Bridget Cogley
@cogley.bsky.social
#FunctionalAestheticsTheBook coauthor. Maker of vizzes, breaker of calcs, Tableau-old (HOF). @windscogley other places.
she/her
she/her
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Bridget Cogley
@cogley.bsky.social
· Jun 24
Love It, Loathe It, and Lift It: The Missing Conversation on AI
I’ve sat through perhaps too many conversations on AI this month. Whether in-person (hi Outlier), online (oh, the discourse), or anywhere else I happened to be, GenAI is specifically on the m…
www.tableaufit.com
I really try not to write about AI. Too many conversations forced my hand (again)...
www.tableaufit.com/love-it-loat...
www.tableaufit.com/love-it-loat...
It may have been 6 years ago, but still a hard day...
Be gentle with folks in your life.
Be gentle with folks in your life.
September 30, 2025 at 6:46 PM
It may have been 6 years ago, but still a hard day...
Be gentle with folks in your life.
Be gentle with folks in your life.
Reposted by Bridget Cogley
BIG NEWS! We've updated the website of the Open Visualization Academy, where you can see all its contributors: openvisualizationacademy.org
This is the announcement in our newsletter: openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com/p/we-re-back...
#dataViz #infographics #dataJournalism #dataVis 📊
1/x
This is the announcement in our newsletter: openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com/p/we-re-back...
#dataViz #infographics #dataJournalism #dataVis 📊
1/x
September 25, 2025 at 6:05 PM
BIG NEWS! We've updated the website of the Open Visualization Academy, where you can see all its contributors: openvisualizationacademy.org
This is the announcement in our newsletter: openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com/p/we-re-back...
#dataViz #infographics #dataJournalism #dataVis 📊
1/x
This is the announcement in our newsletter: openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com/p/we-re-back...
#dataViz #infographics #dataJournalism #dataVis 📊
1/x
I'll be taking this and you should too!
I just finished recording my course materials for @albertocairo.com's Open Visualization Academy. 🎉
I'm looking forward to being able to share the first-ever comprehensive online course on Accessibility in Visualization. Stay tuned for this January!
openvisualizationacademy.org
I'm looking forward to being able to share the first-ever comprehensive online course on Accessibility in Visualization. Stay tuned for this January!
openvisualizationacademy.org
Open Visualization Academy
openvisualizationacademy.org
September 25, 2025 at 11:38 PM
I'll be taking this and you should too!
Reposted by Bridget Cogley
Yup, finally took the time to fix some things on my website. Now my Hope datavisualization is to be seen again.
It is a personal project on the people who gave me #hope throughout my life, each their own galaxy in my universe 🌌
#dataviz #illustration
www.studioterp.nl/hope-a-perso...
It is a personal project on the people who gave me #hope throughout my life, each their own galaxy in my universe 🌌
#dataviz #illustration
www.studioterp.nl/hope-a-perso...
September 24, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Yup, finally took the time to fix some things on my website. Now my Hope datavisualization is to be seen again.
It is a personal project on the people who gave me #hope throughout my life, each their own galaxy in my universe 🌌
#dataviz #illustration
www.studioterp.nl/hope-a-perso...
It is a personal project on the people who gave me #hope throughout my life, each their own galaxy in my universe 🌌
#dataviz #illustration
www.studioterp.nl/hope-a-perso...
That these programs exist excites me. Someday, I'll find one close enough. You should definitely take a look.
Interested in accessibility, visualization, or data ethics? I'm looking for Ph.D. students to join @data-and-design.org at CU Boulder Info Sci in Fall 2026.
data-and-design.org/recruiting/phd
data-and-design.org/recruiting/phd
Recruiting Ph.D. Students for Fall 2026
We are an interdisciplinary research group at the University of Colorado Boulder that uses design to understand and reimagine socio-technical systems.
data-and-design.org
September 4, 2025 at 9:11 PM
That these programs exist excites me. Someday, I'll find one close enough. You should definitely take a look.
Reposted by Bridget Cogley
Octavia Butler predicted our dystopian present. What can a futurist learn from her chilling accuracy?
Octavia Butler predicted our dystopian present. What can a futurist learn from her chilling accuracy?
“She painted a very clear picture about survival.”
www.motherjones.com
August 27, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Octavia Butler predicted our dystopian present. What can a futurist learn from her chilling accuracy?
As someone who has spent far too much time grieving and who works in tech, I'm going to level with you:
The human brain isn't equipped to handle this.
Grief means learning that person is gone.
Digital interaction feels real to us.
This sends mixed signals. Which one wins?
The human brain isn't equipped to handle this.
Grief means learning that person is gone.
Digital interaction feels real to us.
This sends mixed signals. Which one wins?
