iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studie @wgss-umd.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Join us for Black Homeplaces with @riannawalcott.bsky.social , Associate Director of the @bcatlab.bsky.social and WGSS affiliate, on W Septembe 30 at 4:30 PM in person and on Zoom! Learn more about the talk at go.umd.edu/wgssrwalcott #blackademics #academicsky

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GSFLS | Global Summit 2026 @lgbtqstudies.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Join the 11th Global Summit on Feminist & LGBTQ+ Studies 🌍 📍 Berlin, Germany 📅 Sept 24–25, 2026 Abstract submissions are now open. Submit your work and be part of a global academic conversation. genderandfeminist.com/abstract-sub...

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Lexis Podcast @lexispodcast.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

It also features a Lang in the News segment in which we discuss the new paper by @christianilbury.bsky.social and @riannawalcott.bsky.social about 'TikTok slang' (and why that is also not a thing).

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Lexis Podcast @lexispodcast.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Episode 82 is up. It features an interview with Dr Rianna Walcott of University of Maryland and BCaT Lab about her PhD thesis on Black Twitter, plus discussion of identity online and off, Black feminist theory and its influence and lots more... spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/8jHX15k0k1b

spotifycreators-web.app.link

Episode 82 - Rianna Walcott & Black Twitter by Lexis

Welcome to episode 82 of Lexis, in which Raj, Dan and (guest interviewer and friend of the pod) Amanda Cole talk to Dr Rianna Walcott, Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Marylan...

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Lexis Podcast @lexispodcast.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Episode 82 is coming soon and it's an interview with Rianna Walcott of BCAT www.bcatlab.org about Black Twitter, language, community & identity online and lots more.

bcatlab.org

Black Communication & Technology Lab

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Rianna Walcott @riannawalcott.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

If you would like to hear me impersonating a sociolinguist look no further 🫶🏾👇🏾

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Christian Ilbury @christianilbury.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Super happy to see our paper (w/ @riannawalcott.bsky.social) in Journal of Sociolinguistics: "‘Gen Z Language? Y'all Mean AAVE’: The Appropriation of African American Vernacular English as ‘TikTok Language’ 🧵 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Rianna Walcott @riannawalcott.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

🚨🚨🚨bashment horns🚨🚨🚨

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jonathan w. y. gray @jwyg.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

Public Data Cultures is out today on @politybooks.bsky.social! 📗🎊 jonathangray.org/2025/10/23/p... It aims to nurture critical and creative engagements with public data as cultural material, medium of participation and as site of transnational politics. Happy to see it out in the world! 🦔🌌💜

Copies of the book on a train in Totoro bag.

Front and back cover of Public Data Cultures with quotes and book blurb.

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Rianna Walcott @riannawalcott.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

White men starting to approach with interest, time to say farewell to these braids 😪

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3ccentric @thereal3ccentric.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

Frank Ocean and hotdog water are the same name if you really think about it

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Nick Couldry @couldrynick.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Huge pleasure to meet members of the DISCO network (Aaron, Jeff, Kevin and Rianna) in London last night to celebrate their really important book Technoskepticism!!!

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Digital Humanities @ King's College London @kingsdh.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

📚 Join us at King’s College London on 21 May for the launch of Technoskepticism: Between Possibility and Refusal, a book by @disconetwork.bsky.social exploring the possibilities that technoskepticism can create. 📍 Strand Campus and online, 17:30 🔗 Sign up: www.kcl.ac.uk/events/techn...

kcl.ac.uk

Technoskepticism: Between Possibility and Refusal

The Department of Digital Humanities and the Centre for Digital Culture at King’s College London are delighted to host the launch of the DISCO Network’s Technoskepticism: Between Possibility and Refus...

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DISCO Network @disconetwork.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

UPCOMING: A panel discussion of Technoskepticism coming soon to a King's College London near you! This is a hybrid event, to be held on Wednesday, May 21st from 5:30-7 PM (BST). View details below, thank you to @kingsdh.bsky.social & @digitalculturekcl.bsky.social for hosting 7 of our co-authors.

Promotional image for a book launch for Technoskepticism: Between Possibility and Refusal. On the left, the book cover features a pale blue background with abstract dark shapes at the bottom. To the right, the words "BOOK LAUNCH" stand prominently in large, blue capital letters above details for the event.

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DISCO Network @disconetwork.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Join us one week from today in celebrating the publication of Technoskepticism: Between Possibility and Refusal! We'll be hosting a panel and AI workshop with seven out of fourteen brilliant co-authors on February 14th from 1:30-4:30 PM (EST). For more info and link to register: myumi.ch/W5m4R

Event poster for the “Technoskepticism Book Launch Party” event on Friday, February 14, 2025 at Weiser Hall 10th Floor & Zoom.

