Social media censorship in times of political unrest: a social simulation experiment with the UK riots

Following the 2011 wave of political unrest, extending from the Arab Spring to the UK riots, the formation of a large consensus around Internet censorship is underway. The present paper adopts a social simulation approach to show that the decision to “regulate”, filter or censor social media in situations of unrest changes the pattern of civil protest and ultimately results in higher levels of violence. Building on Epstein's (2002) agent-based model, several alternative scenarios are generated. The systemic optimum, represented by complete absence of censorship, not only corresponds to lower levels of violence over time, but allows for significant periods of social peace after each outburst

Waiting for Robots: The ever-elusive myth of automation and the global exploitation of digital labor

Discourses of robotic replacement and of the end of work have survived to the present day. But more and more voices now challenge the very idea that technological innovation is necessarily conducive to job loss. According to several studies, new high-tech jobs is accompanied by an even bigger low-tech job creation, and AI can be expected to be no exception. Based on new evidence about the role of human-annotated data in machine learning and algorithmic solutions, a new generation of scholars are now studying the germane phenomena of “heteromation”, “automation last mile” or, more simply, platform-based digital labor needed to generate, train, verify, and sometimes modify in real-time huge quantities of examples that machines are supposed to learn from. Digital labor designates datified and taskified human activities. The first type of platform occupation is on-demand labor. The second type of platform-based digital labor is microwork. Finally, the third type of digital labor is social networked labor

Le Stéthoscope et la Souris: Savoirs médicaux et imaginaires numériques du corps

National audienceThis contribution highlights the links between AIDS activism, bioinformatics and the emergence of a "bodily utopia" in the last decades of the 20th century. By analyzing the social impact of mass computing on the relationships between physicians and patients, it addresses the challenges to medical biopower represented by the uncontrolled dissemination of medical information on digital networks.Cette contribution met en évidence les liens entre le militantisme Sida, la bioinformatique et l'émergence d'une corporéité utopique depuis les dernières décennies du 20e siècle. En analysant l'impact social de l'informatique de masse sur les relations entre médecins et patients, elle prend en compte les défis posés au biopouvoir par la dissémination incontrôlée de l'information médicale sur les réseaux numériques

From the virtual class to the click workers: the transformation of work into service in the era of digital platforms

Ao contrário da fantasia de uma classe virtual de trabalhadores livres do trabalho, a flexibilidade dos serviços de microtarefas, realizadas por todos os usuários de plataformas digitais, beneficia apenas as empresas do Vale do Silício.Contrary to the fantasy of a virtual class of workers free from work, the flexibility of micro-task services, performed by all users of digital platforms, only benefits companies in the Silicon Valley

Reddito universale di cittadinanza e riforma della moneta. Una proposta di portafoglio elettronico di moneta di cittadinanza

Afin d'accompagner l'introduction d'une forme durable de revenu universel de citoyenneté, cette contribution avance une proposition de réforme monétaire basée sur la création de monnaie électronique fondante. Cette monnaie, numérique et périssable, aurait comme effet d'éluder la nature spéculative et inflationniste du revenu universel moyennant la mise en place d'un portefeuille électronique de citoyenneté.Al fine di accompagnare l'introduzione di una forma sostenible di reddito universale di cittadinanza, questa contribuzione avanza una proposta di riforma monetaria basata su una moneta di decumulo. Questa valuta, digitale e transitoria, avrebbe come effetto di eludere la natura sperequativa e inflattiva del reddito universale a traverso la creazione di un portafoglio elettronico di cittadinanza

An ethno-computational approach to friendship in SNS

This paper focuses on how different configurations of privacy settings, content-sharing and culture traits display affect the formation of online friendship networks. By adopting an innovative ethno-computational methodology (as developed in Tubaro & Casilli, 2010), we draw on a participant observation carried out on the popular SNS Facebook to subsequently inform an agent-based model. The ethnographic phase suggests the hypothesis that culture traits display plays a crucial role in the creation of ties and is motivated by social capital maximisation. This hypothesis is problematized through the analysis of simulated network data. New dynamics emerge from the computational interaction of agents, such as 1) a tension between bridging and bonding dynamics; 2) relevance of privacy settings; 3) anomie. As homophily alone fails to account for tie formation and maintenance, Lahire’s (2004) notion of “cultural dissonance” – through which individuals adhere to their group culture while preserving their “self distinction” – can be productively conjured up to explain friendship formation in online social networks

