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Ben Light

University of Salford, Social Sciences, Faculty Member

University of Salford, School of Nursing, Midwifery & Social Work, Adjunct

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My research is concerned with understanding people’s everyday experiences of digital media. I engage science and technology studies bringing it into dialogue with questions of (non)consumption practices, digital methods, gender and sexuality.

Recent research partners include: Boystown, Brook Advisory, Cooperatives UK, the Imperial War Museums, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the UK National Health Service (NHS), TRUE (formerly Family Planning Queensland), Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Queensland Museum Network, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, the State Library of Queensland, and Tourism and Events Queensland.

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Books by Ben Light

Disconnecting with Social Networking Sites

The Social and Cultural Significance of Online Gaming

Selected Journal Papers by Ben Light

The Rise of Speculative Devices: Hooking Up with the Bots of Ashley Madison

I attend to two areas of increasing significance in relation to Web 2.0 since its announcement in... more I attend to two areas of increasing significance in relation to Web 2.0 since its announcement in 2005. The first is a focus on the non-human in digital media research, and the second is the normalisation of dating apps in society. Borrowing from speculative design and speculative method, I introduce the idea of speculative devices, those things that are set in place based on a conjecture of an outcome. Drawing upon a case study of Ashley Madison I demonstrate how the speculative devices of profiles and bots can operate, and why. I argue we need to give careful thought to how our research and practice is understood, and conducted where speculative devices are concerned.

Making Digital Cultures of Gender and Sexuality With Social Media

This article introduces a special issue concerning the interweaving of gender, sexuality, and soc... more This article introduces a special issue concerning the interweaving of gender, sexuality, and social media. There are 10 articles included in the issue which together map out a landscape of diverse areas of interest covering topics such as sexism and harassment, health and wellbeing, relationships, and leisure.

Social Networking and Digital Gaming Media Convergence: Classification and its Consequences for Appropriation

Within the field of Information Systems, a good proportion of research is concerned with the work... more Within the field of Information Systems, a good proportion of research is concerned with the work organisation and this has, to some extent, restricted the kind of application areas given consideration. Yet, it is clear that information and communication technology deployments beyond the work organisation are acquiring increased importance in our lives. With this in mind, we offer a field study of the appropriation of an online play space known as Habbo Hotel. Habbo Hotel, as a site of media convergence, incorporates social networking and digital gaming functionality. Our research highlights the ethical problems such a dual classification of technology may bring. We focus upon a particular set of activities undertaken within and facilitated by the space – scamming. Scammers dupe members with respect to their ‘Furni’, virtual objects that have online and offline economic value. Through our analysis we show that sometimes, online activities are bracketed off from those defined as offline and that this can be related to how the technology is classified by members – as a social networking site and/or a digital game. In turn, this may affect members’ beliefs about rights and wrongs. We conclude that given increasing media convergence, the way forward is to continue the project of educating people regarding the difficulties of determining rights and wrongs, and how rights and wrongs may be acted out with respect to new technologies of play online and offline.

Integration in ERP environments: rhetoric, realities and organisational possibilities

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages are said to enable integration when the standard insc... more Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages are said to enable integration when the standard inscription is adhered to through software configuration. A social shaping perspective expands conceptualisations of ERP packages, enabling a view of them as configurational technologies. Thus, ERP integration is opened up and the 'integration through standardisa-tion thesis' is challenged.

Is there an app for that? A case study of the potentials and limitations of the participatory turn and networked publics for classical music audience engagement

