A smiling headshot of me

Farhana Shahid

SHE/ HER/ HERS🙆🏽‍♀️

Hi, I am Farhana from Bangladesh! I study problematic behavior in online communities, particularly in the context of the Majority World (also called the Global South).

I am a 3rd year PhD student in Cornell Information Science, advised by Professor Aditya Vashistha. My research examines how current sociotechnical systems, designed to encounter problematic online behaviors, impact users from the Majority World whose needs are often marginalized. I use mixed-methods to bring new insights into the design of these systems by integrating diverse values of the users from the margin. Through my research, I advocate for creating online spaces that will be accessible, adaptable, and acceptable to the community with whom and for whom I am working.

I completed my Bachelors and Masters in Computer Science and Engineering from BUET, advised by Professor A. B. M. Alim Al Islam. I also worked as a lecturer of Computer Science for almost four years at Brac University and Eastern University.

Apart from research, I am very much drawn to books, concerts, jigsaw puzzles, long walks, and full moons. This year I learnt biking, started a book club, and adopted a few plants.

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Recent News
  • Feb 24: I gave guest lectures in UC Berkeley and UC San Diego on Meta's content moderation policy through the lens of the Majority World!
  • Nov 23: Received 3 special recognitions for CHI2024 papers I reviewed.
  • Apr 23: Presented our paper on decolonial content moderation at CHI!
  • Feb 23: Paper on decolonial content moderation accepted at CHI!
  • Nov 22: Presented our paper on source effects on users' perceptions of fake news in CSCW!
  • Nov 22: SV Social Chair at CSCW!
  • May 22: Presented our paper on users' perceptions of fake videos in CHI!
  • May 22: Volunteered at CHI!
  • Feb 22: Paper on perceptions and attitudes around fake videos accepted at CHI!
  • Feb 22: Selected as a Finalist in Meta PhD Research Fellowship under Social Media, People, and Society category!
  • Dec 21: Paper on source effect on the perceptions of fake news accepted at CSCW!
  • Oct 21: Volunteered at CSCW!
  • Sep 21: Volunteered at UbiComp!
  • Jun 21: Started PhD at Cornell University!
  • May 21: Defended MSc thesis at BUET!
  • May 21: Volunteered at CHI!
  • Oct 20: Presented our paper on dengue epidemic in Bangladesh at CSCW!
  • Oct 20: Our work on 2019 Dengue epidemic in Bangladesh won CSCW Honorable Mention Award!
  • Sep 20: Our work on PTSD among Rohingya refugees won IMWUT Distinguished Paper Award!
  • Sep 20: Presented our paper on PTSD and free-hand sketches at UbiComp!
  • Jul 20: Paper on PTSD and free-hand sketches accepted at IMWUT!
  • Apr 20: Paper on dengue epidemic accepted at CSCW!

Publications

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019


Research

Rethinking Content Moderation Infrastructures

The existing content moderation infrastructures of Silicon Valley based social media corporations are mostly rooted in the Western values. They barely address the unique needs and circumstances of the users from the Majority World, who comprise the majority of the userbase of these platforms. This creates power imbalances as these Western corporations control the narrative of appropriate speeches online while exploiting the cheap workforce from the Global South to distill harmful content on their platforms. Due to inappropriate removal of culturally relevant content and lack of moderation tools to curb harmful content in non-Western languages, users from the Majority World often suffer more than their Western counterparts. Towards this end, my work aims to unravel the hidden hierarchies in content moderation infrastructures and promotes reimagining content moderation systems from a critical perspective.
Publications: CHI 2023

Jun 25, 2021. You couldn't post or comment for 24 hours. Why was your account restricted? 
 Multiple posts from the last year didn't follow our standards. You shared this on your profile. Closed. Jun 25, 2021. 
 Did anyone stop you from sharing your opinion? What kind of behavior is this to curse someone as Malaun? 
 Labelled as Hate.

User got penalized for speaking up against religious hate speech as they quoted the slang used against them.

Misinformation in the Majority World

As the growth and popularity of many major social media platforms have saturated in the Global North, platforms are now targeting users from the Majority World. Many of these first generation Internet users are often low-literate, lack technological know-hows, and are exposed to global platforms that do not incorporate local values and sensibilities in their design. All these make them more susceptible to the harms of online misinformation and fake news. However, there is little focus on how users from the Majority World perceive and interact with different modalities (i.e., text, image, video, or audio) of misinformation. In this regard, we study what factors influence users' perceptions of misinformation and explore how to incorporate responsible design practices on social media to better help these users deal with online misinformation and fake news.
Publications: CSCW 2022, CHI 2022

A simulated Facebook post from actor Priyanka Chopra saying Delhi Chief Minister Arvvind Kejriwal 
 has said that the number of coronavirus-related deaths has declined.

Controlled experiment to see how various sources (e.g., news media) affect users' trust in online news.

PTSD within Low-Resource Communities

Critical lack of trained mental health professionals, communication and cultural barriers, social stigma around mental health in low-rosurce communities expose the traumatized individuals to greater health risks. Traditional diagnostic tools of PTSD often suffer from under-utilization due to various issues associated with human-human interactions while applying them within resource-scarce populations. In this regard, we aim to explore alternative methods to potentially screen for PTSD using various low-cost, off-the-shelf tools, e.g., portable EEG headsets and free-hand sketches using simple pencil and paper. Findings from our field work involving refugees and slum-dwellers enable us to identify scopes for improvement in screening the potential cases of PTSD within low-rosurce communities.
Publications: IMWUT 2019, IMWUT 2020

Some female Rohingya refugees are waiting in a room for interview in the camp area

Kutupalong Rohingya refugee camp, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh


Teaching

Appointments

Graduate Teaching Assistant

Department of Information Science, Cornell University
Aug 2021 - May 2023

Lecturer

Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Brac University
May 2018 - May 2021

Lecturer

Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Eastern University
September 2017 - April 2018

Courses Taught

  • Computer Graphics (Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Summer 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Summer 2019, Spring 2019, Spring 2018)
  • Pattern Recognition (Fall 2020, Summer 2020)
  • Artificial Intelligence (Spring 2020, Fall 2019)
  • Object Oriented Programming (Fall 2019, Summer 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Summer 2018)
  • Digital Logic Design (Spring 2020, Summer 2018)
  • Algorithms (Summer 2019, Fall 2019, Summer 2018)
  • Data Structures (Summer 2019, Summer 2018)
  • Operating Systems (Spring 2018, Fall 2017)
  • Mathematical Analysis for Computer Science (Fall 2017)

Courses Assisted

  • Technology for Underserved Communities (Spring 2023)
  • Computing and Global Development (Fall 2022, Fall 2021)