tocauthor: Brubaker_J* : Human-Computer Interaction Bibliography Search

Digital Footprints and Changing Networks During Online Identity Transitions Managing Design for Life Disruptions / Haimson, Oliver L. / Brubaker, Jed R. / Dombrowski, Lynn / Hayes, Gillian R. Proceedings of the ACM CHI'16 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2016-05-07 v.1 p.2895-2907

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Summary: Digital artifacts on social media can challenge individuals during identity transitions, particularly those who prefer to delete, separate from, or hide data that are representative of a past identity. This work investigates concerns and practices reported by transgender people who transitioned while active on Facebook. We analyze open-ended survey responses from 283 participants, highlighting types of data considered problematic when separating oneself from a past identity, and challenges and strategies people engage in when managing personal data in a networked environment. We find that people shape their digital footprints in two ways: by editing the self-presentational data that is representative of a prior identity, and by managing the configuration of people who have access to that self-presentation. We outline the challenging interplay between shifting identities, social networks, and the data that suture them together. We apply these results to a discussion of the complexities of managing and forgetting the digital past.

Legacy Contact: Designing and Implementing Post-mortem Stewardship at Facebook Managing Design for Life Disruptions / Brubaker, Jed R. / Callison-Burch, Vanessa Proceedings of the ACM CHI'16 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2016-05-07 v.1 p.2908-2919

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Summary: Post-mortem profiles on social network sites serve as both an archive of the deceased person's life and a gathering place for friends and loved ones. Many existing systems utilize inheritance as a model for post-mortem data management. However, the social and networked nature of personal data on social media, as well as the memorializing practices in which friends engage, indicate that other approaches are necessary. In this paper, we articulate the design choices made throughout the development of Legacy Contact, a post-mortem data management solution designed and deployed at Facebook. Building on the duties and responsibilities identified by Brubaker et al., we describe how Legacy Contact was designed to honor last requests, provide information surrounding death, preserve the memory of the deceased, and facilitate memorializing practices. We provide details around the design of the Legacy Contact selection process, the functionality provided to legacy contacts after accounts have been memorialized, and changes made to post-mortem profiles.

Visibility in Digital Space: Controlling Personal Information Online Panels / Brubaker, Jed R. / Kaye, Jofish / Schoenebeck, Sarita / Vertesi, Janet Companion Proceedings of ACM CSCW 2016 Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing 2016-02-27 v.2 p.184-187

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Summary: Individuals are increasingly visible in online spaces. Posting content to social media, browsing websites, and interacting with friends are all acts that render a person visible to other individuals, networks, and corporations. At the same time, these behaviors are being logged, archived, and aggregated in a variety of unexpected and emerging ways. In this panel, we explore the tensions that arise around controlling personal information online. We do so through a series of case studies around lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) identities, children, personal data exchange, and advertising. In each, we consider the politics of visibility around personal, family, social, and community identities, especially in the context of marginalized or scrutinized populations and experiences. We aim to generate debate about appropriate sharing behaviors online and to further an agenda that prioritizes greater control of personal information online.

Penseive Box: Themes for Digital Memorialization Practices Work-in-Progress / Chaudhari, Charu / Prakash, Anjanakshi / Tsaasan, A. M. / Brubaker, Jed R. / Tanenbaum, Joshua Proceedings of the 2016 International Conference on Tangible and Embedded Interaction 2016-02-14 p.398-403

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Summary: In this work, we describe several themes that can be useful for designing tangible technology in the context of death and mourning. We explore the effectiveness of physical and digital artifacts in the process honoring a loved one who has passed away. We employ a speculative prototype called Penseive Box to explore the intersection of tangible digital memorialization practices. Using this prototype to elicit reflections on personal memorialization practices, we interviewed several individuals who had recently lost a loved one, and present the results of our initial analysis here.

Facebooking in "Face": Complex Identities Meet Simple Databases Panels / Handel, Mark J. / Bivens, Rena / Brubaker, Jed R. / Haimson, Oliver L. / Lingel, Jessa / Yarosh, Svetlana Companion Proceedings of ACM CSCW 2015 Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing 2015-03-14 v.2 p.122-125

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Summary: Online systems often struggle to account for the complicated self-presentation and disclosure needs of those with complex identities or specialized anonymity. Using the lenses of gender, recovery, and performance, our proposed panel explores the tensions that emerge when the richness and complexity of individual personalities and subjectivities run up against design norms that imagine identity as simplistic or one-dimensional. These models of identity not only limit the ways individuals can express their own identities, but also establish norms for other users about what to expect, causing further issues when the inevitable dislocations do occur. We discuss the challenges in translating identity into these systems, and how this is further marred by technical requirements and normative logics that structure cultures and practices of databases, algorithms and computer programming.

