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tamaleaver.bsky.social
Tama Leaver
@tamaleaver.bsky.social
2.6K followers 2K following 420 posts

πŸŽ“ Professor of Internet Studies, Curtin Uni (Boorloo/Perth West Australia);
🌏 Past Prez @AoIR.bsky.social;
πŸ”Ž @digitalchildau.bsky.social (AI & Datafication);
🐘 @tama@aoir.social; he/him.
[Views mine; RT/❀️/etc β‰  endorsement] .. more

Videos
Sociology 18%
Communication & Media Studies 18%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Tama Leaver

brkeogh.bsky.social
Brendan Keogh @brkeogh.bsky.social Β· 5h
The webpage for our upcoming book has the cover on it now which is enough of a milestone for me to write another post about the book we have coming out soon. www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...

Reposted by Axel Bruns

tamaleaver.bsky.social
Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social Β· 1d
What do young Australians think about the 'Social Media Ban'?

Join young people and researchers online to find out what the upcoming changes mean for 12-15 year olds from around Australia.

πŸ—“ Mon, 1 Dec 2025
⏰ 9:00am Perth ⏰ 11:00am Bris ⏰ 12:00pm Syd/Melb

πŸ‘‰ www.eventbrite.com.au/e/webinar-am...

tamaleaver.bsky.social
Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social Β· 3d
My 2 year old has just entered his diggers phase in earnest, so it's been nothing short of a revelation to find that the @internetarchive@mastodon.archive.org Internet Archive has a downloadable legal collection of the first 10 seasons of Bob the Builder!
Bob The Builder - Full Series : HIT Entertainment / HOT Animation / SD Entertainment : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Bob the Builder and his machine team are ready to tackle any project from small fix it jobs to big scale builds in exciting and dynamic locations. With...
archive.org

tamaleaver.bsky.social
Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social Β· 4d
We're very lucky having @kelleyhas2es.bsky.social present today at Curtin University for CCAT on Platform Epistemology: Shaping Algorithmic Knowledge in the Visibility Game, on the first leg of Kelley's Australian tour!

tamaleaver.bsky.social
Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social Β· 5d
After six years on the @aoir.bsky.social Exec Committee, I logged out of AoIR’s Insta acct yesterday, my very last task for the Exec. AoIR has been my core academic community for a long time, & the end of my time on the Exec has provoked some thoughts & feelings: www.tamaleaver.net/2025/11/05/r...
Reflecting on Six Years on the AoIR Executive Committee (Some Thoughts and Feels)
Last month at the Association of Internet Researcher’s (AoIR’s) annual conferenceβ€”held for the first time in Latin American, namely in NiterΓ³i, Brazilβ€”my time on Executive Committee came to an end …
www.tamaleaver.net

Reposted by Tama Leaver

melhogan.bsky.social
MΓ©l Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social Β· 11d
Interested in data centers? In critical data center studies?

Here's an open biblio -- anyone can add or borrow from it. Please do add anything that's missing. Enjoy!

docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Critical Data Center Studies
Critical Data Center Studies Books Amoore, Louise. 2020. Ethics Algorithms and the Attributes of Ourselves and Others Duke https://www.dukeupress.edu/cloud-ethics Bedir, M; Groen. L; Kuijpers. M; Sa...
docs.google.com

Reposted by Tama Leaver

alicetiara.bsky.social
alice e marwick @alicetiara.bsky.social Β· 12d
🚨NEW PAPER ALERT 🚨 @tamigraph.bsky.social @briana-v.bsky.social and I discuss wellness chatbots, their labor implications, & "private vibes" vs "privacy". We call for critical human-AI communication scholarship that takes into account context & political economy: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
A chatbot for the soul: mental health care, privacy, and intimacy in AI-based conversational agents - Communication and Change
Artificial intelligence-based conversational agentsβ€”chatbotsβ€”are increasingly integrated into telehealth platforms, employee wellness programs, and mobile applications to address structural gaps in me...
link.springer.com

tamaleaver.bsky.social
Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social Β· 13d
Genuinely surprised Musk called his right-wing Wikipedia rip off Grokipedia and completely missed the opportunity to call it his X-Files. He's losing his edge! ;)

