Karen Louise Smith
smithisgeneric.bsky.social
Karen Louise Smith
@smithisgeneric.bsky.social
Associate Professor, Department of Communication, Popular Culture & Film at Brock University. Personal account, reposts ≠ endorsements, and find me at http://karenlouisesmith.net/wp/
Happy to announce that I will be continuing to work on issues associated with ethical educational technologies with the support of Chancellor's Chair for Teaching Excellence at Brock (2025-2028)
August 29, 2025 at 4:03 PM
In September my #Comm3P90 Advanced Topics in Digital Culture course at @brockucpcf.bsky.social begins an #OpenEducation adventure!

We will use WikiEdu to improve @wikipedia.org articles.

Here's a sneak peek of some articles that I hope student teams will improve from "C" quality status...
August 17, 2025 at 11:32 PM
welcome to Bluesky @brockucpcf.bsky.social
August 17, 2025 at 11:20 PM
A great day with #opendata colleagues at #GOOD25 in Niagara Falls today www.go-opendata.ca/good25
First panel for the day at @go-opendata.ca #GOOD25 open data in the age of AI. Ushnish: USA law is not Cdn law - important when using AI
May 16, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Reposted by Karen Louise Smith
For decades, we've been told that technology opens doors—but what if, in practice, #access doesn’t mean #equity? What if, as Dr. Roderic N. Crooks argues, “you can't get there from here”? 🤔 Episode 139 #nosuchthingpod @ucirvine.bsky.social @clalliance.bsky.social shows.acast.com/nosuchthing/...
May 8, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Reposted by Karen Louise Smith
Have an Amazon Echo? Everything you say to it will be going to Amazon and used to bolster its new generative AI version of Alexa.

By @wired.com: www.wired.com/story/everyt...
Everything You Say to Your Echo Will Soon Be Sent to Amazon, and You Can’t Opt Out
Amazon is killing its “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” privacy feature on March 28 as the company aims to bolster Alexa+, its new subscription assistant.
www.wired.com
March 20, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Reposted by Karen Louise Smith
March 10, 2025 at 3:17 PM
From Teen Vogue: "AI features are at the forefront of every major tech service, almost a forced opt-in for children and adults alike."
Use of AI like Chat GPT among Gen Alpha for schoolwork is on the rise. Some students say it's not worth the risk. ⤵️
Here’s How Gen Z and Gen Alpha Are Actually Using ChatGPT at School
Use of AI for schoolwork is on the rise.
www.teenvogue.com
March 12, 2025 at 6:16 PM
🚨 Job alert reminder! This games studies job posting with the fine folks in the Digital Humanities Department at Brock is open until March 7, 2025 at 12:01 am. 🚨
Pleased to share a job posting in our Department of Digital Humanities at Brock University: Assistant Professor, Tenure-track Game Studies.

Come join us in the beautiful Niagara Region of Canada!

