Algorithmic Subjectivities

Abstract

This paper considers how subjectivities are enlivened in algorithmic systems. We first review related literature to clarify how we see “subjectivities” as emerging through a tangled web of processes and actors. We then offer two case studies exemplifying the emergence of algorithmic subjectivities: one involving computational topic modeling of blogs written by parents with children on the autism spectrum, and one involving algorithmic moderation of social media content. Drawing on these case studies, we then articulate a series of qualities that characterizes algorithmic subjectivities. We also compare and contrast these qualities with a number of related concepts from prior literature to articulate how algorithmic subjectivities constitutes a novel theoretical contribution, as well as how it offers a focal lens for future empirical investigation and for design. In short, this paper points out how certain worlds are being made and/or being made possible via algorithmic systems, and it asks HCI to consider what other worlds might be possible.