This thesis scrutinizes the evolution of Internet technologies, the changing paradigms of netizens’ online interactions, and the socioeconomic structures of Internet platforms in the larger context of the proposed shift from a centralized web to a decentralized one.
Subverting the Algorithm: Examining Anti-Algorithmic Tactics on Social Media
The first case study investigates how Black Facebook users have used alternative spellings to avoid detection by content moderation algorithms. The second case study investigates how users of Gobo, a social media browsing tool, have used tactics to minimize the influence of content curation algorithms on their social media feeds.
Wrestling With Systemic Edges: Designing For Long-Term Social Change
How the lack of nuance in data representation and media practices of the American educational system impedes the design of effective educational interventions for low-income Black youth.
Last Night a DJ Queered My Life: Disrupting the Mythologies of a Popular Media Practice
This project examines queer and feminist DJ practice through ethnographic research with women and nonbinary DJs of color.
Roguelife: Digital Death in Videogames and Its Design Consequences
A multifaceted theoretical framework to inform my investigation of the roguelike genre and its atypical model of death.
Operational Atmosphere: Mediating Policing in the ‘Fight Against Crime’ and ‘Rural Terrorism’ in Chile
This thesis delves into a critical study of the contemporary anatomy of power, in which mediation processes are becoming central to policing practices, with a focus on two contexts: the fight against crime in urban areas, and the battle against “rural violence” or “terrorism” in the Mapuche indigenous territories in the south of Chile.
Manufacturing Dissent: Assessing the Methods and Impact of RT (Russia Today)
This thesis seeks to unravel and assess RT’s historical roots, its creation and evolution, its methods, and ultimately its impact on American politics and society.
