OLIVER L.
HAIMSON,
Ph.D.

Assistant Professor





TOOLS & RESOURCES
OUR TEAM CREATED




RESEARCH

Research areas

social computing, human-computer interaction (HCI),
trans technologies, content moderation, trans and
LGBTQ+ health, identity transitions, social media
 

Trans technologies

Content moderation and marginalization

Social media and identity transitions
NEWS

Paper published in Social Science & Medicine

We have a new article in Social Science & Medicine: "Technology for Transgender Healthcare: Access, Precarity & Community Care," led by Avery Everhart and co-authored with Kristi Gamarel. This is part of the special issue on "Unequal Care: Trans Medicine and Health in Dangerous Times."
March 8, 2024

Poster accepted for iConference 2024

I've recently had the opportunity to co-advise (along with Kayla Booth) a group of undergraduate students in the i3 iSchool Inclusion Institute program: Kiara Fletcher, Maahe Kazmi, Adam Aljundi, Jordyn Ingram, and Heaven Thomas. Our poster, our poster, "Doc on the Tok: How BIPOC College Students Perceive Healthcare Professionals' Social Media Content," was accepted to iConference 2024.
March 8, 2024

Paper published in Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies (BATS)

We have a new article in Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies (BATS): "Gender-Affirming Surgeons’ Attitudes toward Social Media Communication with Patients," led by Jules Madzia and co-authored with Tee Chuanromanee, Gaines Blasdel, Aloe DeGuia, Mary Byrnes, Nabeel Shakir, and Megan Lane.
January 31, 2024

Steering committee for 2nd International Trans Studies Conference

I am part of the Steering committee for the upcoming 2nd International Trans Studies Conference.
January 31, 2024

Papers accepted for CSCW 2024

Our research group has three papers accepted for CSCW 2024:
December 1, 2023

Paper accepted for Transactions on Social Computing

"Content Moderation Folk Theories and Perceptions of Platform Spirit Among Marginalized Social Media Users," a paper I co-authored with Samuel Mayworm (lead author), Michael Ann DeVito, Dan Delmonaco, and Hibby Thach, was accepted for publication in ACM Transactions on Social Computing!
December 1, 2023

Paper published in JMIR Formative Research

We have a new article in JMIR Formative Research: "Community-Engaged Participatory Methods to Address LGBTQ+ Young People’s Health Information Needs With a Resource Website: Participatory Design and Development Study," led by Dan Delmonaco and co-authored with Shannon Li, Christian Paneda, Elliot Popoff, Luna Hughson, Laura Jadwin-Cakmak, Jack Alferio, Christian Stephenson, Angelique Henry, Kiandra Powdhar, Isabella Gierlinger, and Gary Harper.
September 29, 2023

Moderator for TJ Billard's book launch event

I will be moderating the discussion for TJ Billard's upcoming book launch event on October 27 for their new book Voices for Transgender Equality: Making Change in the Networked Public Sphere (Oxford University Press, 2024).
September 29, 2023

Workshop papers accepted for CSCW 2023

Our research group has two workshop papers accepted for CSCW 2023: "A Case for Digital Sovereignty of Indigeneity in HCI Research Projects" led by Senami Kojah will be part of the workshop on Conceptualizing Indigeneity in Social Computing, and "Intersectional Trans-feminist Futures in HCI" led by Aloe DeGuia will be part of A Toolbox of Feminist Wonder: Theories and Methods That Can Make a Difference.
September 29, 2023

Featured on Voices of REC podcast

I was recently featured on the podcast Voices of REC's episode "AI and The Binary"
September 29, 2023

Forthcoming book!

I'm excited to announce that my forthcoming book Trans Technologies will be published by MIT Press in early 2025!
August 11, 2023

Henry Russel Award

I am honored to receive the 2024 University of Michigan Henry Russel Award!
August 11, 2023

Featured in USA Today

I was recently interviewed for an article in USA Today, "'Hugely damaging': Most Americans are being harassed online when using Facebook, Twitter and Reddit."
June 30, 2023

Abstract accepted for 4S 2023

Ben Zefeng Zhang will be presenting our work on "The Promise and Precarity of Al4D: An Ethnography of Artificial Intelligence Training Work in China" as part of the "Politics of accumulation and resistance in automation" panel at 4S (Society for Social Studies of Science) 2023.
June 30, 2023

Panel accepted for TrustCon 2023

I will be part of a panel called "LGBTQ+ Trust & Safety" at TrustCon 2023 with Alex Leavitt, Alice Goguen Hunsberger, and Jenni Olson.
June 1, 2023

CHI 2024 program committee

I am serving on the program committee for CHI 2024 as an associate chair in the Understanding People - Qualitative Methods subcommittee.
June 1, 2023

Paper and panel accepted for AoIR 2023

I will be presenting a paper titled "Exploring the Current Landscape of Trans Technology Design" at AoIR (Association of Internet Researchers) 2023, and I will also be on a panel called "Bodies, Genders, Pleasures and Sextech: Research and Design with/for Communities" with Kath Albury, Jenny Kennedy, Maya Mundell, and Jenny Sundén.
May 8, 2023

Panel accepted for ASA 2023

I will be part of a panel called "Technological Potentials for Trans Media, Love, and Solidarity" at ASA (American Studies Association) 2023 with Anne Cong-Huyen, George Hoagland, Laura Horak, Romi Ron Morrison, and SA Smythe.
May 8, 2023

Quoted in New York Times

I was recently interviewed for an article in The New York Times, "They’re Over Being Real."
April 14, 2023

CHI 2023 Best Paper Award!

