iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Steve Threadgold @stevethreadgold.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Thanks to the @sociologyaustralia.bsky.social Social Stratification Thematic Group for the invitation to talk about our @newcastleyouth.bsky.social research on young people, financial practices and fintech. Sorry I couldn't be there in person, so I recorded this video for them.

youtu.be

The Financial Dispositional Distinctions of Young People in Australia

YouTube video by Steven Threadgold

Lucy Hamilton @lucyham.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Reposted by Steve Threadgold

🧵The wealthy and their strategists at rightwing media orgs and junktanks inflict DARVO on us. If we discuss inequality, we’re accused of perpetrating class war. In fact, neoliberalism is almost a century of class war against “the tyranny of democracy” 🙄 #Auspol theshot.net.au/uncategorize...

theshot.net.au

You're in a class war, whether you fight back or not - The Shot

It didn’t take the titanic corruption and clown-car incompetence around Trump to tell young people that death-throes capitalism is a...

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Julia Coffey @juliacoffey.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

This article from @stevethreadgold.bsky.social and me published on the same day Meta agreed to significant changes to Instagram and Facebook. It is an unequivocal acknowledgement that wellbeing harms for children and young people are caused by platform design. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

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Newcastle Youth Studies Centre @newcastleyouth.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

TASA Sociology of Youth event is happening at USyd Monday October 12, please come along if you can

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Steve Threadgold @stevethreadgold.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

New article out with Bev Skeggs and @rogerjburrows.bsky.social in @culsoc.bsky.social on how cultural consumption data's enrolment into insurance, health, housing and other areas that extends symbolic violence and means we nee to think about culture differently

journals.sagepub.com

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

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Louise Amoore @amoorelouise.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

I could weep, seriously. Some of the places I love best are those second-hand book stores in the side streets of small towns. Where the stacks contain surprises that shape how one thinks about something. Now LLMs need “pre 2022” texts to avoid the “contamination” of synthetic data 1/

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Newcastle Youth Studies Centre @newcastleyouth.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Please join us on Wednesday for our next NYSC online seminar where will be joined Peta Cook (University of Tasmania), Elizabeth Humphrys (University of Technology) and Nicole Asquith (Queensland University of Technology) for “Scholarship Disabled: Crip research, crip scholars”.

Scholarship Disabled: Crip research, crip scholars

A discussion designed to increase awareness but also provoke conversations on the place(lessness) of crip scholars in Australian high

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Newcastle Youth Studies Centre @newcastleyouth.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Please join us for our next NYSC online seminar when we are joined by Dan McQuillan (Goldsmiths) to talk about the critical politics of AI and his work on decomputing.

From Resisting AI to Decomputing

Dan McQuillan talks critical AI politics

Newcastle Youth Studies Centre @newcastleyouth.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Reposted by Steve Threadgold

If you use fintech, live in Australia, and are between 18 and 30 years old, please sign up to be interviewed in our project. Interviewees get a $50 gift card while workshops participants get $75! youthfintechfutures.wordpress.com/participate/

youthfintechfutures.wordpress.com

Participate

Click this link to do the screening survey

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Jill Walker Rettberg @jilltxt.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Here’s a video from the same podcast as linked in my previous post where you can hear the audio too. I love this because it really lays bare how LLMs fool us - but really they’re just slotting words into linguistic patterns that we’re familiar with. Genres like a podcast or LinkedIn post.

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Steve Threadgold @stevethreadgold.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Thanks to Julia Cook, Julia Coffey, Roger Burrows, Bev Skeggs, Dan Angus, Jathan Sadowski, Geoff Mead, David Beer, Gav Smith, Ash Watson, Thao Phan, Kiah Hawker, Sam Whiting, Nic Carah, Amy Dobson, Duncan McDuie-Ra, Lauren Kelly, Will Atkinson, Jin Lee and Dan McQuillan for having a chat with me 2/2

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Steve Threadgold @stevethreadgold.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Here's a link to the lectures, most of which are chats with other researchers, for my Algorithm/AI/Data course. I’m hoping it can become somewhat of a public resource too so please send it to anyone you think may be interested in a critical look at our new data driven overlords. 1/2

youtube.com

Consumption, Technology and Everyday Life 2026 - YouTube

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Newcastle Youth Studies Centre @newcastleyouth.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Our next NYSC Online Seminar is no tomorrow at 3pm. Maternal Secrets: Shame, Silence, and the Materiality of Mothering, featuring Giverny Lewis (UoN), Briony Lipton (UNSW) and Eva Neely (Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington).