'Is' to 'Was': Coordination and Commemoration in Posthumous Activity on Wikipedia Biographies Studies of Coordination / Keegan, Brian C. / Brubaker, Jed R. Proceedings of ACM CSCW 2015 Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing 2015-02-28 v.1 p.533-546

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Summary: Following the deaths of notable people, Wikipedians incorporate this new knowledge by updating or creating biographical articles. Drawing on literature from death studies and peer production, we demonstrate how the creation of these "wiki-bituaries" requires complex coordination work and highlight processes of commemoration and memorialization within socio-technical systems. Using the corpus of 6,132 articles about people who died in 2012, we examine the network relationships and contribution dynamics of users who perform this work and identify behavioral and content dynamics on the biographical articles about the deceased. The collaborations that emerge from posthumous editing of these biographies are sites of significant activity that coalesce into complex but temporary collaborations. Based on these findings, we argue that Wikipedia has re-imagined the obituary into a genre for creating memory spaces in which the death of a subject prompts a form of "death work" involving the collective re-evaluation of article content and a transition into a new mode of data stewardship.

Disclosure, Stress, and Support During Gender Transition on Facebook Gender and Sexual Identity / Haimson, Oliver L. / Brubaker, Jed R. / Dombrowski, Lynn / Hayes, Gillian R. Proceedings of ACM CSCW 2015 Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing 2015-02-28 v.1 p.1176-1190

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Summary: Social computing technologies, such as social networking sites (SNSs), often privilege people who fit within expected, static categories. Thus, users embarking on major identity changes, such as gender transition, often encounter stress when using SNSs to interact with their online social networks. To address this problem and reflect on the design of SNSs and other social computing systems, we present the results of a comprehensive online survey of transgender and gender non-conforming SNS users. Our findings indicate that although Facebook can be a stressful place for gender transition due to difficulties of transition disclosure, support from one's Facebook network can help to mitigate some of this stress. We examine Facebook both as a site of stress and as a site of support. Better understanding the relationships between stress, disclosure, and support on SNSs for these particular users can inform technology design that will benefit people who struggle with navigating a wide range of major identity changes online.

Identity, identification and identifiability: the language of self-presentation on a location-based mobile dating app Social networks & input and interaction / Birnholtz, Jeremy / Fitzpatrick, Colin / Handel, Mark / Brubaker, Jed R. Proceedings of 2014 Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services 2014-09-23 p.3-12

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Summary: Location-aware mobile applications have become extremely common, with a recent wave of mobile dating applications that provide relatively sparse profiles to connect nearby individuals who may not know each other for immediate social or sexual encounters. These applications have become particularly popular among men who have sex with men (MSM) and raise a range of questions about self-presentation, visibility to others, and impression formation, as traditional geographic boundaries and social circles are crossed. In this paper we address two key questions around how people manage potentially stigmatized identities in using these apps and what types of information they use to self-present in the absence of a detailed profile or rich social cues. To do so, we draw on profile data observed in twelve locations on Grindr, a location-aware social application for MSM. Results suggest clear use of language to manage stigma associated with casual sex, and that users draw regularly on location information and other descriptive language to present concisely to others nearby.

DDFSeeks same: sexual health-related language in online personal ads for men who have sex with men Personal health and wellbeing / Haimson, Oliver L. / Brubaker, Jed R. / Hayes, Gillian R. Proceedings of ACM CHI 2014 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2014-04-26 v.1 p.1615-1624

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Summary: The HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s fundamentally changed sexual practices of men who have sex with men (MSM) in the U.S., including increased usage of sexual health-related (SHR) language in personal advertisements. Analyzing online personal ads from Craigslist, we found a substantial increase in SHR language, from 23% in 1988 to over 53% today, echoing continuing concern about rising HIV rates. We argue that SHR language in Craigslist ads can be used as a sensor to provide insight into HIV epidemiology as well as discourse among particular communities. We show a positive significant relationship between prevalence rate of HIV in an ad's location and use of SHR language in that location. Analysis highlights the opportunity for SHR information found in Craigslist personal ads to serve as a data source for HIV prevention research. More broadly, we argue for mining large-scale user-generated content to inform HCI design of health and other systems, and explore use of such data to examine temporal changes in language to facilitate improved user-interface design.

