Meghan Voll

I know it’s been a hot minute since I updated or did a #dissertationdiaries post. But that’s because it’s shortly going to become #defencediaries! Stay tuned!

📚🤖 Just published my second post with @starlingcentre.bsky.social

AI in libraries might sound niche — but it raises bigger questions about who controls visibility, how discovery is shaped, and what gets amplified (or erased) in digital systems.

#AIethics #ResponsibleData #PublicLibraries

Check out my first blog post as a researcher and contributor at @starlingcentre.bsky.social!

In this blog post, I talk about why Smartphone Nation by Dr. Kaitlyn Regehr is a must read for anyone curious about how to protect their data, well-being, and learn more about their digital health!

This is my preliminary submission so it’s just putting and verifying the references are correct and where they need to be.

Very true!

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I think tomorrow is the day I submit! But my god, how do I get the energy to do the final formatting and last minute checks tomorrow? I feel so exhausted!

#AcademicSky

Whoops! Sorry that was my misunderstanding. I did, but more as a way to explain existing concepts a lot of research has identified. I suppose my work offers the means to identify the processes that result in those concept’s production.

Does that help? I tried to be as painstakingly clear as possible.

So how I phrased it was something like “future research could focus on [x]”. I explain what I do in my work and what concept or idea still has work to be done. Then I go “for example such an analysis could ask [question]” or “analysis could ask [x]”. Doing so would contribute in these ways.

As a follow-up to today’s #DissertationDiaries what do you do when you’ve reread a chapter you wrote nearly a year ago, and realized you’ve developed and come so far since then that if you could, you’d rewrite the chapter entirely?

Me having an anxiety attack about my lit review and methods.

I actually did that with my future work section. I tried to provide potential questions and topics for future analyses to take from my work.

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How to tackle the final read through? I wanted to read 4 (intro, lit review, theory, and methods) today for little final fixes or small phrase changes. I’m worried I’ll get “stuck in the weeds” and end up doing 8 hours per chapter.

Best way to attack these?

#AcademicSky

Yeah I guess the exhausted part of my brain is wondering why I have to repeat the justifications for contributions over and over 😂😅

To be honest I’m exhausted and time is a factor (I have to submit next week), so I’m trying to figure out if I have to actually provide justifications for these contributions (and future work). I think mine is organized different to yours: recap of findings, novel contributions, limits, future work

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Does a conclusion contributions sections have to be long? Does it have to be incredibly detailed? I confess I have the energy nor time to do neither!

#AcademicSky

Media studies!

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How to sharpen a conclusion? I’m all up in my head because my supervisor was not clear about what she didn’t like about it. Particularly a summary of findings. How do I sharpen this and what are some good strategies to edit?

#AcademicSky

#DissertationDiaries Day 108

Silence means…we’re hopefully almost at the finish line.

But a question: how do you get over editing/writing by paralysis? I feel like what I should be doing is simple (line edits) and when I sit down to do a paragraph four hours have passed!

#AcademicSky

They’ve said “more development” is needed. But when I ask for feedback or a time to chat about this they tell me it would be better for me as a scholar to try to figure this out on my own. So I’m not sure if it’s the ideas themselves, or explaining them better than needs the revising.

And they tell me it would be good for me as a scholar to wrestle these ideas out on my own and figure it out. This is frustrating for me because I can’t diagnose specific issues that need fixing and end up “rewriting the entire chapter”. I hope I’m making sense!

The issue is that the fixes I have been given indicate a higher level problem that the solutions I’ve been given don’t work. I’ve asked my supervisor to sit down with me and talk out the chapter to discover what specifically needs concept development, paragraph editing, (etc) (2/3)

Hi, thanks for your response. The issue is that my supervisor would like to see more development in my chapters. They have told me this means explaining the processes that are going on in more depth to which I have. In addition, they also asked that I edited by paragraph. 1/2

Has this happened to you before, and how do I move past this efficiently? I’m so scared I’ll either be stuck doing this PhD for another 6 years or my drafts will be sent back because they’re “wrong” and not developed enough! Please send advice, I’m so stuck!

#AcademicSky

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I’ve not been writing in much lately because I hit a roadblock in the dissertation. Was on track to submit December but was told to develop two of my chapters more. My brain is fried, and every day I spend 8 hours overthinking and rewriting single paragraphs.

1/2

Thanks Branka!

I’m thrilled to share that I have been selected for Inspiring Minds 2025 at @WesternU!

My showcase on value and values on mobile dating apps is now live ⬇️

grad.uwo.ca/academics/in...

#InspiringMinds #WesternU #DatingApps #DigitalSociety #GradResearch

🎙️ Just joined @GradCastRadio to chat about how dating apps turn emotional values into algorithmic ones — and what that means for how we connect.

💬 “Relations, Not Relationships: Values, Algorithms, and Dating Platforms”

🎧 Listen here → podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/g...

#AcademicSky #mobiledating

#DissertationDiaries 106

Can someone please tell anyone who reviews a work that comments like “rewrite needed” without context are annoying, irritating, and unhelpful.

#AcademicSky

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Slow updates since I’m waiting on revision feedback. I really hope this feedback shows progress and less severe revisions than last time.

How do you know your dissertation is ready to submit?

#AcademicSky

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Meeting my supervisor today…cue the scary music 🎃

Praying that it’ll be a positive one that I can move forward with selecting a defence date and less revisions!

#AcademicSky