Oxford Internet Institute

The Oxford Internet Institute—founded in 2001—is a multidisciplinary research and teaching department of the University of Oxford, dedicated to the social science of the Internet. Our academic faculty and graduate students are drawn from many different disciplines: we believe this combined approach is essential to tackle society’s ‘big questions’. Together, we aim to positively shape the development of our digital world for the public good. In 2025, the OII will take up residence in the new Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, moving from our current location across three sites on St Giles.

All episodes

Title	Description	People	Date
The digital lives of children: Professor Vicki Nash and Professor Katya Hertog	How digital technologies impact young children, and new ways to think about the ethical and safety measures that govern their use of technology, with Professor Vicki Nash and Professor Katya Hertog (Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford)	Vicki Nash, Katya Hertog	12 December, 2024
How to make gig work fair: Professor Mark Graham and Dr Alessio Bertolini	The FairWork project and how it is helping make short-term, low job security 'gig' work fairer across the world, with Professor Mark Graham and Dr Alessio Bertolini (Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford)	Mark Graham, Alessio Bertolini, Veena McCoole	14 November, 2024
Screen time: the impact of the digital world, with Professor Andy Przybylski and Dr Sakshi Ghai	How the digital world is affecting society and individuals, and concerns around tech usage, with Professor Andy Przybylski (Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford) and Dr Sakshi Ghai (London School of Economics).	Andy Przybylski, Sakshi Ghai, Roz Pacey	15 October, 2024
004: Management - Like a Dog With a Bone	This episode looks at management. What’s it like working through a platform, where the principal colleague you’re working with is your smartphone?	Robbie Warin, Francis Scaife	6 April, 2021
003: Contracts - Stand Up For Your Rights	This episode looks at contracts and in it we hear from Yaseen Aslam, the former Uber driver who successfully took them to court over his classification as self-employed, a ruling that has implications for gig workers around the world	Yaseen Aslam, Robbie Warin, Kelle Howson	6 April, 2021
002: Conditions - Lockdown	In this episode we here from Aziz - a pseudonym - a ridehail driver in London. We explore what it is like working during a pandemic, serving your community and keeping the country running.	Robbie Warin	6 April, 2021
001: Representation - The Deliveroo Strikes	In this episode we hear from Mohaan Biswas about his first-hand experience of the Deliveroo strikes in 2016 that made headlines around the world.	Mohaan Biswas, Robbie Warin	6 April, 2021
Combatting Corruption with Mobile Phones	India’s right to information movement demonstrated the potential to combat corruption through social audits – an exercise to share and verify public records with people.	Vivek Srinivasan	26 March, 2015
Africa’s Information Revolution: Rhetoric and Reality	Over the past decade there has been a phenomenal growth in mobile phone and internet usage in Africa which has attracted substantial media and academic interest.	Padraig Carmody	26 March, 2015
Dying for an iPhone: The Hidden Struggle of China’s Workers	An in-depth study of the most powerful electronics contractor and the lives of its 1.4 million workers.	Jenny Chan	26 March, 2015
Ethical Treatment of Data in New Digital Landscapes - bringing development practitioners and academics together	How can NGOs like Oxfam come together with academics and practitioners alike to tackle emerging privacy and security challenges when it comes to effective management of data?	Amy O'Donnell	26 March, 2015
Pressed for Time: The Acceleration of Life in Digital Capitalism	Judy Wajcman explains why we immediately interpret our experiences with digital technology as inexorably accelerating everyday life.	Judy Wajcman, John Naughton	26 March, 2015
Combatting Corruption with Mobile Phones	India's right to information movement demonstrated the potential to combat corruption through social audits – an exercise to share and verify public records with people.	Vivek Srinivasan	26 March, 2015
Africa's Information Revolution: Rhetoric and Reality	Over the past decade there has been a phenomenal growth in mobile phone and internet usage in Africa which has attracted substantial media and academic interest.	Padraig Carmody	26 March, 2015
