TCSJ is thrilled to announce the publication of our latest issue (4.1)! Whether you are interested in TPC’s potential to further engage with race and antiracism, disparities in medical diagnosis and care, or usability research in transnational contexts, there is something for you. 1/2
Fencing is arguably a funnier crossover than youth cheerleading (from 2025 CCCCs in Baltimore).
Folks at #4C26: I am kindly asking everyone to stop saying “post COVID” or “after COVID” when we mean “after lockdown” or “after the availability of vaccines.” COVID is still around, and saying “post COVID” obscures the ongoing medical, social, economic, political, etc. effects. Precision matters!
To all getting settled in Cleveland - check out the #MRSG Sponsored Roundtable @ #4C26! Th 3/5, @ 12:15 in Atrium Ballroom D, Huntington CC! Feat. priyanka ganguly, Melissa Guadrón, @christateston.bsky.social, Lilly Campbell, Elena Kalodner-Martin, Marissa McKinley, & Linda Smith-Brecheisen #RHM
Friends, at a time when science is under attack & people are economically hurting, the ACM, Association for Computing Machinery, is introducing paywalls that didn't exist.
If you're opposed to this measure, join me in signing this petition asking the ACM to stop.
www.ipetitions.com/petition/res...
An infographic titled “How To Write Alt Text” featuring a photo of a capybara. Parts of alt text are divided by color, including identify who, expression, description, colour, and interesting features. The finished description reads “A capybara looking relaxed in a hot spa. Yellow yuzu fruits are floating in the water, and one is balanced on the top of the capybara’s head.” Credit to Puzzle agency, original information from Veronica With Four Eyes and veroniiiica dot com
I’m glad so many people have found my “capybara method” for how to write alt text and image descriptions helpful! However, I know conflicting access needs exist and not everyone can write their own #AltText, so here’s an ongoing thread of tools that can help. Inclusion in thread ≠ endorsement
If folks need guidance on how to do alt text, I've put together this collection of best practice guides to make it pretty easy.
(Hints: the goal isn't to describe everything in the image, alt text should usually only be a sentence or two long, and it matters where you're sharing the image and why.)
15/ Today we’ve published a deeply reported 5-part series. It’s about Albany, Georgia.
It’s about getting sick in America.
And it’s about what happens when the most powerful institution in town is a hospital.
Today’s the day! Join us in conversation at 12pm ET to chat about all things queer food and HIV/AIDS. Sign ups are free and open on the Eventbrite page until 11:45am ET: www.eventbrite.com/e/queer-food...
In ONE week, I’ll be speaking at Queer Food and HIV/AIDS: A World AIDS Day Event from 12:00-1:30pm EST with Jo Michael Rezes, Isabel Barbosa, Dave Davenport, Alex D. Ketchum, Megan J. Elias, Jon Kauffman, and Crystal Harrison! The event is free and virtual. Sign up and learn more here:
May her memory be for a revolution that lights all of our way home. ❤️🔥
As a reminder, proposals for the 2026 ACM Special Interest Group on Design of Communication are due in two months!
We are looking forward to welcoming you to SIGDOC 2026 at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, MN. The Call for Proposals is live: sigdoc.acm.org/conference/2....
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I missed seeing everyone at #SIGDOC25, but I’m so excited to be program co-chairing with @banvillemorgan.bsky.social for #SIGDOC26! Our CFP is linked below. Please email us at the posted email addresses with any questions!
I call it “joyful rigor” when I explain this effort to my students. I don’t believe in or rather, I’m not a “suffering poet.” I’m a writer who enjoys writing. The work works on me and I’m grateful for the opportunity to delve into the process at my own pace and to be changed by it.
I’m thrilled to have an article included in TCSJ's most recent special issue! If you’re interested in vaccination, rhetorical strategies used in public health, or social media communication, give it a read: techcommsocialjustice.org/index.php/tc...
Yes, and aside from the obvious reliance on grifty language and logic, another key issue with Cox’s argument that "using AI is a radical act of feminism" is that it risks placing blame on women for the far-reaching impacts of sexism if they choose not to engage with it, thus making sexism… worse.
The Zucht v. King Supreme Court case ruled that it is not unconstitutional to exclude unvaccinated students from public or private schools. This was in 1922.
Reminder that vaccine mandates are not political but ending them IS. Massachusetts was the first state to require immunizations for school…. for smallpox… in 1855.
Making it harder for people to get vaccinated is unequivocally worse for everyone’s health. A couple things are true: Many providers WILL write prescriptions for them if you’re in a state that needs them. Many conditions and lifestyles ARE included (autoimmune, depression, even inactivity!).
It’s the first day of a new academic year! This semester, I’m teaching a class called Rhetorics of Health, Illness, and Wellness. If you have a resource/artifact that you love showing in class (an article, a clip of a show or movie, a TikTok, a cool data viz, etc.), I’d love to check them out.
Unconscionable.
Then we have the audacity to suggest a $5k "baby bonus," as though that even begins to cover the costs associated with insurance, medical care, fertility treatments, childcare... the list goes on.
And $1,000 out of your paycheck ALSO isn't affordable! Linking employment = economic stability clearly isn't true for so many of us and these gaps are made especially apparent when someone is experiencing a gap in their employment, are self-employed, cannot work, etc. We need so much better.
We need to talk about how expensive and precarious it is to be unemployed, even if it is temporary. We need better systems that recognize these gaps and support people through them.
As a chronically ill person who relies on infusions to stay healthy, I cannot opt out of insurance.
That's not the point. Nobody should be spending $1,000 a month for healthcare. Nobody should have to consider opting out. We need universal healthcare.
A conversation that we need to have about the academic job market is what happens financially when people are between positions and how this gap makes systemic failures VERY apparent. Case in point: my COBRA insurance cost is $1,000 a month.
All we need is for those numbers to sustain across a diversity of tactics for an extended amount of time-- strikes! boycotts! slowdowns! leaks! refusals! art shenanigans! more! --
and we will have this in the bag, folks.
We. Can. Do. This.
Thanks to everyone who joined us! For more information about TCSJ, please visit techcommsocialjustice.org. You can also reach out to our editors directly at editors@techcommsocialjustice.org if you're interested in pitching a project, being a reviewer, or with any other questions.
#ATTW25 attendees: come to the TPC Editors' Roundtable today at 4:45pm CST in BCH 125 and on Zoom! I'll be there on behalf of @tcsocialjustice.bsky.social. We look forward to chatting with you about all things submitting, reviewing, and more.