brocku.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/brocku...
brocku.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com
February 27, 2025 at 2:56 AM
I'm late to repost this one, but I'm happy to see that @brocku.ca's very FIRST Bluesky post features my colleague @marschm.bsky.social's research on lava rocks from the Mars’ Jezero Crater.
February 27, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Voted early in the Ontario election today. No line ups for me at the advanced polling station in St. Catharines voterinformationservice.elections.on.ca/en/election/...
Elections Ontario
voterinformationservice.elections.on.ca
February 21, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by Karen Louise Smith
For those with an interest in the history of critical communication research, The University of Westminster Press has just published Vincent Mosco's memoir (available through open access here: bit.ly/3CFBgJy)
January 23, 2025 at 5:39 PM
CFP for the second annual Digital Regulation in the Public Interest Symposium at Brock University / online. Very accommodating for remote presenters. Abstracts due by Jan 24th brocku.ca/social-scien...
Digital Regulation in the Public Interest
an interdisciplinary virtual symposium Thursday, March 20, 2025 10 a.m to 5 p.m. online (login details shared upon registration)This series is intended to showcase the variety of research and activity...
brocku.ca
January 16, 2025 at 9:00 PM
St. Catharines / Niagara is getting 2 CBC journalists this summer. It's related to spending $100 million annually from Google and staffing journalists in underserved communities in Canada following Bill C-18 the Online News Act.
January 16, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Reposted by Karen Louise Smith
East coaster sinks to new lows after being forcibly relocated to Ontario.
Theodore Tugboat replica partially sinks at Ontario dock, awaits effort to refloat
The Theodore Tugboat replica that was long a fixture in the Halifax harbour is listing heavily with its red-capped head just above water after partially sinking Tuesday in Ontario.
toronto.citynews.ca
December 18, 2024 at 10:04 PM
Reposted by Karen Louise Smith
"This contest offers a chance to explore and reimagine the creative treasures entering the public domain...Participants are encouraged to use materials from the Internet Archive’s collections to craft unique films that breathe new life into these cultural gems." bit.ly/3VBoiCX
2025 Public Domain Day Remix Contest: The Internet Archive is Looking For Creative Short Films Made By You! | Internet Archive Blogs
blog.archive.org
December 16, 2024 at 2:11 PM
The 20th anniversary edition of the Journal of Community Informatics is out. I have a co-authored piece with Shade and Clement titled "Revisiting the Access Rainbow" openjournals.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/Jo...
December 16, 2024 at 4:13 PM
Do you know of any #dataviz examples that show lab membership over time? I was discussing with @jhangiani.bsky.social and colleagues as an #open scholarship practice and would like to add to my set of examples e.g., research.fredhutch.org/emerman/en/l... and kingsley.stanford.edu/lab_members....
Lab Member Timeline
research.fredhutch.org
December 4, 2024 at 7:07 PM
It sounds like Medium is the platform, or it is used like the content management system, for The Conversation? I'd love to learn more about this
@cassiemc.bsky.social
@brittanyjezouit.bsky.social
So much thought & care in this process from @brittanyjezouit.bsky.social & team. If you're an academic who writes a lot, consider Medium a potential home for your writing. We'd love to share your informed work & help you build community around your ideas blog.medium.com/an-introduct... #academia
An introduction to academic writing on Medium
How academics use Medium to share research and ideas easily, connect with non-academic readers, run courses, and more
blog.medium.com
December 4, 2024 at 6:22 PM
Privacy Badger has arrived on Bluesky!
Hello Bluesky!

Privacy Badger is a browser extension that automatically learns to block invisible trackers. To install or to learn more, visit privacybadger.org
Privacy Badger
privacybadger.org
December 2, 2024 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Karen Louise Smith
I have started to compile a starter pack of open educators. Please feel free to recommend and self-nominate as I update this periodically.

#OER #OEP #OpenPedagogy #OpenEducation

go.bsky.app/TZKppcn
November 10, 2024 at 12:51 AM
Reposted by Karen Louise Smith
Here is my starter #library and #librarian people list. Let me know if you’d like to be added! bsky.app/profile/did:...
November 8, 2024 at 3:45 PM
A good introductory thread for newbies like me who joined Bluesky over the past few days
Bluesky now has over 20M people!! 🎉

We've been adding over a million users per day for the last few days. To celebrate, here are 20 fun facts about Bluesky:
November 20, 2024 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by Karen Louise Smith
#academicsky, I am going to start sharing more details of some quality, #openaccess journals in the social sciences, who won't sell your stuff to AI companies, and also don't charge you fees. Please DM me or reply with *genuine* examples. An ongoing thread and blog: ubisurv.net/2024/09/04/r.... 1/n
Radical Open Access in the Social Sciences
Paralleling my threads on Twitter and BlueSky, I am going to start sharing more details of some quality, Open Access (OA) journals in the social sciences, who won't sell your stuff to AI companies, an...
ubisurv.net
September 4, 2024 at 2:50 PM