Stewarding a legacy: responsibilities and relationships in the management of post-mortem data Social Media for Relationships / Brubaker, Jed R. / Dombrowski, Lynn S. / Gilbert, Anita M. / Kusumakaulika, Nafiri / Hayes, Gillian R. Proceedings of ACM CHI 2014 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2014-04-26 v.1 p.4157-4166

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Summary: This paper extends research on the giving and inheriting of digital artifacts by examining social network site accounts post-mortem. Given the important role that social network sites play in online bereavement practices, we conducted a series of in-depth qualitative interviews to explore issues around inheritance and post-mortem data management of Facebook accounts. We found that participants focused less on ownership of the data, and instead on the duties and potential conflicts associated with maintaining an account post-mortem. Subsequently, we argue for 'stewardship' as an alternative to inheritance for framing post-mortem data management practices. Analysis of post-mortem data management activities highlights how stewards are accountable and responsible to the deceased and various survivors. However, weighing competing responsibilities is complicated by varied relationships with disparate survivors, as well as the inability to consult with the deceased. Based on our findings, we claim that post-mortem solutions need to account for the needs of stewards in addition to those of the deceased and survivors. We suggest that a model of stewardship better accounts for the interpersonal responsibilities that accompany online data than inheritance alone.

Refusing, limiting, departing: why we should study technology non-use Workshop summaries / Baumer, Eric P. S. / Ames, Morgan G. / Brubaker, Jed R. / Burrell, Jenna / Dourish, Paul Proceedings of ACM CHI 2014 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2014-04-26 v.2 p.65-68

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Summary: In contrast to most research in HCI, this workshop focuses on non-use, that is, situations where people do not use computing technology. Using a reflexive pre-workshop activity and discussion-oriented sessions, we will consider the theories, methods, foundational texts, and central research questions in the study of non-use. In addition to a special issue proposal, we expect the research thread brought to the fore in this workshop will speak to foundational questions of use and the user in HCI.

The afterlife of digital identity Doctoral consortium abstracts / Brubaker, Jed R. Proceedings of ACM CHI 2014 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2014-04-26 v.2 p.343-346

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Summary: The death of a user challenges many of the assumptions we hold for social network sites, social media, and digital identity architecture. Death provides a natural breaching experiment that violates core design assumptions about the relationship between users, their accounts, and related data. By studying death in the context of social media, my work aims to understand how people interact with and experience digital identity systems. It demonstrates limitations and provides insight into how social computing systems can better support the entirety of our lives -- including when those lives come to an end.

Detecting cooking state with gas sensors during dry cooking Domestic computing / Hirano, Sen H. / Brubaker, Jed R. / Patterson, Donald J. / Hayes, Gillian R. Proceedings of the 2013 International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing 2013-09-08 v.1 p.411-414

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Summary: Gas sensors have the potential to assist cooking by providing feedback on the cooking process and by further automating cooking. In this work, we explored the potential use of gas sensors to monitor food during the cooking process. Focusing on dry cooking, we collected gas emissions using 13 sensors during trials in which food was cooked to various degrees of doneness. Using decision tree classifiers, we were able to predict doneness for waffles and popcorn with 73% and 85% accuracy, respectively. We reflect on the potential reasons for this variation and the ways in which gas sensors might reliably be used in ubicomp applications to support cooking.

It takes a network to get dinner: designing location-based systems to address local food needs User experience design / Dombrowski, Lynn / Brubaker, Jed R. / Hirano, Sen H. / Mazmanian, Melissa / Hayes, Gillian R. Proceedings of the 2013 International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing 2013-09-08 v.1 p.519-528

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Summary: Based on an 18-month qualitative study that included the creation and testing of design considerations and a prototype location-based information system (LBIS), this research provides empirical insight into the daily practices of a wide variety of individuals working to address food insecurity in one U.S. county. Qualitative fieldwork reveals that nonprofit organizations in the food assistance ecology engage in location-based information practices that could be enhanced by the design of a LBIS. Two practices that would benefit from a collaborative LBIS are 1) practices of matching in which nonprofit workers help individuals who are seeking assistance to food resources and 2) practices of distribution in which nonprofit workers help organizations access and deliver food resources to clients. In order to support such practices across organizations the cooperative design component of this research suggests that an LIBS should: support the role of intermediaries who engage in practices of matching and distribution; provide interactive mapping tools that match resources to need; enable organizations to control visibility over specific data; and document work and impact. This research further suggests that designers should explore the wide variety of spatial patterns that must align and overlap such that ecologies of nonprofit organizations might synergistically work together to address pressing social needs.