Elon Musk launches new AI-generated site Grokipedia to rival 'left-biased' Wikipedia
Elon Musk launches new AI-generated site to rival 'left-biased' Wikipedia
Billionaire Elon Musk has launched a new AI-generated site to compete with online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which he has accused of being "extremely left-biased".
www.abc.net.au

Reposted by Michael D. McDonald, Tama Leaver

parismarx.com
Paris Marx @parismarx.com Β· 15d
Good on Australia for doing this! It’s such a deceptive practice to tell customers their price is increasing because of AI, when the old price is still available without genAI but only if you try to cancel.
Australia sues Microsoft for misleading Microsoft 365 users
Asia In Brief: PLUS: China demotes tech self-sufficiency goal; Alibaba Cloud quietly quits VMware; India demands deepfake labels; and more!
www.theregister.com

Reposted by Tama Leaver

drwaus.bsky.social
Digital Rights Watch @drwaus.bsky.social Β· 15d
We welcome the Albanese government ruling-out a text-and-data-mining exemption for Big Tech.

By itself, this decision is insufficient. The Government needs to recognise that all Australians are creative individuals who deserve protection, not just those who make a living from artistic work.

tamaleaver.bsky.social
Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social Β· 16d
Charlie the Unicorn (yes, that one, of Candy Mountain fame) was released this day 20 years ago. Memes are old. So am I.

Relive the joy/horror: www.youtube.com/watc...
A GenAI image of Charlie the Unicorn with a "20 years today" jumper on and cakes in the background. This image is basically a crime.

Reposted by Tama Leaver

cameronwilson.bsky.social
CAMERON WILSON @cameronwilson.bsky.social Β· 18d
Australia's children's commissioner Anne Hollonds has seen "nothing" to address gaps in community and support left by the teen social media ban.

A year after first raising the alarm, Hollonds says we need to take a "good, hard look at the unmet needs" of vulnerable kids.

www.crikey.com.au/20...

tamaleaver.bsky.social
Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social Β· 19d
The Right to Delete would just solve so many persistent problems in the ways personal data is misused or left open to attacks/hacks/poor security etc.

As a Right it wouldn't HAVE to be used in every case (that's part of the point), but having the option is so very powerful.

100% backing this!
drwaus.bsky.social Digital Rights Watch @drwaus.bsky.social Β· 19d
Australians want better protections for their privacy.

A 'Right to Delete' would mean we could have control over our data, protecting ourselves from the kinds of data breaches we are seeing more and more in the news.

Join our campaign for a Right to Delete now: digitalrightswatch.o...

Reposted by Tama Leaver

drwaus.bsky.social
Digital Rights Watch @drwaus.bsky.social Β· 19d
Australians want better protections for their privacy.

A 'Right to Delete' would mean we could have control over our data, protecting ourselves from the kinds of data breaches we are seeing more and more in the news.

Join our campaign for a Right to Delete now: digitalrightswatch.o...

Reposted by Tama Leaver

cameronwilson.bsky.social
CAMERON WILSON @cameronwilson.bsky.social Β· 20d
With a significant number of kids and parents planning on getting around the teen social media ban, experts and tech companies are warning about the "greater potential harms" for kids using the adult internet without guardrails and on dodgier alternative platforms.

www.crikey.com.au/20...

Reposted by Tama Leaver, Daniel Angus

snurb.info
Axel Bruns @snurb.info Β· 22d
For all of you with #AoIR2025 FOMO, or who are missing the great company in Rio already: consider joining us in Brisbane for the 2026 @qutdmrc.bsky.social Summer School on 2-6 Feb. 2026 – registration is now open !

