De-Agentializing Data Practices: The Shifting Power of Metaphor in 1990s Discourses on Data Mining

Kerssens, Niels

doi:10.22148/16.037

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…There is, for instance, a vast body of literature about the use of metaphors in writing on the Internet (Bickenbach and Maye, 1997; Mitchell, 2000; van Den Boomen, 2014; Wilken, 2013). Today, scholars analyse the key role of metaphors in media discourses on big data (‘mining’) (Kerssens, 2019; Puschmann and Burgess, 2014) or they discuss the role of metaphors in the conceptualisation of social media (‘network’, ‘platform’) (Gillespie, 2010; Knox et al, 2006; van Den Boomen, 2014). Although discursively topics have been receiving considerable attention in media and communication studies, virtually no research findings are available about the naming practices of media brands in general and those of social media platforms in particular.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Of tubes and telegrams: The names of social media platforms and messenger services

Gerhards

2023

Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Med

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Although names play a crucial role in the communication of products, services and companies and their acceptance by the public, virtually no research findings are available to date about the naming strategies used by social media platforms and messenger services. This article explores the naming strategies of the most successful social media platforms and messenger services in terms of the numbers of their users worldwide. For this purpose, 17 brand names were analysed with the help of a taxonomy of brand names that is used in marketing practice. Furthermore, etymological and semantic aspects of the brand names are examined. One finding is that most of the brands use fanciful names, which can best be protected. Additionally, this study highlights the fact that many of the social media platforms and messenger services contain hints to prior media forms in their names. But why do they use these semantically retro references? This study adopts different approaches (remediation, skeuomorphism, invented tradition) to illuminate this retro-naming strategy.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Of tubes and telegrams: The names of social media platforms and messenger services

Gerhards

2023

Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Med

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“…Much concern has been expressed regarding the difficulty in attending to harms in data collection, distribution, and use in sociotechnical systems (Seaver, 2017;Kitchin, 2016). Arguments around both internal and external audit mechanisms frequently focus on the work of private-sector organisations, which are often seen as responsible for the increasing role of data collection and analytic systems in society (Kerssens, 2019), as well as the site of particular practical barriers to data auditing due to concepts such as trade secrets.…”

Section: Introduction and Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autobiography of an Audit: Tracing the Roots and Repercussions of the HRT-Transgender Database

Keyes

Austin

Zimmer

2020

SPIR

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Focus on the harms in data collection, distribution, and use in sociotechnical systems tends to reify the idea that research conducted by universities and other public-sector parties is both more ethical and more easily lends itself to auditing. This falsely positions data collection and distribution undertaken by public institutions as more available to review and scrutiny. Documenting our attempts to audit the HRT-Transgender Database - a database collected by a public university in the United States - we engage in a critical examination of not only the gaps in IRB coverage of “big data” research, but also the practical limitations and troubles involved in attempting to audit data practices that, on paper, should be highly documented. Drawing from feminist and trans studies critical approaches to information practice, our work brings into frame vital issues that researchers seeking to design oversight mechanisms should address, and begins a conversation about the visceral and often painful work of providing that oversight. This research extends from a review of the limits of IRB oversight to incorporate an interrogation of how technological interventions increase the likelihood of actual and symbolic violence in the lives of transgender people, including those not present in the actual HRT-Transgender Database.

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“…Something about the datafication of lives dehumanizes them. 1 It is disquieting to imagine these data points as anything other than a compact resource, one in which we as data scientists and dashboard builders feel entitled to package and expose, to harvest and exploit. But data are not bricks to be stacked, oil to be drilled, gold to be mined, opportunities to be harvested.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Discomfort of Death Counts: Mourning through the Distorted Lens of Reported COVID-19 Death Data

Raji¹

2020

Patterns

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De-Agentializing Data Practices: The Shifting Power of Metaphor in 1990s Discourses on Data Mining

Cited by 4 publications

References 6 publications

Of tubes and telegrams: The names of social media platforms and messenger services

Of tubes and telegrams: The names of social media platforms and messenger services

Autobiography of an Audit: Tracing the Roots and Repercussions of the HRT-Transgender Database

The Discomfort of Death Counts: Mourning through the Distorted Lens of Reported COVID-19 Death Data

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