My time in lovely Copenhagen has drawn to a close, after a whirlwind visit at the University of Copenhagen's Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, sponsored by Uncertain Archives and the Digital Culture Research Network. Special thanks to Nanna Bonde Thylstrup and to Kristin Veel for their hospitality and generosity with their time. I was honored… Continue reading Tak, København!
Tag: CCM
Fall in Europe: COST Action in Estonia and University of Copenhagen
Travel has taken me to two exciting and lovely locations in Europe this past week. It was my great pleasure to be invited to the sixth meeting of the COST Action "The Dynamics of Virtual Work," led by a venerable and indefatigable expert in that area, Dr. Ursula Huws, and involving an extraordinary list of… Continue reading Fall in Europe: COST Action in Estonia and University of Copenhagen
Digital Labor Video Series (and a few updates)
It has been a busy few months and my updates have been lax. Travel took me to the American Studies Association's 2014 Meeting in Los Angeles and then, just days later, to New York City for the Digital Labor 2014 conference at The New School. Both were extraordinary events and wonderful opportunities to talk about… Continue reading Digital Labor Video Series (and a few updates)
WIRED Publishes Piece on Commercial Content Moderation (CCM) in Philippines; US
After many months of anticipation, journalist Adrian Chen's piece on commercial content moderation as practiced in BPO (business process outsourcing) sites in the Philippines is out in WIRED magazine today. In it, Chen focuses on the employees of a US firm, TaskUs, whose employees are laboring on behalf of Silicon Valley social media startup Whisper and… Continue reading WIRED Publishes Piece on Commercial Content Moderation (CCM) in Philippines; US
Interview on CBC Ontario Morning
On April 1st, I was interviewed on CBC's Ontario Morning radio program by host Wei Chen. During the 7-minute live interview, Chen asked me about my work on commercial content moderation (CCM) and the workers that do it. It was my pleasure to share an overview of this work, and its implications, with Ontario Morning… Continue reading Interview on CBC Ontario Morning
CCM at UCLA: Feb. 20th talk at GSEIS
It was my great pleasure to visit UCLA to deliver a talk on February 20th. The invitation from the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies (GSEIS) could not have come at a better time, in the midst of this brutal Canadian winter. A good combination of students, faculty from GSEIS and Labor Studies, gracious co-sponsorsof… Continue reading CCM at UCLA: Feb. 20th talk at GSEIS
NPR’s All Things Considered: Commercial Content Moderation (CCM) and the Internet Shadows
Greetings to all listeners who just heard the interview with me on today's All Things Considered. If you'd like to learn more about CCM and my research about the practice and people who do it, please hop over to this page for an overview and detailed discussion. For those who missed the story, you may… Continue reading NPR’s All Things Considered: Commercial Content Moderation (CCM) and the Internet Shadows
Obscurity through Transparency: Facebook releases infographic that reveals little – by design?
As reported by Reuters and picked up in the Huffington Post, Facebook today released a confusing infographic ostensibly designed to shed light on the cryptic route that reported content takes through the company's circuit of screening. According to the company, content flagged as inappropriate, for any one of myriad reasons, makes its way to "...staffers… Continue reading Obscurity through Transparency: Facebook releases infographic that reveals little – by design?
Social Media’s Dirty Work: Contextualizing the Facebook Screening Controversy
In the past few days my inbox has seen an influx in forwards from friends and colleagues, all sharing links with me covering the recent revelation that Facebook outsources some of its dirtiest work, and that those firms handling Facebook's outsourced labor pay exploitatively low wages for some of the most psychologically damaging digital work… Continue reading Social Media’s Dirty Work: Contextualizing the Facebook Screening Controversy
Sarah T. Roberts | The Illusion of Volition 