBTQIA community, and other marginalized people use fan fiction (new narratives constructed from elements of existing media) to critique and recraft their representation in media such as television, movies, books and video games. This article explores fan response to diverse gender identities, or their absence, in video games, through stories found on the popular fan fiction website Archive of Our Own (AO3). The analysis examines metadata from over 2,200 unique fan fiction stories, focusing on freeform, user-generated tags. In addition to categorizing works, tags are also a place for authors to describe their intentions and respond to the source material. This analysis reveals that authors are recrafting video game narratives to include more diverse gender representation in a way unique to the current cultural nuances of video games. This article argues that game developers can expand diversity in games not only by adding queer characters but by leaving narrative choices and details open so that players can interpret character identities in multiple ways.

2017

ICWSMWorkshop

Studying User Perceptions and Experiences with Algorithms Nicholas Proferes, Alissa Centivany, Caitlin Lustig, and Jed R. Brubaker
International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM 2017)

Reference
BibTeX

@inproceedings{Proferes,
  address = {Montr{\'{e}}al, Qu{\'{e}}bec, Canada},
  annote = {[website: http://www.studyingusers.org/ ] [top tier] [collab]},
  author = {Proferes, Nicholas and Centivany, Alissa and Lustig, Caitlin and Brubaker, Jed R.},
  booktitle = {International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM 2017)},
  keywords = {workshoporg},
  title = {{Studying User Perceptions and Experiences with Algorithms}},
  year = {2017},
  pubtype = {Workshop}
}

CHILate-breaking work
Understanding Diverse Interpretations of Animated GIFs Jialun “Aaron” Jiang, Jed R. Brubaker, and Casey Fiesler
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2017), Extended Abstracts
- Abstract
- PDF
- Poster
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3027063.3053139
Department of Information Science Animated GIFs are increasingly popular in text-based communication. Like other forms of nonverbal communication, animated GIFs are susceptible to open interpretation. We explore whether people have different interpretations of animated GIFs, how those interpretations differ, and what factors impact the degree of difference. Through an online survey, we solicited people’s interpretations of a sample of GIFs, and analyzed the variance in sentiment based on the emotions participants used to describe GIFs. We find diverse interpretations of GIFs, and that duration of GIFs has a significant impact on interpretation. Positive GIFs also have more variance in interpretation than negative GIFs. Overall, we show that there is potential for miscommunication in animated GIFs, and animated GIFs may be a more nuanced form of nonverbal communication than emoticons and emoji.
ICHI
Exploring timelines of confirmed suicide incidents through social media Xiaolei Huang, Linzi Xing, Jed R. Brubaker, and Michael J Paul
IEEE International Conference on Healthcare Informatics (ICHI)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Poster
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1109/ichi.2017.47
Suicide is one of leading causes of death worldwide, yet little data is available about the lives of suicide victims because most people do not seek treatment. Research has shown that people express suicidal ideation in social media, which can potentially be tapped to improve our understanding of the thoughts and behaviors of people prior to suicide. In this work, we introduce a novel dataset of Chinese social media accounts of 130 people who committed suicide between 2011 and 2016. We describe the demographic and geographic composition of the users, then conduct a longitudinal text analysis of their post histories, showing observable changes in content leading up to the time of death. With encouraging exploratory findings, we discuss directions for future research.
CSCW
"Control your emotions, Potter": An Analysis of Grief Policing on Facebook in Response to Celebrity Death Katie Z. Gach, Casey Fiesler, and Jed R. Brubaker
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 1, CSCW: Article 47
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3134682
As social media platforms become a larger part of sharing life, they have by necessity become a part of sharing death. In life, pop culture fans can have parasocial (one-sided, mediated) relationships with celebrities. Yet when fans of departed celebrities express their grief in public comment threads, conversations often result in disagreements about how to grieve. These disagreements consistently appear in response to the deaths of public figures, and have been broadly labeled "grief policing." We performed a thematic analysis of public Facebook comments responding to the deaths of Alan Rickman, David Bowie, and Prince. Our findings describe prominent grief policing practices and explain how commenters may be importing norms from other contexts when shared spaces consist of transient interactions that make norm formation difficult. Our findings contribute to a broader understanding of how conflicting norms affect discourse in transient online spaces. Approaching online incivility through a lens of conflicting social norm enforcement may open doors for improvements in public discourse online.
