Media Scholar and Activist danah boyd Speaks March 30 at Smith

danah boyd, a leading social media researcher who has sparked important conversations about data and privacy in our increasingly interconnected world, will speak on technology and society in a talk titled “Living in a Culture of Algorithms” at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 30, in Weinstein Auditorium, Wright Hall.

The event, which is open to the public at no charge, is part of Smith’s Presidential Colloquium series, “Thinking in Public in a Networked World.”

Weaving together her work on youth, privacy and data-driven technologies, boyd’s talk will examine the complicated social and cultural dynamics underpinning social media, the messiness of “big data,” and the problematic implications of using algorithms designed for one problem to address societal issues without accounting for unintended consequences.

boyd—who lowercases her name “for political and personal” reasons—describes herself as both an activist and a scholar. She has conducted extensive research on how young people use social media in their daily lives. She documented this work in a book, It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens, and in two books that she co-authored: Hanging Out, Messing Around: Kids Living and Learning with New Media and Participatory Culture in a Networked Era.

President Kathleen McCartney praised boyd’s research and scholarship on technology, social media and youth empowerment. McCartney and boyd collaborated on a 2012 anti-bullying summit at Harvard University at which Lady Gaga launched the Born This Way Foundation.

boyd has been widely recognized for her work and research. The Financial Times dubbed her “The High Priestess of Internet Friendship,” and Fortune magazine identified her as the smartest academic in tech. She was named one of Technology Review’s 2010 Young Innovators under 35, and her work has been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Fast Company and the Boston Globe.

boyd received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Brown University, a master’s degree in sociable information from MIT Media Lab and a doctorate in information from the University of California, Berkeley.

More information is available at www.danah.org.