Maternal Secrets: Shame, Silence, and the Materiality of Mothering

This seminar brings together three explorations of what often remains hidden in maternal experiences.

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Journal of Youth Studies @youthstudies.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

BIG NEWS! The 5th Journal of Youth studies Conference will take place in Porto, May 4 to 6, 2027! Check the link for all relevant details including submissions, registration and keynotes. jys-conference.eventqualia.net/en/2027/home/

jys-conference.eventqualia.net

The 5th Journal of Youth Studies International Conference

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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 27/03/2026

The more I think about it, the more I hate @lintonbesser.bsky.social's implication here that allowing machine-generated plagiarism and fabrications in media+opinion is somehow "inevitable" Frankly, it seems to go against the entire existence of media watch? www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/e...

The two biggest newspaper publishers in Australia are less strict, Nine doesn’t prohibit AI but does prohibit it being used in the writing of copy, while News Corp requires the oversight of an editorial manager.

Jo Tarnawsky confirmed to us she has indeed been using AI, not to generate her essays from scratch but to assist her along the way, and explained she had not known about Crikey’s tough AI policy before filing to the publication. She also said:

I get there's AI slop and photos that are completely fake. I'm offended that I'm now being accused of this type of conduct when I was using it to check and refine my work …

There are reasonable, ethical uses of AI tools. The answer is to acknowledge this and … not to pretend it doesn't exist …

- Email, Jo Tarnawsky, Author, 20 Mar 2026

As it turns out, Jo Tarnawsky is no Robinson Crusoe—this study from the Thomson Reuters Foundation suggesting as many as eight out of every ten journalists in some regions use AI in their work.

And, notwithstanding her ill-advised reliance on the machine, it seems patently obvious Crikey’s hardline position is really not sustainable. Conceding in an email to us, it is indeed having trouble holding back the tide.

But these tools, while revolutionary, are also perilous no matter how much they weasel their way into our lives, and journalists above all others perhaps must be vigilant to the risks they pose to the foundations of good reporting, independent research, clear thinking, and above all else, words on the page that actually make sense.

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Steve Threadgold @stevethreadgold.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

Had a fun chat with the great Mark Mordue on his podcast The Slider. We talked about the research @newcastleyouth.bsky.social is doing, plus a bunch of other stuff like " 'data gaze' surveillance, fintech auctions for your identity, online gambling and some hope with rock n roll"

markmordue.substack.com

Different Class

Newcastle youth, 'data gaze' surveillance, fintech auctions for your identity, online gambling and some hope with rock n roll

Newcastle Youth Studies Centre @newcastleyouth.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

Reposted by Steve Threadgold

Tomorrow (Tues March 17, 2pm) we have Sam Friedman (LSE) presenting on his award winning work on the British elite. The seminar is online and in person at NuSpace (X204).

The Making and Remaking of the British Elite

Born to Rule

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Newcastle Youth Studies Centre @newcastleyouth.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Please join us online on Wednesday March 11 (tomorrow!) at 3pm for @samfriedman.bsky.social (LSE) and Rose Butler (Deakin) for our next online seminar "Class Diplomacy: Cross-Class Friendship and Social Mobility'

Class Diplomacy: Cross-Class Friendship and Social Mobility

Negotiating class based tensions and the politics of friendship

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Newcastle Youth Studies Centre @newcastleyouth.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

On Wednesday at 2pm we have our NYSC visitor Sam Kirwan from University of Bristol presenting on The Debt Cycle. This will be online and for those in Newcastle please join us in person at X401 in NuSpace.

Presents work from Sam Kirwan's forthcoming book

The Debt Cycle

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Newcastle Youth Studies Centre @newcastleyouth.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

Our online seminar series kicks off Wednesday February 11 at 3pm, on ‘Algorithmic Dwelling: Digital Technologies as Intermediaries in Housing Access and the Enactment of Home’.

Digital Technologies as Intermediaries in Housing Access and the Enactment of Home

Algorithmic Dwelling

Newcastle Youth Studies Centre @newcastleyouth.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Reposted by Steve Threadgold

Congratulations to our new research team member Dr Niamh White on her PhD conferral and becoming a newly minted Dr! We look forward to working with you on young people and fintech over the next few years

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Journal of Youth Studies @youthstudies.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

SAVE THE DATE! Journal of Youth Studies Conference, University of Porto in May 4-6, 2027.