Magazine
Information Science at CU Boulder Casey Fiesler, William Aspray, Lecia Barker, Jed Brubaker, Laura Devendorf, Brian Keegan, Leysia Palen, Michael Paul, Danielle Szafir, Ricarose Roque, Rick Robinson, Amy Voida, and Stephen Voida
interactions 24, 4: 18–21
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3097266
CSCW
Media, Meaning, and Context Loss in Ephemeral Communication Platforms Luiz Henrique C.B. Cavalcanti, Alita Pinto, Jed R. Brubaker, and Lynn S. Dombrowski
ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2017)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/2998181.2998266
Most social media platforms are persistent in nature, enabling users to re-visit content at their discretion. Platforms with design features that support ephemeral communications, such as Snapchat, have become increasingly popular. During the course of our empirical study, we interviewed 15 Snapchat users about their experiences and practices. Our data reveal that Snapchat users experienced different types of loss, including media, meaning, and context loss, and developed workarounds to deal with those losses, including preemptive action and collaborative saving practices. Our findings revealed a conflict between the user’s expectation of the affordance the ephemeral platforms would provide, and the actions user’s followed.
ASSETS
"Is Someone There? Do They Have a Gun": How Visual Information About Others Can Improve Personal Safety Management for Blind Individuals Stacy M. Branham, Ali Abdolrahmani, William Easley, Morgan Scheuerman, Erick Ronquillo, and Amy Hurst
International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2017)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3132525.3132534
For decades, researchers have investigated and developed technologies that support independent navigation for people who are blind. This has led to systems that primarily aid in detecting routes, landmarks, and building features. However, there has been relatively little inquiry regarding how technologies might support navigation around and in the presence of other people. What visual information, if any, do blind navigators wish they had about people on their path? To address this question, we surveyed 58 blind and low vision individuals and interviewed 10 blind individuals. We discovered our participants were interested in using visual information about others to increase their physical safety. For example, they wanted to know if a passerby was holding a weapon, if a presumed official had a proper uniform or badge, and how to describe visual aspects of a criminal to law enforcement. This paper presents one of the only reports documenting accessibility challenges related to physical safety posed by others, including how future assistive tools can empower individuals with disabilities to more actively increase their sense of safety. We call this emerging area Personal Safety Management and contribute a set of four broad subareas that deserve further exploration by researchers and designers working within the blind and broader disabilities communities.
CHI
Post-userism Eric P S Baumer and Jed R. Brubaker
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2017)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/3025453.3025740
HCI is focused on improving the interactions we have with technology and innovating new types of interactions, as well as expanding the types of people for whom those interactions are designed. Central to these efforts is the simultaneously empowering and contested construct of the "user." This paper examines what the construct of the user highlights, as well as what it conceals. We introduce post-userism, a perspective that simultaneously acknowledges the limits of, and proposes alternatives to, the central construct of the user as proxy for the "human" in HCI. Drawing on developments across the historical trajectory of HCI, we articulate how the user is enacted across four different levels of representation-systems, interface, design process, and the ideology and identify situations where the user breaks down. Synthesizing prior work, we offer a series of strategies for grappling with such situations. In doing so, we seek to overcome the limitations imposed by the user and develop a language that will aid in evolving the foundations of HCI by asking what, exactly, we place at the center of our scholarship and design.

