Carolina Are
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 269853 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Carolina Are |
| NOMBRES | Carolina |
| APELLIDO | Are |
| FIRMA | ARE C |
| AFILIACIONES | Northumbria University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1110-3155 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 20 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 88 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 20 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2020 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 6 |
Platform Governance at the Margins
Social media platforms have great potential to educate young people and adults alike about sexuality, to create nurturing spaces of connection for marginalised communities across the globe, and to express oneself safely. However, this potential is always constrained by platform governance, or the processes of content moderation enacted by platforms and (state) regulation of platform companies (Gorwa, 2019), who are moved by economic and political…
A justice-oriented sex work studies roundtable towards research for the community, not the academy
Engaging with academics’ growing appetite for sex work research and the inclusion of sex workers as research collaborators and co-conspirators, our roundtable paper offers some practical considerations on doing sex work research. The roundtable discussion took place in July 2025. Participants included AJ Bravo, Alex Bruno, Aoife Slater-Parry, Carmela Morgillo, Carolina Are, Helen M. Rand, and Leander/Steven Di Costa. To make participation more ac…
Collaging together-apart
This paper examines how queer joy in digital spaces is platformed, performed, and imagined through discussions and collages created during a participatory workshop in the North of England. By exploring current and desired forms of queer joy in digital spaces, we evaluate opportunities and challenges for design, including selective anonymity and disclosure, and flexible group boundaries to protect safety whilst also signalling in-group belonging. …
Sexual Content Moderation
Despite popular understandings of the internet teeming with pornography and offering safe harbor for LGBTQIA+ content, social media platforms are cracking down on sexual expression and sex work online. This panel examines the role that content moderation and platform governance play in censoring sexual expression online and the communities that engage in it. It documents the impact that censorship, banning, shadowbanning, and demonetization have …
‘Dysfunctional’ appeals and failures of algorithmic justice in Instagram and TikTok content moderation
This article explores users’ perceptions of justice when using appeals on Instagram and TikTok, focusing on the barriers de-platformed users across fields like activism, sex work, sex education and LGBTQIA + self-expression face when using these platforms’ automated appeals to recover their de-platformed content and/or accounts. Examining appeals from a platform governance standpoint and drawing from fairness and due process literature, this stud…
Post-social media
For content creators that use nudity and sexuality as a form of expression, networking and as a source of income, community membership is key. Yet, access to that community is constantly under threat due to content or account removal, known as de-platforming. Through interviews with content creators who had experienced de-platforming, this paper explores their ‘corpo-civic’ relationship with Instagram and TikTok, hybrid locations caught between a…
Social media affordances of LGBTQIA+ expression and community formation
Faced with offline discrimination, LGBTQIA+ users frequently turn to social media to find role models, build social networks and test out new forms of self-expression. Each platform has its own affordances and governance processes which can, in turn, facilitate or impede self-expression and community growth. Through a survey of 120 LGBTQIA+ participants, this paper considers which social media affordances facilitate the creation and development o…
Content creators’ hopes and fears about artificial intelligence
Users and regulators alike recognise the need for public consultation around new developments in artificial intelligence (AI). However, most consultations reflect economic or political concerns and tend to focus on Generative AI (GenAI) impacts on the traditional workforce, excluding gig economy workers in general and content creators in particular. In this two-stage study, we firstly report qualitative findings from a survey of 100 content creat…
The assemblages of flagging and de-platforming against marginalised content creators
This study examines how de-platforming and flagging assemble to replicate offline inequalities, making content creators at the margins vulnerable to both online abuse and censorship on Instagram and TikTok. Highlighting gaps in online harms literature surrounding the misuse of this functionality, this paper frames misused or malicious flagging as online abuse through interviews with users who believed they were de-platformed this way, showcasing …
Algorithmic folk theories and peer review
Through this brief commentary piece, I discuss the challenges and opportunities of submitting academic work on hidden forms of content moderation such as shadowbanning and malicious flagging, and the difficulty of balancing dated notions of academic rigour with investigating an issue that is often connected with an absence of data from powerful stakeholders. In doing so, I address how peer review can inadvertently reinforce the inequalities of co…
Flagging as a silencing tool
This article investigates Instagram and TikTok’s approach to malicious flagging through users’ experience. Similar to liking, commenting and sharing, flagging is a reaction social media platforms allow users to highlight content that potentially violates community guidelines. However, flagging’s influence on moderation remains opaque: users who flag are largely unaware about the success of their reports; those who are de-platformed cannot be sure…
Strategic Invisibility
