Cara Marta Messina
LightNews LightNews
banner
caramartamessina.com
Cara Marta Messina
@caramartamessina.com
2.3K followers 370 following 640 posts
💖Assistant prof of English
💜fan studies & digital rhetoric
💙keeper of Team Rhetoric feed
💖Alliance for Refusing Generative AI Discord https://discord.gg/fPpdr2fkBp
💜writing a book on fanfiction
💙”your silence will not protect you “
Posts Replies Media Videos
caramartamessina.com
I think the feature similar to Snapchat mapping/Find Me on iPhones where your location can be tracked. I already have an IG friend who is allowing for tracking, so I can see exactly where they are. I don’t think it will be automatically turned on, but I also do not trust tech companies 🤷‍♀️
Screenshot of Instagram’s new “who can see your location” feature.
August 9, 2025 at 12:37 PM
caramartamessina.com
Wow. Just presented on ARG AI at the refusing Generative AI roundtable at #4C25. A Saturday 11am time slot, one of the worst times. But fifty people showed up. Fifty! This just shows how many of us are craving refusal and resistance.

Come join the ARG AI Discord server! discord.gg/fPpdr2fkBp
Photo of a large room with approximately a dozen roundtables, each full of people.
April 12, 2025 at 4:54 PM
caramartamessina.com
We have stickers!
Several stickers stacked in a circular formation. The stickers are a dark green and read “alliance for refusing generative AI” with ARG AI in the middle.
April 4, 2025 at 3:12 PM
caramartamessina.com
Doing a fun little prank in my fandom research methods class today.
A Powerpoint slide. The title reads "Autoethnography." The prefix "auto" is circled and an arrow points to a car. The text reads "Research on car culture.​ Research sites may include a dealership, online communities, car shows, NASCAR races, and more.​ Data collected may include field notes from these research sites, interviewing experts in car culture, or archival materials about car culture.​"
February 18, 2025 at 3:14 PM
caramartamessina.com
Revising means leaving sweet notes for myself, like this one.
A screenshot of a Google Drive comment by Cara Messina that reads "Ugly. Change."
November 27, 2024 at 7:04 PM
caramartamessina.com
Finally celebrated hobbit day. 9am-10pm of all three extended edition LOTR movies. Six courses of meals. A perfect day
Home fries, scrambled eggs, and turkey sausage on a plate. Four cheese danishes on a plate with Lord of the Rings playing in the background. Soup and lembas bread on the table with Lord of the Rings in the back. Cara and Denethor from Lord of the Rings eating tomatoes sloppily.
November 25, 2024 at 4:28 AM
caramartamessina.com
Oh what big ears you have.
A photo of a large black dog with straight, pointed ears and amber eyes.
November 21, 2024 at 2:02 PM
caramartamessina.com
My dog’s favorite new game.
Photo of an unraveled string of toilet paper coming out of the bathroom down the hallway.
November 21, 2024 at 2:01 PM
caramartamessina.com
Babies first conference, 11 years ago.
Screenshot from an eleven year old Facebook post from Cara. The post reads “got accepted into NEWCA!”
February 10, 2024 at 3:49 AM
caramartamessina.com
Submitted this chapter on Our Flag Means Death and the first half of the book for my editor to review. AHHH
Frodo at the end of Lord of the Rings trilogy saying "It's over. It's done."
November 29, 2023 at 8:54 PM
caramartamessina.com
Casual Catra for teaching.
Cara wearing cat ears and posing in front of a mirror.
October 31, 2023 at 10:13 PM
caramartamessina.com
Please clap at my terrible instagram posts of Logan Roy to show my students how to use Canva
An instagram square of Logan Roy with “I love you all but you are not serious people” in a hear. Logan Roy quote with the same content, but design nonsense.
October 5, 2023 at 10:06 PM
caramartamessina.com
Exciting news! My dog’s baby ears fell off. Can’t wait to see her adult ears grow in!
Isla, a black German shepherd and lab mix, looking at the camera with her ears all the way back.
September 29, 2023 at 2:35 AM
caramartamessina.com
Hawk in our yard!
A hawk perched on a log.
September 28, 2023 at 2:04 PM
caramartamessina.com
Northeastern Uni graduate students voted for a union today AND WON! By a landslide!!! An incredible victory after almost 10 years of hard work ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Screenshot of NU grad union’s instagram page. It reads “we won! 1130-70, 94% voting yes.”
September 22, 2023 at 1:23 AM
caramartamessina.com
Me when I get subskeeted
Imortan Joe saying “mediocre” from Mad Max: Fury Road.
September 21, 2023 at 5:26 PM
caramartamessina.com
So excited about this book haul
A stack of five books. One: A fan studies primer, edited by Paul Booth and Rebecca Williams. Two: fandom, the next generation edited by Bridget Kies and Megan Connor. Three: anti-fandom edited by Melissa Click. Four: mainstreaming gays by Eve Ng. Five: queer baitting and fandom by Joseph Brennan.
September 12, 2023 at 6:45 PM
caramartamessina.com
A toast to bothering too many people on the internet today by asking their permission to use their fanfics for my project.

What are you toasting?!
Cara’s hand holding up a glass to the camera as a toast.
September 8, 2023 at 8:05 PM
caramartamessina.com
Just a casual sunset on a rooftop bar.
A photo looking over Poughkeepsie and a sunset with pinks, oranges, yellows, and blues.
September 3, 2023 at 2:19 PM
caramartamessina.com
New lunchbox from back to school shopping
Cara, a white woman with short brown hair, showing off a giant black lunch box.
August 29, 2023 at 2:35 PM
caramartamessina.com
Ugh so so sorry ❤️. Sometimes the world deserves to be a little devoured.
Tumblr screenshot of a post with “select your gender” that looks like Obiwan and Anakin. One person replies “there they are, the two genders.” Then another person replies “Only a dis deals in absolutes.” A final reply reads “all of life and history aligned for that one joke we’re done everyone go home.”
August 16, 2023 at 3:24 PM
caramartamessina.com
Imagine paying $700,000 a day for a glorified SmarterChild.
A screenshot of an article from Firstpost titled “ChatGPT In Trouble: OpenAI may go bankrupt by 2024, AI bot costs company $700,000 every day.”
August 15, 2023 at 1:49 AM
caramartamessina.com
Espresso martinis for breakfast.
A photo of a clear glass with espresso martini, cream colored foam, and mint.
August 12, 2023 at 8:14 PM
caramartamessina.com
This is horrifying news. West Virginia Uni is disbanding an entire department. This is a continued target on the humanities.
A Twitter screen shot by West Virginia United and reads: Breaking. Sources say the World Languages, Literature, and Linguistics dept has been recommended for complete dissolution and a reduction to zero factually. In the last 3 years for which we have data, the department has made the university an average of 871,384 per year.
August 11, 2023 at 1:24 AM
caramartamessina.com
Pictured: Me trying to make a rhet/comp feed after not coding for 6 months.
A pixelated image of Psyduck the Pokémon confused.
August 10, 2023 at 6:47 PM