Anyone have visibility into what new contracts Palantir is getting across federal agencies? (And what contracts DOGE is canceling to give to Palantir?). Or Oracle for that matter?
danah boyd
@zephoria
- 6.7K Followers
- 213 Following
- 118 Posts
Researcher who once upon a time joined every new social media service out there. She/ze.
Personal update: I'm joining Cornell as a Professor of Communication starting in Fall of 2025. ::bounce:: If you're curious about my thinking, see: https://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2024/10/29/im-joining-the-cornell-faculty.html
I finally got off my toosh and ported my newsletter. I only write sporadically, but it's free! Sign up here: https://made-not-found-by-danah-boyd.ghost.io
The myth that social media harms kids drives me bonkers. So I tried to frame my thinking of risks vs. harms in today's rant: https://zephoria.substack.com/p/risks-vs-harms-youth-and-social-media
Risks vs. Harms: Youth & Social Media
I hate that the "social media is bad for teens" myth will not die. In this little rant, I tackle one part of this puzzle: the obsession with "harms" (thanks lawyers) and the implications of not thinking through how to respond coherently to risks.
Last week, I got to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Data & Society with old and new friends. I'm still teary-eyed thinking of how joyous that was. Here my recap: https://substack.com/home/post/p-149666577
Just as there's no singular public, there's no singular imaginary. In high stakes political situations, imaginaries are entangled and messy. Jayshree Sarathy and I examined four census controversies to explore different arrangements of imaginaries: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/08969205241270898
Calling all science/tech folks: Do you have thoughts about xkcd? Parker Bach & I are trying to understand the role that xkcd plays in the scientific/technical community. Will you share your thoughts? https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=v4j5cvGGr0GRqy180BHbR64w9CfkmX9HrkRf2PpIZWBUQ1oxRERXVFFIRERIQUhJSDhDNVoxUU1CNS4u&route=shorturl And since we are doing a snowball sample, please spread the word!
"[The obsession with AI] fundamentally has to do with power, and certainly with the power to make life... The people involved in this are men and that they have very idealistic fantasies about creating thinking robots that will ... reach a human level within the next 40 years, quickly become superior to us, and finally realize that they can get along much better without us, and they will take over and we will disappear... This is an expression of a uterus envy." - Joseph Weizenbaum, 1996
Last week, I spoke with the amazing @taylorlorenz about the contemporary moral panics surrounding young people and their use of social media (and why this does so much harm to young people). It was a great conversation. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS1wax3KjnA (or listen to it on the Power User Podcast via your favorite podcast app)
New paper by @cyberlyra and I in a Sociologica special issue on failure looks at how constraining time/money in public sector orgs like NASA and the Census Bureau can introduce risk. In short, resource binds can trigger legitimacy crises. https://sociologica.unibo.it/article/view/18894