Zeynep Tufekci

RESEARCH

My research interests are the social impacts of technology, research methods, gender, inequality, and new media. I study technologically-mediated sociality and how technology and our social and economic structures are co-constructed. 

I currently have two projects: The first looks at how online social networks are situated within the social practices of college students.  The second, an NSF-funded study (award #0429084, $539,385), examines the interaction between gender, race, social class and technology in relation to career choice and inequality. We just completed the massive data collection effort, having successfully surveyed 1700 middle school students.  I also have an on-going data collection process for my online sociality research, with over 700 surveys in the dataset. For both projects, qualitative work was incorporated into the research. (I’m a strong believer in multi-method research). Check my papers page for some of the results.

For my dissertation, I did a longitudinal studyof participants in a job-training program. The program was exceptionally well-run and the trainees were enthusiastic and committed. Yet, they were not rewarded in the labor market, because, simply put, there really aren’t many entry-level information technology jobs. Some this research will be published in a book by University of Texas at Austin press. I wrote an op-ed about it in the Washington Post which can be found here. I would argue that technology does not produce uniform results across the labor market, and does indeed create polarization, with lower-rung jobs being deskilled. Training and other (labor) supply-side interventions  can’t cure that.

Publications

Tufekci Z. (forthcoming). Can You See Me Now? Audience and Disclosure Management in Online Social Network Sites. Bulletin of Science and Technology Studies.

Tufekci Z. (forthcoming). School Segregation and the Digital Divide in Austin: New Technologies, Old Stories. In Strauhbaar et al (Eds.) The Persistence of Inequity in the Technopolis: Redefining the Digital Divide. University of Texas Press: Austin.

Tufekci Z. (forthcoming). Waging Technology: High-Skill Hype. In Strauhbaar et al (Eds.) The Persistence of Inequity in the Technopolis: Redefining the Digital Divide. University of Texas Press: Austin.

Straubhaar, J., Tufekci Z., Spence, J., Lentz, R. (Eds.) (forthcoming). The Persistence of Inequity in the Technopolis: Redefining the Digital Divide. University of Texas Press: Austin.

Manuscripts Under Review:

Tufekci Z.          Grooming, Gossip, Facebook and Myspace: What Can We Learn About Social Networking Sites from Non-Users (Under review)

Peer-Reviewed Conference Proceedings

Hou, Weimin, Manpreet Kaur, Anita Komlodi, Wayne G. Lutters, Lee Boot, Claudia Morrell, Shelia R. Cotten, A. Ant Ozok, and Zeynep Tufekci, “‘Girls don’t waste time’: Pre-Adolescent Attitudes toward ICT,” Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), ACM Press, 2006, pp. 875-880.

Kaur, Manpreet, Weimin Hou, Wayne G. Lutters, Anita Komlodi, Lee Boot, Claudia Morrell, Shelia R. Cotten, A. Ant Ozok, and Zeynep Tufekci, “‘My Mom is a Cell-Phone Illiterate’ – The Influence of Parental Perceptions on Preadolescent Attitudes Towards ICT,” Proceedings of the 6^th ACM Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, ACM Press.

Manuscripts in Progress:

Tufekci Z.          On the Internet, Everybody Knows You’re a Dog: Presentation of Self for Everyday Surveillance.  (Also presented at American Sociological Association, 2007).

Tufekci Z., Cotten, S. Gender Differences in Computer Use and Perception Among Middle School Students.

Tufekci Z.          Gender and Social Network Sites: Yes, Women Communicating and Men Searching.

Tufekci Z.          Social Capital's New Face: Gender, Race and Ethnicity Differences in Social Capital Formation in Facebook, Myspace, and Other Online Social Networks.

Cotten, S., Tufekci Z., Anderson, W. Cell phones and the Gender Gap in Digital Technologies Among Youth.