danah boyd
@zephoria.bsky.social
STS researcher who likes to look at things sideways. Founded Data & Society.
Topics: Census | Youth | Data | Society
Professor of Communication, Cornell
https://made-not-found-by-danah-boyd.ghost.io
Topics: Census | Youth | Data | Society
Professor of Communication, Cornell
https://made-not-found-by-danah-boyd.ghost.io
I'm trying to make sense of diff approaches to climate change that I've watched emerge. Here's my attempt to bucket them. The logics of the hedonists, Evangelicals, xenophobes, and accelerationists are all shaping our political reality these days. ::gulp::
www.zephoria.org/thoughts/arc...
www.zephoria.org/thoughts/arc...
April 10, 2025 at 6:18 PM
I'm trying to make sense of diff approaches to climate change that I've watched emerge. Here's my attempt to bucket them. The logics of the hedonists, Evangelicals, xenophobes, and accelerationists are all shaping our political reality these days. ::gulp::
www.zephoria.org/thoughts/arc...
www.zephoria.org/thoughts/arc...
I feel like we need an Al Anon for civil servants. They’ve always had an unhealthy partnership with those addicted to politics while trying to calm them down. Now their partners are on a bender and being abusive as heck. Some are trying to please their abuser. Others are in a mental tailspin.
March 13, 2025 at 7:26 PM
I feel like we need an Al Anon for civil servants. They’ve always had an unhealthy partnership with those addicted to politics while trying to calm them down. Now their partners are on a bender and being abusive as heck. Some are trying to please their abuser. Others are in a mental tailspin.
Girl Scout Cookie Season is coming to an end (thank the f#!*ing MLM gods). So last call if you want support my daughter by buying cookies online! (You can also just donate.)
March 8, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Girl Scout Cookie Season is coming to an end (thank the f#!*ing MLM gods). So last call if you want support my daughter by buying cookies online! (You can also just donate.)
They just noticed, eh? “Retired” he says? ::groan:: Diane Vaughan did such a superb job of describing the serious multi-decade consequences of Reagan’s firings. And here we are. The aviation sitch is about to get much worse.
February 27, 2025 at 9:29 PM
They just noticed, eh? “Retired” he says? ::groan:: Diane Vaughan did such a superb job of describing the serious multi-decade consequences of Reagan’s firings. And here we are. The aviation sitch is about to get much worse.
Dear artists, comedians, and satirists: None of us can do the work we're doing without y'all helping to keep us sane. Please keep bringing the laughter amidst the pain. I am so grateful to you.
February 24, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Dear artists, comedians, and satirists: None of us can do the work we're doing without y'all helping to keep us sane. Please keep bringing the laughter amidst the pain. I am so grateful to you.
In early Jan, I submitted an abstract to an ICA pre-conference: "Jenga Politics: The Strategic Weaponization of Distrust." I worried that the organizers would think that I was batshit crazy. A lot has happened since. Now this abstract feels *way* too on the nose. Why can't I predict happy futures?
February 24, 2025 at 4:23 PM
In early Jan, I submitted an abstract to an ICA pre-conference: "Jenga Politics: The Strategic Weaponization of Distrust." I worried that the organizers would think that I was batshit crazy. A lot has happened since. Now this abstract feels *way* too on the nose. Why can't I predict happy futures?
It took me a moment to realize that this picture of Tulsi Gabbard was not in fact a picture of Cruella de Vil.
February 14, 2025 at 9:10 PM
It took me a moment to realize that this picture of Tulsi Gabbard was not in fact a picture of Cruella de Vil.
My heart ached when I was reminded that Aaron Swartz was prosecuted for trying to make academic knowledge more accessible to the public. Meta, meanwhile, is doing it for their own bottom line. I'm going to guess that no one at Meta will be looking at spending 35 years in jail for this.
February 11, 2025 at 11:45 PM
My heart ached when I was reminded that Aaron Swartz was prosecuted for trying to make academic knowledge more accessible to the public. Meta, meanwhile, is doing it for their own bottom line. I'm going to guess that no one at Meta will be looking at spending 35 years in jail for this.
We are living through wildfires, both literally and metaphorically. As our democracy burns down, we can learn a lot from what firefighters do - and how those around them support them. Right now, we have to fight this fire. But we also need to imagine what comes next. www.zephoria.org/thoughts/arc...
February 7, 2025 at 7:08 PM
We are living through wildfires, both literally and metaphorically. As our democracy burns down, we can learn a lot from what firefighters do - and how those around them support them. Right now, we have to fight this fire. But we also need to imagine what comes next. www.zephoria.org/thoughts/arc...
Many of us are aghast at the unprecedented dismantlement of the US administrative state. All around me, people are trying to connect what’s happening to historical events. Here's my attempt to offer a few possible frames for sense-making right now:
www.zephoria.org/thoughts/arc...
www.zephoria.org/thoughts/arc...
February 3, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Many of us are aghast at the unprecedented dismantlement of the US administrative state. All around me, people are trying to connect what’s happening to historical events. Here's my attempt to offer a few possible frames for sense-making right now:
www.zephoria.org/thoughts/arc...
www.zephoria.org/thoughts/arc...
As the EOs and orders keep coming, I keep thinking of the exhibit in the Berlin Jewish Museum that displays the 962 anti-Jewish laws and policies in order as they came down. These kinds of drumbeats are designed not just to oppress but to normalize oppression. www.jmberlin.de/en/jmb-journ...
