On 5 March 2024, Dominique Kelly (PhD Candidate at FIMS, Western) talked about her ongoing thesis work in a guest presentation, entitled “Privacy-Invasive by Design: How Social Media Platforms Use Dark Patterns to Undermine our Privacy.” The audience of graduate students in Dr. Rubin’s Winter 2024 course (on Misinformation & Viral Deception (FIMS9328) had lots of interesting questions to discuss with the guest speaker. Many thanks for a stimulating conversation!

Description: This talk focuses on how manipulative interface design tactics, or “dark patterns,” influence our privacy decision-making on social media. The results of two studies – one documenting privacy dark patterns in social media platforms, and the other examining young people’s reactions to these patterns – are discussed.

Speaker’s Short Bio: Dominique Kelly is a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University. She holds a BA in Rhetoric and Professional Writing and an MA in Rhetoric and Communication Design from the University of Waterloo. Her research interests include data privacy, social media, and behavioural economics. Currently, her research focuses on how dark patterns influence users’ privacy choices online.