Transcribed text:
Lunch with the Authors | 12:30 - 1:30 PM Join us for lunch and conversation with seven co-authors.

Author Panel | 1:30 - 3:00 PM
Huan He (Vanderbilt University), Rayvon Fouché (Northwestern University), Rianna Walcott (University of Maryland), M. Remi Yergeau (Carleton University), Lida Zeitlin Wu (Old Dominion University)
Co-authors of Technoskepticism will discuss their new book about how marginalized communities have navigated the tension between embracing and rejecting emerging technologies. They will also explore how to reconfigure writing in the humanities into a collective practice. This panel will be moderated by Oliver Haimson and Wells Lucas Santo.

Workshop | 3:00 - 4:00 PM
Jeff Nagy (York University) and Lisa Nakamura (University of Michigan)
In this interactive workshop, attendees will apply the principles of technoskepticism to current and emerging technologies, with a special focus on AI.

About Technoskepticism: Between Possibility and Refusal:
From Munchausen by TikTok to wellness apps to online communities to AI, the DISCO Network explores the possibilities that technoskepticism can create.
This is a book about possibility and refusal in relation to new technologies. Though refusal is an especially powerful mode—particularly for those who have historically not been given the option to say no—people of color and disabled people have long navigated the space between saying yes and saying no to the newest technologies. Technoskepticism relates some of these stories to reveal the possibilities skepticism can create.

Register to attend on Zoom: https://myumi.ch/W5m4R

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The Space @handle.invalid · 03/02/2025

In a world of increasingly polarised online spaces, what are the challenges when building communities online? 👨‍👨‍👦‍👦 Join us at Digital Culture Talks 2025 - our panel will discuss this - and provide timely advice: @rowiek.bsky.social @riannawalcott.bsky.social buff.ly/3Cw7kzR

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Rianna Walcott @riannawalcott.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

Hyping myself to meet my new class by mumbling ‘they’re more scared of you than you are of them’ doesn’t work as well on public speaking as it does on spiders, but they seem very nice 🫶🏾

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Rianna Walcott @riannawalcott.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

Updated my Macbook and seeing the Apple Intelligence integration, wanted to know what I'm up against so I can 'AI proof' my Spring teaching where possible and all I can say is this is all getting impossibly more annoying.

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Polity @politybooks.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

“A meditative, lyrical work – Owusu encourages us to be and think outside our current possibilities in favor of a belief in, and commitment to, making the intentions & dreams of the marginalized tangible.” @riannawalcott.bsky.social on Melz Owusu’s powerful new book ↓‬‬‬ tinyurl.com/57parbc4

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Rianna Walcott @riannawalcott.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

It’s lonely at the top of your game. 😮‍💨🙏🏾

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Rianna Walcott @riannawalcott.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

I’ve perfected my naan. 😮‍💨 It’s over for the hoes, I fear. All I do is win 😔

Homemade garlic and cheese naan next to six balls of dough

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Langston Blues @dradambanks.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

It's always a good day when I can introduce students to the dope work happening through the www.bcatlab.org! Also hyped to be reading/discussing Jessica Liu's and @steelecat717.bsky.social crucial article "Joy Is Resistance: Cross Platform Resilience and (re)Invention of Black Oral Culture Online.

bcatlab.org

Black Communication & Technology Lab

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Public Defendering @foddery.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

A gentle reminder that new year resolutions don’t have to be about positive changes. You can commit to be more petty, seek revenge, and disrespect your enemies.

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Rianna Walcott @riannawalcott.bsky.social · 21/12/2024

how much egg you fry?? EIGHT BOMBARASSCLAAT EGGS??? YU NYAM EIGHT EGG??

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Rianna Walcott @riannawalcott.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

Everyone is so lucky I’m getting such a warm family welcome in Jamaica (first visit since 2008) because I tell you I would have worked up such an unbearable poetry chapbook about diaspora, identity and the price of ackee You’re LUCKY I’m not trying to rhyme ‘hurricane beryl’ right now

Family picture with auntie and cousins-

Told Dijonay (age 10) ‘trust me this picture will be important to you in about twenty years’

Dad with cousins Worrel and Dennis -

Learning about what a MENACE my dad (middle) was when he visited as a boy, surprised a klaxon didn’t go off when his plane landed

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Rianna Walcott @riannawalcott.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Asynchronous winter course for 3 credits - COMM498A/AASP498Q Black Discourse in Digital Communication, open to undergrad and grad students, syllabus link in alt-text, and feel free to email with any questions! (pls reskeetskeet) @bcatlab.bsky.social

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_XVjfrIcrdYJPmbXtyQAO_6fyy6LeATy

In this course, we will explore the history of Black discourse and orality and how the unique communicative traditions of African diasporic people in the U.S. were formed in relation to technological skill. In this process, we will discuss how the parallel development of racism and Black cultural traditions have equipped Black users to wield digital technology skills in ways that often outpace and differ from the dominant group. We will interrogate manifestations of this use by reading/exploring digital technologies and academic writings about them. Students will investigate the different mechanisms by which communication researchers can study Black users and discourse with a specific emphasis on critical cultural studies methods and digital humanities tools. Finally, we will together design a digital artifact that demonstrates our increased knowledge on the subject and makes this knowledge accessible to a public of our choosing.

