My new journal article, ‘The utopianism of LGBTQ+ NFT collectors’, is out now in Convergence. The article examines how queer users imagined blockchain as a platform for alternative economic possibility, while their efforts were constrained by the system's capitalist logics. doi.org/10.1177/1354...

Really good article by @bronicee.bsky.social on the world's largest data centre to be built in Sydney and its environmental impact. Spoiler: it's massive! But at least we'll have funny videos of dogs dancing while we burn... 😌 stories.theconversation.com/can-australi... @aunz.theconversation.com

Can Australia build one of the world’s largest data centres?

Even if we can pull of the logistical feat, given the social and environmental impact, the question remains: should we?

stories.theconversation.com

Finally made a new personal website!

The face scanner verified my twink-death for good.

Damien O'Meara (he/him)@djomeara.bsky.social · 9mo ago

The speed at which the face scanner verified I was old enough to be on social media felt like an insult.

I have a new co-authored article out in Continuum, with Rob Cover, Ingrid Richardson and Daniel X Harris. We examine Australia’s social media age ban and ask why it gained such strong adult support, despite limited evidence that blanket bans reduce harm. Link: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Restricting young people from digital platforms in Australia: the experience of digital harms and freedom of expression in community support for youth social media age bans

In 2024, the Australian government introduced legislation requiring digital platforms to restrict Australian users under sixteen years from holding social media accounts to protect from digital har...

tandfonline.com

I'm very pleased to be hosting this roundtable discussion about LGBTQ+ Peer Support on December 2, 9-11am AEDT, in-person and online. Featuring wonderful discussants including @shubhakayastha.bsky.social @joel.queercomputer.com @t-odonell.bsky.social and more! events.humanitix.com/lgbtq-peer-s...

i'm not afraid to say what you're all thinking... recaptcha getting too hard

Me assuring my advisors that I'll send them a finished chapter draft by the weekend.

Please read and know that the rush to make the internet 'safe' through bad legislation and platform censorship policies will make the internet worse for many - especially LGBTQ+ teens and young people who rely on digital media for crucial information and support

Electronic Frontier Foundation@eff.org · 2y ago

As more U.S. states and countries pass age verification laws, it is crucial to recognize the broader implications these measures have on privacy, free speech, and access to information.

A great article on the scandal that shocked the world! Is this the end of Kochie's career? Click the link below to find out more...

Christopher O’Neill@blueskychris.bsky.social · 2y ago

New OA article - using data from the @admscentre.org.au Ad Observatory, we draw upon Zupančič and Rancière to analyse the role of conspirituality in online Facebook scams. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... Part of a cool new special issue of JoIT&P on the the future of conspiracy scholarship! 👌

Very proud to have presented at Digital Intimacies X today on the declining engagement of a mental health support group / Discord server. My paper asks what role should platforms like Discord play in ensuring the safety and well-being of their users? (Probably a bigger one)

Digital Intimacies X best slides award goes to @claresoutherton.bsky.social and Naomi Smith!!! A really great paper on contemporary conspiracy cultures and the epistemic collapse of the image

A great first panel at Digital Intimacies X!

Emily van der Nagel@emvdn.bsky.social · 2y ago

Digital Intimacies X in full swing! We were so lucky to hear from our original conference organisers about the event and the field of digital intimacies, with excellent provocations from current scholars in the field: Embrace vulnerability. Think community, not citations. Open up the space.

Thrilled to have presented a paper at #aanzca24 today! I shared my work on developing a web app that allowed research participants to submit close-to-real-time scam data

Meta's "no politics allowed" stance is 1) itself a political position, and 2) so impossible to enforce that it's instead a perverse guarantee that what political content does surface will be absolutely deranged, in that the algorithms will be unable to identify it as conventionally political

A couple of words in here from me about automated content moderation, the over-policing of LGBTQIA+ speech, and the importance of platforms supporting queer people 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11...

LGBTQIA+ groups removed from Facebook for posting links to mental health organisations

Queensland and interstate LGBTQIA+ social media pages are being flagged for breaching Meta's cybersecurity standards, users say.

abc.net.au

I gave my first-ever paper at the inaugural ‘Queer Contexts’ conference 2 weeks ago! I presented on the utopianism of “Queer Community on the Blockchain”. It was really fun and just a little scary. Excited to do more.