This article examines how sexual content creators manage their (in)visibility, as they navigate the constraints of online hyper(in)visibility. So far, research has focussed on how creators more generally attempt to enhance their visibility through social media platforms. Yet, especially for sexual content creators, platform visibility is not straightforward. These creators are hyper(in)visible: facing simultaneous risks of erasure and public scru…
Strategic (In)visibility
Online creators need their content to be ‘seen’; visibility on platforms can provide financial, social, and representational benefits. A lot of vital research has been done on how creators try to enhance their visibility on platforms and struggle with the threat of invisibility. But, especially for marginalised creators, platformised visibility is not without risks. This paper attends to these risks and creators' tactical use of (in)visibility to…
Researching Under Platforms’ Gaze
Researching on platforms through platforms poses challenges to researchers, particularly when observing subcultures and content at the margins. Inspired by Massanari’s essay on researching under the “alt-right” gaze, this paper uses autoethnography to address the impact the system of platform governance has on researcher vulnerability in data collection, persona management and results dissemination, particularly for researchers gathering data cen…
An autoethnography of automated powerlessness
Situated within the field of platform governance studies, this paper shares findings from an ‘autoethnography of automated powerlessness’, drawing from the researcher’s disempowering experience of being a heavily moderated social media user. Using theoretical frameworks blending affordances and World Risk Society theories, this paper contextualises my experiences of moderation of my pole dance instructor, activist and blogger account @bloggeronpo…
The Emotional and Financial Impact of De-Platforming on Creators at the Margins
This study provides one of the first examples of de-platforming's direct emotional and financial impact on Instagram and TikTok content creators at the margins. Both platforms provide significant opportunities toward creative and flexible work, allowing creators to maintain networks, promote work, express themselves and earn a living. However, their governance can severely disrupt certain forms of content creation, particularly for users who post…
Sex in the shadows of celebrity
Shadowbanning is a light censorship technique used by social media platforms to limit the reach of potentially objectionable content without deleting it altogether. Such content does not go directly against community standards so that it, or the accounts in question, would be outright removed. Rather, these are borderline cases – often ones involving visual displays of nudity and sex. As the deplatforming of sex in social media has accelerated in…
The Shadowban Cycle
This paper contributes to the social media moderation research space by examining the still under-researched “shadowban”, a form of light and secret censorship targeting what Instagram defines as borderline content, particularly affecting posts depicting women’s bodies, nudity and sexuality. “Shadowban” is a user-generated term given to the platform’s “vaguely inappropriate content” policy, which hides users’ posts from its Explore page, dramatic…
A corpo-civic space
This article proposes a solution to understand the spatial hybridity of social media spaces such as Facebook and Instagram, constructed between a corporate entity and a civic space. Switching the main poles of third space theory to represent ‘corporate’ and ‘civic’ spaces, this essay compares Facebook/Instagram to similar off-line spaces in order to propose they are a ‘corpo-civic’ space. In doing so, it provides recommendations for fairer modera…
How Instagram’s algorithm is censoring women and vulnerable users but helping online abusers
How Instagram's algorithm is censoring women and vulnerable users but helping online abusers
The Shadowban Cycle
This paper contributes to the social media moderation research space by examining the still under-researched “shadowban”, a form of light and secret censorship targeting what Instagram defines as borderline content, particularly affecting posts depicting women’s bodies, nudity and sexuality. “Shadowban” is a user-generated term given to the platform’s “vaguely inappropriate content” policy, which hides users’ posts from its Explore page, dramatic…
How Instagram’s algorithm is censoring women and vulnerable users but helping online abusers
How Instagram's algorithm is censoring women and vulnerable users but helping online abusers
An autoethnography of automated powerlessness
Situated within the field of platform governance studies, this paper shares findings from an ‘autoethnography of automated powerlessness’, drawing from the researcher’s disempowering experience of being a heavily moderated social media user. Using theoretical frameworks blending affordances and World Risk Society theories, this paper contextualises my experiences of moderation of my pole dance instructor, activist and blogger account @bloggeronpo…
The Emotional and Financial Impact of De-Platforming on Creators at the Margins
This study provides one of the first examples of de-platforming's direct emotional and financial impact on Instagram and TikTok content creators at the margins. Both platforms provide significant opportunities toward creative and flexible work, allowing creators to maintain networks, promote work, express themselves and earn a living. However, their governance can severely disrupt certain forms of content creation, particularly for users who post…
Flagging as a silencing tool
This article investigates Instagram and TikTok’s approach to malicious flagging through users’ experience. Similar to liking, commenting and sharing, flagging is a reaction social media platforms allow users to highlight content that potentially violates community guidelines. However, flagging’s influence on moderation remains opaque: users who flag are largely unaware about the success of their reports; those who are de-platformed cannot be sure…
Strategic Invisibility
