Inequalities in access to and skills in managing digital technologies have been researched and discussed in quite a bit of depth over the past two decades. These inequalities often reflect historical inequalities between countries and between people from different socio-economic and socio-cultural backgrounds. This talk will discuss two topics that are less well researched. First, unlike attention grabbing headlines a more nuanced approach will be taken to look at inequalities in who benefits and suffers socially and psychologically from digitisation. Secondly, we will look at inequalities in the participation in digital spaces and the ways that people experience these.

Ellen Helsper is Professor of Digital Inequalities in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE, where she also serves as Programme Director for the MSc Media and Communications (Research). Her current research interests include the links between social and digital inequalities; mediated interpersonal communication; participatory immersive digital spaces (VR, ER); and quantitative and qualitative methodological developments in media and communications research.

Algorithmic relations refer to the processes through which algorithmic culture emerges by people establishing and maintaining human-machine connections. It is not enough to ask what algorithmic systems are doing to us; we must also consider what we are doing to algorithms. This talk engages with ‘the feel of algorithms’ outlining how the analysis of algorithmic folklore and related emotional responses provides new perspectives on algorithmic relations. By examining the affective infrastructure, we can identify various modes of presence and participation in algorithmic culture, ranging from enthusiasm and ‘mild paranoia’ to irritation and frustration.