lizsweig
lizsweig@lizsweig.profile.universalname.space
npub1pmwz...4nu6
“I am, and always will be, the optimist. The hoper of far-flung hopes, and the dreamer of improbable dreams.” - Dr. Who
I want to build a world where all our systems—social, financial, and technological—are more honest, more human, and more resilient. That’s the real promise of decentralized technologies: Empowering people with transparency, data sovereignty, and algorithmic accountability—building systems that are, ultimately, structurally immune to centralized abuse of power and authoritarian overreach. #MyWhy
Tell me about your day…
Them: Liz, why did you completely change your career to focus on eliminating single points of failure (#Decentralization) and empowering people to own their data and give informed consent for its use and monetization (#DataSovereignty)?
Me: 👇
From LinkedIn’s article on the 23andMe ch 11 filing: "More than 15 million people have given the company DNA samples, which could be sold in bankruptcy proceedings."
https://www.wsj.com/business/dna-testing-company-23andme-files-for-bankruptcy-announces-ceo-resignation-82ad1c45
As a social psychologist working on and researching decentralized, distributed web tech, I want to use tools for data collection that align with the DWeb ethos. However, I haven’t yet found any that are compliant with the research ethics board requirements (e.g., HIPAA rules). For my latest study, I’m using SurveyMonkey to host the 10-minute questionnaire. You can find it here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3CTGSB5/. It’s far from an ideal solution.
#AskNostr
- Is this a topic of interest for other researchers here?
- Are there tools built on Nostr that you’re aware of that can be used for academic research? If not, is anyone interested in trying to create something?
Posting a picture from last week’s trip to #Singapore 🇸🇬 for #TOKEN2049 as a way to try out the new preview feature on @nos / Verdict: It works great! 
We live in an age of digital ghosts. Late last year, my friend Darren died unexpectedly. We had spoken a few weeks before his death and made vague plans to meet on what would turn out to be the day after his last on earth. I’ve thought about him often since then. I can still hear his voice, that languid drawl indicative of an East Texas upbringing. His contact information remains in my phone; I can’t bring myself to delete it. As a result, I got a notification earlier today that he had joined Telegram. It was a gut punch. Of course, he didn’t just sign up. Rather, the person who received his discontinued number from the phone company did. It’s made me think about the digital traces of ourselves we leave behind and the technological artifacts that those who live on maintain. His contact details are still in my phone. Damn, I miss him.
Quick thoughts from a (relative) normie evangelizing #Nostr on day 1 of #TOKEN2049 in Singapore:
- Of the dozen folks I’ve spoken to, 2 had heard of Nostr before, 3 realized they had heard of Nostr but didn’t realize it until I started describing it, and 7 had never heard of it
- I didn’t have the time (and the people I talked to didn’t have the patience) to onboard in the hallways at the event; it has to be faster and easier (I know, this isn’t news)
- The “a-ha” moment came when I showed people my profile and feed on @nos and then immediately opened @Damus and showed them all the same stuff was there, but the two clients offer different user experiences and features
I’m going to start highlighting some of the research coming out of the #HCI lab I’m in at Vanderbilt that focuses on teen online safety that may provide insights to inform product and development work on Nostr.
In 2022, Dr. Akter led a project where teens and parents installed software on their respective smartphones that allowed them to see what apps were on each other’s phones and view their respective privacy and security settings. Here’s what she and the team found:
- Teens are (perhaps not surprisingly) much more aware of data privacy risks with respect to third-party apps than their parents (many teens were shocked and dismayed by what they saw as poor data and device security and privacy management by their parents)
- Parents were less concerned about privacy and security settings and much more worried about apps that allowed teens to message others (especially adults) the parents didn’t know
- Teens felt uncomfortable monitoring their parents and upending the parent/teen power dynamic, but had much more productive communication about device and internet use as a result of being aware of each other’s apps and settings
Food for thought:
- How can we better educate users about privacy and security on Nostr?
- How can we make the settings in our apps simple and straightforward for less privacy- and security- savvy users?
- How can we encourage more community dialogue about privacy and security from a practical (rather than just philosophical or ideological) perspective?
Citation:
Akter, Mamtaj, Godfrey, Amy J., Kropczynski, Jess, Lipford, Heather R. & Wisniewski, Pamela J.. 2022. From parental control to joint family oversight: Can parents and teens manage mobile online safety and privacy as equals?. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 6: 1-28. doi: 10.1145/3512904.
Pure torture smelling delicious sweet-and-sour brisket braising all day in the oven. Happy family Sunday dinner #DinnerTonight #Foodstr 
Homemade Hawaiian rolls to go with ham and no-cream cream spinach for dinner tonight. Since connecting with @SoupBox at #Nostriga my
#Nostr feed has become one long beautiful #foodie scroll and I am here for it. 
One of the things I enjoy most in my academic work is falling down rabbit holes. This time it’s framing my next #HCI paper on the phenomenon of #sharenting and how decentralized social networking protocols may offer better strategies for managing its downsides than trad social platforms. The literature is full of the unintended consequences of what happens when parents share their kids’ lives online and it is kinda scary, ngl.
Enjoying a delicious, special treat from @Roger 9000 carried home from #Riga! Thank you, friend. #BitChocRocks 
“Nostr gives you a personal, portable social identity that you control.” @Derek Ross 
The @nostr.build shirts have made it to @Nostriga! If you ordered one, come find me! If you want one, come find me! 
Exit Row, now with more leg room than first class 