Seeing the companies that literally enable deadbots acting shocked, simply shocked, that people are doing this is truly wild. I have a LOT of thoughts in this arena and I'm threading a few interesting reads on deadbots and grief below!
AI 'deadbots' are persuasive — and researchers say they're primed for monetization
The digital afterlife industry may near $80 billion in a decade, fueled by AI "deadbots." Tech firms see profit. But experts warn of troubling consequences.
www.npr.org
August 27, 2025 at 7:56 PM
As someone who has spent far too much time grieving and who works in tech, I'm going to level with you:
The human brain isn't equipped to handle this.
Grief means learning that person is gone.
Digital interaction feels real to us.
This sends mixed signals. Which one wins?
The human brain isn't equipped to handle this.
Grief means learning that person is gone.
Digital interaction feels real to us.
This sends mixed signals. Which one wins?
Today's distraction brought to you by, well, distraction...
You think the task is simple enough, until self-service everything wins the day.
If you need a distraction, enjoy. It'll make me feel less bad about mine.
www.tableaufit.com/the-end-of-s...
You think the task is simple enough, until self-service everything wins the day.
If you need a distraction, enjoy. It'll make me feel less bad about mine.
www.tableaufit.com/the-end-of-s...
The End of Self-Service: When we ask too much from our users
Has this ever happened to you: you settle in for what you think is going to be a moderate level task and find it turns into an Olympic endeavor? Perhaps, you’re building a dashboard, a user t…
www.tableaufit.com
August 26, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Today's distraction brought to you by, well, distraction...
You think the task is simple enough, until self-service everything wins the day.
If you need a distraction, enjoy. It'll make me feel less bad about mine.
www.tableaufit.com/the-end-of-s...
You think the task is simple enough, until self-service everything wins the day.
If you need a distraction, enjoy. It'll make me feel less bad about mine.
www.tableaufit.com/the-end-of-s...
Reposted by Bridget Cogley
Satire, art, humor, beauty, pleasure, creativity.
These are not luxuries, they are necessities.
We need all of these things to keep bringing light and hope to the world, in a dark time.
These are not luxuries, they are necessities.
We need all of these things to keep bringing light and hope to the world, in a dark time.
August 21, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Satire, art, humor, beauty, pleasure, creativity.
These are not luxuries, they are necessities.
We need all of these things to keep bringing light and hope to the world, in a dark time.
These are not luxuries, they are necessities.
We need all of these things to keep bringing light and hope to the world, in a dark time.
I'll also add it reduces the opportunities for any life-saving/changing acts of compassion.
I paid cash for my first degree because I couldn't navigate financial aid. Many times, I ate one meal a day.
Sometimes, someone's compassion saved me that day.
I paid cash for my first degree because I couldn't navigate financial aid. Many times, I ate one meal a day.
Sometimes, someone's compassion saved me that day.
I get that phones seem ubiquitous these days, but I worry that appifying college life could end up exacerbating inequalities and making life harder for already vulnerable students. 1/ 🧵
today.iu.edu/live/news/46...
today.iu.edu/live/news/46...
CrimsonCard goes digital, offering easy access to your IU ID and services
The digital CrimsonCard allows users to enter buildings, redeem meal points and print documents the same as before, but right from their phone or watch.
today.iu.edu
August 21, 2025 at 7:06 PM
I'll also add it reduces the opportunities for any life-saving/changing acts of compassion.
I paid cash for my first degree because I couldn't navigate financial aid. Many times, I ate one meal a day.
Sometimes, someone's compassion saved me that day.
I paid cash for my first degree because I couldn't navigate financial aid. Many times, I ate one meal a day.
Sometimes, someone's compassion saved me that day.
This weekend, I spent time learning to breathe with my body - to open wide and to use my arms, hands, and breath in alignment.
From a taekwondo form.
People hear I do martial arts and focus mostly on defensive abilities. But there's more.
www.tableaufit.com/the-chasm-be...
From a taekwondo form.
People hear I do martial arts and focus mostly on defensive abilities. But there's more.
www.tableaufit.com/the-chasm-be...
The chasm between us and our users
Data workers live in an odd space – exposed to the hidden patterns of the world without often being immersed in the conditions of it. We listen to our users, hear their stories, but how much …
www.tableaufit.com
August 18, 2025 at 5:27 PM
This weekend, I spent time learning to breathe with my body - to open wide and to use my arms, hands, and breath in alignment.
From a taekwondo form.
People hear I do martial arts and focus mostly on defensive abilities. But there's more.
www.tableaufit.com/the-chasm-be...
From a taekwondo form.
People hear I do martial arts and focus mostly on defensive abilities. But there's more.
www.tableaufit.com/the-chasm-be...
More #grief posts...
It's been 10 months today since my mother died.