2016

CHI
Best Paper Honorable Mention
Digital footprints and changing networks during online identity transitions O.L. Haimson, J.R. Brubaker, L. Dombrowski, and G.R. Hayes
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2016)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/2858036.2858136
Digital artifacts on social media can challenge individuals during identity transitions, particularly those who prefer to delete, separate from, or hide data that are representative of a past identity. This work investigates concerns and practices reported by transgender people who transitioned while active on Facebook. We analyze open-ended survey responses from 283 participants, highlighting types of data considered problematic when separating oneself from a past identity, and challenges and strategies people engage in when managing personal data in a networked environment. We find that people shape their digital footprints in two ways: by editing the self-presentational data that is representative of a prior identity, and by managing the configuration of people who have access to that self-presentation. We outline the challenging interplay between shifting identities, social networks, and the data that suture them together. We apply these results to a discussion of the complexities of managing and forgetting the digital past.
CSCWWorkshop paper
Understanding Human-Data Relationships: Data as Property Casey Fiesler and Jed R. Brubaker
Workshop on Human Centered Data Science at CSCW 2016
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
Data is structured by governance systems—both technical and legal—that are limited in their ability to capture and codify the surrounding, evolving technology and social ecosystems. As a result, these governance systems often fail to reflect how end users think about online data. In this half of our argument, we focus on one view (particularly dominant in policy) of the relationship between people and their data is that of data as property. But how well does this really capture the way that people think about data? People’s understandings of their relationships to the content they create and their digital traces—including their rights and the rights of others—has important implications for design, policy, and data science research ethics.
TEIShort paper
Penseive box: Themes for digital memorialization practices C. Chaudhari, A. Prakash, A.M. Tsaasan, J.R. Brubaker, and J. Tanenbaum
TEI 2016 - Proceedings of the 10th Anniversary Conference on Tangible Embedded and Embodied Interaction
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/2839462.2856552
In this work, we describe several themes that can be useful for designing tangible technology in the context of death and mourning. We explore the effectiveness of physical and digital artifacts in the process honoring a loved one who has passed away. We employ a speculative prototype called Penseive Box to explore the intersection of tangible digital memorialization practices. Using this prototype to elicit reflections on personal memorialization practices, we interviewed several individuals who had recently lost a loved one, and present the results of our initial analysis here.
CSCWWorkshop paper
Understanding Human-Data Relationships: Data as Personhood Jed R. Brubaker and Casey Fiesler
Workshop on Human Centered Data Science at CSCW 2016
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
When does data belong to a person and when does data stand in as a person? The design and architecture of datasets are necessary selective and partial representations of the world, typically tailored to the computational needs of the systems from which they emerge. As a result, these systems often fail to reflect how end users think about online data. People’s understandings of their relationships to the content they create and their digital traces—including their rights and the rights of others—has important implications for data science. In this half of our argument, we focus on the ways that personhood impacts how people orient to and relate to data.
CHI
Legacy Contact: Designing and Implementing Post-mortem Stewardship at Facebook Jed R. Brubaker and Vanessa Callison-Burch
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2016)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/2858036.2858254
Post-mortem profiles on social network sites serve as both an archive of the deceased person’s life and a gathering place for friends and loved ones. Many existing systems utilize inheritance as a model for post-mortem data management. However, the social and networked nature of personal data on social media, as well as the memorializing practices in which friends engage, indicate that other approaches are necessary. In this paper, we articulate the design choices made throughout the development of Legacy Contact, a post-mortem data management solution designed and deployed at Facebook. Building on the duties and responsibilities identified by Brubaker et al., we describe how Legacy Contact was designed to honor last requests, provide information surrounding death, preserve the memory of the deceased, and facilitate memorializing practices. We provide details around the design of the Legacy Contact selection process, the functionality provided to legacy contacts after accounts have been memorialized, and changes made to post-mortem profiles.
CSCWPanel
Visibility in digital spaces: Controlling personal information online J.R. Brubaker, J. Kaye, S. Schoenebeck, and J. Vertesi
ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2016)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/2818052.2893359
Individuals are increasingly visible in online spaces. Posting content to social media, browsing websites, and interacting with friends are all acts that render a person visible to other individuals, networks, and corporations. At the same time, these behaviors are being logged, archived, and aggregated in a variety of unexpected and emerging ways. In this panel, we explore the tensions that arise around controlling personal information online. We do so through a series of case studies around lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) identities, children, personal data exchange, and advertising. In each, we consider the politics of visibility around personal, family, social, and community identities, especially in the context of marginalized or scrutinized populations and experiences. We aim to generate debate about appropriate sharing behaviors online and to further an agenda that prioritizes greater control of personal information online.