Dying for an iPhone: The Hidden Struggle of China's Workers	An in-depth study of the most powerful electronics contractor and the lives of its 1.4 million workers.	Jenny Chan	26 March, 2015
Ethical Treatment of Data in New Digital Landscapes - bringing development practitioners and academics together	How can NGOs like Oxfam come together with academics and practitioners alike to tackle emerging privacy and security challenges when it comes to effective management of data?	Amy O'Donnell	26 March, 2015
The (so far) grassroots success story of Farmerline, a social mobile tech enterprise for African farmers	Alloysius Attah discusses some of Farmerline's success factors, including its locally adapted technological solutions and strong local outreach	Alloysius Attah	4 February, 2015
ICT, Civic Education and Civil Society Capacity Building in Iran	Since Tavaana's launch in 2010, the e-learning institute has safely educated thousands of Iranians about democracy and human rights.	Mariam Memarsadeghi	4 February, 2015
The (so far) grassroots success story of Farmerline, a social mobile tech enterprise for African farmers	Alloysius Attah will discuss some of Farmerline's success factors, including its locally adapted technological solutions and strong local outreach.	Alloysius Attah	4 February, 2015
Learning with the crowd? New structures, new practices for knowledge, learning, and education	This talk explores the emerging trends and forces that are radically reshaping learning and knowledge practices.	Caroline Haythornthwaite	9 January, 2015
Tales from the Zooniverse or, What to do with a million scientists	Tales from the Zooniverse or, What to do with a million scientists	Chris Lintott, Helen Margetts	9 January, 2015
De-MOOC-ifying Online Learning	panel examines online learning through comparing and contrasting the MOOC format with traditional online strategies.	Wally Boston, Phil Ice, Karan Powell	9 January, 2015
Facing the Crowd: Past, Present, and Furtures of Digital Labor	Facing the Crowd: Past, Present, and Furtures of Digital Labor	Mary L. Gray	9 January, 2015
There Ain't No 'e' in PPE - How do we fill the digital skills gap at the top levels of government and politics?	Interview with Tom Steinberg on the topics of his talk "There Ain't No 'e' in PPE - How do we fill the digital skills gap at the top levels of government and politics?"	Tom Steinberg	9 January, 2015
Digital strategy, social media and elections	Interview with Matthew McGregor of Blue State Digital on the topics covered in his seminar "Digital strategy, social media and elections".	Matthew McGregor	9 January, 2015
OII Internet Awards 2014: Interview with Beth Noveck	Interview with Beth Noveck on receiving an internet and society award at the OII Internet Awards 2014.	Beth Noveck	9 January, 2015
OII Internet Awards 2014: Interview with Laura Bates	Interview with Laura Bates on receiving an internet and society award at the OII Internet Awards 2014.	Laura Bates	9 January, 2015
OII Internet Awards 2014: Interview with Dame Stephanie Shirley	Interview with Dame Stephanie Shirley on receiving a lifetime achievement award at the OII Internet Awards 2014.	Stephanie Shirley	9 January, 2015
OII Internet Awards 2014: Interview with Barry Wellman	Interview with Barry Wellman on receiving a lifetime achievement award at the OII Internet Awards 2014.	Barry Wellman	9 January, 2015
Towards an ethics of ignorance?	The value of not knowing something illuminates some basic assumptions about knowledge and allows us to ask a series of interesting questions about how the information society will develop. 	Nicklas Lundbland	9 July, 2014
Your Attention Please: Should human attention be treated as a scarce resource?	Tim Wu will discuss the science of attention, the history of the attention industries, and some of the harms caused by overharvesting. He will also propose a model of attention sovereignty of importance for the future.	Tim Wu	9 July, 2014
Researching Life in the Digital Age: A Philosophical Analysis of Data-Intensive Biology	This talk aims to provide a philosophical framework through which the current emphasis on data-intensive biology can be studied and understood.	Sabina Leonelli	14 May, 2014
What Hopes for ICT for Development?	Tim Unwin focuses on current work at the CTO, where his own personal contributions focus especially on the use of ICTs by people with disabilities.	Tim Unwin	21 March, 2014
What Hopes for ICT for Development?	Tim Unwin focuses on current work at the CTO, where his own personal contributions focus especially on the use of ICTs by people with disabilities.	Tim Unwin	21 March, 2014