My co-authored paper "Infrastructuring Care Ecologies: How Trans and Non-Binary People Meet Health and Well-Being Needs through Technology," led by Lauren Wilcox and co-authored with Renee Shelby, Rajesh Veeraraghavan, Gabi Erickson, Michael Turken, and Beka Gulotta, received a Best Paper award at CHI 2023!
April 14, 2023

Workshop paper accepted for CHI 2023

A workshop paper I co-authored with Ben Zefeng Zhang (lead author) and Michaelanne Thomas titled "The Labor of Training Artificial Intelligence: Data Infrastructure, Mobility, and Marginality" has been accepted for the Behind the Scenes of Automation workshop at CHI 2023.
March 17, 2023

Papers accepted for CHI 2023

I have two papers accepted for CHI 2023: "How Transgender People and Communities Were Involved in Trans Technology Design Processes," co-authored with Kai Nham, Hibby Thach, and Aloe DeGuia, and "Infrastructuring Care Ecologies: How Trans and Non-Binary People Meet Health and Well-Being Needs through Technology," led by Lauren Wilcox and co-authored with Renee Shelby, Rajesh Veeraraghavan, Gabi Erickson, Michael Turken, and Beka Gulotta.
January 25, 2023

Paper published in First Monday

We have a new article in First Monday: "Not Robots; Cyborgs — Furthering Anti-Ableist Research in Human-Computer Interaction," led by Josh Guberman. It's part of a special issue called "This feature has been disabled: Critical intersections of disability and information studies."
January 25, 2023

NSF Medium grant funding received

I received an NSF Medium grant for the project "Designing Technologies for Marginalized Communities." This research is a collaboration with Tess Tanenbaum at UCI, Rana Saber at Northwestern ISGMH, and Andrés Monroy-Hernández at Princeton.
December 9, 2022

Featured in Them

I was recently interviewed for an article in Them, "After Two Weeks, Elon Musk’s Twitter Is Already in a Right-Wing Death Spiral."
December 9, 2022

Panel accepted for SCMS 2023

Hibby Thach will be presenting our work on "What Makes Games (Studies) Trans?: Trans Game Developers and Trans Futures in Games" as part of the "Trans Play and the Boundaries of Game Studies" panel at SCMS (Society for Cinema and Media Studies) 2023 with Arianna Gass, Jack McLaren, and Madison Schmalzer.
November 30, 2022

Featured in Daily Beast

I was recently interviewed for an article in Daily Beast, "Gen Z Is on a Never-Ending Search for Online Authenticity."
September 21, 2022

Paper published in New Media & Society

Our team just published a new article in New Media & Society: "(In)visible moderation: A digital ethnography of marginalized users and content moderation on Twitch and Reddit," led by Hibby Thach and co-authored by Samuel Mayworm and Daniel Delmonaco.
August 12, 2022

Online Identity Help Center site launched

We recently launched our new site, The Online Identity Help Center, created to help people understand social media platforms' policies and rules about content moderation, and figure out next steps after content and account removals. Read more about it in this article.
August 12, 2022

Featured in MIT Technology Review

I was recently interviewed for an article in MIT Technology Review, "Social media filters are helping people explore their gender identity."
August 12, 2022

Paper published in Journal of LGBT Youth

"'Nothing that I was specifically looking for': LGBTQ+ youth and intentional sexual health information seeking," a paper I co-authored with Daniel Delmonaco (lead author), was published in Journal of LGBT Youth.
June 17, 2022

Papers accepted for CSCW 2022

My research group had two additional papers accepted for CSCW 2022: "The Chinese Diaspora and The Attempted WeChat Ban: Platform Precarity, Anticipated Impacts, and Infrastructural Migration," lead by Ben Zefeng Zhang and co-authored with Michaelanne Thomas, and "Separate Online Networks During Life Transitions: Support, Identity, and Challenges in Social Media and Online Communities," co-first-authored by Ben Zefeng Zhang, Tianxiao Liu, and Shanley Corvite and co-authored with Nazanin Andalibi.
June 17, 2022

Grant funding received from Institute for Research on Women & Gender

I received an Institute for Research on Women and Gender Faculty Seed Grant for my proposal "Facilitating Online Interaction Between Transgender Patients and Medical Providers." This research is a collaboration with Drs. Megan Lane, Nabeel Shakir, and Mary Byrnes.
May 13, 2022

Upcoming panel at HCIC 2022

I'll be speaking as part of the Health and Communities panel at HCIC 2022 (Human Computer Interaction Consortium) on June 22.
May 13, 2022

Presenting at 2022 TransTech Summit

I'll be a presenter at the 2022 TransTechSummit on March 31 - April 3, leading a workshop on "Pursuing a PhD in Tech / Computing Fields."
March 23, 2022

Upcoming panel

I'll be speaking as part of the virtual panel "To Count as Human: Gender-Based Inclusion and Exclusion in Digital Technologies" on April 1.
March 23, 2022

Paper accepted for CSCW 2022

"Social Media's Role During Identity Changes Related to Major Life Events," a paper I co-authored with Shanley Corvite (lead author) and Ben Zefeng Zhang, was accepted for CSCW 2022.
March 18, 2022

Paper accepted for TOCHI

"Uncovering Personal Histories: A Technology-Mediated Approach to Eliciting Reflection on Identity Transitions", a paper I co-authored with Megh Marathe, was published in TOCHI and will be part of the forthcoming special issue on "(Re)Connecting History to the Theory and Praxis of HCI."
March 18, 2022

Paper published in Currents

"Information Needs for an Online Resource for LGBTQ+ Young People: Mental Health, Sexual Health, and Navigating Services," a paper I co-authored with Daniel Delmonaco (lead author) et al., was published in Currents: Journal of Diversity Scholarship for Social Change as part of the special issue on "Mental Health among Marginalized Communities."
March 18, 2022

Applied Transgender Technology Studies Symposium

The Applied Transgender Technology Studies Symposium, an event I co-organized with Anna Lauren Hoffmann, Alex Hanna, and TJ Billard, was a great success! You can view the video of the event if you weren't able to attend synchronously.
February 4, 2022

Riecker Undergraduate Research Fund

I received funding from the Riecker Undergraduate Research Fund to hire an undergraduate student to work as a research assistant on the trans technologies study. This funding is provided by CEW+ to support gender-related research.
January 14, 2022

CSCW 2022 program committee

I am serving on the program committee for CSCW 2022 as an associate chair.
December 3, 2021

CSCSW 2021 Award and Recognition!

