Avenger of the Week | Zeynep Tufekci

photo credit: NTNU — Norwegian University of Science and Technology [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Flickr

Zeynep Tufekci was the first person to say publicly in a New York Times op-ed that masks should be worn to prevent spread of the COVID-19 virus and that it was a mistake to discourage their use as a way to conserve them for healthcare workers. A few weeks later, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) changed its guidance to recommend masks after what a CDC staffer described as “the tipping point” of Tufekci’s piece.

Raised by an alcoholic mother in Istanbul, Turkey, Tufekci left home as a teenager, but despite her circumstances, she graduated from Bosphorus University with degrees in sociology and computer science. Later, she came to America, where she received her PhD in sociology from the University of Texas at Austin in 2004. She has taught at Harvard University and the University of Maryland at Baltimore and is now an assistant professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also a single parent of an 11-year-old son.

Tufekci now focuses on what she calls techno-sociology, the impact of digital technology on society. She is credited with the uncanny knack of getting it right with regard to a number of warnings, including: she told news media outlets in 2012 that their coverage of school shootings could inspire more, she warned in 2013 that Facebook could fuel ethnic cleansing, and she foresaw in 2017 that YouTube’s recommendation algorithm could be used as a tool for radicalization.

“I feel charmed. I do my best to call things as I see it regardless of popularity,” she said of her work.

For calling them as she sees them, Zeynep Tufekci is our Avenger of the Week.

Let’s hear it for Zeynep!

Credited with the uncanny knack of getting it right with a number of warnings about technology and society, @zeynep continues to speak out with clarity and courage, making her @GenderAvenger's #AvengerOfTheWeek. Let's hear it for Zeynep! #GenderAvenger https://www.genderavenger.com/blog/avenger-of-the-week-zeynep-tufekci