Webster, Jack, Gibbins, Nicholas, Halford, Susan and Hracs, Brian J. (2016) Towards a theoretical approach for analysing music recommender systems as sociotechnical cultural intermediaries. In Proceedings of the 8th ACM Conference on Web Science (WebSci '16). ACM. pp. 137-145 . (doi:10.1145/2908131.2908148).
Abstract
As the rate and scale of Web-related digital data accumulation continue to outstrip all expectations so too we come to depend increasingly on a variety of technical tools to interrogate these data and to render them as an intelligible source of information. In response, on the one hand, a great deal of attention has been paid to the design of efficient and reliable mechanisms for big data analytics whilst, on the other hand, concerns are expressed about the rise of 'algorithmic society' whereby important decisions are made by intermediary computational agents of which the majority of the population has little knowledge, understanding or control. This paper aims to bridge these two debates working through the case of music recommender systems. Whilst not conventionally regarded as 'big data,' the enormous volume, variety and velocity of digital music available on the Web has seen the growth of recommender systems, which are increasingly embedded in our everyday music consumption through their attempts to help us identify the music we might want to consume. Combining Bourdieu's concept of cultural intermediaries with Actor-Network Theory's insistence on the relational ontology of human and non-human actors, we draw on empirical evidence from the computational and social science literature on recommender systems to argue that music recommender systems should be approached as a new form of sociotechnical cultural intermediary. In doing so, we aim to define a broader agenda for better understanding the underexplored social role of the computational tools designed to manage big data.
More information
Identifiers
Catalogue record
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
University divisions
- Current Faculties > Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences > School of Geography and Environmental Sciences > Economy, Society and Governance
School of Geography and Environmental Sciences > Economy, Society and Governance - Current Faculties > Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences > School of Electronics and Computer Science
School of Electronics and Computer Science - Current Faculties > Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences > School of Electronics and Computer Science > Web and Internet Science
School of Electronics and Computer Science > Web and Internet Science - Faculties (pre 2018 reorg) > Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering (pre 2018 reorg) > Electronics & Computer Science (pre 2018 reorg)
Current Faculties > Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences > School of Electronics and Computer Science > Electronics & Computer Science (pre 2018 reorg)
School of Electronics and Computer Science > Electronics & Computer Science (pre 2018 reorg) - Current Faculties > Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences > Web Science Institute > CDT Web Science Innovation
Web Science Institute > CDT Web Science Innovation - Faculties (pre 2018 reorg) > Faculty of Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences (pre 2018 reorg) > Social Sciences (pre 2018 reorg) > Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology (pre 2018 reorg)
Current Faculties > Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Economic Social and Political Science > Social Sciences (pre 2018 reorg) > Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology (pre 2018 reorg)
School of Economic Social and Political Science > Social Sciences (pre 2018 reorg) > Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology (pre 2018 reorg) - Current Faculties > Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences > Web Science Institute > DTC Web Science
Web Science Institute > DTC Web Science
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.