My paper "Disproportionate Removals and Differing Content Moderation Experiences for Conservative, Transgender, and Black Social Media Users: Marginalization and Moderation Gray Areas," co-authored with Daniel Delmonaco, Peipei Nie, and Andrea Wegner, received an Honorable Mention award and a Recognition for Contribution to Diversity & Inclusion at CSCW 2021!
November 5, 2021

Featured on Michigan IT website

I was recently interviewed for Michigan IT's "Profiles in IT" about my research and advocacy work.
November 5, 2021

New report on "Censorship of Marginalized Communities on Instagram" in collaboration with Salty

I'm excited to have been involved with a new community report by the Salty Algorithmic Bias Collective titled "Censorship of Marginalized Communities on Instagram," authored with Shakira Smith, Claire Fitzsimmons, and Nikki Echarte Brown.
September 29, 2021

Featured on Flash Forward podcast

I was recently featured on the podcast Flash Forward's episode "What is the Future of Gender?"
September 29, 2021

Papers accepted for CSCW 2021

I had two papers accepted for CSCW 2021. The first one is titled "Disproportionate Removals and Differing Content Moderation Experiences for Conservative, Transgender, and Black Social Media Users: Marginalization and Moderation Gray Areas," co-authored with Daniel Delmonaco, Peipei Nie, and Andrea Wegner. The other is "The Online Authenticity Paradox: What Being 'Authentic' on Social Media Means, and Barriers to Achieving It," co-authored with Tianxiao Liu, Ben Zefeng Zhang, and Shanley Corvite.
August 17, 2021

UMSI Award for Impact in Gender Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Information and Technology


Editorial Board for Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies (BATS)

I am joining the Editorial Board for the new journal Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies (BATS).
August 17, 2021

Paper published in Media, Culture & Society

"Transgender identity management across social media platforms," a paper I co-authored with Justin Buss (lead author) and Hayden Le, was published in Media, Culture & Society.
June 30, 2021

Quoted in article on algorithmic bias

I was recently quoted in Dell Technologies Perspectives' story "A History of AI Bias: Achieving Algorithmic Justice for the LGBTQ Community" by Payal Dhar.
June 30, 2021

Featured on Michigan Minds podcast

I was recently interviewed for the Michigan Minds podcast, about "Exploring Gender Transition and Disclosure in Social Technology."
June 30, 2021

Joining Center for Applied Transgender Studies (CATS)

I'm excited to be an inaugural Senior Fellow at the Center for Applied Transgender Studies (CATS)!
April 15, 2021

Entry in SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies

I wrote the entry on Online Communities for the newly-published SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies.
April 15, 2021

Poster accepted for National LGBTQ Health Conference 2021

"Social Media as Starting Point for LGBTQ+ Sexual Health Information Seeking," a poster I co-authored with PhD student Daniel Delmonaco (lead author), was accepted to the National LGBTQ Health Conference 2021.
April 15, 2021

Organizing Committee for CHI 2022

I will be part of the organizing committee for CHI 2022, as Panels co-chair.
April 15, 2021

Workshop paper accepted for CHI 2021

A workshop paper I co-authored with Ben Zefeng Zhang (lead author) and Michaelanne Dye titled "The Chinese Diaspora: Overlapping Life Transitions, Barriers, and HCI" has been accepted for the Migration and Mobility in HCI Workshop at CHI 2021.
March 19, 2021

NIH funding awarded

I will be involved as a collaborator on Principal Investigator Ellen Selkie's recently funded NIH grant, "Social Media Experiences of Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth and their Parents." I'm looking forward to working on this important research!
March 19, 2021

Paper published in JASIST

My new paper "The Major Life Events Taxonomy: Social Readjustment, Social Media Information Sharing, and Online Network Separation During Times of Life Transition," co-authored with AJ Carter, Shanley Corvite, Brookelyn Wheeler, Lingbo Wang, Tianxiao Liu, and Alexxus Lige, was published in JASIST. This paper contributes The Major Life Events Taxonomy, which researchers can use to examine how people's life transition experiences relate to their behaviors, technology use, and health and well‐being outcomes. The full taxonomy is available on my website here.
February 5, 2021

Paper accepted for CHI 2021

"Online Transgender Health Information Seeking: Facilitators, Barriers, and Future Directions," a paper I co-authored with Taika Augustaitis (lead author), Leland Merrill, and Kristi Gamarel, was accepted to CHI 2021.
January 14, 2021

Organizing Committee for CSCW 2021

I will be part of the organizing committee for CSCW 2021, as Proceedings and Publications co-chair.
October 15, 2020

Paper accepted for CSCW

My new paper "Trans Time: Safety, Privacy, and Content Warnings on a Transgender-Specific Social Media Site," co-authored with Justin Buss, Zu Weinger, Denny Starks, Dykee Gorrell, and Briar Sweetbriar Baron, has been accepted to CSCW 2020.
August 28, 2020

Poster accepted for CSCW 2020

"Reasons for Sharing With Separate Social Media Audiences During Life Transitions," a poster I co-authored with Tianxiao Liu (lead author) and Jasmine Glover, was accepted to CSCW 2020.
August 28, 2020

Roundtable published in International Journal of Communication

I was part of a roundtable discussion called "Rethinking (and Retheorizing) Transgender Media Representation: A Roundtable Discussion," along with Thomas J. Billard (lead author), Traci Abbott, Kelsey Whipple, Stephenson Brooks Whitestone, and Erique Zhang, that was published in International Journal of Communication.
August 28, 2020