2015

CSCW
Best Paper Honorable Mention
’Is’ to ’Was’: Coordination and Commemoration on Posthumous Wikipedia Biographies Brian C. Keegan and Jed R. Brubaker
ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2015)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/2675133.2675238
Following the deaths of notable people, Wikipedians incorporate this new knowledge by updating or creating biographical articles. Drawing on literature from death studies and peer production, we demonstrate how the creation of these ”wikibituaries” requires complex coordination work and highlight processes of commemoration and memorialization within socio-technical systems. Using the corpus of 6,132 articles about people who died in 2012, we examine the network relationships and contribution dynamics of users who perform this work and identify behavioral and content dynamics on the biographical articles about the deceased. The collaborations that emerge from posthumous editing of these biographies are sites of significant activity that coalesce into complex but temporary collaborations. Based on these findings, we argue that Wikipedia has re-imagined the obituary into a genre for creating memory spaces in which the death of a subject prompts a form of “death work” involving the collective re-evaluation of article content and a transition into a new mode of data stewardship.
CSCWPanel
Facebooking in "face": Complex identities meet simple databases M. Handel, R. Bivens, J.R. Brubaker, O.L. Haimson, J. Lingel, and S. Yarosh
ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2015)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/2685553.2699337
Online systems often struggle to account for the complicated self-presentation and disclosure needs of those with complex identities or specialized anonymity. Using the lenses of gender, recovery, and performance, our proposed panel explores the tensions that emerge when the richness and complexity of individual personalities and subjectivities run up against design norms that imagine identity as simplistic or one-dimensional. These models of identity not only limit the ways individuals can express their own identities, but also establish norms for other users about what to expect, causing further issues when the inevitable dislocations do occur. We discuss the challenges in translating identity into these systems, and how this is further marred by technical requirements and normative logics that structure cultures and practices of databases, algorithms and computer programming.
CSCW
Best Paper Honorable Mention
Disclosure, Stress, and Support During Gender Transition on Facebook Oliver L Haimson, Jed R. Brubaker, Lynn Dombrowski, and Gillian R. Hayes
ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2015)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/2675133.2675152
Social computing technologies, such as social networking sites (SNSs), often privilege people who fit within expected, static categories. Thus, users embarking on major identity changes, such as gender transition, often encounter stress when using SNSs to interact with their online social networks. To address this problem and reflect on the design of SNSs and other social computing systems, we present the results of a comprehensive online survey of transgender and gender non-conforming SNS users. Our findings indicate that although Facebook can be a stressful place for gender transition due to difficulties of transition disclosure, support from one’s Facebook network can help to mitigate some of this stress. We examine Facebook both as a site of stress and as a site of support. Better understanding the relationships between stress, disclosure, and support on SNSs for these particular users can inform technology design that will benefit people who struggle with navigating a wide range of major identity changes online.
HICSS
Best Paper Nomination
Social and Personal Disclosure in a Location-Based Real Time Dating App Colin Fitzpatrick, Jeremy Birnholtz, and Jed R. Brubaker
2015 48th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1109/hicss.2015.237
Users of location-based real time dating (LBRTD) apps must decide what to disclose in their profiles. Based on 25,365 profiles from one app, our study explores users whose profile photos disclose a face, a personal disclosure that identifies them as an individual, in relation to available social disclosures, those that do not identify them as an individual. Using logistic regression models with face disclosure as the outcome, we find: older users, and users who share race are less likely to disclose a face, and higher body mass index (BMI) users, users who disclose relationship status, and users who are seeking friends or relationships are more likely to disclose a face. We frame and discuss these results in relation to literature on location norms, body image, race relations, and social stigma, and propose future work to investigate these findings, particularly those of race, relationship status, and goals, in qualitative depth.
Journal
Why study technology non-use? Eric P.S. Baumer, Morgan G. Ames, Jenna Burrell, Jed R. Brubaker, and Paul Dourish
First Monday 20, 11
- Abstract
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.5210/fm.v20i11.6310
This special issue provides an opportunity to rethink how we approach, study, and conceptualize human relationships with, and through, technology. The authors in this collection take a multiplicity of approaches on diverse topics to develop a rigorous theoretical understanding for non-use, setting crucial groundwork for future research.
Magazine
On the importance and implications of studying technology non-use E.P.S. Baumer, J. Burrell, M.G. Ames, J.R. Brubaker, and P. Dourish
Interactions 22, 2
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/2723667
Non-use goes beyond the absence of technology. Use and non-use are not binary opposites but represent different configurations of socio-technical practice. Studying these socio-technical configurations opens up central questions around ’the user’ in HCI. A workshop has been organized at ACM?s CHI 2014 conference to address this issue. The participants included 22 individuals from departments and schools of information, communication, computer science, media studies, and other areas. The workshop organizers reflect on key topics, themes, and questions raised by participants, discussing how they might provide feedback to the broader HCI community.

