Ethno-writing about digital infrastructure

Data & Society is a NYC-based research institute focused on the social and cultural issues arising from data-centric technological development. The institute that was founded by danah boyd, principal researcher and Microsoft Research and frequently featured on this blog, looks like a fantastic place to do research for or simply to be inspired by:

The issues that Data & Society seeks to address are complex. The same innovative technologies and sociotechnical practices that enable novel modes of interaction, new opportunities for knowledge, and disruptive business paradigms can also be abused to invade people’s privacy, provide new tools of discrimination, and harm individuals and communities.

To provide frameworks that can help society address emergent tensions, Data & Society is committed to identifying issues at the intersection of technology and society, providing research that can ground public debates, and building a network of researchers and practitioners who can offer insight and direction.

The institute conducts research programs, organizes events and conferences, and publishes quite a lot, often in mainstream publications such as The Atlantic, Quartz and the New York Times.

Here are some recent writings that caught our interest:

How do emerging technologies and algorithms see us, and how does that change the way we see ourselves?
A series of 16 articles (so far) by Ingrid Burrington (Data & Society Fellow and Artist-in-Residence)
Published in The Atlantic over the course of 2015

Can’t put down your device? That’s by design
By Natasha Singer (Technology Reporter at the New York Times and Data & Society Fellow)
New York Times – December 5, 2015

Peering, Sharing, Caring – All the names for the new digital economy, and why none of them fits
By Gideon Lichfield (Senior Editor at Quartz and Data & Society Fellow)
Quartz – November 12, 2015

Is using technology for learning a good idea?
By Monica Bulger (Data & Society Researcher)
LSE – November 11, 2015