Poster accepted for ASIS&T 2020

"Search Engines and the Sex Education Information Practices of LGBTQ+ Youth," a poster I co-authored with PhD student Daniel Delmonaco (lead author) and Gabriela Marcu, was accepted to ASIS&T 2020.
August 10, 2020

Poster accepted for ALISE 2020

"Community-Based Development of LGBTQ+ Health Information Resources," a poster I co-authored with PhD student Daniel Delmonaco (lead author) and Gabriela Marcu, was accepted to ALISE 2020.
August 10, 2020

Paper published in Transgender Health


Paper published in New Media & Society

"Drawing from justice theories to support targets of online harassment," a paper I co-authored with Sarita Schoenebeck (lead author) and Lisa Nakamura, was published in New Media & Society. A summary of this research is available on Michigan News.
March 26, 2020

Paper published in Social Media + Society


Pop-up grant funding received from National Center for Institutional Diversity

I received a National Center for Institutional Diversity Pop-Up Grant to support research on Mental Health Among Marginalized Communities for the proposal "Online Mental Health, Substance Use, and Sex Education Resources for LGBTQ+ Young People." This research, a collaboration with the UM School of Public Health and the Community Health Access Initiative (CHAI), will be conducted with Dan Delmonaco, Gary Harper, Amber Hughson, Laura Jadwin-Cakmak, and Elliot Popoff.
March 26, 2020

Grant funding received from Digital Studies Institute

I received a Digital Studies Institute Research Grant for my proposal "Designing Trans Technologies."
March 26, 2020

NSF CAREER grant!

I was awarded an NSF CAREER grant! Looking forward to starting on this semi-new research area: "Toward Equitable Social Media Content Moderation for Marginalized Individuals & Communities."
March 6, 2020

CHI 2020 Best Paper Award!

My paper "Designing Trans Technology: Defining Challenges and Envisioning Community-Centered Solutions," co-authored with Dykee Gorrell, Denny Starks, and Zu Weinger, received a Best Paper award at CHI 2020!
March 6, 2020

Paper accepted for CHI 2020

I had a paper accepted for CHI 2020! It's titled "Designing Trans Technology: Defining Challenges and Envisioning Community-Centered Solutions" and is co-authored with Dykee Gorrell, Denny Starks, and Zu Weinger.
December 10, 2019

Paper published in Feminist Media Studies

My new paper "Tumblr was a Trans Technology: The Meaning, Importance, History, and Future of Trans Technologies," co-authored with Avery Dame-Griff, Elias Capello, and Zahari Richter, was published in Feminist Media Studies.
October 24, 2019

Paper accepted for CSCW

"The Language of LGBTQ+ Minority Stress Experiences on Social Media," a paper I co-authored with Koustuv Saha (lead author), Sang Chan Kim, Manikanta Reddy, AJ Carter, Eva Sharma, and Munmun De Choudhury, has been accepted to CSCW 2019.
September 4, 2019

Workshop at CSCW 2019

I am co-organizing a workshop at CSCW 2019 on Life Transitions and Social Technologies: Research and Design for Times of Life Change, with Bryan Semaan, Brianna Dym, Joey Chiao-Yin Hsiao, Daniel Herron, and Wendy Moncur. Join us in discussing these topics! Information on how to submit a paper is here.
August 5, 2019

Article in Interactions Magazine

I have a forum article in the new issue of ACM Interactions Magazine, titled "How to Do Better with Gender on Surveys: A Guide for HCI Researchers," co-authored with Katta Spiel (lead author) and Danielle Lottridge.
July 9, 2019

Quoted in WIRED article

I was recently quoted in WIRED's story "LGBTQ+ Youth Prefer to Seek Mental Health Help Digitally" by Emily Dreyfuss.
June 29, 2019

Essay on pronoun sharing and disclosure


HCI Guidelines for Gender Equity and Inclusivity now online

I was part of a team of researchers, led by Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, who recently released a set of HCI Guidelines for Gender Equity and Inclusivity. We hope that this will be a helpful tool for researchers and writers who want to be respectful and inclusive about gender, but don't know how.
June 3, 2019

Paper accepted for JAMIA

I'm very excited that my paper "Mapping Gender Transition Sentiment Patterns via Social Media Data: Toward Decreasing Transgender Mental Health Disparities" was accepted for publication in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA), as part of the forthcoming special issue on "Health Informatics and Health Equity: Improving Our Reach and Impact."
April 19, 2019

Grant funding received from Institute for Research on Women & Gender

I received an Institute for Research on Women and Gender Transgender Health and Empowerment Seed Grant for my proposal "Researching and Improving New Online Spaces to Support Transgender Wellbeing." This research will be conducted with community partner Briar Baron and trans time.
April 19, 2019

Work-in-progress paper accepted for DIS

"Designing Technology to Support Safety for Transgender Women & Non-Binary People of Color," a work-in-progress paper I co-authored with Denny Starks (lead author) and Tawanna Dillahunt, has been accepted for DIS 2019.
April 19, 2019

Grant funding received from National Center for Institutional Diversity

I received a National Center for Institutional Diversity Grant to Support Research and Scholarship for Social Change for my proposal "Major Life Events and Social Media in Contemporary Society: Understanding Social Readjustment for Marginalized Populations." This research will be conducted with co-PI Nicole Ellison and undergraduate research assistants AJ Carter, Shanley Corvite, Alexxus Lige, and Brookelyn Wheeler.
March 7, 2019

TOCHI paper will be presented at CHI 2019

"Social Support, Reciprocity, and Anonymity in Responses to Sexual Abuse Disclosures on Social Media," a TOCHI paper I co-authored with Nazanin Andalibi (lead author), Munmun De Choudhury, and Andrea Forte, will be presented at CHI 2019 by Nazanin Andalibi.
March 7, 2019

Workshop paper accepted for CHI 2019

My workshop paper titled "Gender Inclusivity at SIGCHI" has been accepted for the CHInclusion workshop at CHI 2019.
March 7, 2019

Accepted tenure track position at University of Michigan!

