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Ben Pettis

@bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja
mastodon 4.5.9
  • Open on mastodon.benpettis.ninja

he/they

Assistant Professor
University of Richmond
Studying Internet culture & web histories.

So basically I get to look at memes and scroll through social media and call it "data collection" he/him 🦆 | 🐏 | 🦡

Boosts = 'hey check this thing out' and not always full endorsement/agreement.

336 Followers
337 Following
17 Posts
Joined December 15, 2022
Website:
https://benpettis.com
aoir.social:
https://aoir.social/@bpettis
Dept. Profile:
https://rhetoric.richmond.edu/faculty/bpettis/
Indexing:
https://pettisediting.com

Posts

Open post
bpettis
Ben Pettis @bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja · Jul 15, 2026
Ben Pettis
@bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja

he/they Assistant Professor University of Richmond Studying Internet culture & web histories. So basically I get to look at memes and scroll through social media and call it "data collection" he/him 🦆 | 🐏 | 🦡 Boosts = 'hey check this thing out' and not always full endorsement/agreement.

mastodon.benpettis.ninja
This is a new one in the fuckery of US healthcare. In my visit notes describing what we talked about when I was seen by this doctor, they write that I refused to be seen. Notably, I am not "a *pleasant* 30 year old male" in their description of me anywhere, either....
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Open post
bpettis
Ben Pettis @bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja · Jul 08, 2026
Ben Pettis
@bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja

he/they Assistant Professor University of Richmond Studying Internet culture & web histories. So basically I get to look at memes and scroll through social media and call it "data collection" he/him 🦆 | 🐏 | 🦡 Boosts = 'hey check this thing out' and not always full endorsement/agreement.

mastodon.benpettis.ninja
Replying to @JessTheUnstill@infosec.exchange
@JessTheUnstill@infosec.exchange
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Open post
bpettis
Ben Pettis @bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja · Jun 28, 2026
Ben Pettis
@bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja

he/they Assistant Professor University of Richmond Studying Internet culture & web histories. So basically I get to look at memes and scroll through social media and call it "data collection" he/him 🦆 | 🐏 | 🦡 Boosts = 'hey check this thing out' and not always full endorsement/agreement.

mastodon.benpettis.ninja
Replying to @Natasha_Jay@tech.lgbt
@Natasha_Jay@tech.lgbt @brooke@bikeshed.vibber.net someone made an English version of the manual https://pixeldrain.com/d/gSFoV1EC
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Open post
bpettis
Ben Pettis @bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja · May 23, 2026
Ben Pettis
@bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja

he/they Assistant Professor University of Richmond Studying Internet culture & web histories. So basically I get to look at memes and scroll through social media and call it "data collection" he/him 🦆 | 🐏 | 🦡 Boosts = 'hey check this thing out' and not always full endorsement/agreement.

mastodon.benpettis.ninja

Alternatively, this is why Trump didn't go to his son's wedding: he already had something else planned that day

https://abcnews.com/US/white-house-lawn-cleared-after-apparent-gunshots/story?id=133257965

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Open post
bpettis
Ben Pettis @bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja · May 23, 2026
Ben Pettis
@bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja

he/they Assistant Professor University of Richmond Studying Internet culture & web histories. So basically I get to look at memes and scroll through social media and call it "data collection" he/him 🦆 | 🐏 | 🦡 Boosts = 'hey check this thing out' and not always full endorsement/agreement.

mastodon.benpettis.ninja

It's been nearly 10 years since Harambe was shot and killed by a worker at the Cincinnati Zoo.

How poetic would it be for our decade-long curse to be lifted by The News finally breaking that day -- you know, the obituary that will be on the front page of newspapers everywhere

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Open post
bpettis
Ben Pettis @bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja · May 12, 2026
Ben Pettis
@bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja

he/they Assistant Professor University of Richmond Studying Internet culture & web histories. So basically I get to look at memes and scroll through social media and call it "data collection" he/him 🦆 | 🐏 | 🦡 Boosts = 'hey check this thing out' and not always full endorsement/agreement.

mastodon.benpettis.ninja

Remember kids, crime doesn't pay. Except for all the times that it does pay...

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-innovation/administrative-tech/2026/05/11/instructure-pays-ransom-canvas-hackers

#academicChatter #academicMastodon #canvas #shinyHunters

Instructure Pays Ransom to Canvas Hackers
Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs

Instructure Pays Ransom to Canvas Hackers

Although the monetary value of the deal is unknown, Instructure says the cybercriminals have returned the hacked personal data and offered assurance “that no Instructure customers will be extorted as

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Open post
bpettis
Ben Pettis @bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja · May 07, 2026
Ben Pettis
@bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja

he/they Assistant Professor University of Richmond Studying Internet culture & web histories. So basically I get to look at memes and scroll through social media and call it "data collection" he/him 🦆 | 🐏 | 🦡 Boosts = 'hey check this thing out' and not always full endorsement/agreement.

mastodon.benpettis.ninja

I'm tired, boss

Trump administration cut funding to study hantavirus, the virus behind deadly cruise ship outbreak | Scientific American
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trump-administration-cut-funding-to-study-hantavirus-behind-deadly-cruise-ship-outbreak/

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Open post
bpettis
Ben Pettis @bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja · May 07, 2026
Ben Pettis
@bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja

he/they Assistant Professor University of Richmond Studying Internet culture & web histories. So basically I get to look at memes and scroll through social media and call it "data collection" he/him 🦆 | 🐏 | 🦡 Boosts = 'hey check this thing out' and not always full endorsement/agreement.