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Newcastle Youth Studies Centre @newcastleyouth.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

Our next online seminar is on at 3pm tomorrow. The False Divide between Nature and Culture: How Estrogens, Yeasts and Snakes Reveal the Entanglement of Everyday Life See you there!

The False Divide between Nature and Culture

How Estrogens, Yeasts and Snakes Reveal the Entanglement of Everyday Life

Steve Threadgold @stevethreadgold.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

I'm giving talk at RMIT for the Music Industry Research Collective on Monday October 20 at 3pm on 'What is cultural sociology when culture is platformed and financialised?'

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Newcastle Youth Studies Centre @newcastleyouth.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

NYSC online seminar on ‘The Materialities of Inequality: Mould, Acid and Glitter’ featuring Beckie Coleman, Bev Skeggs, Imogen Tyler and Roger Burrows is on tomorrow night, Wednesday October 8 at 7pm (9am London time).

The Materialities of Inequality: Mould, Acid and Glitter

How Stuff Matters

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Steve Threadgold @stevethreadgold.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

The book also has an open to anyone support site, with support materials, videos and discussion questions. If you would like multiple choice questions to set quizzes for each chapter, please email me. 2/2

subcultureinthe21stcentury.wordpress.com

Subculture in the 21st Century

A book for teaching and learning about subculture as a sociological concept

Steve Threadgold @stevethreadgold.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

It's finally out! After what could only be described as a very long gestation, our edited collection is now available. It will be great for teaching about the concept of subculture and also contains interesting contemporary examples and research case studies. 1/2

routledge.com

Subculture in the 21st Century: An Introduction to Subculture Studies

Subculture in the 21st Century is a key text for all students of sociology and cultural studies. Drawing on case studies and supported by a range of resources on its dedicated companion website, it is...

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Will Davies @will-davies.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

A factor in this triumphant return is how platforms (Spotify) dissolve historical time, with the effect that a) nobody needs to remember that this was a band whose 'good' patch lasted circa 18 months and b) they provide the backdrop for inter-generational bonding

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Erdem Avşar @erdemavsar.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

The new special edition of So Fi Zine is live! A beautiful collection of sociological fiction - HUGE thanks to the legend that is Ash @awtsn.bsky.social for making this possible and including my piece, and to everyone involved. Read here: sofizine.com/latest-editi...

sofizine.com

Edition #17

OUT NOW! So Fi Zine #17 is a special issue created with sociologists and other academic kin at the University of Glasgow in 2025 – full of new sociological fiction, poetry and visual art. Thi…

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Newcastle Youth Studies Centre @newcastleyouth.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Please join us for the second in our NYSC Series Online seminar on Wednesday to hear all about New Possibilities: Young People and Democratic Renewal, featuring Philippa Collin, Judith Bessant, Luigi Di Martino, Rob Watts and Varsha Yajman.

New Possibilities: Young People and Democratic Renewal

This panel shares some of the findings of the New Possibilities project

Newcastle Youth Studies Centre @newcastleyouth.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

Reposted by Steve Threadgold

No silver bullet: why social media ban is full of holes www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/903228...

Newcastle Youth Studies Centre @newcastleyouth.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Reposted by Steve Threadgold

Tomorrow at 3pm AEST we have our first NYSC online seminar taking place on zoom. The topic is Automating Everyday Life and we are joined by Nicholas Carah and Lauren Hayden, Joel Stern, and Thao Phan and Fabian Offert. You can register at Eventbrite for it here www.eventbrite.com.au/e/automating...

As everyday life has been digitalised, more and more of the things we do, like and consume are being automated.

Automating Everyday Life

Newcastle Youth Studies Centre @newcastleyouth.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Reposted by Steve Threadgold

Check out Filtered Reality, a short film that discusses aspects of the ARC DP project led by @juliacoffey.bsky.social ‬on how photo editing apps, tools and filters affect young people’s self-image. youtu.be/iewwq34sCdk?...

youtu.be

Filtered Reality

YouTube video by Steven Threadgold

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Thao Phan @thaophan.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Join me, Joel Stern, and Nic Carah for what's shaping up to be a stimulating seminar on Automating Everyday Life! ⚡Wed 30 July, 3 - 5pm AEST ⚡Register for zoom details I'll be talking about generative AI and the problem if representing political violence. www.eventbrite.com.au/e/automating...