The afterlife of identity Doctoral colloquiums / Brubaker, Jed R. Proceedings of ACM CSCW'13 Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work 2013-02-23 v.2 p.39-42

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Summary: The death of a user challenges many of the assumptions we hold for social network sites, social media, and digital identity architecture. Death represents a natural breaching experiment that violates core design assumptions about the relationship between users, their accounts, and related data. By studying death in the context of social media, my work aims to understand how people interact with and experience digital identity systems. It demonstrates limitations of current architecture and provides insight into how social computing systems can better support the entirety of our lives -- including when those lives come to an end.

What Do You See in the Cloud? Understanding the Cloud-Based User Experience through Practices Managing the UX / Tang, John C. / Brubaker, Jed R. / Marshall, Catherine C. Proceedings of IFIP INTERACT'13: Human-Computer Interaction-2 2013 v.2 p.678-695

Keywords: File synchronization; file sharing; online editors; collaboration; cloud user experience

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Summary: End users have begun to incorporate cloud-based services into their collaborative practices. What spurs and constrains this adoption? Are the cloud services understood adequately and used effectively? How might we intervene to promote a better connection between user practices and cloud services? In this study, we focus on collaborative practices that surround the adoption, use, and understanding of two popular, but sometimes contrasting, cloud services for creating and sharing content: Dropbox and Google Docs. We conducted 22 in-depth interviews with people who used these services, including collaborators who used the services together, and people who had migrated from Google Docs to Google Drive. We found that users thought of the cloud in terms of the practices it helped them accomplish. Their understanding of the cloud was often shaped by the particular file storage and sharing technologies the cloud was replacing (remediation). Furthermore, collaborating with others through the cloud sometimes revealed different assumptions about how the cloud worked, leading users to develop socially negotiated practices around their use of the cloud. We use this analysis to identify some specific opportunities for designers to help users build more accurate conceptual models of the cloud and use its capabilities more fully: (1) when users are adopting the cloud to enact a practice; (2) when users are replacing an existing technology with the cloud; and (3) when users are encountering others' practices through collaboration.

Focusing on shared experiences: moving beyond the camera in video communication Rich communication / Brubaker, Jed R. / Venolia, Gina / Tang, John C. Proceedings of DIS'12: Designing Interactive Systems 2012-06-11 p.96-105

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Summary: Even with the investment of significant resources, video communication in professional settings has not gained mass appeal. This contrasts with the consumer space where, despite limited resources and low quality solutions, services such as Skype have seen widespread adoption. In this paper, we explore the behavior and attitudes of individuals who actively use video communication in both their personal and professional lives. We highlight similarities and differences across these two domains, with particular focus on the interpersonal relationships, spaces, and activities that each domain supports and enables. We conclude by discussing how our study leads to a new perspective that focuses on the shared experiences enabled by video communication.

"We will never forget you [online]": an empirical investigation of post-mortem MySpace comments Comment here / Brubaker, Jed R. / Hayes, Gillian R. Proceedings of ACM CSCW'11 Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work 2011-03-19 p.123-132

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Summary: The proliferation of social network sites has resulted in an increasing number of profiles representing deceased users. In this paper, we present the results of a mixed-methods empirical study of 205,068 comments posted to 1,369 MySpace profiles of users who have died. Our results reveal interesting practices surrounding issues of authorship and audience, temporal patterns in posting, and continued social networking with the dead. These results suggest that post-mortem commenting behavior blends memorializing practices with existing practices and communication patterns for social network sites. We conclude by outlining future directions for research and implications for the understanding and use of social network sites in light of a deeper understanding of post-mortem comments.

SELECT * FROM USER: infrastructure and socio-technical representation Identity and self-disclosure / Brubaker, Jed R. / Hayes, Gillian R. Proceedings of ACM CSCW'11 Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work 2011-03-19 p.369-378

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Summary: As use of, and experiences with, social media continue to grow, the systems of representation that underlie their use become increasingly influential. In this paper, we present results from empirical studies of two online communities-Facebook and craigslist Missed Connections-that highlight the ways in which this underlying infrastructure and the user practices on these sites are inherently intertwined. We make particular use of a framework first introduced by Agre that focuses on the influence of eight underlying features of computing practice: ontology, standards, instrumentation, authentication, interpretation, selection, bias, and performance. The results of this analysis indicate how representational systems do more than simply represent the physical world; they are deeply intertwined with the social and material practices of everyday life.