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Austin Toombs

@altoombs.bsky.social
393 followers 260 following 223 posts

🎮🎲🧶🏳️‍🌈🏃‍♂️📚💻 I play video and board games. I knit, crochet, and sew. I’m gay. I run marathons. I’m an Associate Professor at IU. I study technology-mediated relationships and communities through HCI, CSCW, and Social Computing approaches.

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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I have a half-baked hot-take, based on generally feeling kinda ghosted from too many angles lately to be coincidental. I think people interacting with any kind of AI chat interface are expending more social energy than they realize, even if they are just using it for work purposes.
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LLLwry @lglly.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
💯
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C·CI Lab @c-cilab.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Casper ter Kuile, author of "The Power of Ritual" and co-host of the podcast "Harry Potter and the Sacred Text", wrote about our Implicit Care research on his substack open.substack.com/pub/joyfulbe...
open.substack.com
A well-designed table doesn’t love the people around it, but it makes lingering possible
Learning from Austin Toombs and the concept of 'implicit care'
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Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Two years ago, my colleagues and I were sued by Stephen Miller's America First Legal. The Hines v Stamos case — built atop a number of false allegations — was a central element of the "censorship industrial complex" myth. Today, that case was dismissed (by a Trump judge in LA). We won.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
MONROE DIVISION
JILL HINES ET AL — CASE NO. 3:23-CV-00571
VERSUS — JUDGE TERRY A. DOUGHTY
ALEX STAMOS ET AL — MAG. JUDGE KAYLA D. MCCLUSKY
MEMORANDUM RULING
Before the Court is a Renewed Joint Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subject Matter and Personal Jurisdiction [Doc. No. 191] filed by Defendants, Alex Stamos, Renée DiResta, the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University, the Leland Stanford Junior University, Kate Starbird, Graphika, Camille François, the Atlantic Council, and Graham Brookie (collectively, "Defendants"). Plaintiffs, Jill Hines ("Hines") and Jim Hoft ("Hoft") (collectively, "Plaintiffs"), filed an Opposition [Doc. No. 207]. Defendants then filed a Reply [Doc. No. 209].
For the reasons set forth, Defendants' Motion is GRANTED.
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Earthling @ziyatong.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
🎯
@nluewmist / I’m finally reading Dune. This quote which in the first few pages hit hard; “once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only let other men with machines to enslave them.”
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C·CI Lab @c-cilab.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Very proud of this paper at Design Research Society, "Patterns of everyday care: Translating cultural practices for online communities" doi.org/10.21606/drs... We also just launched our website related to these patterns, though we are still adding some of the materials: c-cilab.com/care-patterns/
c-cilab.com
Patterns of Everyday Care — C·CI Lab
A toolkit of 23 design patterns naming the subtle, everyday forms of care that hold online communities together. From the C·CI Lab at Indiana University.
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The Onion @theonion.com · 17/06/2026
Woman Dives Headfirst Into Thrilling Adventure By Blindly Purchasing Different Apple Variety theonion.com/woman-dives-headfirst-…
Woman Dives Headfirst Into Thrilling Adventure By Blindly Purchasing Different Apple Variety
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
(Soon-to-be Dr.) Suchismita Naik just successfully defended her PhD dissertation, "Multi-Agent Design Patterns for Fostering Sense of Belonging in Online Communities: Insights from Fandom Communities and AI Practitioners".
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
#chi2026 if you’re a session chair, don’t make off-hand comments about a speaker’s methods as their q&a is ending. Even if you think you’re a B&C expert (who, by the way, that author might not have cited because B&C aren’t the only thematic analysis experts!) It’s not cool to use your role that way.
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Still true for #chi2026
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alix e. harrow @alixeharrow.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
okay i am sorry to be that bitch but the one word you can't use to describe this is "unprecedented."
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Congressman Bill Keating @keating.house.gov · 03/01/2026
Donald Trump is no more the legitimate president of Venezuela than was Nicholas Maduro.
Make no mistake, this is one of the most eye opening days in US political history. 