2014

ICWSM
Understanding Loneliness in Social Awareness Streams: Expressions and Responses Funda Kivran-Swaine, Jeremy Ting, Jed R. Brubaker, Rannie Teodoro, and Mor Naaman
International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM 2014)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1609/icwsm.v8i1.14506
We studied the experience of loneliness as communicated by thousands of people on Twitter. Using a data set of public Twitter posts containing explicit expressions of loneliness, we qualitatively developed a categorization scheme for these expressions, showing how the context of loneliness expressed on Twitter relates to existing theories about loneliness. A quantitative analysis of the data exposed categories and patterns in communication practices around loneliness. For example, users expressing more severe, enduring loneliness are more likely to be female, and less likely to include requests for social interaction in their tweets. Further, we studied the responses to expressions of loneliness in Twitter’s social settings. Deriving from the same dataset, we examined factors that correlate with the existence and type of response, showing, for example, that men were more likely to receive responses to lonely tweets, and expressions of enduring loneliness are critically less likely to receive responses.
CHI
DDFSeeks same: sexual health-related language in online personal ads for men who have sex with men Oliver L Haimson, Jed R. Brubaker, and Gillian R Hayes
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2014)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/2556288.2557077
The HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s fundamentally changed sexual practices of men who have sex with men (MSM) in the U.S., including increased usage of sexual health-related (SHR) language in personal advertisements. Analyzing online personal ads from Craigslist, we found a substantial increase in SHR language, from 23% in 1988 to over 53% today, echoing continuing concern about rising HIV rates. We argue that SHR language in Craigslist ads can be used as a sensor to provide insight into HIV epidemiology as well as discourse among particular communities. We show a positive significant relationship between prevalence rate of HIV in an ad’s location and use of SHR language in that location. Analysis highlights the opportunity for SHR information found in Craigslist personal ads to serve as a data source for HIV prevention research. More broadly, we argue for mining large-scale user-generated content to inform HCI design of health and other systems, and explore use of such data to examine temporal changes in language to facilitate improved user-interface design.
CHI
Stewarding a Legacy: Responsibilities and Relationships in the Management of Post-mortem Data Jed R. Brubaker, Lynn S. Dombrowski, Anita M. Gilbert, Nafiri Kusumakaulika, and Gillian R. Hayes
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2014)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/2556288.2557059
This paper extends research on the giving and inheriting of digital artifacts by examining social network site accounts post-mortem. Given the important role that social network sites play in online bereavement practices, we conducted a series of in-depth qualitative interviews to explore issues around inheritance and post-mortem data management of Facebook accounts. We found that participants focused less on ownership of the data, and instead on the duties and potential conflicts associated with maintaining an account post-mortem. Subsequently, we argue for ’stewardship’ as an alternative to inheritance for framing post-mortem data management practices. Analysis of post-mortem data management activities highlights how stewards are accountable and responsible to the deceased and various survivors. However, weighing competing responsibilities is complicated by varied relationships with disparate survivors, as well as the inability to consult with the deceased. Based on our findings, we claim that post-mortem solutions need to account for the needs of stewards in addition to those of the deceased and survivors. We suggest that a model of stewardship better accounts for the interpersonal responsibilities that accompany online data than inheritance alone.
Journal
Departing glances: A sociotechnical account of ’leaving’ Grindr J. R. Brubaker, M. Ananny, and K. Crawford
New Media & Society 1461444814542311–
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1177/1461444814542311
Grindr is a popular location-based social networking application for smartphones, predominantly used by gay men. This study investigates why users leave Grindr. Drawing on interviews with 16 men who stopped using Grindr, this article reports on the varied definitions of leaving, focusing on what people report leaving, how they leave and what they say leaving means to them. We argue that leaving is not a singular moment, but a process involving layered social and technical acts - that understandings of and departures from location-based media are bound up with an individual’s location. Accounts of leaving Grindr destabilize normative definitions of both Grindr’ and leaving’, exposing a set of relational possibilities and spatial arrangements within and around which people move. We conclude with implications for the study of non-use and technological departure.
PACM HCI
Identity, identification and identifiability: The Language of Self-Presentation on a Location-Based Mobile Dating App Jeremy Birnholtz, Colin Fitzpatrick, Mark Handel, and Jed R. Brubaker
International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services (MobileHCI 2014)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/2628363.2628406
Location-aware mobile applications have become extremely common, with a recent wave of mobile dating applications that provide relatively sparse profiles to connect nearby individuals who may not know each other for immediate social or sexual encounters. These applications have become particularly popular among men who have sex with men (MSM) and raise a range of questions about self-presentation, visibility to others, and impression formation, as traditional geographic boundaries and social circles are crossed. In this paper we address two key questions around how people manage potentially stigmatized identities in using these apps and what types of information they use to self-present in the absence of a detailed profile or rich social cues. To do so, we draw on profile data observed in twelve locations on Grindr, a location-aware social application for MSM. Results suggest clear use of language to manage stigma associated with casual sex, and that users draw regularly on location information and other descriptive language to present concisely to others nearby.
CHIWorkshop
Refusing, Limiting, Departing: Why We Should Study Technology Non-use Eric P. S. Baumer, Morgan G. Ames, Jed R. Brubaker, Jenna Burrell, and Paul Dourish
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2014), Extended Abstracts
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/2559206.2559224
In contrast to most research in HCI, this workshop focuses on non-use, that is, situations where people do not use computing technology. Using a reflexive preworkshop activity and discussion-oriented sessions, we will consider the theories, methods, foundational texts, and central research questions in the study of non-use. In addition to a special issue proposal, we expect the research thread brought to the fore in this workshop will speak to foundational questions of use and the user in HCI
Journal
Death, Memorialization, and Social Media: A Platform Perspective for Personal Archives Amelia Acker and Jed R. Brubaker
Archivaria 77
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
This article examines the memorialization and bereavement practices of social media users as they relate to the creation, access, and circulation of personal archives. As personal archives expand to include content created and stored on social media platforms, it is incumbent upon archivists and individual archive creators to consider how access to user profiles, personal collections, and continued interaction with profiles of the deceased are shaped and affected by platform functionalities. Because platforms govern how users are represented in systems, they also shape the contexts of creation and future access to personal information. There exist representational and access limits in these platforms because social media data rely on networked resources for contextual integrity, which raises questions about the ongoing management of personal information after a user has died. The authors present interview data that suggest social media users consider profiles to be personal archives despite evidence that platform functionality may heavily restrict future access and the ability to memorialize collections or add layers of context after a creator has died. The authors argue that, when theorizing and building personal archives, archivists as well as individual creators should adopt a platform perspective that includes preserving the contextual integrity of networked data, confronting shifts in the persistence of platforms, and clarifying archival expectations to provide access to personal collections created with social media platforms.