February 1, 2025 at 12:33 PM
As the EOs and orders keep coming, I keep thinking of the exhibit in the Berlin Jewish Museum that displays the 962 anti-Jewish laws and policies in order as they came down. These kinds of drumbeats are designed not just to oppress but to normalize oppression. www.jmberlin.de/en/jmb-journ...
What bothers me the most about today’s anti-DEI notice from OPM is not the end of the programs. (That’s a policy choice.) Rather, it’s the loyalty test that comes with it. Civil servants are beholden to the law (eg the Administrative Procedures Act), not one man.
January 22, 2025 at 5:36 PM
What bothers me the most about today’s anti-DEI notice from OPM is not the end of the programs. (That’s a policy choice.) Rather, it’s the loyalty test that comes with it. Civil servants are beholden to the law (eg the Administrative Procedures Act), not one man.
I could accept a new mascot.
January 21, 2025 at 3:05 PM
I could accept a new mascot.
Can someone please explain to me where it is common to define sexes by the production of the large and small “reproductive cell”? I have never seen definitions anchored this way. Where does this come from? www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
January 21, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Can someone please explain to me where it is common to define sexes by the production of the large and small “reproductive cell”? I have never seen definitions anchored this way. Where does this come from? www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Fuck you Facebook. That was the first thought I had when I woke up this morning. Followed by: What ministry is Mark Zuckerberg volunteering to manage for the dictators of the world? Ah, yes. The Ministry of Empowerment. And here's a rager of a blog post on this: www.zephoria.org/thoughts/arc...
January 8, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Fuck you Facebook. That was the first thought I had when I woke up this morning. Followed by: What ministry is Mark Zuckerberg volunteering to manage for the dictators of the world? Ah, yes. The Ministry of Empowerment. And here's a rager of a blog post on this: www.zephoria.org/thoughts/arc...
Despite utter chaos in figuring out how to get to Machu Picchu, we did it! And wow. Just wow. I’m so in awe of the Inca people.
December 29, 2024 at 10:28 PM
Despite utter chaos in figuring out how to get to Machu Picchu, we did it! And wow. Just wow. I’m so in awe of the Inca people.
Apparently, according to Peru Rail, I live in the United States of AI…
December 28, 2024 at 4:09 PM
Apparently, according to Peru Rail, I live in the United States of AI…
I went to school with a lot of computer scientists who do graphics. Many work at Pixar. One shared this today. :(
It’s scary how erasure is being used to try to crush young people’s efforts to understand who they are.
It’s scary how erasure is being used to try to crush young people’s efforts to understand who they are.
December 19, 2024 at 5:47 AM
I went to school with a lot of computer scientists who do graphics. Many work at Pixar. One shared this today. :(
It’s scary how erasure is being used to try to crush young people’s efforts to understand who they are.
It’s scary how erasure is being used to try to crush young people’s efforts to understand who they are.
Disney’s crowd management never ceases to amaze me. Individually unpredictable humans who think they have agency turn into collectively predictable crowds. I want to know more about the algorithms behind it all. Like the wait times.
December 1, 2024 at 4:43 PM
Disney’s crowd management never ceases to amaze me. Individually unpredictable humans who think they have agency turn into collectively predictable crowds. I want to know more about the algorithms behind it all. Like the wait times.
I know it’s heretical but the thing I miss most about not doing today’s standard feast is the jellied cranberry sauce. No one will eat this stuff with me on other days. Le sigh.
November 29, 2024 at 2:50 AM
I know it’s heretical but the thing I miss most about not doing today’s standard feast is the jellied cranberry sauce. No one will eat this stuff with me on other days. Le sigh.
Ok, I get that the okapi are related to giraffes but it’s reaaally hard not to just scream out “zebra butt” whenever you see one. The markings on these creatures never cease to amaze me. What game is nature playing?!
November 26, 2024 at 2:55 AM
Ok, I get that the okapi are related to giraffes but it’s reaaally hard not to just scream out “zebra butt” whenever you see one. The markings on these creatures never cease to amaze me. What game is nature playing?!
I *love* the rush of energy in my networks here. But it’s also made me realize how rage makes me want to curl into a ball and hide rather than mobilize for change. If you’re like me and need joy/smiles to keep you motivated to fight for a just world, here’s a cat picture. {{hug}}
November 17, 2024 at 9:21 PM
I *love* the rush of energy in my networks here. But it’s also made me realize how rage makes me want to curl into a ball and hide rather than mobilize for change. If you’re like me and need joy/smiles to keep you motivated to fight for a just world, here’s a cat picture. {{hug}}
Ummm... This chart is TERRIFYING. Have the data centers that undergird AI already triggered this much of a shift in energy consumption? ::shudder:: www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
March 8, 2024 at 2:17 AM
Ummm... This chart is TERRIFYING. Have the data centers that undergird AI already triggered this much of a shift in energy consumption? ::shudder:: www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
The Kids Online Safety Act isn’t designed to help kids. Congress is using kids to hold Big Tech accountable. Kids will get hurt in the process. zephoria.medium.com/kosa-isnt-de...
January 31, 2024 at 3:03 PM
The Kids Online Safety Act isn’t designed to help kids. Congress is using kids to hold Big Tech accountable. Kids will get hurt in the process. zephoria.medium.com/kosa-isnt-de...