@whkchun
new media theorist and professor. director of the SFU digital democracies institute. posts reflect my own views only. banner from Mongrel Network's 2004 Bush-Blair project. Portrait by a wonderful scms audience member—let me know if you know them!
Why and how are machine learning algorithms are driving polarisation?
In our new 10-Minute Talk, Wendy Chun FBA unpacks the role of homophily – the idea that ‘birds of a feather flock together’ – in how social media networks are designed.
Watch the full video now: https://bit.ly/402lT6t
There are very few tickets remaining for the CDH Distinguished Lecture with Professor Wendy Hui Kyong Chun.
Please only register if you are committed to turning up. And if for some reason you cannot make it, cancel ASAP so we can give your spot to someone else.
We can't wait for this one!
'Large Language Models and the Returns of Critical Theory'. @camdighum.bsky.social Distinguished Lecture 2026 by @whkchun.bsky.social on Wednesday 11 March.
www.cdh.cam.ac.uk/about/news/d...
Critical Inquiry
Revisit a 2008 paper from Critical Inquiry that unpacks the theoretical implications of constantly disseminated and regenerated digital content. Wendy Hui Kyong Chun asks: What was new media? And what will it be? https://ow.ly/GG3P50XCQTy Critical Inquiry
Digital Twins special issue in New Media & Society edited by Christoph Borbach, Wendy Hui Kyong Chun & Tristan Thielmann. 15 papers including one by Oliver Dawkins & myself. Interdisciplinary exploration of the conceptualisation and practices of digital twinning. journals.sagepub.com/toc/nmsa/27/8
journals.sagepub.com/toc/nmsa/27/...
Special Issue: Digital Twinning
Editors: Christoph Borbach, Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, Tristan Thielmann
Alles im neuen Special Issue zu Digital Twinning in New Media & Society, herausgegeben von Christoph Borbach, @whkchun.bsky.social und @tristanthielmann.bsky.social mit vielen weiteren Beiträgen, die sich mit den medienwissenschaftlichen Implikationen dieser technologischen Praxis beschäftigen.
“Small children from poor or middle-class families who watch ‘Sesame Street’ do better on cognitive tests and in first grade than children who do not watch it,” Renata Adler wrote, in 1972.
From the Archive: Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, 'Crisis, Crisis, Crisis, or Sovereignty and Networks' - addresses the seemingly paradoxical proliferation of coded systems designed to guarantee our safety and crises that endanger us. journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
It’s been such a wonderful week hosting @whkchun.bsky.social as part of the #dataloss @erc.europa.eu project. Last night we were treated to a brilliant talk at the @aicentre.dk on shared archeologies of LLMs and lit theory, co-hosted with @mariaa.bsky.social ✨✨✨
Wendy Chun giving a lecture
What a lovely day - full room and then some for @whkchun.bsky.social’s brilliant talk on LLMs and the return of critical theory co-hosted by Data Loss and @mariaa.bsky.social at the @aicentre.dk
Save the date: On June 26, I'll be at the CHCI Annual Meeting in Berlin. Together with Wendy Chun @whkchun.bsky.social, Alberto Toscano @alfatau.bsky.social, Zahid R. Chaudhary @zahidrc.bsky.social & Paul Feigelfeld we'll discuss «Techno-Fascism and Democracy».
Very much looking forward to it!
Event poster: Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, Large Language Models and the Returns of Critical Theory, June 19, 14-15.30. University of Copenhagen.
✨Looking so much forward to welcoming @whkchun.bsky.social at @ucph.bsky.social next week to discuss the politics of data loss w our @erc.europa.eu Data Loss project. Please feel more than welcome to join us for Chun's public lecture June 19, 14-15.30 co-organized w @mariaa.bsky.social @aicentre.dk.
"To put it most provocatively, we’ve moved from a moment of masochism to one of sadism." Read Wendy Hui Kyong Chun's "Our Cruel Crude Techne?" on the CI blog.
critinq.wordpress.com/2025/05/13/o...
Yes. A giant in our field and a model of kindness, generosity, and brilliance. He supported and inspired so many. I’m here in Canada in part due to him.
Each exhibition features work by six contemporary artists alongside experimental outputs from the broader Data Fluencies Project, an international research initiative based out of the Digital Democracies Institute (headed by @whkchun.bsky.social) at @simonfraseru.bsky.social.
I'm beyond excited by this event, a webinar upcoming on May 8, with the always and ever-amazing @alondra.bsky.social "AI and the Future of Higher Education." I'd make sure to RSVP early! www.eventbrite.com/e/alondra-ne... Brought to you by @hastac.bsky.social and @futuresed.bsky.social
Just coming out of a brilliant pair of talks by @alexhanna.bsky.social and Beth Coleman, during which they inspired us to think of what remains after hype and alien encounters and surrounds.
America has their Hulk Hogans.
Their Marvel comic "super heroes."
Their tech billionaire winners.
We had Terry Fox.
In our hearts we carry Terry's spirit.
Canada #strongasfuck
Your talk was great—great insights re new realism. It reminded me “reality” in reality tv
A LinkedIn post from Ken Cheng with the following text I owed a friend £22.91 for an Uber. I transferred them £22.19 by accident. They never brought it up. Nobody would bring up 72p. I did it on purpose. I've been doing it for years. Every time I have to transfer someone money, I "accidentally" leave off a bit. I call it the Plausible Deniability Typo. £24.37 instead of £24.73. £9.38 instead of £9.83. £3.46 instead of £3.64. Sometimes if I'm feeling really risky, I'll do £18.54 instead of £19.54. They'd look like a complete tool to quibble over this. Instead, they are a tool in a different way. A tool for me to get to the top. I've probably made £100 over 5 years.
Ken Cheng is the only person doing LinkedIn correctly
Lastly, during the final session on May 14 (2025), 5:30–7 PM (CEST) the brilliant @whkchun.bsky.social @mysdick.bsky.social and Matt Canute will collectively discuss AI and the (re)shaping of intelligence — sign up: www.create.humanities.uva.nl/events/5-cri...
"Big data is the bastard child of eugenics" by Wendy Chun.
Fascinating key note on "LLMs and the return to critical theory" at the Transnational Technocultures Symposium.
Ioana Jucan’s book is brilliant. So honored to be able to publish it.
It important to know the names of women researchers who've been studying, speaking & writing about bias and AI.
Dr Timnit Gebru,
Dr Rumman Chowdhury, Dr Safiya Noble,
Dr Seeta Peña Gangadharan,
Dr Buolamwini
And many many more within/outside academia.
Free link: archive.ph/2023.11.22-1...
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Data science is likely more powerful than you think. Are we being segregated into neighborhoods of sameness based on similar repulsions to those with opposing ideas? My latest newsletter is up here: ➡️ shorturl.at/6lvgn
@whkchun.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social #lespressesdureel
On Tues I'm leading a virtual wkshp for a bunch of publishing, museum, + library folks through KANAL, the Centre Pompidou's new Brussels post. I was asked to address libraries as commons; I plan to talk abt what can + can't be "commoned," and what work-arounds are possible. I'll share my materials!
A graphic with a purple background that is an image of a grey sphere landing in a net. Beneath this is a chartreuse bar with black lettering: Five Theses on the Gravity of Platforms
Last year at the Institute for Advanced Study, I had the great pleasure of convening an amazing group of multidisciplinary scholars on the topic of the platform in society. One of our collective efforts was "5 Theses on the Gravity of Platforms" www.ias.edu/stsv-lab/fiv...
