This October, scholars from 30 countries headed to Montreal for the 19th annual meeting of the Association of Internet Researchers. Experts discussed the state of digital communication in the aftermath of last year’s Cambridge Analytica scandal and the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation. Questions about anonymizing technologies, queer intimacies, and the power of big data loomed in the cold Quebecois air. Read on for communicators’ reflections on the dark web, digital ethics, the job market, and beyond.
1. “They said, ‘We don’t trust commercial transcription services.’ And I was like, great, I guess I’ll just transcribe everything by hand.”
2. “Every time you file a FOIA request, you act like you’re doing something naughty.”
3. “As graduate students, you are not taught any form of time management.”
4. “I don’t read books anymore.”
5. Person 1: “Is there actually a Darknet Association? I searched but I can’t find it.”
Person 2: “It’s too dark for you to find.”
6. “Let’s not go too far down the hole of university data management practices, because that’s not what we are here for.”
7. “Do you lie to your ethics board?”
8. “I had a very good experience with IRB at my university, which is a weird thing to say, cause it’s IRB.”
9. “You missed nothing at the keynote besides some random lady drumming.”
10. “I don’t like how some people talk about trolling here. Trolling is an art form.”
11. “I really don’t need to hear your flowery talk about speakerphones.”
12. Person 1: “Isn’t there some sort of history between Tor and the Department of Defense?”
Person 2: “Yes, I’m glad you asked.”
13. “All articles on Facebook and privacy come to me for review.”
14. “He said, ‘Oh, actually, I didn’t do your survey. It actually annoyed me.’”
15. Person 1: “I get a lot of articles that come from quantitative people, and I just don’t know what to do with them.”
Person 2: “Ya, me either.”
This article was commissioned by Mary Zaborskis. 