Working worlds: perspectives and problems of a tool for thinking about modern science	Jon Agar will introduce the concept of working worlds, illustrate how they can be used to think about past and present science, and identify some problems and issues.	Jon Agar	10 March, 2014
Privacy in a Digital Age	Julian Huppert discusses privacy in a digital age.	Julian Huppert	10 March, 2014
The Real-Time City? Big Data and Smart Urbanism	Rob Kitchin discusses how cities are being instrumented with digital devices and infrastructure that produce ‘big data’.	Rob Kitchin	3 March, 2014
Thoughts Towards a History of ICT4D - And Its Future Role	David Souter uses the history and development of ICT4D as a framework to critique ICT4D approaches and consider the relevance of ICTs and ICT4D to the post-2015 development agenda.	David Souter	27 February, 2014
Thoughts Towards a History of ICT4D - And Its Future Role	David Souter uses the history and development of ICT4D as a framework to critique ICT4D approaches and consider the relevance of ICTs and ICT4D to the post-2015 development agenda.	David Souter	27 February, 2014
How best to communicate with communities affected by disaster? Case Studies from Typhoon Haiyan	This seminar will investigate how different technologies were used by CDAC Network Members in the immediate response to Typhoon Haiyan, focusing particularly on how needs assessment data was collected, shared and acted upon.	Nicki Bailey	27 February, 2014
How best to communicate with communities affected by disaster? Case Studies from Typhoon Haiyan	This seminar will investigate how different technologies were used by CDAC Network Members in the immediate response to Typhoon Haiyan, focusing particularly on how needs assessment data was collected, shared and acted upon.	Nicki Bailey	27 February, 2014
"Emerging Markets" on the Internet	Vili Lehdonvirta discusses emerging markets on the Internet.	Vili Lehdonvirta	12 February, 2014
How Do People Interact with Virtual Environments?	Andrew Przybylski discusses the motivational dynamics of how people approach ICTs, social media and video games.	Andrew Przybylski	12 February, 2014
Learning, Education and the Internet	Rebecca Eynon summarises key areas of her research on learning, education, and the Internet.	Rebecca Eynon	12 February, 2014
ePetitions	Scott Hale discusses epetitions	Scott Hale	12 February, 2014
Does Social Media Use Change the Type of News We Receive?	Jonathan Bright explores the impact of social media on news consumption. He examines how social media users choose what to share, how this varies by platform, and what the implications may be for the type of news coverage that people receive.	Jonathan Bright	12 February, 2014
The Online Initiative: Rethinking Public Spaces in the Digital Transition	Luciano Floridi presents 'The Onlife Initiative', a project he chaired for the European Commission on how ICTs are modifying our relationships to ourselves, to others, and to the world around us.	Luciano Floridi	12 February, 2014
The Gardener, the Dentist, and the Long-Jumper: Ethics in the Age of Information	Luciano Floridi discusses his new book, 'The Ethics of Information', and outline the nature and scope of Information Ethics.	Luciano Floridi	12 February, 2014
The Internet in a post-PRISM world	Dan McQuillan examines the Internet in a post-PRISM world, and asks if its power to tackle global poverty will be lost.	Dan McQuillan	12 February, 2014
The Internet in a post-PRISM world	Dan McQuillan examines the Internet in a post-PRISM world, and asks if its power to tackle global poverty will be lost.	Dan McQuillan	12 February, 2014
Crowdsourcing and Development of Activity Systems: the Case of Emergency Response	Gregory Asmolov suggests applying the notion of activity systems and zones of proximal development, as conceptualized in Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), to the field of ICT4D.	Gregory Asmolov	12 February, 2014
Crowdsourcing and Development of Activity Systems: the Case of Emergency Response	Gregory Asmolov suggests applying the notion of activity systems and zones of proximal development, as conceptualized in Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), to the field of ICT4D.	Gregory Asmolov	12 February, 2014
The Post-2015 Development Agenda: Implications for ICT4D Research	Richard Heeks explores new post-2015 development agenda and its implications for ICT4D (information and communication technologies for development) research priorities.	Richard Heeks	12 February, 2014
