Apophenia. Like everyone who cares about Crisis Text Line and the people we serve, I have spent the last few days reflecting on recent critiques about the organization’s practices. Having spent my career thinking about and grappling with tech ethics and privacy issues, I knew that – had I not been privy to the details and context that I know – I would be outraged by what folks heard this weekend. I would be doing what many of my friends and colleagues are doing, voicing anger and disgust. But as a founding board member of Crisis Text Line, who served as board chair from June 2020 until the beginning of January 2021, I also have additional information that shaped how I thought about these matters and informed my actions and votes over the last eight years.
As a director, I am currently working with others on the board and in the organization to chart a path forward. Texters come to us in their darkest moments. First: Why data? Storing data immediately prompted three key questions: I’m a scholar. 1. Bio and photos for conferences/publications. High Res Photos: Short bio: danah boyd is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, a Research Assistant Professor in Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University, and a Fellow at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society. She is also the founder and president of a new think/do tank called the Data & Society Research Institute. Her research examines the intersection of technology and society. Currently, she's focused on research questions related to "big data", privacy and publicity, and teen culture.
Her 2014 book - "It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens" - has received widespread praise from scholars, parents, and journalists. Blog: Twitter: @zephoria Long bio: danah boyd is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, a Research Assistant Professor in Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University, and a Fellow at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Danah boyd :: Publications. A bitty auto-biography / a smattering of facts. Danah boyd (zephoria)