Sean Rintel

Old tech journalism

From 2011 to 2014, while I worked in The University of Queensland’s School of Journalism and Communication, I published quite a few short tech journalism pieces, mainly in The Conversation (opens in new tab). The Conversation is a not-for-profit online news site in which researchers write their takes about current issues or explain their research to the public.

As they say:

The Conversation is an independent source of news and views, sourced from the academic and research community and delivered direct to the public.

Our team of professional editors work with university and research institute experts to unlock their knowledge for use by the wider public.

Access to independent, high quality, authenticated, explanatory journalism underpins a functioning democracy. Our aim is to allow for better understanding of current affairs and complex issues. And hopefully allow for a better quality of public discourse and conversations.

I explored or commented on a wide range of topics, some of which also coincided with my work as a digital rights advocate.

• Rintel, S. (2014, January 16). When did you consent to Facebook’s self-censorship research (opens in new tab)? The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2014, January 13). Explainer: what are memes? (opens in new tab) The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2014, January 6). A thin blue line: how Facebook deals with controversial content (opens in new tab). The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2013, September 13). NBN petition and the backlash: when does democracy speak? (opens in new tab) The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2013, September 9). FAIL: Why memes were not the key to Election 2013 (opens in new tab). Election 2013 media panel post. The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2013, August 30). Meme trends are decidedly anti-LNP (opens in new tab). Election 2013 media panel post. The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2013, August 16). Electoral silence on digital rights from both politicians and journalists (opens in new tab). Election 2013 media panel post. The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2013, August 11). Who generates election memes? (opens in new tab) Election 2013 media panel post. The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2013, June 11). Nine reasons you should care about NSA’s PRISM surveillance (opens in new tab). The Conversation.
• Zhang, Y. (Rintel, S. Contributor) (2013, April 16). Baidu Eye: ‘micro-innovation’ or copying Google Glass? (opens in new tab) The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2013, April 10). ‘Slacktivism’ vs ‘snarktivism’: how do you take your online activism? (opens in new tab) The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. & Lim, C. (2012, September 21). Stalking your ex on Facebook is creepy … and bad for you (opens in new tab). The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2012, July 28). Social media winners and losers in the Olympics opening ceremony (opens in new tab). The Conversation.
• Zhang, Y. & Rintel, S. (2012, July 20). Chinese internet censorship? Seeking the ‘truth’ on Weibo (opens in new tab). The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2012, July 17). Meme team: Olympic fandom meets the internet (opens in new tab). The Conversation.
• Zhang, Y. & Rintel, S. (2012, June 29). No-no on Weibo: China challenges the New York Times (opens in new tab). The Conversation.
• Ballard, S. & Rintel, S. (2012, June 28). Are undergrads really more influential than Gruen panelists? Klout thinks so (opens in new tab). mUmBRELLA.
• Rintel, S. (2012, June 18). Airtime’s Facebook video service gambles on the kindness of strangers (opens in new tab). The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2012, May 31). Mindshare is still Facebook’s biggest asset (opens in new tab). The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2012, May 2). Convergence Review: A bet each way on user-generated content (opens in new tab). The Conversation (Online).
• Rintel, S. (2012, April 20). Eau de MacBook Pro takes ‘unboxing porn’ to a new level (opens in new tab). The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2012, March 22). A new way to share – why Pinterest isn’t just another social network (opens in new tab). The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2012, March 19). What This American Life’s retraction can teach us about the Finkelstein report (opens in new tab). The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2011, December 8). Should we send work email to the trash? (opens in new tab) The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2011, November 4). Do privacy settings work in the age of online reputation management? (opens in new tab) The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2011, November 3). Unthink rethinks online identity – and fronts up to Facebook and Google+ (opens in new tab). The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2011, November 2). The Evolution of Fail Pets: Strategic Whimsy and Brand Awareness in Error Messages (opens in new tab). UX Magazine (Online).
• Rintel, S. (2011, October 17). Why aren’t we using Google+? (opens in new tab) The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2011, August 30). Is StumbleUpon trumping Facebook in the internet attention wars?  (opens in new tab)The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2011, August 15). Obama? Norway killings? London riots? You can has a meme for that…  (opens in new tab)The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2011, July 18). Are Facebook and Google+ limiting your opinions? (opens in new tab) The Conversation.
• Rintel, S. (2011, July 12). Face to Facebook: Can video chat get over its hang-ups? (opens in new tab) The Conversation.