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Oliver Haimson

@haimson.bsky.social

1.6K followers 1.1K following 160 posts

Associate Professor at UM School of Information researching social computing, HCI, designing trans tech, social media, identity transitions, content moderation. 🏳️‍⚧️ he/him

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Oliver Haimson @haimson.bsky.social · Jul 30

Trans Technologies is available now! My book examines how technology creates new possibilities for transgender people, and how trans experiences, in turn, create new possibilities for technology.

"An absolute must-read for anyone that cares about technology and trans liberation." - Alex Hanna

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Oliver Haimson @haimson.bsky.social · 1d

Excited for my PhD advisee Senami Kojah, whose paper "Silencing the Voiceless: Social Media Content Moderation for At Risk Marginalized Populations in High-Stakes Violence and Human Rights Contexts in Nigeria" is the 1st paper presentation at #CSCW2025! Online program starts tomorrow at 7am CET.

Oliver Haimson @haimson.bsky.social · Sep 4

If you're eligible, please consider participating in my PhD advisee @lameiro.bsky.social's interview study with online sex workers about non-consensual intimate deepfakes. Quick screening survey: bit.ly/deepfakesint...

Please also help spread the word by sharing with potential participants!

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Reposted by Oliver L. Haimson

Cat Hughes @celticqueen13.bsky.social · Aug 23

#books are awesome.

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Reposted by Oliver L. Haimson

Tim Newman @tnewmsblues.bsky.social · Aug 21

If you talk to globally subcontracted workers who contribute to AI systems, you see not only the issues they experience at work but also how those conditions shape AI tools themselves. The labor conditions of these workers is so often overlooked as a contributing factor to overall AI model quality.

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Oliver Haimson @haimson.bsky.social · Aug 19

same, I also read a lot of trans fiction outside of work! Are you on GoodReads? I keep track of my non-work reading there www.goodreads.com/user/show/24...

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Oliver Haimson @haimson.bsky.social · Aug 18

My reading volume dropped 60% on the tenure track compared to grad school! New Medium post on the realities of academic reading.

I’d love to hear from others: how much are you actually able to read as an academic?

medium.com/@haimson/how...

How Much I Read Every Month During the Tenure Track

My reading volume dropped 60% on the tenure track; here’s what my data says about the reality of academic reading

medium.com

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Reposted by Oliver L. Haimson

onion person @junlper.beer · Aug 16

everyone transgender

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Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Oliver L. Haimson

Charlotte Clymer @charlotteclymer.bsky.social · Aug 16

"Don't feel bad if you're not reading every great book. No one ever has, and no one ever will."

Read Whatever the Hell You Want

Enjoy yourself.

charlotteclymer.substack.com

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Reposted by Oliver L. Haimson

Jeremy Foote @jeremydfoote.com · Aug 15

Thanks for the kind words! Glad you found it useful!

Around the same time, another group in our lab, led by @groceryheist.cc, published a related paper that you might also be interested in:

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

I've also written about founders and their original goals (often not growth!)

No Community Can Do Everything: Why People Participate in Similar Online Communities | Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction

Large-scale quantitative analyses have shown that individuals frequently talk to each other about similar things in different online spaces. Why do these overlapping communities exist? We provide an answer grounded in the analysis of 20 interviews with ...

dl.acm.org

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Reposted by Brian Keegan

Oliver Haimson @haimson.bsky.social · Aug 15

Just read this incredible paper by @s0hw.bsky.social & @jeremydfoote.com: Why Do People Participate in Small Online Communities? The authors question the assumption that growth is always good, and instead show many benefits of small online communities. Highly recommended!

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

Why do People Participate in Small Online Communities? | Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction

Many benefits of online communities---such as obtaining new information, opportunities, and social connections---increase with size. Thus, a "successful'' online community often evokes an image of hun...

dl.acm.org

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Oliver Haimson @haimson.bsky.social · Aug 8

New article out in @theconversation.com!

"When people at high risk of algorithmic harm such as trans people and disabled people are also those most wary of AI, that’s an indication for AI designers, developers and policymakers to reassess their efforts."

theconversation.com/transgender-...

Transgender, nonbinary and disabled people more likely to view AI negatively, study shows

Some of the marginalized groups most likely to be harmed by AI are also most wary of it. A new study’s findings raise questions about equity and consent in technology design.

theconversation.com

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Reposted by Oliver L. Haimson

Phoebe Toups Dugas 🏳️‍⚧️ @snapdragoness.itch.io · Aug 8

There are very good reasons for this! Very nice article @haimson.bsky.social !

Transgender, nonbinary and disabled people more likely to view AI negatively, study shows
theconversation.com/transgender-...

Transgender, nonbinary and disabled people more likely to view AI negatively, study shows

Some of the marginalized groups most likely to be harmed by AI are also most wary of it. A new study’s findings raise questions about equity and consent in technology design.

theconversation.com

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Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Oliver L. Haimson, Nelson Flores

jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · Aug 7

“Discretionary awards shall not be used to fund, promote, encourage, subsidize, or facilitate … denial by the grant recipient of the sex binary in humans or the notion that sex is a chosen or mutable characteristic”

TL;dr grants to be denied to entities who acknowledge the existence of trans people

Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to improve the process of Federal

www.whitehouse.gov

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Reposted by Oliver L. Haimson

Phoebe Toups Dugas 🏳️‍⚧️ @snapdragoness.itch.io · Aug 5

I wrote an explainer for the impact of payment processor censorship on the LGBTQIA+ community.

theconversation.com/thousands-of...