The Post-2015 Development Agenda: Implications for ICT4D Research	Richard Heeks explores new post-2015 development agenda and its implications for ICT4D (information and communication technologies for development) research priorities.	Richard Heeks	12 February, 2014
Rise of the Operaters	Discussion of Internet surveillance, parliamentary oversight of security services, the Digital Economy Act, communications data, and government data sharing.	Mike Bracken	17 January, 2014
A Better Internet for Kids – With or Without Politicians?	Internet safety has been at or near the top of the political agenda in the UK for half a decade. Do the UK's children have a better internet experience compared with kids elsewhere?	Simon Milner	17 January, 2014
You can't solve problems by breaking the net	Every problem we experience will have some intersection with the Internet, and will invite the same solution we’ve gotten in the fights over obscenity and copyright infringement: can’t you just break the Internet a little, so that it fixes my problem?	Cory Doctorow	17 January, 2014
The Information Society Agenda: Prospects and Problems	Discussion of dominant approaches by intergovernmental agencies to information society policy and the prospects for introducing critical perspectives that acknowledge the power relations which inform information society strategies and actions.	Robin Mansell	16 January, 2014
ICTs, Innovation and Regulation in the Somali Territories	A seminar exploring technology and regulation in the Somali territories of the Horn of Africa. Despite weak or non-existent government institutions, innovation has flourished with local solutions to local challenges.	Abdirashid Duale	16 January, 2014
Humanitarian campaigns in social media: network architectures and Kony 2012 as a polymedia event	An assessment of the optimism surrounding the opportunities that social media offer for humanitarian action, drawing on analysis of the phenomenally popular and controversial Kony 2012 campaign.	Mirca Madianou	16 January, 2014
Disjunctures and Connections: Case Studies of How Techno-politics Make and Cut Networks	In a development context, the ways in which new media objects (eg ICTs) are defined in relation to other objects, people and institutions map out new figurations of power and connection, that revalue and recombine political agency.	Don Slater	16 January, 2014
Development 2.0 and beyond: Challenges for ICT4D in 2013	Dr Thompson addresses some of the opportunities and contradictions presented by ICT4D and considers some emerging ways in which ICT4D researchers may contribute to the field.	Mark Thompson	16 January, 2014
Had Bell Invented Visualization, he would have said ...	Visualization is a ubiquitous technology, just like telecommunication. However, unlike a telephone system, humans play an integral part inside the "box" of visualization. This poses a significant challenge in establishing a theory of visualization.	Min Chen	10 January, 2014
Online Labour Markets: Fruit Fly for Social Scientists, Conundrum for Policy Makers	In recent years, a number of fully global, online labor markets have emerged. In these markets, buyers hire workers from around the world to perform tasks amenable to remote completion, such as computer programming, data entry and graphic design. This tal	John Horton	10 January, 2014
The Internet in Africa: A Perspective from a Practitioner	Andile Ngcaba discusses the ability to address the challenge of the growth of Internet in Africa from multiple perspectives.	Andile Ngcaba	10 January, 2014
New Media, New Civics?	Ethan Zuckerman explores contemporary anxieties about "a crisis in civics" and looks at the idea that civics is changing along with digital media to become more participatory and inclusive, but harder to understand and predict.	Ethan Zuckerman	10 January, 2014
Development 2.0 and beyond: Challenges for ICT4D in 2013	Dr Thompson addresses some of the opportunities and contradictions presented by ICT4D and considers some emerging ways in which ICT4D researchers may contribute to the field.	Mark Thompson	30 April, 2013
Disjunctures and Connections: Case Studies of How Techno-politics Make and Cut Networks	In a development context, the ways in which new media objects (eg ICTs) are defined in relation to other objects, people and institutions map out new figurations of power and connection, that revalue and recombine political agency.	Don Slater	30 April, 2013
Humanitarian campaigns in social media: network architectures and Kony 2012 as a polymedia event	An assessment of the optimism surrounding the opportunities that social media offer for humanitarian action, drawing on analysis of the phenomenally popular and controversial Kony 2012 campaign.	Mirca Madianou	30 April, 2013