2013

PACM HCI
What do you see in the cloud? Understanding the cloud-based user experience through practices John C. Tang, Jed R. Brubaker, and Catherine C. Marshall
INTERACT ’13: Proceedings of IFIP TC13 Conference on Human-Computer Interaction
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-40480-1_47
End users have begun to incorporate cloud-based services into their collaborative practices. What spurs and constrains this adoption? Are the cloud services understood adequately and used effectively? How might we intervene to promote a better connection between user practices and cloud services? In this study, we focus on collaborative practices that surround the adoption, use, and understanding of two popular, but sometimes contrasting, cloud services for creating and sharing content: Dropbox and Google Docs. We conducted 22 in-depth interviews with people who used these services, including collaborators who used the services together, and people who had migrated from Google Docs to Google Drive. We found that users thought of the cloud in terms of the practices it helped them accomplish. Their understanding of the cloud was often shaped by the particular file storage and sharing technologies the cloud was re-placing (remediation). Furthermore, collaborating with others through the cloud sometimes revealed different assumptions about how the cloud worked, leading users to develop socially negotiated practices around their use of the cloud. We use this analysis to identify some specific opportunities for designers to help users build more accurate conceptual models of the cloud and use its capabili-ties more fully: (1) when users are adopting the cloud to enact a practice; (2) when users are replacing an existing technology with the cloud; and (3) when users are encountering others’ practices through collaboration.
UbiCompShort paper
Detecting cooking state with gas sensors during dry cooking Sen H. Hirano, Jed R. Brubaker, Donald J. Patterson, and Gillian R. Hayes
ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp 2013)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/2493432.2493523
Gas sensors have the potential to assist cooking by providing feedback on the cooking process and by further automating cooking. In this work, we explored the potential use of gas sensors to monitor food during the cooking process. Focusing on dry cooking, we collected gas emissions using 13 sensors during trials in which food was cooked to various degrees of doneness. Using decision tree classifiers, we were able to predict doneness for waffles and popcorn with 73% and 85% accuracy, respectively. We reflect on the potential reasons for this variation and the ways in which gas sensors might reliably be used in ubicomp applications to support cooking.
Chapter
Using Mobile Technologies to Support Students in Work Transition Programs Gillian R. Hayes, Michael T. Yeganyan, Jed R. Brubaker, Linda O’Neal, and Stephen W. Hosaflook
Technology Tools for Students with Autism: Innovations that Enhance Independence and Learning
- Reference
- BibTeX
UbiComp
Best Paper
It takes a network to get dinner: designing location-based systems to address local food needs Lynn Dombrowski, Jed R. Brubaker, Sen H. Hirano, Melissa Mazmanian, and Gillian R. Hayes
ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp 2013)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/2493432.2493493
Based on an 18-month qualitative study that included the creation and testing of design considerations and a prototype location-based information system (LBIS), this research provides empirical insight into the daily practices of a wide variety of individuals working to address food insecurity in one U.S. county. Qualitative fieldwork reveals that nonprofit organizations in the food assistance ecology engage in location-based information practices that could be enhanced by the design of a LBIS. Two practices that would benefit from a collaborative LBIS are 1) practices of matching in which nonprofit workers help individuals who are seeking assistance to food resources and 2) practices of distribution in which nonprofit workers help organizations access and deliver food resources to clients. In order to support such practices across organizations the cooperative design component of this research suggests that an LIBS should: support the role of intermediaries who engage in practices of matching and distribution; provide interactive mapping tools that match resources to need; enable organizations to control visibility over specific data; and document work and impact. This research further suggests that designers should explore the wide variety of spatial patterns that must align and overlap such that ecologies of nonprofit organizations might synergistically work together to address pressing social needs.
Journal
Beyond the Grave: Facebook as a Site for the Expansion of Death and Mourning Jed R. Brubaker, Gillian R. Hayes, and Paul Dourish
The Information Society 29, 3: 152–163
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1080/01972243.2013.777300
Online identities survive the deaths of those they represent, leaving friends and families to struggle with the appropriate ways to incorporate these identities into the practices of grief and mourning, raising important questions. How are practices of online memorialization connected to conventional rituals of grief and mourning? What is the role of online digital identity postmortem? How do trajectories of death and dying incorporate both online and offline concerns? Based on our qualitative study of death and mourning online, we identify the way that social networking sites enable expansion—temporally, spatially, and socially—of public mourning. Rather than looking at online practices as disruptions of traditional practices of grief and memorialization, we examine them as new sites in which public mourning takes place.

