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"BBQ Becky" and "Karen" memes reference real-world incidents in which Black individuals were harassed by White women in public spaces. In what I term the BBQ Becky meme genre, Black meme creators use humor, satire, and strategic positioning to perform a set of interrelated social commentaries on the behavior of White women. By conducting a visual Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis (CTDA) of BBQ Becky memes, I argue that Becky and Karen memes are a cultural critique of White surveillance and White racial dominance. I find that memes in the BBQ Becky meme genre call attention to, and reject, White women's surveillance and regulation of Black bodies in public spaces—making an important connection between racialized surveillance of the past and contemporary acts of "casual" racism. This meme genre also disrupts White supremacist logics and performative racial ignorance by framing Karens and Beckys as racist—not just disgruntled or entitled. Finally, in a subversion and reversal of power dynamics, Karen and BBQ Becky memes police White supremacy and explicitly call for consequences, providing Black communities with a form of agency. Hence, I conclude that Black memes matter in the struggle for racial equity.

Though the general populace has been introduced to the idea of thin privilege, the fat activist movement has been slow in gaining momentum. This is due, in part, to the symbolic annihilation of "fat" people in media. Within the fat activist framework, women of color are often further excluded from the overarching discourse and white privilege is sometimes unacknowledged. Taking an intersectional approach, I examine the Tumblr page, Fat People of Color. I use Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis (CTDA) to examine the images and conversations posted by users. Findings reveal that Fat People of Color uses an intersectional, communal approach to posit counter-narratives against normative ideas about white thinness. This research contributes to an understudied area of sociological inquiry by presenting an analysis of the experience of "fat" women of color within a feminist framework. Ignoring the variation of experiences strengthens the types of privileges that fat activism and feminism hope to dismantle.

"In the world of online dating, race-based discrimination is not only tolerated, but encouraged as part of a pervasive belief that it is simply a neutral, personal choice about one's romantic partner. Indeed, it is so much a part of our inherited wisdom about dating and romance that it actually directs the algorithmic infrastructures of most major online dating platforms, such that they openly reproduce racist and sexist hierarchies. In, Not My Type: Automating Sexual Racism in Online Dating, Apryl Williams presents a socio-technical exploration of dating platforms' algorithms, their lack of transparency, the legal and ethical discourse in these companies' community guidelines, and accounts from individual users in order to argue that sexual racism is a central feature of today's online dating culture. She discusses this reality in the context of facial recognition and sorting software as well as user experiences, drawing parallels to the long history of eugenics and banned interracial partnerships. Ultimately, Williams calls for, both a reconceptualization of the technology and policies that govern dating agencies, and also a reexamination of sociocultural beliefs about attraction, beauty, and desirability"--

This book explores five key themes: the new face of news and journalism, social movements and protest, television, cinema, publicity and marketing, and media theory. Chapters reflect the Brazilian case as a laboratory for exploring the evolving media environment of one of the world's most fascinating societies

AbstractEmotional labor was originally theorized by Arlie Hochschild in the context of domestic labor. Since her early theorization, popular culture and social scientists have adopted the term to refer to emotion work that is exhibited in a manner of financially compensated social settings. Emotional labor refers to the process by which individuals are expected to conform to a set of societal guidelines, ensuring that their emotions conform to that performance. As the use of social media grows, emotional labor plays an increasing role in the lives of people of color—across media platforms. We frame the ever‐present negotiation involved in racialized interactions online as a type of uncompensated emotional labor that results in racial battle fatigue. Next, we position emotional labor as an intrinsic part of the experience for social media users of color because digital media is by default a White, racialized space. Lastly, we argue that current research on civility does not account for the emotional labor of people of color. We offer an original view of uncompensated emotional labor that is inclusive of cross‐platform, racialized emotional labor that can result in racial battle fatigue.

The digital has been celebrated for its objectivity and lack of bias, yet digital media scholars have addressed the ways that inequity is embedded in technology. What is often missing from this discourse is the voices of Black women. Drawing on interviews with 20 self-identified Black and African American women, aged 18–30, who have used dating apps in the preceding 6 months, we invited participants to share their experiences with online dating and racial fetishization. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we explore how Black women perceive and navigate racial fetishization and stereotypes often informed by racialized and gendered ideologies. Our findings trace Black women's movements through three phases of the dating process in which participants discussed feeling fetishized; a sentiment that we identify as racial desire that is rooted in colonialist ambitions.

We interviewed 31 individuals about their online dating life and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. We use literature on risk and health behaviors to generate four frames for dealing with risk associated with COVID-19 while dating: 1) Unconcerned about Risk, 2) Preliminary Risk Assessment, 3) Active Risk Negotiation, and 4) Risk Aversion. Further, we argue that risk perception causes daters to use implicit and explicit communication about health behaviors to determine COVID compatibility, a state of being in agreement with a partner about how to best minimize risk of contracting COVID-19. Daters want to know that their partner is behaving with similar regard for health guidance and that they are doing their best to keep those in their communities safe. Though daters may transition between frames throughout the course of the pandemic, we use these four frames to identify sets of beliefs, routines, and personal health practices across our sample that have relevance for social scientists, health communication scholars, and health care practitioners.