ICTs, Innovation and Regulation in the Somali Territories	A seminar exploring technology and regulation in the Somali territories of the Horn of Africa.	Abdirashid Duale	30 April, 2013
The Information Society Agenda: Prospects and Problems	Discussion of dominant approaches by intergovernmental agencies to information society policy and the prospects for introducing critical perspectives that acknowledge the power relations which inform information society strategies and actions.	Robin Mansell	30 April, 2013
IPP 2012 (Big Data): Welcome and Plenary Panel	Panellists discuss the opportunities and challenges posed by big data for research and public policy-making at the conference "IPP2012: Big Data: Big Challenges".	Lance Bennett, Theo Bertram, Helen Margetts, Patrick McSharry, Victoria Nash	2 January, 2013
IPP 2012 (Big Data) Keynote: Nigel Shadbolt	Nigel Shadbolt discusses the opportunities and challenges posed by big data for research and public policy-making during his opening keynote of the conference "IPP2012: Big Data: Big Challenges".	Nigel Shadbolt	2 January, 2013
IPP 2012 (Big Data) Keynote: Duncan Watts	Duncan Watts discusses the opportunities and challenges posed by big data for research and public policy-making during his opening keynote of the conference "IPP2012: Big Data: Big Challenges".	Duncan Watts	2 January, 2013
Twitter-based early warning and risk communication of the swine flu pandemic in 2009 (Knowledge Exchange Seminar)	Patty Kostkova discusses Twitter-based early warning and risk communication of the 2009 swine flu pandemic during a seminar on quantitative methods in social media research held at the OII on 26 September 2012.	Patty Kostkova	2 January, 2013
Use of Twitter in UK Local Government (Knowledge Exchange Seminar)	Panos Panagiotopoulos discusses use of Twitter in UK local government during a seminar on quantitative methods in social media research held at the OII on 26 September 2012.	Panos Panagiotopoulos	2 January, 2013
Space-Time as a Sampling Condition for New Social Media Research (Knowledge Exchange Seminar)	Luke Sloan discusses space-time as a sampling condition for new social media research during a seminar on quantitative methods in social media research held at the OII on 26 September 2012.	Luke Sloan	2 January, 2013
Social Media Research for Policy Making (Knowledge Exchange Seminar)	Carl Miller discusses development of effective social media research for policy making during a seminar on quantitative methods in social media research held at the OII on 26 September 2012.	Carl Miller	2 January, 2013
Media Uses and Gratifications: Some Features of the Approach: Response by Denis McQuail	Denis McQuail's response to Jay G. Blumler's talk on the origins and sources of the appeal of the 'uses and gratifications' paradigm.	Denis McQuail	2 January, 2013
Media Uses and Gratifications: Some Features of the Approach	In this seminar Jay G. Blumler discusses the origins and sources of the appeal of the 'uses and gratifications' paradigm.	Jay Blumler	2 January, 2013
The Social Economy: Unleashing Value and Productivity through Social Technologies	Over 70 percent of companies are using social technologies in some way, however very few come anywhere close to achieving the full potential benefit.	Drummond Bone, Michael Chui, James Manyika, Marc Ventresca	2 January, 2013
OII Internet and Society Awards: Raspberry Pi	Victoria Nash, talks to Pete Lomas, Founder and Trustee at Raspberry Pi, recipients of an Internet and Society Award in 2012 from OII, in recognition of their exemplary efforts in using the Internet for the public good in Britain.	Victoria Nash, Pete Lomas	2 January, 2013
The Life Story of a Pioneer: From Hi-tech to Philanthropy	The OII's Founding Donor Dame Stephanie Shirley speaks about the sources of her innovation, the software house she founded back in 1962 and why she has already given away £65M to IT and autism projects.	Stephanie Shirley	2 January, 2013
Automated Analysis of Information and Social Networks from Social Media Data	Anatoliy Gruzd, Dalhousie University, gives a talk for the Oxford Internet Institute.	Anatoliy Gruzd	6 November, 2012
The Role of Digital Humanities in a Major Natural Disaster	Paul Millar, CEISMIC Canterbury Earthquakes Digital Archive project leader, discusses the role of digital humanities in developing an international resource to preserve the digital record of the earthquakes' impacts and the long-term process of recovery.	Paul Millar	19 June, 2012
