Annika Pinch
PhD student in Media, Technology, and Society, Northwestern University
Welcome to my website! My name is Annika Pinch and I am a PhD student in the Media, Technology, and Society program at Northwestern University. I work with Dr. Jeremy Birnholtz in the Social Media Lab and Dr. Moya Bailey in the Digital Apothecary.
I am currently working on projects related to how people manage stigma online, such as that associated with an LGBTQ+ identity, mental health information, or a past criminal record surfacing in Google search results. More generally, my research focuses on marginalized communities’ everyday experiences with digital technology, and the different ways that they adapt these technologies for their own needs. I primarily use qualitative and ethnographic methods to investigate questions and solutions around these topics. Other topics in which I am interested include digital inequalities; the ethics of the Internet; surveillance; platforms and algorithms; and the impact of big data systems.
When not doing my PhD work, you will most likely find me rock climbing, exploring Chicago’s coffee shops, or swimming in Lake Michigan 🙂