The participatory turn, fuelled by discourses and rhetoric regarding social media, and in the aft... more The participatory turn, fuelled by discourses and rhetoric regarding social media, and in the aftermath of the dot.com crash of the early 2000s, enrols to some extent an idea of being able to deploy networks to achieve institutional aims. The arts and cultural sector in the UK, in the face of funding cuts, has been keen to engage with such ideas in order to demonstrate value for money; by improving the efficiency of their operations, improving their respective audience experience and ultimately increasing audience size and engagement. Drawing on a case study compiled via a collaborative research project with a UK-based symphony orchestra (UKSO) we interrogate the potentials of social media engagement for audience development work through participatory media and networked publics. We argue that the literature related to mobile phones and applications ('apps') has focused primarily on marketing for engagement where institutional contexts are concerned. In contrast, our analysis elucidates the broader potentials and limitations of social-media-enabled apps for audience development and engagement beyond a marketing paradigm. In the case of UKSO, it appears that the technologically deterministic discourses often associated with institutional enrolment of participatory media and networked publics may not necessarily apply due to classical music culture. More generally, this work raises the contradictory nature of networked publics and argues for increased critical engagement with the concept.

Strategies for the Suspension and Prevention of Connection: Rendering Disconnection as Socioeconomic Lubricant with Facebook

This paper attends to the idea of disconnection as a way of theorising people's lived experience ... more This paper attends to the idea of disconnection as a way of theorising people's lived experience of social networking sites. Enrolling and extending a disconnective practice lens we suggest that the disconnective strategies of suspension and prevention are operational necessities for those we might see as the users and owners of sites such as Facebook. Indeed, our work demonstrates that disconnection in these contexts need not be associated only with modes of resistance and departure, but can also act as socioeconomic lubricant.

An Orchestral Audience: Classical Music and Continued Patterns of Distinction

by Ben Light and Gaynor Bagnall

Ethics and social networking sites : a disclosive analysis of Facebook

Gay men, Gaydar and the commodification of difference

by Ben Light and Gordon Fletcher

Social Networking and Digital Gaming Media Convergence: Classification and its Consequences for Appropriation

Introducing Masculinity Studies to Information Systems Research: The Case of Gaydar

Going Offline: An Exploratory Cultural Artifact Analysis of An Internet Dating Site’s Development Trajectories

by Ben Light and Gordon Fletcher

Unpacking user relations in an emerging ubiquitous computing environment: introducing the bystander

Journal of Information Technology, 2008

Secondary user relations in emerging mobile computing environments

European Journal of Information Systems, 2006

REFLECTIONS ON ISSUES OF POWER IN PACKAGED SOFTWARE SELECTION

Selected Project Reports by Ben Light

Lesbian, gay and bisexual women in the north west: a multi-method study of cervical screening attitudes, experiences and uptake

by Ben Light and Paula Ormandy

THE LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA STUDENT MOBILE PROJECT

Digital and social media: Impacts and potentials for cervical screening

by Ben Light and Paula Ormandy

Disconnecting with Social Networking Sites

The Social and Cultural Significance of Online Gaming

The Rise of Speculative Devices: Hooking Up with the Bots of Ashley Madison

I attend to two areas of increasing significance in relation to Web 2.0 since its announcement in... more I attend to two areas of increasing significance in relation to Web 2.0 since its announcement in 2005. The first is a focus on the non-human in digital media research, and the second is the normalisation of dating apps in society. Borrowing from speculative design and speculative method, I introduce the idea of speculative devices, those things that are set in place based on a conjecture of an outcome. Drawing upon a case study of Ashley Madison I demonstrate how the speculative devices of profiles and bots can operate, and why. I argue we need to give careful thought to how our research and practice is understood, and conducted where speculative devices are concerned.

Making Digital Cultures of Gender and Sexuality With Social Media

This article introduces a special issue concerning the interweaving of gender, sexuality, and soc... more This article introduces a special issue concerning the interweaving of gender, sexuality, and social media. There are 10 articles included in the issue which together map out a landscape of diverse areas of interest covering topics such as sexism and harassment, health and wellbeing, relationships, and leisure.

