@frank.computer
Assistant Professor of Data Science @ Cal Poly SLO
Accessibility, tool-making, visualization 📊
PhD from @hcii.cmu.edu. Prev: Adobe, Highsoft, Apple, Visa.
Move slo and repair things.
Disabled & making a ttrpg.
@frank.computerI get cute aggression sometimes, but I also get a very similar "proud of your friends aggression" too. Does anyone else get that? I'm like, worked up right now. So proud of these two. They're so great and this work is so great. They got a best paper on this!!! AHHHH
@uhleeeeeeeshuh.bsky.socialReposted by @frank.computerAre algorithm audits meaningfully fixing issues in algorithmic systems? In our paper at #AIES2026 this week, @davidthewid.bsky.social and I argue that it’s time to deprioritize algorithm audits & instead shift scrutiny to the larger systems of power in which audits sit. 1/n
@frank.computerEyyyy!! Congrats on the best paper!
@frank.computerOh my god, what an amazing collab between two stupendous people!! And best paper?? No surprise. Huge congrats!
@evanbernick.bsky.socialReposted by @frank.computerI am entirely serious when I say that this should be seen as a moderate position. It specifically and surgically dismantles institutions that did not exist pre-9/11 and assigns their functions much as they were assigned pre-9/11.
@frank.computerNO!! Grant, I am so sorry to hear this. Ughhh feel better!
@frank.computerEven bigger announcement: Skeleton has won Best Paper (top 1%) at IEEE VIS this year!! 🎉 VIS is my home community and I am deeply indebted to many of the people in it. I take a little time to pontificate on what "best paper" means to me (or rather, what I think it should really be about):
@frank.computerYessss omg. Blast from the past and a classic. Haven't seen this for 10 years or more, probably. Sadly not as useful once I learned to write code.
@frank.computerWait, why are these visualizations so nostalgic? What did you use for this?
@frank.computerReposted by @frank.computerHah! Such a great question. I am being obtuse here, really. The reason "sociotechnical" as a term is helpful is typically because it opens the eyes of optimistic technology-builders to see and realize that their technologies (all technologies) are socially and culturally situated. (continued...)
@frank.computerAnd this is why "Turkopticon" is a standout piece to me. It is a perfect example of a system that is explicitly aware of the social and political role it plays, but is also a real, practical, working system that is concretely demonstrative. It shows how it functions and makes real its ideas. (end)
@frank.computerIn other words, I want the folks who recognize that "socio-" and "-technical" cannot be separated start actually building things. Too many papers make policy considerations, write guidelines, or imagine possibilities. I want to see real demonstrations and actual, working technologies. (continued...)
@frank.computerNow. What did I mean by "explicitly" sociotechnical? I could have said that more clearly. What I am poking at is this longer thread of research and thinking on the critical, thoughtful side of things that almost exclusively focuses on the "socio-" part of sociotechnical. (continued...)
@frank.computerTechnology participates in, reinforces, and establishes social norms, laws, cultures, agendas, etc. Technology isn't neutral. "Sociotechnical" clarifies that the socio- part can't be separated from the -technical part. (See: Winner's classic "Do Artifacts have Politics?") (continued...)
@frank.computerHah! Such a great question. I am being obtuse here, really. The reason "sociotechnical" as a term is helpful is typically because it opens the eyes of optimistic technology-builders to see and realize that their technologies (all technologies) are socially and culturally situated. (continued...)
@spavel.bsky.socialReposted by @frank.computer
@frank.computerProbably one of my favorite examples of this is Turkopticon by @gleemie.bsky.social because the contributions aren't just policies, guidelines, or methods interventions but explicitly sociotechnical.
I love that we have this lineage in HCI. I want more!
@frank.computerI am gentle about it in my blog post, but this kind of work has not really gained traction in industry HCI work. And this isn't to discredit the work in academic spaces, of course. But we need more academics to embed themselves in practitioner spaces so we can operationalize our theory.
@chrisshank.comReposted by @frank.computerThis is great, thanks for sharing your reflections! Worth noting that this is a growing community and literature about aligning HCI against reinforcing hegemonic power.
@chrisshank.comReposted by @frank.computer@bmitra.bsky.social is also doing some wonderful organizing on the Information Retrieval side that is quite intersectional to HCI.