I am excited to be remaining at University of Michigan School of Information and will be starting as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in September 2019!
February 21, 2019

ICA panel accepted

I will be presenting a paper called "Challenging 'Getting Better' Media Narratives with Intersectional Transgender Lived Experiences" as part of an accepted panel at the 2019 International Communication Association (ICA) Conference called “Rethinking (and Retheorizing) Transgender Media Representation,” organized by Thomas J Billard.
February 21, 2019

Short paper published in ASIST Proceedings

"Helpful Information to Whom? An Intersectional Critique of the ‘It Gets Better Project'," a short paper I co-authored with Blake Hawkins (lead author) and Nazanin Andalibi, has been published in Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIST).
February 21, 2019

Grant funding received from University of Michigan's M-Cubed Program

Along with collaborators Shanna Kattari from UM's School of Social Work and Kristi Gamarel from UM's School of Public Health, I received a research grant from U-M's M-Cubed program for the project "Paging Dr. YouTube: Exploring How Trans/Nonbinary Individuals Use Technology & Social Media to Access Trans Health Information."
December 9, 2018

Research featured in Atlantic article

My research was recently featured in The Atlantic's story "What Tumblr's Porn Ban Really Means" by Steven W. Thrasher.
December 7, 2018

CSCW 2018 Best Paper Honorable Mention!

My paper "Social Media as Social Transition Machinery" received a Best Paper Honorable Mention award at CSCW 2018!
October 12, 2018

Quoted in Mashable article

I was recently quoted in Mashable's story "Asking people to Google their questions about the LGBTQ community is appealing — but risky" by Heather Dockray.
August 27, 2018

Paper accepted for CSCW

I'm very excited that my first paper from my dissertation research, and my first solo-authored paper, was accepted for CSCW 2018! The paper is titled "Social Media as Social Transition Machinery." Looking forward to sharing this work with everyone at the conference in November!
August 13, 2018

Paper accepted for TOCHI

"Social Support, Reciprocity, and Anonymity in Responses to Sexual Abuse Disclosures on Social Media," a paper I co-authored with Nazanin Andalibi (lead author), Munmun De Choudhury, and Andrea Forte, has been accepted to ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI)!
July 5, 2018

Piece published in First Monday

My piece "Trans identity and digital spaces" is published as part of "A conversation: Queer digital media resources and research," along with Mia Fischer, Carmen Rios, Adrienne Shaw, Mitali Thakor, Jen Jack Gieseking, and Daniel Cockayne. This is part of the First Monday special issue on Queer Internet Studies. Thanks so much to Jen Jack Gieseking, Jessa Lingel, and Daniel Cockayne for their hard work putting this together!
July 5, 2018

Joining University of Michigan!

I am excited to announce that I will be joining University of Michigan's School of Information in Fall 2018 as a President's Postdoctoral Fellow! I'm very much looking forward to being part of the amazing community of researchers at UMSI and starting this next phase of my academic career.
April 20, 2018

Dissertation defense!

I successfully defended my dissertation "The Social Complexities of Transgender Identity Disclosure on Social Media" on February 22, and have now completed my PhD! Many thanks to my committee members - Gillian Hayes, Gloria Mark, Andrea Forte, and Bonnie Ruberg - for all of their support and feedback throughout the years.
February 27, 2018

Workshop papers accepted for CHI 2018

I have two workshop papers accepted for CHI 2018, both led by Blake Hawkins: "It Gets Better, But it Takes More Than a YouTube Video: Reconsidering Online Mental Health Campaigns," co-authored with Nazanin Andalibi, has been accepted for the CHI 2018 Symposium on Computing and Mental Health, and "Creating Online Places of Care: The Experiences of Transgender People Using Tumblr to Maintain Positive Mental Health" has been accepted for the CHI 2018 Design for Sexual Wellbeing workshop.
February 27, 2018

James Harvey Scholar Award

I am extremely honored to receive the 2018 James Harvey Scholar Award, for graduate research on LGBTQ topics!
January 19, 2018

Digital trans reading list!

In the past few years as I’ve been working on my PhD research about gender transition and social media, I have compiled a list of all of the published research I have come across about transgender people and digital technology, digital and social media, and the Internet. The list is available here and is sortable by author, year, title, item type, or publication venue. I wanted to share my list so that it can be a resource for scholars who are also studying these topics, or who may want to start doing research in this area!
January 2, 2018

Feature article in XRDS Magazine

I have a feature article in the new issue of XRDS: Crossroads, The ACM Magazine for Students, titled "Digital and Physical Barriers to Changing Identities."
January 2, 2018

Paper accepted for Gender & IT 2018

A paper I co-authored with Blake Hawkins is accepted for Gender & IT 2018, titled "Building an Online Community of Care: Tumblr Use by Transgender Individuals."
January 2, 2018

Paper accepted for CHI 2018

A paper I co-authored with collaborators from Yahoo! and Princeton is accepted for CHI 2018, titled "'Genderfluid' or 'Attack Helicopter': Responsible HCI Research Practice with Non-Binary Gender Variation in Online Communities." The paper is led by Samantha Jaroszewski and co-authored with Danielle Lottridge and Katie Quehl.
December 15, 2017

Paper published in TACCESS

I collaborated on a paper with Mark Baldwin, Gillian Hayes, Jennifer Mankoff, and Scott Hudson, titled "The Tangible Desktop: A Multimodal Approach to Nonvisual Computing," which is now published in ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing.
August 16, 2017

Gender & IT 2018 program committee

I am serving on the program committee for Gender & IT 2018. Consider submitting a paper! The deadline is October 31, and accepted papers will be published in the ACM Digital Library.
July 21, 2017