Social Networking and Digital Gaming Media Convergence: Classification and its Consequences for Appropriation

Within the field of Information Systems, a good proportion of research is concerned with the work... more Within the field of Information Systems, a good proportion of research is concerned with the work organisation and this has, to some extent, restricted the kind of application areas given consideration. Yet, it is clear that information and communication technology deployments beyond the work organisation are acquiring increased importance in our lives. With this in mind, we offer a field study of the appropriation of an online play space known as Habbo Hotel. Habbo Hotel, as a site of media convergence, incorporates social networking and digital gaming functionality. Our research highlights the ethical problems such a dual classification of technology may bring. We focus upon a particular set of activities undertaken within and facilitated by the space – scamming. Scammers dupe members with respect to their ‘Furni’, virtual objects that have online and offline economic value. Through our analysis we show that sometimes, online activities are bracketed off from those defined as offline and that this can be related to how the technology is classified by members – as a social networking site and/or a digital game. In turn, this may affect members’ beliefs about rights and wrongs. We conclude that given increasing media convergence, the way forward is to continue the project of educating people regarding the difficulties of determining rights and wrongs, and how rights and wrongs may be acted out with respect to new technologies of play online and offline.

Integration in ERP environments: rhetoric, realities and organisational possibilities

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages are said to enable integration when the standard insc... more Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages are said to enable integration when the standard inscription is adhered to through software configuration. A social shaping perspective expands conceptualisations of ERP packages, enabling a view of them as configurational technologies. Thus, ERP integration is opened up and the 'integration through standardisa-tion thesis' is challenged.

Is there an app for that? A case study of the potentials and limitations of the participatory turn and networked publics for classical music audience engagement

The participatory turn, fuelled by discourses and rhetoric regarding social media, and in the aft... more The participatory turn, fuelled by discourses and rhetoric regarding social media, and in the aftermath of the dot.com crash of the early 2000s, enrols to some extent an idea of being able to deploy networks to achieve institutional aims. The arts and cultural sector in the UK, in the face of funding cuts, has been keen to engage with such ideas in order to demonstrate value for money; by improving the efficiency of their operations, improving their respective audience experience and ultimately increasing audience size and engagement. Drawing on a case study compiled via a collaborative research project with a UK-based symphony orchestra (UKSO) we interrogate the potentials of social media engagement for audience development work through participatory media and networked publics. We argue that the literature related to mobile phones and applications ('apps') has focused primarily on marketing for engagement where institutional contexts are concerned. In contrast, our analysis elucidates the broader potentials and limitations of social-media-enabled apps for audience development and engagement beyond a marketing paradigm. In the case of UKSO, it appears that the technologically deterministic discourses often associated with institutional enrolment of participatory media and networked publics may not necessarily apply due to classical music culture. More generally, this work raises the contradictory nature of networked publics and argues for increased critical engagement with the concept.

Strategies for the Suspension and Prevention of Connection: Rendering Disconnection as Socioeconomic Lubricant with Facebook

This paper attends to the idea of disconnection as a way of theorising people's lived experience ... more This paper attends to the idea of disconnection as a way of theorising people's lived experience of social networking sites. Enrolling and extending a disconnective practice lens we suggest that the disconnective strategies of suspension and prevention are operational necessities for those we might see as the users and owners of sites such as Facebook. Indeed, our work demonstrates that disconnection in these contexts need not be associated only with modes of resistance and departure, but can also act as socioeconomic lubricant.

An Orchestral Audience: Classical Music and Continued Patterns of Distinction

by Ben Light and Gaynor Bagnall

Ethics and social networking sites : a disclosive analysis of Facebook

Gay men, Gaydar and the commodification of difference

by Ben Light and Gordon Fletcher

Social Networking and Digital Gaming Media Convergence: Classification and its Consequences for Appropriation

Introducing Masculinity Studies to Information Systems Research: The Case of Gaydar

Going Offline: An Exploratory Cultural Artifact Analysis of An Internet Dating Site’s Development Trajectories

by Ben Light and Gordon Fletcher

Unpacking user relations in an emerging ubiquitous computing environment: introducing the bystander