President Trump has just announced that he is taking control of the sovereign country of Venezuela until he feels fit to return it. He will install his Secretary of Defense, his Secretary of State, his and his Joint Chiefs Chairman to run the day to day operations. Additionally he is ordering US oil companies to enter Venezuela and take control of their energy industry. He personally will control billions of dollars that he has no right to access.
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
Just woke up even angrier. Impeach, convict, remove. Draft articles now. Either we have a representative government or we don’t. Do not shut up about this until there’s a vote.
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mattie lubchansky @mattielubchansky.com · 03/01/2026
if you are talking today about how bad maduro was and were alive, at all, during the run-up to the iraq war you are potentially the dumbest person to ever live
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Emily L. Hauser (she/her) ❌👑 @emilylhauser.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
I didn't get a picture of the best sign I saw today, but I remember what it said: Somewhere in America A little Hispanic girl Is hiding in an attic And keeping a diary. #NoKings
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
Happy first day of the 2025-26 school year! (I didn’t teach yesterday so today counts)
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Academic friends prepping for the CHI deadline: I am happy to give some big-picture pre-review feedback if you could use it! I can probably do this for three-ish papers (maybe two papers where I would be considered an expert of some kind and one paper on a topic I'd just be an everyday reader)
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 03/08/2025
Trump has tried quite a few things to try to distract us, but none of them are working. Some things he should try next, which could totally work: universal healthcare, pro-earth climate change policies, federal decriminalization + legalization of certain substances, prison reform… I’d be distracted!
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Elizabeth Spiers @espiers.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
Me three months ago:
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
Our #educhi2025 papers are available now! Also, the conference has just started (today is the pedagogy workshop educhi2025.educhi.org). I'm excited about my paper, which is about using amoeba drawings to encourage sketching and prototyping within ambiguous problem spaces dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
dl.acm.org
The Ambiguity Amoeba and other Metaphors: Teaching Students to Sketch and Prototype Through Uncertainty | Proceedings of the 7th Annual Symposium on HCI Education
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
You can tell I turned 37 today because I watched a full ad about a nonstick pan, followed the link to the website, and got really excited to read about how it works because I’m tired of my eggs sticking. I bought it. When it comes it will be like my birthday all over again!
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Wondering if your team could work with our HCI/d students? In this thread I'll list some project types that have worked well in past semesters to spark ideas.
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
Let’s all remember that our conferences are attended by people who speak many languages. Your presentation is a chance to explain your research as clearly as possible. It is not the time to try to show off your vocabulary, which is likely inaccessible to many in the room.
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
Heyyyyy, so when we pick destinations with low flight connectivity for our conferences, any kind of travel delay snowballs. All the Newark stuff from last night has me getting to the conference 36 hours later than planned. I’ll be missing the workshop I was going to be a full day early for. #DIS2025
media.tenor.com
a woman says maybe this is a nightmare nope , can 't fly away . this is real life .
ALT: a woman says maybe this is a nightmare nope , can 't fly away . this is real life .
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
I know I’m a bit biased, since @graydesign.bsky.social is an author, but I’m legitimately excited to read this. I’m talking myself out of bringing it to DIS with me, but I’m going to try to tackle this before EduCHI. studioproperties.org #studioProperties #studioPedagogy #prettyBooks
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Natasha @nastynatasha--1.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
Don’t tell the republicans, but I used part of my sick day to turn this Totally Straight* SuperDry tank top into a SuperGay one. *I don’t get all the credit. Tank tops are already pretty gay. It didn’t take much convincing.
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
What. A. Nerd.
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
I’m teaching the “HCI/d Studio Practice” course next semester. We pair industry partners with student groups that include first and second year Master’s HCI/d students. If you know someone interested in working with a group of students next semester, let me know! More details: lnkd.in/gqUshj6C
lnkd.in
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
When a person becomes a billionaire, every cent over 1B should go to a world fund. Not for the specific nation, but for the Earth. They literally can't spend that much money anyway. #voteAustinForEmperor
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Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · 31/05/2025
There are 2 previous historical cases of countries destroying their science and universities, crippling them for decades: Lysenkoism in the USSR and Nazi Germany. The Trump administration will be the 3rd. It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.
Graphs showing 25 years of budgets for the National Institute of Health, NASA, and the NSF. In all cases, the proposed budget for next year is far, far below any year of the previous quarter century.
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
Photos from Japan, post 5/5
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
Photos from Japan, post 4/5
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
Photos from Japan, post 3/5
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
Photos from Japan, post 2/5
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
Photos from Japan, post 1/5
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Looks professional. But has Pokémon cards (gifts for students). May this always be true haha. Congratulations to the IU Bloomington HCI/d Master’s students!!! ❤️❤️❤️
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
Reposting to remember this analogy with exercise, since that’s basically how I explain it to my students already.
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
Our hotel room number is 2319. Hopefully we don’t encounter any unexpected human artifacts.
media.tenor.com
a picture of a monster and a green alien with the number 2319
ALT: a picture of a monster and a green alien with the number 2319
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Carla Griggio @carlagriggio.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Masako Wakamiya's keynote is a beautiful love letter to technology appropriation. Loved her stories about turning "Office" into a playground #chi2025
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Phoebe Toups Dugas 🏳️‍⚧️ @snapdragoness.itch.io · 01/05/2025
I hope I can be half as awesome as the #chi2025 keynote speaker, Wakamiyu Masako, when I grow up. She’s a technology legend at 90!
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Congratulations to the team who made the KaraokAI interactivity exhibit for winning the popular vote!!! dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/... @annarlcarter.bsky.social #chi2025 #interactivity
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
I did end up getting some new glasses from Jins after learning from @mayworms.info that they could make them in 30 minutes. These ones are dragon ball themed!!! “Supreme Kai” is a bit on the nose for glasses I got at CHI #chi2025 but it was not intentional lol us.jins.com/products/jin...
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
#chi2025 questions don’t have to be designed to embarrass students. You can ask the same question without trying to push the presenter off balance first. Especially if you want them to be able to answer your question. Thankfully the old dudes who tend to do this in our community are less common
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
ADHD+no adderall at CHI update, since people have said these are useful for them. I’m not as overwhelmed as I thought I’d be, and I attribute it to being much more aware now of how and when I get overstimulated. Knowing how a situation feels with and without ADHD medication is a key part of that.
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Thinking about how cool it was in CHI2022 to watch a keynote from a speaker who did a ton of background research on our community to be able to connect her research to our field in a meaningful way.
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
Austin’s Unofficial Rules for Not Dying (or Being Boring) at Conferences, particularly #chi2025 A short thread of practical survival tips for the conference grind:
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C·CI Lab @c-cilab.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
All of the C-CILab PhD students (Suchismita Naik, Seora Park, and Tilar DeVine) have work at #CHI2025 this year! Here’s a little thread celebrating what they’re up to. So proud of them! ❤️
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
If anyone is making a #chi2025 bingo card this year, then they should make sure to include “overheard senior academics discussing their Bidet experiences” on the card somewhere #whereischinosaur
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Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Clearly, spreading bullshit is the highest virtue, so teaching people to recognize propaganda & manipulation is “censorship”, and therefore we need to defund digital literacy programs. And while we’re at it, education is “censorship” of bad ideas, which is why we need to defund the universities!
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