Légitimation intersubjective de la présence en ligne et formation de réseaux sociaux: Une approche ethno-computationnelle

Cette étude porte sur le rôle de la légitimation des descriptions physiques et culturelles (apparence, goûts, styles, préférences) dans les interactions assistées par ordinateur au sein d‟un site généraliste de networking social. En employant une méthodologie mixte empirique et computationnelle, un modèle multi-agents est construit à partir d‟une observation participante menée dans le réseau Facebook. Les résultats préliminaires montrent comment différentes configurations de trois éléments (présentation de soi, options de protection de la vie privée et partage de contenus) affectent inégalement les modalités de légitimation réciproque de la présence et – finalement – concourent à la formation de réseaux d‟« amitié » en ligne aux configurations multiples. En analysant les caractéristiques structurelles (densité, centralité, homophilie, etc.) ainsi que les dynamiques de construction de relations sociales entre bridging et bonding, des stratégies sociales visant à trouver un équilibre entre adhésion aux valeurs du groupe et « dissonance culturelle » font surface

Létezik-e digitális munkakultúra?: A munka marginalizációja, globális egyenlőtlenségek és kolonialitás

* Eredeti tanulmány: Casilli, Antonio (2016): Is There a Global Digital Labor Culture?: Marginalization of Work, Global Inequalities, and Coloniality. Előadás a 2nd Symposium of the Project for Advanced Research in Global Communication (PARGC)­on, 2016. április, Philadelphia, USA.International audienceA digitális munka platformalapú, algoritmusok által közvetített feladatokat jelent, amiket honlapok és alkalmazások felhasználói végeznek el. Többek közt on-demand szolgáltatá-sok tartoznak ide, mint az Uber, mikromunka-portálok, mint az Amazon Mechanical Turk, de idesoroljuk a Facebookhoz hasonló közösségi média és az összekapcsolt eszközök általi adatkinyerést is. A digitális munkával foglalkozó kutatások eddig nagyrészt az USA-ra és Európára fókuszáltak. A kutatási projektek egy újabb hulláma ezt az elfogultságot igyekszik orvosolni a munkaszociológia, a médiakutatás, a posztkoloniális elméletek és a subaltern studies keresztezésével, valamint a fejlődő és feltörekvő országok középpontba helyezésével, ahol a formális munkaviszonyok alacsony aránya együtt jár a digitális munka terjedésével. Az újonnan elérhető kutatási eredmények betekintést engednek abba, hogyan járul hozzá a társadalmi kirekesztéshez és kizsákmányoláshoz az online feladatok kiszervezése nem nyugati országokba. A tanulmány utolsó része azt tárgyalja, hogy ez a kiterjedt klikk-farmgazdaság, amely az értékek és adatok globális Délről a globális Északra történő transzferén nyugszik, milyen mértékben fogható fel „neokoloniális” rendszerként

Is There a Global Digital Labor Culture? : Marginalization of Work, Global Inequalities, and Coloniality.

International audienceDigital labor designates platform-based algorithm-mediated tasks performed by human users of websites and apps. It concerns on-demand services such as Uber, micro-work portals such as Amazon Mechanical Turk, as well as data extraction via connected devices or social media such as Facebook. Digital labor studies have so far mainly focused on US and Europe. A new breed of research projects aims to correct this bias by intersecting labor, media, post-colonial, and subaltern studies, and tackle developing and emerging countries where the rise of digital labor accompanies low rates of formal employment. Newly available evidence offers insights into dynamics of social exclusion and exploitation through the outsourcing of online tasks to non-Western countries. The last part of the article discusses the extent to which this vast click farm economy predicated on value and data transfer from the Global South to the North can be construed as a " neocolonial " system

Anthropologie et numérique: renouvellement méthodologique ou reconfiguration disciplinaire?

Cette contribution pose les questions soulevées par l’utilisation des technologies numériques au sein des sciences humaines et sociales. Le numérique va-t-il transformer les pratiques et les méthodes au sein de ces disciplines ou favoriser la création de nouvelles disciplines et de nouvelles méthodes?This contribution raises questions around the utilisation of the digital technologies in Social Sciences and Humanities. Could Digital technologies transform methodologies and practices in these disciplines or could it foster the creation of new disciplines and within new methodologies?Esta contribución plantea problemáticas acerca del uso de las tecnologías digitales en la Ciencias Sociales y las Humanidades. ¿Las tecnologías digitales van transformar las metodologías y prácticas de éstas disciplinas o van a promover la creación de nuevas disciplinas y nuevas metodologías