Paper accepted for New Media & Society

"Relationship Breakup Disclosures and Media Ideologies on Facebook," a paper I co-authored with Nazanin Andalibi, Munmun De Choudhury, and Gillian Hayes, has been accepted for publication in New Media & Society.
May 1, 2017

Paper accepted for ICWSM 2017


Queer Internet Studies Symposium 2 Video

I was excited to be a part of the 2017 Queer Internet Studies Symposium (QIS2) this February at University of Pennsylvania, giving a talk on "Trans Identity and Digital Spaces" as part of the Queer Digital Media Resources and Research panel. Reflections on and videos from the event (including my talk) are now online.
April 7, 2017

Research featured in article on using data analytics for fire prevention

My team's Data Science for Social Good research was featured in a new article on Data-Smart City Solutions: "Can Algorithms Predict House Fires?" by Jonathan Jay.
April 7, 2017

Workshop paper accepted for iConference 2017

I have a workshop paper accepted for iConference 2017: "Opportunities and Challenges for Transgender People in Digital Spaces" has been accepted for the Vulnerable Communities in the Digital Age workshop and I will present this work as a poster at the workshop.
February 19, 2017

CHI 2017 program committee

I am serving on the program committee for CHI 2017's Late Breaking Work as an associate chair. Very excited to help with the paper reviewing process!
January 19, 2017

Papers accepted for CHI 2017

I had two papers accepted for CHI 2017! The first one is titled "What Makes Live Events Engaging on Facebook Live, Periscope, and Snapchat," co-authored with John Tang. The other is "Class Confessions: Restorative Properties in Online Experiences of Socioeconomic Stigma," co-authored with Eugenia Ha Rim Rho, Nazanin Andalibi, Melissa Mazmanian, and Gillian Hayes.
January 19, 2017

Blog post on research ethics and visual social media content

Nazanin Andalibi, Jessica Pater, and I wrote a blog post titled "Ethical Use of Visual Social Media Content in Research Publications" for the Australasian Human Research Ethics Consultancy Services (AHRECS)'s Research Ethics Monthly blog.
December 20, 2016

Selected for CHI Doctoral Consortium

I have been selected to be part of the CHI 2017 Doctoral Consortium! Extremely honored to be a part of this and get feedback on my disseration work.
December 15, 2016

Selected for iConference Doctoral Colloquium

I have been selected to be part of the iConference 2017 Doctoral Colloquium! Excited to visit China and learn from the faculty and students at the DC.
December 15, 2016

Paper published in Social Media + Society


Dissertation proposal defense

I'm excited to announce that I passed my dissertation proposal defense on "The Social Complexities of Transgender Identity Disclosure on Social Network Sites" on October 6! Special thanks to my committee members: Gillian Hayes, Gloria Mark, Bonnie Ruberg, and Andrea Forte (Drexel University). I'm excited to move forward into this final phase of my PhD!
October 25, 2016

Workshop paper accepted for Group 2016

I have a workshop paper accepted for Group 2016: "Ethical Obligations When Asking Research Participants to View Unpredictable Content", co-authored with John Tang, has been accepted for the Group 2016 Ethics Workshop.
October 25, 2016

KDD 2016 Best Student Paper Runner Up!

Our paper "Firebird: Predicting Fire Risk and Prioritizing Fire Inspections in Atlanta," received a Best Student Paper Runner Up (Applied Data Science Track) award at 2016 ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining!
September 12, 2016

Paper published in First Monday


Workshop at NordiCHI 2016

I am co-organizing a workshop for NordiCHI 2015 called HCI and Sensitive Life Experiences, with Daniel Herron, Nazanin Andalibi, Wendy Moncur, and Elise van den Hoven. The aim of the workshop is to identify current opportunities for, as well as barriers to, design of social computing systems that support people during sensitive life events and transitions. Join us in discussing these topics and building a framework for research and design! The submission deadline is August 22, 2016.
July 7, 2016

Paper accepted for KDD 2016

"Firebird: Predicting Fire Risk and Prioritizing Fire Inspections in Atlanta," a paper I co-authored with Michael Madaio, Shang-Tse Chen, Wenwen Zhang, Xiang Cheng, Matt Hinds-Aldrich, Polo Chau, and Bistra Dilkina, was accepted for the 2016 ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining! This research was conducted during my Data Science for Social Good internship last summer at Georgia Tech.
July 7, 2016

Research featured in press on using data analytics for fire prevention

My team's Data Science for Social Good research was featured in the National Fire Protection Association Journal story "Embracing Analytics: How communities around the country are utilizing data analytics to predict a host of risk factors and reduce fires" by Jesse Roman!
July 7, 2016

Internship at Microsoft Research this summer

I'm excited to announce that I have accepted an internship offer for summer 2016 at Microsoft Research in Silicon Valley! I will be working with John Tang and Gina Venolia in the Nexus Research Group.
May 4, 2016

Acceptance to Oxford Internet Institute Summer Doctoral Programme

I'll be participating in the two week Oxford Internet Institute Summer Doctoral Programme this summer at University of Oxford!
May 4, 2016

Paper accepted for PLoS ONE

"Supplementing Public Health Inspection via Social Media," an article that I collaborated on with John Schomberg, Gillian Hayes, and Hoda Anton-Culver, was accepted for publication in PLoS ONE Journal!
March 26, 2016

Talk at Trans*Studies Conference

My abstract titled "Self-Presentation, Digital Footprints, and the Social Complexities of Disclosure During Gender Transition on Facebook," co-authored with Jed Brubaker, Lynn Dombrowski, and Gillian Hayes, was accepted for the 2016 Trans*Studies Conference! I'll be giving a 20 minute talk on this research.
March 26, 2016

Submission accepted for Tapia Conference

I'll be part of a Birds-of-a-Feather session at the 2016 ACM Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference titled "Being Queer in Computing Environments" along with Gopinaath Kannabiran, Steve Chenoweth, Kyle Overton, and Anna Lauren Hoffman!
March 26, 2016

CHI 2016 Best Paper Honorable Mention!

