Data is central to how we experience the social world, with the concept of the ‘data gaze’ helping to understand how everyday life is increasingly viewed through data in strategic and predictive ways (Beer 2018). This presentation explores different dimensions of the data gaze, where algorithmic and machinic logics intersect with young people’s ability to see and know themselves.

Young people navigate the pressures of visibility in a digital world by carefully curating images and content. This process requires them to develop nuanced skills to classify images and individuals. Drawing from a study of selfie editing practices, the presentation examines how young people’s image-reading systems shape their perceptions of themselves, their peers, and the world.

Meanwhile, data about young people’s lives is used by multinational corporations to classify, exclude, and profit from them. In digital industries like tenancy management and insurance, data mining often occurs behind the scenes, without consumer awareness. In this context, young people are ‘gazed upon’ by the algorithmic processes of platform capitalism.

The presentation uses the ‘data gaze’ to explore how young people critically engage with digital platforms and how these platforms extract data and value from their everyday practices. It asks how young people are imagined by this gaze, and how it shapes their practices, identities, and orientations to life. The discussion highlights the implications of predictive classificatory processes in reinforcing inequalities and exclusions.

Julia Coffey is Associate Professor in Sociology at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Her research focuses on youth, gender, and the mediation of bodies and identity through digital technologies. She leads an Australian Research Council Discovery Project on young people’s digital presentation and image-editing practices. Julia is on the editorial boards of Journal of Youth Studies, Qualitative Research, and Journal of Applied Youth Studies. Her recent publications include Everyday Embodiment: Rethinking Youth Body Image (2021, Palgrave Macmillan).

Steven Threadgold is Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Newcastle Youth Studies Centre at the University of Newcastle, Australia. His research interests include youth, class, and alternative work and career trajectories, as well as underground creative scenes. Steve is an Associate Editor of Journal of Youth Studies and on the editorial boards of The Sociological Review, DIY, Alternative Culture & Society, and Journal of Applied Youth Studies. His latest book is Bourdieu and Affect: Towards a Theory of Affective Affinities (Bristol University Press). 

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