It'll also be my wedding anniversary in 2 days.
September is coming which means:
My mother will have been gone a year,
My stepfather 4 years,
My best friend 6 years...
It's heavy carrying these and so many other losses.
It's been 10 months today since my mother died.
It'll also be my wedding anniversary in 2 days.
September is coming which means:
My mother will have been gone a year,
My stepfather 4 years,
My best friend 6 years...
It's heavy carrying these and so many other losses.
August 6, 2025 at 7:01 PM
More #grief posts...
It's been 10 months today since my mother died.
It'll also be my wedding anniversary in 2 days.
September is coming which means:
My mother will have been gone a year,
My stepfather 4 years,
My best friend 6 years...
It's heavy carrying these and so many other losses.
It's been 10 months today since my mother died.
It'll also be my wedding anniversary in 2 days.
September is coming which means:
My mother will have been gone a year,
My stepfather 4 years,
My best friend 6 years...
It's heavy carrying these and so many other losses.
Yes Apple, I know you updated. For the 20th time today, no, I don't want to learn how to type to Siri. Please stop.
I remember the days when tech didn't harass you about minutiae. Yes, I saw it and I don't want it.
So tired of hostile design patterns everywhere. They are a product of fascism.
I remember the days when tech didn't harass you about minutiae. Yes, I saw it and I don't want it.
So tired of hostile design patterns everywhere. They are a product of fascism.
August 6, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Yes Apple, I know you updated. For the 20th time today, no, I don't want to learn how to type to Siri. Please stop.
I remember the days when tech didn't harass you about minutiae. Yes, I saw it and I don't want it.
So tired of hostile design patterns everywhere. They are a product of fascism.
I remember the days when tech didn't harass you about minutiae. Yes, I saw it and I don't want it.
So tired of hostile design patterns everywhere. They are a product of fascism.
Reposted by Bridget Cogley
📣 In this short essay, I describe how actions of the current administration constitute ➡️ state terrorism ⬅️ and outline how US universities (and professors and students and staff) can survive state terrorism, as people before us have survived.
academeblog.org/2025/08/05/h...
academeblog.org/2025/08/05/h...
How US Universities Can Survive State Terrorism
BY CATHERINE D’IGNAZIO As a professor at MIT, I find myself navigating strange waters these days. Last semester, I advised the thesis of a student who left the country because she did not fee…
academeblog.org
August 5, 2025 at 5:18 PM
📣 In this short essay, I describe how actions of the current administration constitute ➡️ state terrorism ⬅️ and outline how US universities (and professors and students and staff) can survive state terrorism, as people before us have survived.
academeblog.org/2025/08/05/h...
academeblog.org/2025/08/05/h...
Things I'd love to study formally in an #academic setting (advanced / terminal degree):
Ethics, particularly applied at the intersections of #dataviz and society
Communication, specifically how groups vary with the lens thru dataviz
Communication, thru medium and 📊
Not a complete list...
Ethics, particularly applied at the intersections of #dataviz and society
Communication, specifically how groups vary with the lens thru dataviz
Communication, thru medium and 📊
Not a complete list...
August 2, 2025 at 7:33 PM
CW: #grief
What is mourning without ritual? I've had 3 big deaths in the past few years with little to no mourning rituals.
What happens when you have no one to grieve with, when there's no one to show up? What happens when you yourself have no traditions?
What is mourning without ritual? I've had 3 big deaths in the past few years with little to no mourning rituals.
What happens when you have no one to grieve with, when there's no one to show up? What happens when you yourself have no traditions?
July 31, 2025 at 6:46 PM
CW: #grief
What is mourning without ritual? I've had 3 big deaths in the past few years with little to no mourning rituals.
What happens when you have no one to grieve with, when there's no one to show up? What happens when you yourself have no traditions?
What is mourning without ritual? I've had 3 big deaths in the past few years with little to no mourning rituals.
What happens when you have no one to grieve with, when there's no one to show up? What happens when you yourself have no traditions?
Additional note to companies rolling out AI as the first line. When you attempt to label AI as "human help" eventually all your customers learn to treat real people like crap.
Label your AI appropriately.
Label your AI appropriately.
July 28, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Additional note to companies rolling out AI as the first line. When you attempt to label AI as "human help" eventually all your customers learn to treat real people like crap.
Label your AI appropriately.
Label your AI appropriately.
The medium is the message. You're on your device, performing intimacy in so many ways - comforting a friend thru chat, supporting others by elevating their posts, and even providing care by telling others your working hours aren't theirs.
But what if those people aren't real? 📊 🧵
But what if those people aren't real? 📊 🧵
July 27, 2025 at 8:06 PM
The medium is the message. You're on your device, performing intimacy in so many ways - comforting a friend thru chat, supporting others by elevating their posts, and even providing care by telling others your working hours aren't theirs.
