Ban the book, ban the library
Tressie McMillan Cottom speaks to the president of the American Library Association, Emily Drabinski, on The Ezra Klein Show.
The catalog is power.
Tressie McMillan Cottom spoke with Emily Drabinski, the president of the American Library Association on The Ezra Klein Show last week. Tressie & Emily discussed book bans, critical librarianship, the public goods that libraries provide, and more. Discussing her first job working in a college library, Emily said
“I was working on shelving the last sets of books and we had one copy of Christine Jorgensen's memoir, an autobiography about a trans woman, published in the 1960s. That book was downstairs in the basement in the section for mental illness & psychiatric diseases. We had a second copy of that book that had a historicizing introduction, and it was on the third floor where we shelved social problems. I was struck by the distance between those books. They tell you [by way of shelving] that gender is a problem in your brain. Then, the other one tells you that gender is a social construction that is malleable… So the context where the book sits is consequential for the meaning we can make from it.”
Tressie responded to this example of meaning making and said,
“I was thinking many of us encounter “the catalog” as just the card catalog. But you're saying it's more than just this accessible, lowly, practical way to find a book or resource. What you just described to me, the catalog is power. There’s a lot of power where the books are placed, and how.”
Emily and Tressie also discussed that banning books is not just a ban on books but also a ban on ideas, as the books that have been challenged are disproportionately written by or about members of the LGBTQIA+ community and/or by or about BIPOC people. Emily states “If we define the problem as simply one banned book, the solution is put that book back on the shelf.” Instead, the situation is much more expansive and ideological in nature.
Listen to the entire episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, in your browser, or wherever you get your podcasts.
🚨The President of the Mellon Foundation, Elizabeth Alexander, will be hosting a virtual discussion with Tressie and Emily on September 26th at 4pm on Reading, Power and Freedom.
Disinformation participation
(research summary by Katherine Furl)
Technologies provide their users with a wide variety of different affordances, or all the things it is possible to accomplish through any given technology. Though researchers have considered the ways users’ actions are impacted by platform affordances, less research has focused on how technological affordances can be used in interactional, participatory ways.
In “‘Do Your Own Research’: Affordance Activation and Disinformation Spread,” Francesca Tripodi, Lauren Garcia, and Alice Marwick consider how participation and interactions made possible through technological affordances are central to the spread of disinformation.
Tripodi, Garcia, and Marwick reveal how the ability to ‘verify’ false claims through platform affordances allow users to collectively be involved in the spread of disinformation. The authors refer to these as instances of ‘affordance activation,’ where the capabilities of affordances are activated by users attempting to verify false claims.
‘Affordance activation,’ where the capabilities of affordances are activated by users attempting to verify false claims.
The authors present three cases of affordance activation in the spread of disinformation across three very different platforms:
Claims on Twitter that conservatives are being silenced
The use of Google Scholar citations to legitimize pseudoscientific, white supremacist journals
QAnon participants’ use of Yandex, a Russian search engine, to validate a conspiracy claiming the US furniture company Wayfair is involved in human trafficking of children
These three cases illustrate how users leverage platform affordances—whether they be Twitter hashtags, citation metrics on Google Scholar, or the lack of content moderation on Yandex compared to other popular search engines—to lend credibility to unsubstantiated claims and white supremacist and conspiratorial logics.
Importantly, Tripodi, Garcia, and Marwick distance affordance activation from users’ intent as well as the overall legitimacy or veracity of their claims. Instead, the authors focus on technological capabilities and their outcomes. As the authors put it, “Engagement is less about the veracity of the claim and more about interacting with the affordance.”
“Engagement is less about the veracity of the claim and more about interacting with the affordance.”
By actively participating with the unique affordances of different technological platforms, users are able to directly engage in the spread of disinformation in novel ways. As Tripodi, Garcia, and Marwick reveal through presenting three demonstrative cases of affordance activation, the potential implications of affordance activation are wide-reaching and vital to our understanding of how disinformation spreads and false claims are legitimized.
We are hiring!
We are seeking an Executive Director to join us and provide innovative and visionary leadership. Read the full description here and share the posting!
We are seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate to join us and work with Dr. Francesca Tripodi and the Search Prompt Integrity & Learning Lab (SPILL). The position will also provide flexibility for individual research endeavors. Read the full description here and share the posting!
Coming Soon
September 26 at Mellon Foundation (Virtual): Reading, Power, and Freedom: A Virtual Discussion with Elizabeth Alexander, Emily Drabinski, and Tressie McMillan Cottom.
October 10 at CITAP: “Empowering Junior Academics in Tech Policy: D.C. Policy Culture Unveiled” hosted by Data and Society, co-organized by Dr. Melinda Sebastian (Data & Society), Prof. Evaglia Tavoulareas (Georgetown University), and Heesoo Jang (UNC Chapel Hill). Learn more about the workshop here and apply via this link.
October 16 at CITAP: Misinformation and Marginalization Symposium. How does misinformation circulate in marginalized communities, and what misinformation narratives are shared about marginalized groups?
Featuring a keynote from Dr. Sarah Banet-Weiser and panels on misinformation and gender & sexuality; diasporic communities; and algorithmic amplification, race, and religion. Free registration required to join in person or virtually!
October 18 at AoIR: Alice Marwick, Yvonne Eadon, and Rachel Kuo are among the co-organizers of an AoIR preconference on future of conspiracy.
October 20 at AoIR: CITAP, CDCS, and IDDP are co-hosting a networking Happy Hour on Friday at 6pm. RSVP for the event here!
October 22 at the Annenberg Public Policy Center: The Post-API Conference.
November 10 at CITAP: Symposium on Religion, Media, and Public Life. Addressing the intersection of technology, American religion, and politics with particular attention to race and power.
Featuring Whitney Phillips, Samuel Perry, Eden Consenstein, Xavier Pickett, Erika Gault, LeRhonda Manigault-Bryant, and Heidi Campbell. Free Registration required to join in person or virtually!