digital anthropology

HASH, where Maggie works along with Stack Overflow cofounder Joel Spolsky, is an open-core platform for creating simulations that help people make better decisions.

Explore Maggie’s writing on everything from digital anthropology to best practices for illustrating invisible programming concepts.

Maggie recommends the Nielsen Norman Group website as the best resource for folks getting up to speed on research-based UX.

Today’s Lifeboat badge goes to user Sten for their answer to Detecting transparency in an image.

Rich Gall (@richggall) and Jennifer Riggins (@jkriggins) talk with digital anthropologist Caitlin McDonald about what it means to be a digital anthropologist and why it matters in helping us to understand the way we build and use technology today. 

Caitlin begins by talking through how her work intersects with questions of agency and digital literacy, providing some useful context on how perceptions and understanding about what techbology does and how it's made can have an impact on the way it influences our lives. 

She also explains why there's a growing need for anthropological thinking in the tech industry, and why businesses and governments are starting to see the value in the disciplines specific ways of thinking about culture and communication. She also talks about digital anthropology in the context of the emerging conversation around ethics, and how changes in legislation and compliance rules is increasing demand for work that can help companies tackle these issues head on.

We also discuss ethnography, and compare it to quantitative research. Caitlin notes that there's an emerging scepticism of quantitative methods and its ability to deliver value. 

Finally, we talk about Caitlin's work outside of digital anthropology, such as her work as a coach and her personal technology projects.  She emphasises the value of having a space to adopt a more playful and less productive approach to technology and to "reconnect with technical skills in a low-stakes way."

• Follow Caitlin MacDonald on Twitter: @cmcd_phd
• Explore Caitlin's techy projects
• Learn more about EPIC and ethnography in industry
• Learn more about Microsoft's ethics game, Judgment Call
• Read Tricia Wang's Why Big Data Needs Thick Data

On the internet, anyone has the potential to become a celebrity. Some actively seek internet fame by carefully cultivating their online identity; while others may become unwitting internet celebrities when a stray, unflattering image of themselves is used as the subject of a meme.

In this episode, David is joined by digital anthropologist Dr Crystal Abidin, to discuss the rise and fall of both ‘deliberate’ and ‘accidental’ online celebrities.

• Why influencers are more than just product-pushing advertisers (2.17)
• How the law affects social media influencers differently to traditional advertisers (9.23)
• How a social media platform changing, or closing down entirely, affects both influencers and their fans (14.05)
• The rise of people being memed and accidentally becoming celebrities (17.24)
• Why we’re shifting away from picture-perfect, professional social media influencers and valuing those who are more authentic (23.44)
• On the rise of virtual influencers and other trends (28.28)

Learn more

• ABC News: Students are fighting climate change, one TikTok video at a time
• BBC: How turning ‘likes’ invisible is changing Instagram
• BBC: Life beyond the meme: what happens after you go viral
• Drinktank: Seven wonders of the social media influencer

Got any questions, or suggestions for future topics?

Email thefutureof@curtin.edu.au.

Curtin University supports academic freedom of speech. The views expressed in The Future Of podcast may not reflect those of the university.

Music: OKAY by 13ounce Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 Music promoted by Audio Library

You can read the full transcript for the episode here.