This article examines how sexual content creators manage their (in)visibility, as they navigate the constraints of online hyper(in)visibility. So far, research has focussed on how creators more generally attempt to enhance their visibility through social media platforms. Yet, especially for sexual content creators, platform visibility is not straightforward. These creators are hyper(in)visible: facing simultaneous risks of erasure and public scru…
Sex in the shadows of celebrity
Shadowbanning is a light censorship technique used by social media platforms to limit the reach of potentially objectionable content without deleting it altogether. Such content does not go directly against community standards so that it, or the accounts in question, would be outright removed. Rather, these are borderline cases – often ones involving visual displays of nudity and sex. As the deplatforming of sex in social media has accelerated in…
Social media affordances of LGBTQIA+ expression and community formation
Faced with offline discrimination, LGBTQIA+ users frequently turn to social media to find role models, build social networks and test out new forms of self-expression. Each platform has its own affordances and governance processes which can, in turn, facilitate or impede self-expression and community growth. Through a survey of 120 LGBTQIA+ participants, this paper considers which social media affordances facilitate the creation and development o…
Content creators’ hopes and fears about artificial intelligence
Users and regulators alike recognise the need for public consultation around new developments in artificial intelligence (AI). However, most consultations reflect economic or political concerns and tend to focus on Generative AI (GenAI) impacts on the traditional workforce, excluding gig economy workers in general and content creators in particular. In this two-stage study, we firstly report qualitative findings from a survey of 100 content creat…
Algorithmic folk theories and peer review
Through this brief commentary piece, I discuss the challenges and opportunities of submitting academic work on hidden forms of content moderation such as shadowbanning and malicious flagging, and the difficulty of balancing dated notions of academic rigour with investigating an issue that is often connected with an absence of data from powerful stakeholders. In doing so, I address how peer review can inadvertently reinforce the inequalities of co…
A corpo-civic space
This article proposes a solution to understand the spatial hybridity of social media spaces such as Facebook and Instagram, constructed between a corporate entity and a civic space. Switching the main poles of third space theory to represent ‘corporate’ and ‘civic’ spaces, this essay compares Facebook/Instagram to similar off-line spaces in order to propose they are a ‘corpo-civic’ space. In doing so, it provides recommendations for fairer modera…
How Instagram’s algorithm is censoring women and vulnerable users but helping online abusers
How Instagram's algorithm is censoring women and vulnerable users but helping online abusers
Sex in the shadows of celebrity
Shadowbanning is a light censorship technique used by social media platforms to limit the reach of potentially objectionable content without deleting it altogether. Such content does not go directly against community standards so that it, or the accounts in question, would be outright removed. Rather, these are borderline cases – often ones involving visual displays of nudity and sex. As the deplatforming of sex in social media has accelerated in…
The Shadowban Cycle
This paper contributes to the social media moderation research space by examining the still under-researched “shadowban”, a form of light and secret censorship targeting what Instagram defines as borderline content, particularly affecting posts depicting women’s bodies, nudity and sexuality. “Shadowban” is a user-generated term given to the platform’s “vaguely inappropriate content” policy, which hides users’ posts from its Explore page, dramatic…
Strategic (In)visibility
Online creators need their content to be ‘seen’; visibility on platforms can provide financial, social, and representational benefits. A lot of vital research has been done on how creators try to enhance their visibility on platforms and struggle with the threat of invisibility. But, especially for marginalised creators, platformised visibility is not without risks. This paper attends to these risks and creators' tactical use of (in)visibility to…
Researching Under Platforms’ Gaze
Researching on platforms through platforms poses challenges to researchers, particularly when observing subcultures and content at the margins. Inspired by Massanari’s essay on researching under the “alt-right” gaze, this paper uses autoethnography to address the impact the system of platform governance has on researcher vulnerability in data collection, persona management and results dissemination, particularly for researchers gathering data cen…
An autoethnography of automated powerlessness
Situated within the field of platform governance studies, this paper shares findings from an ‘autoethnography of automated powerlessness’, drawing from the researcher’s disempowering experience of being a heavily moderated social media user. Using theoretical frameworks blending affordances and World Risk Society theories, this paper contextualises my experiences of moderation of my pole dance instructor, activist and blogger account @bloggeronpo…
The Emotional and Financial Impact of De-Platforming on Creators at the Margins
This study provides one of the first examples of de-platforming's direct emotional and financial impact on Instagram and TikTok content creators at the margins. Both platforms provide significant opportunities toward creative and flexible work, allowing creators to maintain networks, promote work, express themselves and earn a living. However, their governance can severely disrupt certain forms of content creation, particularly for users who post…
The assemblages of flagging and de-platforming against marginalised content creators
