Emerson Victoria Johnston

of course i decide to update my website at the same time github's servers are down :(

the nyt paywalling the mini is a recession indicator

thankful everyday there's not a doordashed wrapped

It will be interesting to see how Canadian TikTok influencers respond to the news about TikTok. Will they maintain a presence on both apps (probably not), or will they abandon the "International version" and set up camp on the "new" American version? #cdnpoli

TikTok inks deal with investors to keep operating in U.S. | CBC News TikTok has signed a deal to sell its U.S. business to three American investors — Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX — ensuring the popular social video platform can continue operating in the United States.

[Breaking] TikTok has signed a deal to sell its U.S. business to Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX. The deal is expected to close on Jan. 22, according to an internal memo www.cbc.ca/news/busines...

When Regulation Backfires: Cultural Infrastructure and the Mass Migration from TikTok to RedNote | Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Communities & Technologies

the second is a conference paper that I was lucky enough to share earlier this summer in Germany at the Communities and Technology Conference. In this one, I investigate the now infamous TikTok exodus to Rednote that happened this past January. Read more about that here:

dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...

Anticipatory identity control: Upstream governance on digital platforms - Emerson Johnston, 2025 This commentary examines the entrenchment of authoritarian governance through the algorithmic architectures of major digital platforms. As identity formation in...

the first is a commentary I wrote for an upcoming special issue in 'Dialogues of Digital Society' on Digital Authoritarianism. In my piece, I try to piece together something i'm coming to understand as 'anticipatory identity control'. Read more about that here:

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

I've unfortunately fallen off my bluesky grind as of late, but a few updates to share:

I published not one, but TWO papers!!! Not only that, these are the first two papers I've ever published!! crazy, I know! what a world we live in

some might say my career as an academic™ has begun!

why is it when i use an add on to bulk open 113 tabs on google chrome they make me do 113 recaptchas 😔

ai has gotten out of hand

my girlfriend and i were really torn up over the death of what we now know is an AI generated obese sphynx cat that became a little bit of a mascot on r/sphynx because of his “recovery” and subsequent “turn for the worse” smh

so i delete tiktok and somehow miss the memo that the rapture is coming tomorrow?!?

controversial take - am starting to love Instagram reels. something about the algorithms seems less addictive and more relaxed than TikTok

The only semi-good coffee shop to work from that isn't on campus has instituted a two-hour wifi limit per device wtf is this life what happened to love

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wdym the department of war what is this the 1940s??

What Taylor Swift reveals about digital culture UChicago musicologist Paula Harper takes pop culture seriously in her studies of online musical virality

this kind of news i need to see #icsfeed
news.uchicago.edu/story/what-t...

watching the presidential address and the youtube comments are hilarious would recommend checking them out

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pay walling the mini is the worst thing the NYT has ever done

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i don’t think i really ever sat down to mourn the death of the em dash

life as a grad student is being recommended a book and adding it to the list of books you need to read but can't because you have a book that you need to read that was recommended before it but you cant but you have another book you need to read that was recommended before that but you can't because

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