Thousands of games have been censored from major platforms, with LGBTQIA+ creators caught in the crossfire

Payment processing companies have ceded to pressure from an ‘anti-porn’ group, causing Steam and itch.io to ban tens of thousands of games almost overnight.

theconversation.com

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Oliver Haimson @haimson.bsky.social · Aug 5

Thanks so much, @tnewmsblues.bsky.social! Very proud of @bzfzhang.bsky.social (DR. Zhang as of yesterday!) and his amazing work on this paper.

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Oliver Haimson @haimson.bsky.social · Aug 5

Big congrats to Dr. @bzfzhang.bsky.social, who just defended his dissertation! It's been such an honor to work with Ben over the past 5 years, along with co-advisor @michaelannephd.bsky.social. Ben will start as Assistant Professor at Stony Brook University, & I'm so excited to follow his research!

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Reposted by Oliver L. Haimson

Michaelanne Thomas @michaelannephd.bsky.social · Aug 5

Many congrats to Dr. @bzfzhang.bsky.social on his successful dissertation defense! @haimson.bsky.social and I are proud advisors, and anticipate great things from him as an assistant professor at Stonybrook University.

professional image of Ben Zhang with text that reads, "Congratulations Dr. Ben Zefeng Zhang on the successful defense of your dissertation Infrastructuring Data Values: An Ethnography of AI Production, Labor, and Data Marketplace in the Chinese Datafied State, Oliver Haimson and Michaelanne Thomas, serving as committee co-chairs, presided over the oral defense."

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Oliver Haimson @haimson.bsky.social · Jul 30

* read free open access: direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...

* buy now: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255186... or wherever books are sold (get 20% off with code READMIT20 at www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/777584...)

* add to GoodReads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/21...

Trans Technologies

How technology creates new possibilities for transgender people, and how trans experiences, in turn, create new possibilities for technology.Mainstream tec

direct.mit.edu

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Oliver Haimson @haimson.bsky.social · Jul 30

With the publication of my new book Trans Technologies earlier this year, I pledged to donate half of my author royalties to a TBIPOC organization. This year I donated to @ruthelliscenter.bsky.social!

ruthelliscenter.networkforgood.com/projects/227...

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Reposted by Oliver L. Haimson

Oliver Haimson @haimson.bsky.social · Apr 10

For those who will be at #CHI2025, hope you can join us for the CHI Queers Meetup! It will be on Monday 4/28 at a space near the conference. RSVP: tinyurl.com/chiqueers

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Reposted by Oliver L. Haimson

Oliver Haimson @haimson.bsky.social · Apr 26

Join us at #CHI2025 for the Transnational lgbTq+ SIG! Wed. April 30 11:10am-12:40pm. A SIG is basically a time and space at the conference for community-building and support for trans and queer CHI attendees (and allies!).

with @snapdragoness.bsky.social, @fractalecho.bsky.social, @amyko.phd +++

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Oliver Haimson @haimson.bsky.social · Jul 27

Thanks so much, Alex!! I hope my book and yours are hanging out as neighbors on people's bookshelves 😆

Reposted by Oliver L. Haimson

Alex Monea @alexmonea.bsky.social · Jul 27

Go get a copy now from @mitpress.bsky.social or download the open access version here: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255186...

Congrats again on the book, Oliver. Hope to bump into you again soon to say so in person!

Trans Technologies

Mainstream technologies often exclude or marginalize transgender users. Trans Technologies describes what happens when trans people take technology design in...

mitpress.mit.edu

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Reposted by Catherine D’Ignazio, Oliver L. Haimson

Alex Monea @alexmonea.bsky.social · Jul 27

Just finished @haimson.bsky.social's new book Trans Technologies over the weekend and really enjoyed it. If you want an insightful and comprehensive ethnographic account of trans tech - its creators, its creation, its affordances and constraints, and ideas for a better future, it's a must read.

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Reposted by Oliver L. Haimson

MIT Press @mitpress.bsky.social · Jul 26

"An absolute must-read for anyone that cares about technology and trans liberation." — @alexhanna.bsky.social

"Trans Technologies" by Dr. Oliver Haimson is available now and #openaccess: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255186...
@haimson.bsky.social

Hand holding a copy of "Trans Technologies" by Oliver L. Haimson. An illustrated cover depicts a person interacting with a digital interface.

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Oliver Haimson @haimson.bsky.social · Jul 23

We had a great conversation about Trans Technologies on the @aiforalltomorrows.bsky.social podcast, out now - thanks for having me, @dylantdoyle.bsky.social!

Listen here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/o...

Oliver Haimson: Trans Technologies

Podcast Episode · AI for All Tomorrows · 06/25/2025 · 39m

podcasts.apple.com

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Oliver Haimson @haimson.bsky.social · Jul 22

I'm really curious about the reasons for these gender and race differences, and I hope someone does an interview study about this soon!

Oliver Haimson @haimson.bsky.social · Jul 22

thanks for sharing, @axz.bsky.social - so interesting! there was another FAccT paper in our same session that also found similar results around gender and race: arxiv.org/abs/2501.18045. Plus several other studies from @naz-andalibi.bsky.social have also found similar.

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