Journal of Information Technology, 2008

Secondary user relations in emerging mobile computing environments

European Journal of Information Systems, 2006

REFLECTIONS ON ISSUES OF POWER IN PACKAGED SOFTWARE SELECTION

Lesbian, gay and bisexual women in the north west: a multi-method study of cervical screening attitudes, experiences and uptake

by Ben Light and Paula Ormandy

THE LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA STUDENT MOBILE PROJECT

Digital and social media: Impacts and potentials for cervical screening

by Ben Light and Paula Ormandy

The imperial war museum’s social interpretation project

Access All Areas? The Evolution of SingStar from the PS2 to PS3 Platform

by Ben Light and Gordon Fletcher

Despite many challenges to technological determinism it is fair to say that technological develop... more Despite many challenges to technological determinism it is fair to say that technological development is often still presented to, and by, those in organisations and society as inevitably good. The internet is positioned as affording access to a range of information and services that can qualitatively improve our every day lives. Whilst this clearly can be acknowledged as the case, we also know that the internet can raise difficulties and even disadvantages. Understanding this interconnected complex domain of sociotechnical experience precludes broad generalizations and requires recognition of the nuances that surround specific sets of sociotechnical assemblages. By drawing upon Dutton's (2005) reconfiguration of access arguments we investigate the use of digital games within recreational environments. The ideas in this paper are based upon two intersecting ethnographies and a qualitative non-participant field study of the console based game, SingStar. Through this approach we demonstrate that the sociotechnical choices associated with different versions of the game have constructed a reconfiguration of access to SingStar that critiques the automatic association of new versions of technology with improvement and examines the ways in which non-use and, in effect, non-access could similarly alter and even extend a game play experience. More broadly, studying the evolution of what was, in effect, a 'stand alone' digital game to a network enabled version demonstrates how a move to becoming an internet based platform may restrict rather than enable access. Utilising an entertainment oriented activity and technology to examine the issues that underlie Dutton's rubric of 'access' also permits intersecting consideration of the respective roles that developer, user, non-user and technology have in the mediation of social experience.

SELLING PACKAGED SOFTWARE: AN ETHICAL ANALYSIS

Within the IS literature there is little discussion on selling software products in general and e... more Within the IS literature there is little discussion on selling software products in general and especially from the ethical point of view. Similarly, within computer ethics, although there is much interest in professionalism and professional codes, in terms of accountability and responsibility, the spotlight tends to play on safety-critical or life-critical systems, rather than on software oriented towards the more mundane aspects of work organisation and society. With this research gap in mind, we offer a preliminary ethical investigation of packaged software selling. Through an analysis of the features of competition in the market, the global nature of the packaged software market and the nature of product development we conclude that professionalism, as usually conceived in computer ethics, does not apply particularly well to software vendors. Thus, we call for a broader definition of professionalism to include software vendors, not just software developers. Moreover, we acknowledge that with intermediaries, such as implementation consultants, involved in software selling, and the packaged software industry more generally, there are even more " hands " involved. Therefore, we contend that this is an area worthy of further study, which is likely to yield more on the question of accountability.

Producing Sexual Cultures and Pseudonymous Publics with Digital Networks

Since the release of the Grindr app in 2009, interest in digitally mediated public sexual culture... more Since the release of the Grindr app in 2009, interest in digitally mediated public sexual cultures concerning men who have sex with men has increased. Yet, digital mediation of such public sexual cultures through apps had begun more than a decade before Grindr was released. For example, Squirt, a desktop and mobile hook up site for men who have sex with men, was launched in 1998 and has always functioned to facilitate public hook ups. Using Squirt as a case study, I will build on the work of Mowlabocus (2008) in relation to our understandings of digitally mediated public sex, employing a version of networked publics (boyd, 2008a; boyd, 2008b) and thinking regarding the real name web (Hogan, 2013). Through an actor-network theory (ANT) informed analysis of Squirt, I will demonstrate how, in a U.K. context, networked digital media inform and allow for the co-existence of a spectrum of gender and sexual politics, sexual preferences and sexual practices. Such an analysis encourages further explorations of the theoretical potentials of networked publics, and in doing so, I present the concept of pseudonymous publics.