I'm so excited to announce that my paper "Digital Footprints and Changing Networks During Online Identity Transitions," co-authored by Jed Brubaker, Lynn Dombrowski, and Gillian Hayes, received a Best Paper Honorable Mention award at CHI 2016!
February 10, 2016

Talk at INSNA 2016 Sunbelt Conference

My abstract titled "Intersections and Separations in Gender and Race-Focused Social Media Movements," co-authored with Jürgen Pfeffer and Gillian Hayes, was accepted for the INSNA 2016 Sunbelt Conference! I'll be giving a 20 minute talk on this research.
February 2, 2016

Workshop paper accepted for CHI 2016

I have a workshop paper accepted for CHI 2016: "Anonymity, Pseudonymity, and Gender Categorization as Social Justice Issues in HCI", co-authored with Nazanin Andalibi, has been accepted for the Exploring Social Justice, Design, and HCI workshop!
January 31, 2016

Workshop paper accepted for CSCW 2016

I have a workshop paper accepted for CSCW 2016: "Social Signaling on Facebook After Relationship Dissolution", co-authored with Nazanin Andalibi, has been accepted for the Unpacking Social Signaling Theory for Social Computing Systems Analysis and Design workshop!
January 31, 2016

Papers accepted for CHI 2016

I had two papers accepted for CHI 2016: "Digital Footprints and Changing Networks During Online Identity Transitions" (Oliver Haimson, Jed Brubaker, Lynn Dombrowski, and Gillian Hayes) and "Understanding Social Media Disclosures of Sexual Abuse Through the Lenses of Support Seeking and Anonymity" (Nazanin Andalibi, Oliver Haimson, Munmun De Choudhury, and Andrea Forte)! It's been such a pleasure working with all of these wonderful co-authors.
December 21, 2015

I'm now a PhD Candidate!

So excited to announce that I passed my PhD advancement to candidacy yesterday, and I'm now a PhD Candidate! Thanks so much to my advancement committee for all of their valuable feedback: Gillian Hayes (chair), Geof Bowker, Gloria Mark, Melissa Mazmanian, and Tom Boellstorff.
December 4, 2015

Poster accepted for iConference 2016

Throughout 2014 and 2015 I had the opportunity to advise a group of undergraduate students in the i3 iSchool Inclusion Institute program: Corrin Morgan, Aaron Noble, Erika Alexander, and Jerome Watts. I'm very proud to announce that our poster, "#‎ReproHealth‬: A State-Based Investigation of Reproductive Health Rights Policy and Social Media Activity," was accepted to iConference 2016!
November 22, 2015

Student Volunteer co-chair for iConference 2016

Nazanin Andalibi and I are Student Volunteer (SV) Co-Chairs for iConference 2016! The conference will be held March 20-23 in Philadelphia. We are looking for people to sign up for the SV lottery by filling out this online form by November 30. For more information, please see the Call for Student Volunteers.
November 6, 2015

Paper accepted for CSCW 2016

I forgot to announce this when we first found out! "'Hunger Hurts but Starving Works:' Characterizing the Presentation of Eating Disorders Online," a paper that I collaborated on with Jessica Pater, Nazanin Andalibi, and Elizabeth Mynatt, was accepted for the 2016 ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing!
October 16, 2015

Rob Kling Memorial Fellowship

I am extremely honored to receive the UCI School of Information and Computer Science's Rob Kling Memorial Fellowship for 2015-2016!
September 10, 2015

Paper accepted for Bloomberg Data for Good Exchange

"Identifying and Prioritizing Fire Inspections: A Case Study of Predicting Fire Risk in Atlanta," a paper that I collaborated on with Michael Madaio, Wenwen Zhang, Xiang Cheng, Matt Hinds-Aldrich, Bistra Dilkina, and Polo Chau as part of Data Science for Social Good Atlanta, was accepted for the Bloomberg Data for Good Exchange! I also wrote a few blog posts over the summer about our project: "A Predictive Model for Fire Risk in Atlanta" and "Hello from the DSSG-ATL Fire team!".
September 10, 2015

Blog post on Revisiting the Online/Offline Binary


Book review published on The Geek Anthropologist


Data Science for Social Good internship and research at Georgia Tech this summer

I will be heading to Georgia Tech in Atlanta this summer to participate in the Atlanta Data Science for Social Good internship, and to do some research with Dr. Munmun De Choudhury. Looking forward to it!
May 5, 2015

NSF GRFP award!

I'm very honored to announce that I have been awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP)! I am so excited that this award will support my research for the next three years.
April 5, 2015

Paper accepted for TACCESS

"Evaluating a Collaborative iPad Game’s Impact on Social Relationships for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder," an article that I collaborated on with LouAnne Boyd, Kate Ringland, Helen Fernandez, Maria Bistarkey, and Gillian Hayes, was accepted for publication in ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing!
April 5, 2015

Paper accepted for Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation

"Mobile Video Modeling for Employment Interviews for Individuals with Autism," an article that I collaborated on with Gillian Hayes, Erick Custodio, Kathy Nguyen, Kate Ringland, Rachel Rose Ulgado, Aaron Waterhouse, and Rachel Weiner, was accepted for publication in Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation!
March 21, 2015

Research featured in press on Facebook's custom gender options

My research was featured in Fusion.net's story "Facebook is now allowing users to identify as any gender they want" by Jorge Rivas!
March 1, 2015

CSCW 2015 Best Paper Honorable Mention!