This study examines how de-platforming and flagging assemble to replicate offline inequalities, making content creators at the margins vulnerable to both online abuse and censorship on Instagram and TikTok. Highlighting gaps in online harms literature surrounding the misuse of this functionality, this paper frames misused or malicious flagging as online abuse through interviews with users who believed they were de-platformed this way, showcasing …
Algorithmic folk theories and peer review
Through this brief commentary piece, I discuss the challenges and opportunities of submitting academic work on hidden forms of content moderation such as shadowbanning and malicious flagging, and the difficulty of balancing dated notions of academic rigour with investigating an issue that is often connected with an absence of data from powerful stakeholders. In doing so, I address how peer review can inadvertently reinforce the inequalities of co…
Flagging as a silencing tool
This article investigates Instagram and TikTok’s approach to malicious flagging through users’ experience. Similar to liking, commenting and sharing, flagging is a reaction social media platforms allow users to highlight content that potentially violates community guidelines. However, flagging’s influence on moderation remains opaque: users who flag are largely unaware about the success of their reports; those who are de-platformed cannot be sure…
Strategic Invisibility
This article examines how sexual content creators manage their (in)visibility, as they navigate the constraints of online hyper(in)visibility. So far, research has focussed on how creators more generally attempt to enhance their visibility through social media platforms. Yet, especially for sexual content creators, platform visibility is not straightforward. These creators are hyper(in)visible: facing simultaneous risks of erasure and public scru…
Sexual Content Moderation
Despite popular understandings of the internet teeming with pornography and offering safe harbor for LGBTQIA+ content, social media platforms are cracking down on sexual expression and sex work online. This panel examines the role that content moderation and platform governance play in censoring sexual expression online and the communities that engage in it. It documents the impact that censorship, banning, shadowbanning, and demonetization have …
‘Dysfunctional’ appeals and failures of algorithmic justice in Instagram and TikTok content moderation
This article explores users’ perceptions of justice when using appeals on Instagram and TikTok, focusing on the barriers de-platformed users across fields like activism, sex work, sex education and LGBTQIA + self-expression face when using these platforms’ automated appeals to recover their de-platformed content and/or accounts. Examining appeals from a platform governance standpoint and drawing from fairness and due process literature, this stud…
Post-social media
For content creators that use nudity and sexuality as a form of expression, networking and as a source of income, community membership is key. Yet, access to that community is constantly under threat due to content or account removal, known as de-platforming. Through interviews with content creators who had experienced de-platforming, this paper explores their ‘corpo-civic’ relationship with Instagram and TikTok, hybrid locations caught between a…
Social media affordances of LGBTQIA+ expression and community formation
Faced with offline discrimination, LGBTQIA+ users frequently turn to social media to find role models, build social networks and test out new forms of self-expression. Each platform has its own affordances and governance processes which can, in turn, facilitate or impede self-expression and community growth. Through a survey of 120 LGBTQIA+ participants, this paper considers which social media affordances facilitate the creation and development o…
Content creators’ hopes and fears about artificial intelligence
Users and regulators alike recognise the need for public consultation around new developments in artificial intelligence (AI). However, most consultations reflect economic or political concerns and tend to focus on Generative AI (GenAI) impacts on the traditional workforce, excluding gig economy workers in general and content creators in particular. In this two-stage study, we firstly report qualitative findings from a survey of 100 content creat…
Platform Governance at the Margins
Social media platforms have great potential to educate young people and adults alike about sexuality, to create nurturing spaces of connection for marginalised communities across the globe, and to express oneself safely. However, this potential is always constrained by platform governance, or the processes of content moderation enacted by platforms and (state) regulation of platform companies (Gorwa, 2019), who are moved by economic and political…
A justice-oriented sex work studies roundtable towards research for the community, not the academy
Engaging with academics’ growing appetite for sex work research and the inclusion of sex workers as research collaborators and co-conspirators, our roundtable paper offers some practical considerations on doing sex work research. The roundtable discussion took place in July 2025. Participants included AJ Bravo, Alex Bruno, Aoife Slater-Parry, Carmela Morgillo, Carolina Are, Helen M. Rand, and Leander/Steven Di Costa. To make participation more ac…
Collaging together-apart
This paper examines how queer joy in digital spaces is platformed, performed, and imagined through discussions and collages created during a participatory workshop in the North of England. By exploring current and desired forms of queer joy in digital spaces, we evaluate opportunities and challenges for design, including selective anonymity and disclosure, and flexible group boundaries to protect safety whilst also signalling in-group belonging. …
Computer Science (12 obras) · Psychology (12 obras) · Political science (11 obras) · Business (10 obras) · Gender, Feminism, and Media (10 obras) · Sociology (10 obras) · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection (8 obras) · Moderation (8 obras) · Social Psychology (8 obras) · Internet privacy (6 obras)