Jeff Hancock on The Facebook Study: A Personal Account of Big Data and Ethics:

“Big social data, such as that produced by Facebook and Twitter, have the potential to transform the social sciences and lead to advances in understanding human behavior. At the same time, novel large-scale methods and forms of collaboration between academia and industry raise new ethical questions. In this talk, Jeff Hancock discusses the Facebook emotion study and steps through several aspects of the study that involve important ethical decision points, and provides some insights on why the study generated such massive attention and criticism. Jeff also discusses some of the personal costs, opportunities and lessons associated with this level and kind of controversy.”

About Databites

Data & Society’s “Databites” speaker series presents timely conversations about the purpose and power of technology, bridging our interdisciplinary research with broader public conversations about the societal implications of data and automation.