Computational Perspectives on the Structure and Information Flows in Online Networks	An increasing amount of social interaction is taking place online: analyzing this data computationally offers enormous potential to address long-standing scientific questions, and to harness and inform the design of future social computing applications.	Jure Leskovec	22 May, 2012
An introduction to the ebook - 'Geographies of the World's Knowledge'	Dr Mark Graham introduces 'Geographies of the World's Knowledge'. The book, available as PDF and interactive iBook, visualizes and explores contemporary patterns of commercially produced and peer-produced knowledge.	Mark Graham	28 March, 2012
Webometrics: The Evolution of a Digital Social Science Research Field	Mike Thelwall's Keynote talk from the OII Symposium "Social Science and Digital Research: Interdisciplinary Insights", March 2012.	Mike Thelwall	28 March, 2012
Visioning Studies: A Socio-technical Approach to Designing the Future	Diane H. Sonnenwald's Keynote talk from the OII Symposium "Social Science and Digital Research: Interdisciplinary Insights", March 2012.	Diane H. Sonnenwald	28 March, 2012
Reproducibility: Gold or Fool's Gold in Digital Social Research?	Christine Borgman's Keynote talk from the OII Symposium "Social Science and Digital Research: Interdisciplinary Insights", March 2012.	Christine Borgman	28 March, 2012
Digital Social Research: An Interdisciplinary Niche or the Future of the Social Sciences?	Peter van den Besselaar's Keynote talk from the OII Symposium "Social Science and Digital Research: Interdisciplinary Insights", March 2012.	Peter van den Besselaar	28 March, 2012
Facebook Resistance? Understanding the Role of the Internet in the Arab Revolutions	Revolutions are currently sweeping the Arab world, from Tunisia to Egypt and Libya to Bahrain. The Internet has been reported as a key factor, but we in fact know little of its role in these revolutions.	Miriyam Aouragh, Noha Atef, Khaled Hroub, George Weyman	12 March, 2012
Visualisation in the Age of Computerisation	Professor Steve Woolgar introduces and discusses the main themes of the Visualisation in the Age of Computerisation conference, by reflecting on recent changes in visualisation media and considering some of the implications of these changes for research.	Steve Woolgar	28 February, 2012
Does the Mind have a Future?	Baroness Greenfield discusses how Information Technology is changing the way humans think and feel. Whilst there are clear benefits, she also highlights the less desirable consequences, and suggests how best to minimise these threats.	Susan Greenfield	28 February, 2012
The Need for Achieving Appropriate Information Sharing and Information Protection	David Bray describes the Information Sharing Environment, exploring post-9/11 information sharing in the United States, and the efforts being made towards information sharing and national security.	David Bray	28 February, 2012
Innovations and Journalism: Finally Together?	Turo Uskali argues that, thanks to the Internet, there has never been a better time for innovative journalism and innovations in journalism.	Turo Uskali	28 February, 2012
Scammers on Online Dating Sites	Monica Whitty discusses her recent work on dating scams, which has focused on attempting to identify a typology of victims, recognizing the techniques used by scammers, and also the psychological impact of the scams themselves.	Monica Whitty, Bernie Hogan	28 February, 2012
Presentation and Perception on Online Dating Sites	Joseph Walther describes the hyperpersonal model and its relevance to the study of online dating. 'Idealisation' of perception and presentation online can facilitate the selection process, but may have unforseen consequences when people eventually meet.	Joseph Walther, Nicole Ellison	28 February, 2012
Partner Compatibility and Online Dating Sites	Erina Lee discusses the importance of similarity between partners in terms of long-term relationship satisfaction. She discusses some compatibility dimensions that have been considered by eHarmony, as well as future directions for research.	Bernie Hogan, Erina Lee	28 February, 2012
Information Technologies and Marginalization in African Market Economies	Laura Mann summarises her lecture on information technologies and marginalization in African market economies, part of the OII's Society and the Internet Lecture Series.	Laura Mann	28 February, 2012

Oxford Internet Institute

Related

Series in this collection

The OII Podcast (Oxford Internet Institute)

The Fairwork Podcast

ICT for Development Seminar Series

Geographies of the World's Knowledge

Oxford Internet Institute - Lectures and Seminars

All episodes