2012

DIS
Focusing on shared experiences: moving beyond the camera in video communication Jed R. Brubaker, Gina Venolia, and John C. Tang
ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS 2012)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/2317956.2317973
Even with the investment of significant resources, video communication in professional settings has not gained mass appeal. This contrasts with the consumer space where, despite limited resources and low quality solutions, services such as Skype have seen widespread adoption. In this paper, we explore the behavior and attitudes of individuals who actively use video communication in both their personal and professional lives. We highlight similarities and differences across these two domains, with particular focus on the interpersonal relationships, spaces, and activities that each domain supports and enables. We conclude by discussing how our study leads to a new perspective that focuses on the shared experiences enabled by video communication.
ICWSM
Best Paper Honorable Mention
Grief-Stricken in a Crowd: The Language of Bereavement and Distress in Social Media Jed R. Brubaker, F Kivran-Swaine, L. Taber, and Gillian R. Hayes
International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM 2012)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1609/icwsm.v6i1.14256
People turn to social media to express their emotions surrounding major life events. Death of a loved one is one scenario in which people share their feelings in the semi-public space of social networking sites. In this paper, we present the results of a two-part investigation of grief and distress in the context of messages posted to the profiles of deceased MySpace users. We present coding system for identifying emotion distressed content, followed by a detailed analysis of language use that lays a foundation for natural language processing (NLP) tasks, such as automatic detection of bereavement-related distress. Our findings suggest that in addition to words bearing positive or negative sentiment, linguistic style can be an indicator of messages that demonstrate distress in the space of post-mortem social media content. These results contribute to research in computational linguistics by identifying linguistic features that can be used for automatic classification as well as to research on death and bereavement by enumerating attributes of distressed self-expression in a post-mortem context.

2011

CHIWorkshop paper
Lost in Translation: Three Challenges for the Collection and Use of Data in Personal Informatics Jed R. Brubaker, Sen H. Hirano, and Gillian R. Hayes
CHI 2011 Workshop on Personal Informatics & HCI: Design, Theory, & Social Implications
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
As personal informatics tools grow in number, interpretation and interoperability of data will become increasingly important. In this paper, we share insights from our development of Estrellita, a medical tracking system for high-risk infants, and our ongoing research in the area of social media. We highlight three challenges relevant to the area of personal informatics: determining context, assumptions around “personal” use, and the social implications of representation.
CSCW
Best Paper Honorable Mention
SELECT * FROM USER: infrastructure and socio-technical representation Jed R. Brubaker and Gillian R. Hayes
ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2011)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/1958824.1958881
As use of, and experiences with, social media continue to grow, the systems of representation that underlie their use become increasingly influential. In this paper, we present results from empirical studies of two online communities— Facebook and craigslist Missed Connections—that highlight the ways in which this underlying infrastructure and the user practices on these sites are inherently intertwined. We make particular use of a framework first introduced by Agre that focuses on the influence of eight underlying features of computing practice: ontology, standards, instrumentation, authentication, interpretation, selection, bias, and performance. The results of this analysis indicate how representational systems do more than simply represent the physical world; they are deeply intertwined with the social and material practices of everyday life.
CSCW
Best Paper Honorable Mention
"We will never forget you [online]": an empirical investigation of post-mortem MySpace comments Jed R. Brubaker and Gillian R. Hayes
ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2011)
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1145/1958824.1958843
The proliferation of social network sites has resulted in an increasing number of profiles representing deceased users. In this paper, we present the results of a mixed-methods empirical study of 205,068 comments posted to 1,369 MySpace profiles of users who have died. Our results reveal interesting practices surrounding issues of authorship and audience, temporal patterns in posting, and continued social networking with the dead. These results suggest that post-mortem commenting behavior blends memorializing practices with existing practices and communication patterns for social network sites. We conclude by outlining future directions for research and implications for the understanding and use of social network sites in light of a deeper understanding of post-mortem comments.