But what if those people aren't real? 📊 🧵
But what if those people aren't real? 📊 🧵
What do you do when you strip it all away? Existential 📊 thread.
The question came up again recently: what do you do?
My generic answer: I work in data.
When people ask for more details, I may expand: I freelance, I make products, I teach...
None of this really answers the question, not well.
The question came up again recently: what do you do?
My generic answer: I work in data.
When people ask for more details, I may expand: I freelance, I make products, I teach...
None of this really answers the question, not well.
July 21, 2025 at 2:45 PM
What do you do when you strip it all away? Existential 📊 thread.
The question came up again recently: what do you do?
My generic answer: I work in data.
When people ask for more details, I may expand: I freelance, I make products, I teach...
None of this really answers the question, not well.
The question came up again recently: what do you do?
My generic answer: I work in data.
When people ask for more details, I may expand: I freelance, I make products, I teach...
None of this really answers the question, not well.
And this is why users ask for the data. 📊
Because in 2020, stimulus checks were mailed. Rather than spend in uncertain times, more Americans banked the money.
Why are less saving now?
How many are unemployed and burned through savings?
How many just don't have the extra to save?
...and so on.
Because in 2020, stimulus checks were mailed. Rather than spend in uncertain times, more Americans banked the money.
Why are less saving now?
How many are unemployed and burned through savings?
How many just don't have the extra to save?
...and so on.
July 17, 2025 at 8:20 PM
And this is why users ask for the data. 📊
Because in 2020, stimulus checks were mailed. Rather than spend in uncertain times, more Americans banked the money.
Why are less saving now?
How many are unemployed and burned through savings?
How many just don't have the extra to save?
...and so on.
Because in 2020, stimulus checks were mailed. Rather than spend in uncertain times, more Americans banked the money.
Why are less saving now?
How many are unemployed and burned through savings?
How many just don't have the extra to save?
...and so on.
Reposted by Bridget Cogley
*slams it down* I finished it
My article
About AI use, impacts, etc, with lots and lots of links
It's uh
Really long
My article
About AI use, impacts, etc, with lots and lots of links
It's uh
Really long
Opinion: Is it worth it to use AI? Some things you should know
AI has shown us again and again how it aims to change our society. Is this technology really "here to stay" and what's it doing to us?
www.foundationwebdev.com
July 8, 2025 at 2:52 PM
*slams it down* I finished it
My article
About AI use, impacts, etc, with lots and lots of links
It's uh
Really long
My article
About AI use, impacts, etc, with lots and lots of links
It's uh
Really long
A part of my grief journey has been adding in inefficiencies. I'm a natural optimizer, so this is work. The inefficiencies are where joy actually lives.
Art is inefficient. Care is inefficient. Joy is inefficient. Humanity is inefficient. Don't let them take that away.
July 7, 2025 at 4:17 PM
A part of my grief journey has been adding in inefficiencies. I'm a natural optimizer, so this is work. The inefficiencies are where joy actually lives.
My mother's birthday is tomorrow. IYKYK, grief loves to pop up near these days (and fill as much time as possible).
I decided to make a visual showing how you change with grief. (Also apt with just everything)
www.tableaufit.com/mini-project...
I decided to make a visual showing how you change with grief. (Also apt with just everything)
www.tableaufit.com/mini-project...
Mini-Project: Mapping Grief
Call this the anecdata / sketching fuzzy data edition…. Lots of models exist for discussing grief. I wanted to provide a rough visual for how I think about the transformation process of grief…
www.tableaufit.com
July 1, 2025 at 8:02 PM
My mother's birthday is tomorrow. IYKYK, grief loves to pop up near these days (and fill as much time as possible).
I decided to make a visual showing how you change with grief. (Also apt with just everything)
www.tableaufit.com/mini-project...
I decided to make a visual showing how you change with grief. (Also apt with just everything)
www.tableaufit.com/mini-project...
Sometimes, I wonder if social media has peaked...
June 24, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Sometimes, I wonder if social media has peaked...
I really try not to write about AI. Too many conversations forced my hand (again)...
www.tableaufit.com/love-it-loat...
www.tableaufit.com/love-it-loat...
Love It, Loathe It, and Lift It: The Missing Conversation on AI
I’ve sat through perhaps too many conversations on AI this month. Whether in-person (hi Outlier), online (oh, the discourse), or anywhere else I happened to be, GenAI is specifically on the m…
www.tableaufit.com
June 24, 2025 at 7:14 PM
I really try not to write about AI. Too many conversations forced my hand (again)...
www.tableaufit.com/love-it-loat...
www.tableaufit.com/love-it-loat...