We will be focused on the communicative practices and technology use of the Black community both in the U.S. and beyond, in the broader Black diaspora. By necessity, we will explore concepts like race, gender, power, and class. We will also engage deeply with Black cultural expression making sure that earnest academic inquiry guides our discussion.

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Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

My own work focuses on counterpublics, and yes, at every point in history folks excluded from the so-called public sphere created their own spaces for political deliberation and influence. It's why the abolitionist press existed in the 1800s, the Black press, the feminist press, etc, etc.

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Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

And here is where, again, we need to stop talking about "the public sphere" as if it ever existed. There were always multiple publics - some w/ more power & access to mainstream spaces like media where political deliberation happens - there are dominant publics, counterpublics, and more.

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Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

While new media extended the boundaries of the public sphere to some extent, old problems have always persisted. Elite capture, anti-democratic radicalization, marginalization, access, etc were never not issues on the old Twitter even when more and more groups were using it to insist on being heard

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Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

I likely missed the discourse around this. There are some sentiments I agree w/ here, but since my own work is the critical study of the all too often lauded concept of "the public sphere" I'd like to say a few things about the opening claim here that people fleeing X are "giving up" on that ideal

nytimes.com

Opinion | Bluesky Is Different From X. For Now. (Gift Article)

Users are looking for a more curated experience on a platform that is not constantly trying to get them to interact with brands.

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Rianna Walcott @riannawalcott.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Nerdy girls stand up! Haven’t taken a picture at the white house since I moved here but the PEW RESEARCH CENTER!!! Now that’s what I call a landmark

Proof that I was driving past the pew research center 🤓

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Rianna Walcott @riannawalcott.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Fighting for my life in my emails this week, everybody trying to take me fi eediat Sorry if you get hit by a stray hyper-formal, cold email - can’t switch off ‘you move mad I’ll move madder’ energy for another five business days.

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jonathan w. y. gray @jwyg.bsky.social · 23/10/2024

How can screenshots trouble our understanding of AI? To explore this we’re launching a call for screenshots. Further details can be found at: troubling-ai.glitch.me

screenshot reads: "How can screenshots trouble our understanding of Al?" Full text can be found at: https://troubling-ai.glitch.me/

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Rianna Walcott @riannawalcott.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Celebrating victory! I’ll shut up about my pizza now I’m sorry x

WhatsApp messages about how this pizza I just made was the peak of my artistic and creative career

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Rianna Walcott @riannawalcott.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Oh my god look upon my midnight meal and TREMBLE with awe and envy -sourdough pizza (accidentally deep dish, but whatever) -Chorizo, mushroom, jalapeño, spinach, goats cheese -Garlic chilli honey drizzle (that I FERMENTED MYSELF not today but again, whatever)

Sourdough pizza crust dough ball rising in a pastel green mixing bowl

Pizza base in a cast iron skillet with some toppings waiting to go in the oven

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Rianna Walcott @riannawalcott.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Forgot to set a timer FUCK we really winging it lads 🫡 this will only add to my sense of victory I love holidays this is so nice

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Rianna Walcott @riannawalcott.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Can already tell this sourdough pizza I decided to make from SCRATCH a few hours ago is going to change my life in unimaginable ways

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Rianna Walcott @riannawalcott.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

My weirdest most useless skill is that I cook really elaborate meals when drunk that I can’t recreate sober 😪

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Rianna Walcott @riannawalcott.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

pausing my constant existential crisis about researching social media to skim these 🫶🏾

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Rianna Walcott @riannawalcott.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Left my house to go teach, devastating epiphany that I am dressed like a minion from despicable me (denim dungarees, near-yellow jumper). Do I a - ignore, maybe they haven’t seen the film b - address head on, of course they’ve seen it, they were all born in like 2004 c - teach wearing my coat

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Mx. Tiffany Leigh @tiffanyleigh.northsky.social · 18/11/2024

Kiwi Farms is trying to get a toxic foothold on bsky to target trans accts. Their one move: copy/create blocklists w/actual trashbags & Nazis then add (innocent, unsuspecting, non-trashbag) trans accts. DO not use blocklists unless well-sourced! Ask around; ask list mgrs; confirm reliability

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