Zeynep Tufekci (Turkish: Zeynep Tüfekçi; [zejˈnep tyˈfektʃi]; ZAY-nep tuu-FEK-chee) is a Turkish sociologist and writer. Her work focuses on the social implications of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and big data, as well as societal challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic using complex and systems-based thinking. She has been described as “having a habit on being right on the big things” by The New York Times[1] and as one of the most prominent academic voices on social media by The Chronicle of Higher Education.[2]

She is currently a writer for the Times and The Atlantic and has written regular columns for Wired and Scientific American in the past. She is an associate professor at the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina and a faculty associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.[3][4]

Tufekci was born in Istanbul, Turkey, near Taksim Gezi Park in Istanbul's Beyoğlu district.[5]

In 1995, Tufekci received a B.A. in sociology from Istanbul University, as well as an undergraduate degree in computer programming from Bogazici University.[6] In 1999, Tufekci received an M.A. from the Radio-Television-Film Department at the University of Texas at Austin. Her thesis was called "Mental Deskilling in the Age of the Smart Machine". In 2004, Tufekci earned a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. Her thesis was titled "In Search of Lost Jobs: The Rhetoric and Practice of Computer Skills Training”.

Tufekci worked as a computer programmer before becoming an academic and turning her attention to social science.

From 2005 to 2008, Tufekci was a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). From 2008 to 2011, she was an assistant professor at UMBC.

In 2011, Tufekci moved to North Carolina and became an assistant professor at UNC School of Information and Library Science as well as an adjunct assistant professor at the Department of Sociology at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In 2012, Tufekci became a faculty associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society research facility at Harvard University.[7]

In 2012, Tufekci was one of the first to express concern about political campaigns impacted by and driven by big data in the form of "Smart Campaigns".[8] This early warning was eventually recognized as prescient after Donald Trump was elected in 2016.[4] Tufekci's research and publications include topics such as the effect of big data on politics and the public sphere,[9] how social media affects social movements, and the privacy and security vulnerabilities exposed by the coming Internet of Things. In general, she has sought to outline the potential negative societal consequences of social media and big data, while not rejecting these phenomena outright. Tufekci's work has often emphasized examining business models of these technologies. She often speaks about their use of engagement algorithms.[10][11]

Also from 2012, Tufekci has focused on explaining social contagion and mass shootings and its direct relation to social media.[12][13][14] She has repeatedly urged both online and in op-eds[15] that outlets should avoid repetition of the killer's name and face as well as step-by-step discussions of their methods.[16][17] The phenomenon of suicide contagion via social media and news coverage is part of Tufekci's analytical work.[18]

Tufekci has written on pandemic planning and social responses. In 2014 she wrote on Ebola and pandemic preparedness.[19]

In 2016, Tufekci was featured in a special report by The Economist on technology and politics in which she argues that the increasingly individualized targeting of voters by political campaigns is leading to a reduction of the "public sphere" in which civic debate takes place publicly.[20]

In May 2017, Tufekci's first book, Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest, was published by Yale University Press.[21][22] The book is freely available under a Creative Commons license.

In the fall of 2017, Tufekci delivered a talk entitled "Democracy vs. Clickbait" at Dartmouth's Neukom Institute's Donoho Colloquium, where she said she had discovered in FCC filings that Facebook is only making about $10 to $20 USD per year per person. "Charge me that," she suggested, "and make me the customer."[23]

In January 2018, Tufekci wrote a cover story for Wired titled "It's the (Democracy-Poisoning) Golden Age of Free Speech."[24] She was a regular contributor at Wired.[25]

In March 2018, Tufekci wrote in The New York Times that "YouTube may be one of the most powerful radicalizing instruments of the 21st century." She cited the rise of conspiracy videos during the Trump administration and especially after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.[26] Tufekci was a monthly contributor for The New York Times op-ed page on topics related to technology's social impact.

In 2018, Tufekci was interviewed as part of the PBS series, Frontline, on issues of disinformation and Russian interference with Ukraine on Facebook.[10]

As of February 2019, Tufekci has written for Scientific American, including one on sociological versus psychological storytelling about season 8 of Game of Thrones titled "The Real Reason Fans Hate the Last Season of Game of Thrones".[27]

In May 2019, Tufekci was featured as a speaker at the Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security Symposium at the Columbia Journalism School on the subject of "Reporting from the Front Lines of the Information Wars".[28]

In 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tufekci wrote numerous articles explaining the importance of flattening the curve,[29] the importance of mask wearing,[30][31] and academic articles covering the evidence for mask wearing.[32][33] Tufekci was critical of the mainstream media for failing to explain the importance of mask wearing, and is often cited as one of the first to take up the importance of mask wearing in the mainstream media.[34][35] This led to Tufekci becoming one of the academics who advised the WHO on adopting a mask recommendation.​[36]​[37] Tufekci has also written articles advocating for the importance of outdoor spaces, encouraging beaches and parks to stay open during the COVID-19 pandemic,[38][39] as well as advocating for a single-dose and/or delayed booster trial for the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.[40]

Also in 2020, Tufekci was interviewed as part of the WNYC-FM radio series On the Media. She criticized the mainstream media's overreliance on opinion polling and psephology in advance of the 2020 United States elections, arguing flawed polling helped sway the public into voting for more harmful candidates, which forecast models did not take into account.[41] She urged for more limited use of both. Tufekci was also interviewed on the BBC, WGBH, and Public Radio International co-production The World. She stated that President Trump's refusal to concede the election to Joe Biden, along with his false claims of fraud sent signals, accelerated by social media and compounded by gerrymandering, that undermined the nation's democratic character in favor of bolstering authoritarianism and right-wing populism, and accelerating the democratic recession worldwide.[42]

Tufekci has given a series of TED talks on online social change, technology, the role of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and the role of social media and tech companies.[43]

Tufekci, Zeynep (2017). Twitter and tear gas : the power and fragility of networked protest. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.

Heller, Nathan (August 21, 2017). "Out of action : do protests work?". The Critics. A Critic at Large. The New Yorker. 93 (24): 70–77.[50]

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