AI-driven systems such as social platforms struggle with the gap in their understanding of how users work, especially around marginalized identities. At the same time, those with marginalized identities need social platforms for everything from basic identity formation to the distribution of crucial health information. Marginalized identities often contain localized context and nuance which systems miss or misinterpret, and which people outside the marginalized community in question are unlikely to understand. It is essential to find ways for marginalized communities to take charge of how AI and platforms understand them to ensure this understanding is in the community’s own terms. Accordingly, I employ community-focused methods and embrace my positionality as a member-researcher with a deep knowledge of both social computing research and her own marginalized communities. In turn, I enable others to do the same by assembling, securing funding for, and leading teams of LGBTQ+ junior researchers.
Publications
Transphobia is in the Eye of the Prompter: Trans-Centered Perspectives on Large Language Models
Morgan Scheuerman, Katy Weathington, Adrian Petterson, Dylan Thomas Doyle, Dipto Das, Michael Ann DeVito, and Jed R. Brubaker. 2025. Transphobia is in the Eye of the Prompter: Trans-Centered Perspectives on Large Language Models. ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact. Just Accepted (June 2025). https://doi.org/10.1145/3743676
Moving Towards Epistemic Autonomy: A Paradigm Shift for Centering Participant Knowledge
Leah Hope Ajmani, Talia Bhatt, and Michael Ann Devito. 2025. Moving Towards Epistemic Autonomy: A Paradigm Shift for Centering Participant Knowledge. In CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’25), April 26-May 1, 2025, Yokohama, Japan. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 26 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3714252
Whose Knowledge is Valued? Epistemic Injustice in CSCW Applications
Leah Hope Ajmani, Jasmine C. Foriest, Jordan Taylor, Kyle Pittman, Sarah Gilbert, and Michael Ann Devito. 2024. Whose Knowledge is Valued? Epistemic Injustice in CSCW Applications. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 8, CSCW2, Article 523 (November 2024), 28 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3687062
Safety and Community Context: Exploring a Transfeminist Approach to Sapphic Relationship Platforms
Michael Ann DeVito, Jessica L. Feuston, Erika Melder, Christen Malloy, Cade Ponder, and Jed R. Brubaker. 2024. Safety and Community Context: Exploring a Transfeminist Approach to Sapphic Relationship Platforms. In Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, Vol. 8, CSCW1, Article 203 (April 2024), 35 pages, https://doi.org/10.1145/3653694
How Transfeminine TikTok Creators Navigate the Algorithmic Trap of Visibility Via Folk Theorization
Michael Ann DeVito. 2022. How Transfeminine TikTok Creators Navigate the Algorithmic Trap of Visibility Via Folk Theorization. In Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, Vol. 6, CSCW2, Article 380 (November 2022), 31 pages, https://doi.org/10.1145/3555105
“Do You Ladies Relate?”: Experiences of Gender Diverse People in Online Eating Disorder Spaces
Jessica L. Feuston, Michael Ann DeVito, Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, Katy Weathington, Marianna Benitez, Bianca Z. Perez, Lucy Sondheim, and Jed R. Brubaker. 2022. “Do You Ladies Relate?”: Experiences of Gender Diverse People in Online Eating Disorder Communities. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 6, CSCW2, Article 420 (November 2022), 32 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3555145
Values (Mis)alignment: Exploring Tensions Between Platform and LGBTQ+ Community Design Values
Michael Ann DeVito, Ashley Marie Walker, and Julia R. Fernandez. 2021. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 5, CSCW1, Article 88.
“Facebook Promotes More Harassment”: Social Media Ecosystem, Skill and Marginalized Hijra Identity in Bangladesh
Fayika Farhat Nova, Michael Ann DeVito, Pratyasha Saha, Kazi Shohanur Rashid, Shashwata Roy Turzo, Sadia Afrin, and Shion Guha. 2021. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction. 5, CSCW1, Article 157.
“‘More gay’ fits in better”: Intracommunity Power Dynamics and Harms in Online LGBTQ+ Spaces
Ashley Marie Walker and Michael Ann DeVito. 2020. Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
‘Too Gay for Facebook’: Presenting LGBTQ+ Identity Throughout the Personal Social Media Ecosystem
Michael Ann DeVito, Ashley Marie Walker, and Jeremy Birnholtz. 2018. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 2, CSCW, Article 44.
Organizing and Agenda-Setting Work
Queer in HCI: Strengthening the Community of LGBTQIA+ Researchers and Research
Michael Ann DeVito, Caitlin Lustig, Ellen Simpson, Kimberley Allison, Tya Chuanromanee, Katta Spiel, Amy Ko, Jennifer Rode, Brianna Dym, Michael Muller, Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, Ashley Marie Walker, Jed Brubaker, and Alex Ahmed. 2021. Extended Abstracts of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Article 159.
Queer in HCI: Supporting LGBTQIA+ Researchers and Research Across Domains
Michael Ann DeVito, Ashley Marie Walker, Caitlin Lustig, Amy J. Ko, Katta Spiel, Alex A. Ahmed, Kimberley Allison, Morgan Scheuerman, Briana Dym, Jed R. Brubaker, Ellen Simpson, Naveen Bagalkot, Noopur Raval, Michael Muller, Jennifer Rode, and Mary L. Gray. 2020. In Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’20).
Social Technologies for Digital Wellbeing Among Marginalized Communities
Michael Ann DeVito, Ashley Marie Walker, Jeremy Birnholtz, Kathryn Ringland, Kathryn Macapagal, Ashley Kraus, Sean Munson, Calvin Liang, and Herman Saksono. 2019. In Conference Companion Publication of the 2019 Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing(CSCW ’19), 449–454.
ARC: Moving the Method Forward
Ashley Marie Walker, Michael Ann DeVito, Juan Fernando Maestre, Katie A. Siek, Cassie Kresnye, Ben Jelen, Patrick C. Shih, Maria Wolters, and Mona Alqassim. 2019. In Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’19), Paper SIG06.
Queer(ing) HCI: Moving Forward in Theory and Practice
Katta Spiel, Os Keyes, Ashley Marie Walker, Michael Ann DeVito, Jeremy Birnholtz, Emeline Brulé, Ann Light, Pınar Barlas, Jean Hardy, Alex Ahmed, Jennifer A. Rode, Jed R. Brubaker, and Gopinaath Kannabiran. 2019. Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’19), Paper SIG11.
Dr. Michael Ann DeVito, Ph.D. 