mastodon.benpettis.ninja
Replying to @natematias@social.coop
@natematias@social.coop @rose_alibi@post.lurk.org Seems more akin to when SpaceX rockets undergo "Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaZ2-TXrlwM
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Open post
bpettis
Ben Pettis @bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja · May 07, 2026
Ben Pettis
@bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja

he/they Assistant Professor University of Richmond Studying Internet culture & web histories. So basically I get to look at memes and scroll through social media and call it "data collection" he/him 🦆 | 🐏 | 🦡 Boosts = 'hey check this thing out' and not always full endorsement/agreement.

mastodon.benpettis.ninja
Replying to @bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja
If anyone coming across this post is at an institution that uses Canvas, please send me links/images of how your IT depts are announcing the outage. I'm going to be collating pages over the coming days, but there's thousands of Canvas schools and only one of me! #academicMastodon #academicChatter #canvas #shinyHunters
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Open post
bpettis
Ben Pettis @bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja · May 07, 2026
Ben Pettis
@bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja

he/they Assistant Professor University of Richmond Studying Internet culture & web histories. So basically I get to look at memes and scroll through social media and call it "data collection" he/him 🦆 | 🐏 | 🦡 Boosts = 'hey check this thing out' and not always full endorsement/agreement.

mastodon.benpettis.ninja
Replying to @bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja
Some more directly say "this isn't an *us* problem" while others are more general -- for students trying to turn in work and profs just trying to grade, the distinction of *who* is actually responsible is probably not the top priority right now #academicMastodon #academicChatter #canvas #shinyHunters
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Open post
bpettis
Ben Pettis @bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja · May 07, 2026
Ben Pettis
@bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja

he/they Assistant Professor University of Richmond Studying Internet culture & web histories. So basically I get to look at memes and scroll through social media and call it "data collection" he/him 🦆 | 🐏 | 🦡 Boosts = 'hey check this thing out' and not always full endorsement/agreement.

mastodon.benpettis.ninja

Canvas, which is used by a huge number of US colleges and universities, has been targeted by a cyberattack -- I've been doing work on the "platformization" and neoliberalization of higher education. I'm really interested in how institutions that are doing crisis comms right now are positioning themselves vis-a-vis Instructure and Canvas.

#academicMastodon #academicChatter #canvas #shinyHunters

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Open post
bpettis
Ben Pettis @bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja · May 07, 2026
Ben Pettis
@bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja

he/they Assistant Professor University of Richmond Studying Internet culture & web histories. So basically I get to look at memes and scroll through social media and call it "data collection" he/him 🦆 | 🐏 | 🦡 Boosts = 'hey check this thing out' and not always full endorsement/agreement.

mastodon.benpettis.ninja

Ah, yes, "scheduled." I don't think that word means what you think it means...

#academicMastodon #academicChatter

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Open post
bpettis
Ben Pettis @bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja · Feb 21, 2026
Ben Pettis
@bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja

he/they Assistant Professor University of Richmond Studying Internet culture & web histories. So basically I get to look at memes and scroll through social media and call it "data collection" he/him 🦆 | 🐏 | 🦡 Boosts = 'hey check this thing out' and not always full endorsement/agreement.

mastodon.benpettis.ninja

I study this stuff for a living, and here’s my take:

Turning over enormous portions of the public sphere and sites for civic engagement to privately owned for-profit companies was a Bad Idea™

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Open post
bpettis
Ben Pettis @bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja · Jan 08, 2026
Ben Pettis
@bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja

he/they Assistant Professor University of Richmond Studying Internet culture & web histories. So basically I get to look at memes and scroll through social media and call it "data collection" he/him 🦆 | 🐏 | 🦡 Boosts = 'hey check this thing out' and not always full endorsement/agreement.

mastodon.benpettis.ninja
Replying to @mattblaze@federate.social
@mattblaze@federate.social @jbaggs@infosec.exchange The especially strange banal part of it for me was seeing how the shooter was holding up a cell phone (filming, I assume) in one hand while drawing the gun with the other. I've seen so many people with that same kind of "split attention" - staring at their phone while walking, opening a door, or doing something else. Only difference is this guy was murdering someone while also on his phone.
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Open post
bpettis
Ben Pettis @bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja · Nov 28, 2025
Ben Pettis
@bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja

he/they Assistant Professor University of Richmond Studying Internet culture & web histories. So basically I get to look at memes and scroll through social media and call it "data collection" he/him 🦆 | 🐏 | 🦡 Boosts = 'hey check this thing out' and not always full endorsement/agreement.

mastodon.benpettis.ninja
Replying to @ricci@discuss.systems
@ricci@discuss.systems Thanks, I hate it!
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Open post
bpettis
Ben Pettis @bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja · Feb 02, 2023
Ben Pettis
@bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja

he/they Assistant Professor University of Richmond Studying Internet culture & web histories. So basically I get to look at memes and scroll through social media and call it "data collection" he/him 🦆 | 🐏 | 🦡 Boosts = 'hey check this thing out' and not always full endorsement/agreement.

mastodon.benpettis.ninja

In light of recent developments regarding the #twitter API (it will no longer be free) and the likely ripple effects this will have on other websites and services, I humbly submit this updated version of an old #xkcd comic:

https://xkcd.com/2347/

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Open post
bpettis
Ben Pettis @bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja · Jan 05, 2023
Ben Pettis
@bpettis@mastodon.benpettis.ninja

he/they Assistant Professor University of Richmond Studying Internet culture & web histories. So basically I get to look at memes and scroll through social media and call it "data collection" he/him 🦆 | 🐏 | 🦡 Boosts = 'hey check this thing out' and not always full endorsement/agreement.

mastodon.benpettis.ninja
Replying to @bradl@mstdn.social
@bradl@mstdn.social
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