2010

Workshop paper
Death and the Social Network Jed R. Brubaker and Janet Vertesi
HCI at the End of Life Workshop at CHI2010
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
To understand the role and potential of social networks after the death of a user, we collected a dataset comprised of profile pages of now deceased users (including the visible comments or wall posts), preliminary interviews, and public comments related to this topic found on Facebook, Twitter, and various newspapers and blogs. Profiles and associated comments were collected from MySpace and Facebook by soliciting the authors’ networks of friends, as well as through a random snowball sampling of MyDeathSpace.com.1 Interviews were solicited from friends and colleagues with first hand experience with this phenomena and have been used to understand the complexity of potential interactions. This dataset is exploratory in nature, and as such the comments included in this paper are predominantly limited to social network sites. We are currently planning a broader-scale deployment of this study to produce a larger set of SNS data. For now, we present two preliminary, analytically determined findings: intersubjectivity and technospirituality.
CSCWWorkshop paper
PatientsLikeMe: Empowerment and Representation in a Patient-Centered Social Network Jed R. Brubaker, Caitie Lustig, and Gillian R. Hayes
CSCW 2010 Workshop: CSCW Research in Healthcare: Past, Present, and Future
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
We examine the patient networking site PatientsLikeMe relative to current trends in medicine toward patient-centered care and empowerment. We focus on both patient and institutional demands for personal medical data. Given PatientsLikeMe’s mixture of social networking and health management tools, we consider the role of online health communities in the changing patient/provider relationship, and the use of patient-provided medical data.
Poster
Attitudes and Readiness for Adoption of an Electronic Medical Records System: A Preliminary Case Study Jed R. Brubaker, Yunan Chen, Karen Cheng, Chris Combs, Sidney Harrison, Gillian R. Hayes, and Sherrie Kaplan
International Workshop on Interactive Systems in Healthcare
- Reference
- BibTeX

2009

Thesis
I am an ID: Non/persisting our sociotechnical digital identities Jed R. Brubaker
Georgetown University, M.A. Thesis
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
Our online identities are collaborations between user behavior and technology. Increasingly, computers speak on our behalf, representing our identities in configurations that are shaped by the technological systems through which they are communicated. This sociotechnical relationship is particularly evident in the user profiles seen on social network sites. Given the rise of technologies that utilize identity, this thesis examines the role of persistence by considering the ways in which users and technology collaborate in the creation of digital identities, the ways in which technology structures and stores these identities, and the social behaviors these identities enable.; The concept of identity persistence is explored through two case studies: persistent identities on the popular social network site Facebook, and non-persistent or "single-use identities" seen on craigslist Missed Connections, an online equivalent to "I saw you" personal ads. Facebook allows users to capture and store personal and interpersonal information that can then be reused across social activities and system features. This universal profile however, results in a singular self-presentation that must represent the user across the various social networks to which his Facebook profile is exposed. Users on craigslist engage in much of the same behavior, but without technology to structure and maintain their identities. Instead users produce single-use identities for each post by utilizing interpretive resources from outside of the craigslist system.; This thesis concludes with a consideration of digital identities as a part of our larger social and institutional infrastructures. Software such as Facebook is built around essentialized conceptions of identity that, once stored as a set of categories and classifications in a database, can become rigid and unusable. Approaching identities from the perspective of the work they perform, I argue for a reexamination of digital identity as a functional unit of larger infrastructures, and articulate some of the potential challenges when persisting something as dynamic as identity.

2008

ChapterTalk
I judged you at Starbucks – m4m (craigslist missed connections): digital communication and the regulation of real world contexts Jed R. Brubaker
quickanddirty IV
- Reference
- BibTeX

Journal

wants moar: Visual Media’s Use of Text in LOLcats and Silent Film Jed R. Brubaker
gnovis Journal 8: 117–124

PDF
Reference
BibTeX

@article{Brubaker2008,
  author = {Brubaker, Jed R.},
  journal = {gnovis Journal},
  keywords = {online},
  tags = {online},
  number = {8},
  pages = {117--124},
  shorttitle = {wants moar},
  title = {{wants moar: Visual Media's Use of Text in LOLcats and Silent Film}},
  year = {2008}
}

2007

Journal
Developing a Life Story: Constructing Relations between Self and Experience in Autobiographical Narratives M. Pasupathi, E. Mansour, and J.R. Brubaker
Human Development 50, 2-3: 85–110
- Abstract
- PDF
- Reference
- BibTeX
- DOI: 10.1159/000100939
In this paper, we consider how the life story develops through the creation of self-event connections in narrating experiences. We first outline the ways in which such connections have been implied by existing work on the life story, and then consider the varieties of such connections that we see in our own work. That work suggests that self-event connections can construct both a stable sense of self as well as a sense of how the self has changed across time. Moreover, different types of connections have different implications for the development of the life story. We also consider developmental and other factors which make one or another type of connection more likely. Finally, we consider two issues for future work, as well as some methodological considerations involved in testing those proposals.