Machine learning algorithms pervade contemporary society. They are integral to social institutions, inform processes of governance, and animate the mundane technologies of daily life. Consistently, the outcomes of machine learning reflect, reproduce, and amplify structural inequalities. The field of fair machine learning has emerged in response, developing mathematical techniques that increase fairness based on anti-classification, classification parity, and calibration standards. In practice, these computational correctives invariably fall short, operating from an algorithmic idealism that does not, and cannot, address systemic, Intersectional stratifications. Taking present fair machine learning methods as our point of departure, we suggest instead the notion and practice of algorithmic reparation. Rooted in theories of Intersectionality, reparative algorithms name, unmask, and undo allocative and representational harms as they materialize in sociotechnical form. We propose algorithmic reparation as a foundation for building, evaluating, adjusting, and when necessary, omitting and eradicating machine learning systems.

This issue of American Behavioral Scientist deals with the various ways in which different kinds of organizations cope with the manifold challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Together, these articles map the challenges and opportunities encountered by a variety of organizations in a major public health crisis. The first section of the issue takes up the theme of adaptive crisis response in relation to two different kinds of organizations. This section begins with a comprehensive overview of U.S. nonprofit organizations' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The second article expands on the theme of communication practices in organizations using digital communication platforms which facilitate constructive forms of disagreement or "creative conflict." Both of these articles indicate the potential positive outcomes of entrepreneurial organizational response. In the next section, we turn to organizational responses hampered by digital inequalities. The first article addresses digital inequalities and eLearning during the pandemic in the country of Pakistan. The next article also uses a digital inequalities framework to probe infrastructural inadequacies faced by the criminal justice system in terms of hindrances to external communication for incarcerated populations during the pandemic. This pair of articles underscores the importance of infrastructure as a necessary element of successful crisis response. The third section of the issue continues with case studies of carceral institutions with the first article offering insight into strategies used by incarcerated people to generate a sense of normality despite pandemic disruptions. Finally, the issue closes with an article revealing the delicate balancing act which rural U.S. law enforcement carried out when competing imperatives made it extremely difficult to manage public health and public safety simultaneously.

The authors investigate the association between self-reported experiences of discrimination and social media use among Black American adults. Experiences of discrimination were assessed using a 10-question scale of self-reported discrimination encounters. Data analysis was based on a sample of 220 Black American adult respondents residing in Texas. The results indicate that Black Americans reporting higher levels of discrimination use social media more frequently than those who report lower levels of discrimination. In addition, Black Americans who experience higher levels of discrimination are more likely to have accounts on Twitter or Facebook than those who experience lower levels of discrimination. Together, these findings suggest that social media sites such as Twitter serve as sites of expression for people of color to air their grievances, find community, and cope with online and offline forms of racism and discrimination.

Sponsored by the Communication, information technologies, and media section of the American Sociological Association, Volume 10 of the Communication and information technologies annual, Digital distinctions and inequalities, brings together nine studies of this increasingly important form of inequality. Drawn from four continents, the research provides a global overview of the current state of the field in different cultural contexts. As a whole, the volume illuminates the complexities of digital inequalities as they are manifested in groups and societies even when access is widespread. In their depth and breadth, the volume's contributions provide an indispensable guide to emergent forms of digital inequality as it rapidly evolves.

Sponsored by the Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association (CITAMS), Millennials and Mediabrings together case studies from across the globe to provide a timely examination of Generation Y's media practices.

Sponsored by the Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology section of the American Sociological Association (CITAMS), Volume 19 of Emerald Studies in Media and Communications draws on global case studies that examine media use by millennials. By bringing together contributors and case studies from four continents to examine millennial digital media practices, the volume charts out multiple dimensions of Gen Y's digital media engagements: smartphone use among Israelis, the activities of Brazilian youths in LAN houses, selfies in the New Zealand context, and American millennials engaged in a variety of digital pursuits ranging from seeking employment, to content creation, to gaming, to consuming news and political content. Through these case studies we see parallels in the mediated millennial experience across key digital venues including Twitter and YouTube, and MMOs. None-the-less, contributors also prompt us to keep in mind the importance of those millennials without equal access to resources who must rely on public venues such as libraries and LAN Houses. Across these venues and arenas of practice, the research provides an important collection of research shedding important light on the first generation growing up with the normative expectation to perform digital identity work, create visual culture, and engage in the digital public sphere. ; https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/faculty_books/1513/thumbnail.jpg