Bridging the open Web and platforms: Alternative social media alongside the corporate Web.
When: Wednesday, January 30 @ 1 p.m.
Where: The Catalyst, RCC 230
All are welcome! RSVP on Facebook here.
Bring your lunch for a discussion with Jack Jamieson, PhD candidate at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information.
Amid mounting concerns about the power of major Internet platforms, it is important to investigate efforts to build alternatives. This talk presents an empirical study of Bridgy — a tool for engaging with social media without surrendering ownership of one’s content to platforms. Jack Jamieson will describe how Bridgy’s developers attempt (and sometimes fail) to maintain a service that is simultaneously antagonistic and dependent upon corporate platforms. This study presents a glimpse at what the Web might look like in the future, and identifies challenges and strategies for getting there.
Bio: Jack Jamieson is a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information. His research investigates intersections of digital technologies with culture, with a focus on issues related to values, labour, and interoperability. Specifically, he studies how web developers shape the direction of the Internet by creating, contesting, co-opting and compromising with platforms and standards. His work combines qualitative and quantitative methods such as critical making, analysis of digital trace data, and interviews.