I'm so excited to announce that my paper "Disclosure, Stress, and Support During Gender Transition on Facebook," co-authored by Jed Brubaker, Lynn Dombrowski, and Gillian Hayes, received a Best Paper Honorable Mention award at CSCW 2015!
January 26, 2015

Workshop papers accepted for CSCW 2015

I have two papers accepted to CSCW workshops! "Toward Trans Inclusion in Feminist HCI," co-authored by Gillian Hayes, has been accepted for the Feminism and Feminist Approaches in Social Computing workshop, and "Marginalized Populations and Research Ethics Online," co-authored by Kate Ringland and Gillian Hayes, has been accepted for the Ethics for Studying Sociotechnical Systems in a Big Data World workshop.
December 20, 2014

Panel at CSCW 2015

I'll be on a panel at CSCW 2015 titled "Facebooking in 'Face:' Complex Identities Meet Simple Databases" along with Mark Handel, Rena Bivens, Jed Brubaker, Jessa Lingel, and Lana Yarosh!
December 15, 2014

Papers accepted for CHI 2015

Two papers from our research this summer during my internship at eBay Research Labs were accepted for CHI 2015: "Online Inspiration and Exploration for Identity Reinvention" (Oliver Haimson, Anne Bowser, Edward Melcer, and Elizabeth Churchill) and "On Vintage Values: The Experience of Secondhand Fashion Reacquisition" (Anne Bowser, Oliver Haimson, Edward Melcer, and Elizabeth Churchill)! Special thanks to our wonderful participants.
December 15, 2014

Workshop at CHI 2015

I am co-organizing a workshop for CHI 2015 called Between the Lines: Reevaluating the Online/Offline Binary, with Sarah Vieweg, Michael Massimi, Kenton O'Hara, and Elizabeth Churchill. Is thinking about identities, spaces, behaviors, and communities as "online" vs. "offline" still useful? Join us in discussing these topics and building a framework for research and design! Extended abstract is here.
December 15, 2014

Poster accepted for iConference 2015

My poster " User Response to Facebook's Custom Gender Options," co-authored by Jed Brubaker, Courtney Loder, Lynn Dombrowski, and Gillian Hayes, was accepted for iConference 2015! As always, special thanks to those who filled out our survey and made this research possible.
December 15, 2014

Workshop at iConference 2015

I am co-organizing a workshop for iConference 2015 on Exploring Gender, Race, and Sexuality with Social Media Data, with Amanda Menking, Jordan Eschler, Ingrid Erickson, and Gillian Hayes! We are looking for people to present their work as part of the workshop; please see the CFP here. Extended abstract is here.
November 14, 2014

Paper accepted for CSCW 2015

My paper "Disclosure, Stress, and Support During Gender Transition on Facebook," co-authored by Jed Brubaker, Lynn Dombrowski, and Gillian Hayes, has been accepted for the 2015 ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing! Special thanks to all of our participants who filled out the online survey and made this research possible.
September 2, 2014

Faculty Mentor Program (FMP) Fellowship

I am excited to announce that I have been awarded a UC Irvine Faculty Mentor Program (FMP) Fellowship for the 2014-2015 academic year to work with Dr. Gillian Hayes! This fellowship is designed to increase the number of students who complete their PhD degree and successfully acquire a faculty appointment.
June 5, 2014

Autism AppJam

My team's project DanceCraft won second place overall at the UCI Autism AppJam! We also won the Best Social Media Presence award. DanceCraft is an interactive game that uses the Kinect to incentivize physical activity for children with autism through dance therapy. My role was developing the user interface. Team DanceCraft includes Kate Ringland, Mengyao Zhao, Nathan Major, Khalidh Tokhi, and myself.
May 4, 2014

Survey deployment

I am looking for people to participate in a research study about gender transition on social networking sites. Are you a transgender or gender non-conforming person who has experienced transitioning on a social networking site like Facebook? If so, please consider sharing your experiences by taking an online survey. Please share with people in your network who may be willing to help out with this research. Thanks! https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/transSNS
April 17, 2014

NSF GRFP Honorable Mention

I received an Honorable Mention for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)!
April 10, 2014

I won an infographic contest

I won Infogr.am's Pi Day Pie Chart Contest with this infographic about cheese pizza. We held a pie party in LUCI to celebrate and to eat the contest prize: $50 in pie. You can read more about the whole ridiculous affair here, here, and here.
March 23, 2014

Internship at eBay Research Labs this summer

I'm excited to announce that I have accepted an internship offer for summer 2014 at eBay Research Labs in San Jose! I will be working with Elizabeth Churchill and Atish Das Sarma in the HCI Research Group.
March 3, 2014

Presentation at AGS Symposium

I was selected to participate in the first annual AGS Symposium at UC Irvine! I will be giving a short presentation of my research on analyzing sexual health-related language in online personal ads.
March 3, 2014

Workshop paper accepted for CHI 2014 Designing Technology for Major Life Events workshop


Project accepted for Social Media Expo 2014

My team project "Using Depression Analytics to Reduce Stigma via Social Media: BlueFriends" has been accepted for inclusion in the 2014 Social Media Expo, sponsored by Microsoft Research FUSE Labs, and part of iConference! This paper is co-authored by three other first-year PhD students in my department: Kate Ringland, Simone Simpson, and Chris Wolf. We will receive a travel award to attend the conference and present our work in Berlin, Germany!
December 21, 2013

Paper accepted for CHI 2014

I'm excited to announce that my paper "DDF Seeks Same: Sexual Health-Related Language in Online Personal Ads For Men Who Have Sex With Men", co-authored by Jed Brubaker and Gillian Hayes, has been accepted for the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems!
December 13, 2013

I'm starting my PhD in Informatics at U.C. Irvine!

I'm starting my PhD in Informatics this fall at University of California, Irvine! I am working with Dr. Gillian Hayes in the Social and Technological Action Research (STAR) Group. The Informatics Department is part of the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences. I’m thrilled to move forward with my education and to become part of such a wonderful research community! My graduate research will focus on topics of online identity (particularly LGBT representation on social media), social computing, information visualization, and much more.
October 4, 2013