More details are here:
DIGITAL MEDIA RESEARCH CENTRE 2026 SUMMER SCHOOL MON 2 FEB - FRI 6 FEB 2026 QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, BRISBANE

Reposted by Jean Burgess, Michael Zimmer, Tama Leaver , and 1 more

snurb.info
Axel Bruns @snurb.info Β· 23d
For anyone still wondering: THIS IS WHY WE’RE HERE. Welcome to our family, and thank you for welcoming us to yours. #AoIR2025
Countries 239 scholars from Brazil, for 208 of whom this was their first AoIR 443 first timers in total

tamaleaver.bsky.social
Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social Β· 23d
110%

Reposted by Tama Leaver

snurb.info
Axel Bruns @snurb.info Β· 23d
😒 Oh man, it is genuinely the end of an era saying goodbye to our @aoir.bsky.social Association Coordinator Michelle Gardner at the end of #AoIR2025.

Thank you SO much for everything you have done for the Association, Michelle. You’ll always be welcome in our community. πŸ«‚

Reposted by Axel Bruns, Tama Leaver

kattiid.bsky.social
Katrin Tiidenberg @kattiid.bsky.social Β· 25d
Thoroughly enjoying this roundtable on the Australian social media ban at #aoir2025 with @tamaleaver.bsky.social @snurb.info and Dan Angus

Reposted by Tama Leaver

ijcs-journal.bsky.social
International Journal of Cultural Studies @ijcs-journal.bsky.social Β· 25d
We would like to thank guest editors Jin Lee @jinlee.bsky.social, Crystal Abidin, and Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social (Curtin University, Australia) for bringing together this special issue on TikTok and Children.
IJCS Guest editors Jin Lee, Crystal Abidin, Tama Leaver Curtin University, Australia. Besides each guest editor’s name, there’s a headshot.

Reposted by Tama Leaver

ijcs-journal.bsky.social
International Journal of Cultural Studies @ijcs-journal.bsky.social Β· 25d
Have you read our 28.5 issue yet?

Follow the thread to know more about the articles 🧢
IJCS International Journal of Cultural Studies volume 28, issue 5, 2025 Special issue: TikTok and Children

Reposted by Tama Leaver

michaelzimmer.bsky.social
Michael Zimmer @michaelzimmer.bsky.social Β· 26d
A touching memorial for our friend and colleague, Jonathan Sterne. #AoIR2025
Photo of speaker providing comments with a slide β€œIn memorium of Jonathan Sterne 1970-2025

tamaleaver.bsky.social
Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social Β· Oct 9
The full "Privacy Guidance on Part 4A (Social Media Minimum Age) of the Online Safety Act 2021" is here: www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/priv... #Privacy #Australia #SocialMediaBan [4/4]
Privacy Guidance on Part 4A (Social Media Minimum Age) of the Online Safety Act 2021
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
www.oaic.gov.au

tamaleaver.bsky.social
Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social Β· Oct 9
Nothing here prevents government issued IDs being one option (just not the first one) for verification, but if it is being collected specifically for this purpose, no record should be kept once age if verified. This, at least, minimises the risks around data breaches and so forth. [3/4]

tamaleaver.bsky.social
Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social Β· Oct 9
It's heartening to see that the emphasis is on consistency with existing rules and principles, with the main takeaway being that ideally as little private information as possible should be collected, and once that information has been used to determine age, if should be destroyed. [2/4]

tamaleaver.bsky.social
Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social Β· Oct 9
One more piece of the Australian Under16s Social Media Ban/Delay puzzle has been put on the table today with Carly Kind and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner releasing their guidance on how platforms and other entities should interpret the ban in terms of privacy. [1/4]

Reposted by Tama Leaver

cameronwilson.bsky.social
CAMERON WILSON @cameronwilson.bsky.social Β· Oct 9
The privacy commissioner has warned tech companies that collecting too much data to check user's ages for the teen social media ban could be illegal under Australia's privacy laws.

This comes as the OAIC releases its privacy rules for ban:

www.crikey.com.au/20...

tamaleaver.bsky.social
Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social Β· Oct 8
In different contexts wouldn't that be money laundering?

Or maybe even in this one?

tamaleaver.bsky.social
Tama Leaver @tamaleaver.bsky.social Β· Oct 8
Almost like outsourcing more and more public service functions to consultants might not be a good thing.