About Me.
Hi, I am Somya! I am a current Master's student at the University of Michigan School of Information where I also received a Bachelors of Science in Information (BSI), with a double concentration in Social Media Analysis and User Interface Analysis; and a double minor in Business Administration and Science, Technology and Society. I am interested in studying how information influences the way that we think.
My academic and professional interests include: privacy, UI/UX analysis, digital marketing, social media analysis, information security, filter bubbles and algorithms, data analysis, and technopolitics.
My other interests include: weightlifting and calisthenics, photography, longboarding, and people watching.
My Latest Projects.
I am grateful to be chasing my passions and immersing myself in things that I love. I have a sustained interest in how information and technology intersect with the lives and development of people. I approach information science with a cultural and humanistic perspective. I have worked on projects such as startups, privacy impact assessments, ux research and analysis, contextual inquiry research, crisis POAs, and many more. Check out some of my recent involvements!
HelloUniversity | Startup
We found that a lot of the students who come to the US to study, have trouble adjusting to the university culture. I found that I only became close to my international friends after years of being in the same classes as them. Turns out, our international friends feel the same way. Another one of our board members found it isolating and difficult to adjust. There are often miscommunications, slight language or accent barriers, or even cultural barriers with certain expressions. We wanted to make this transition smoother. We created an online platform where students could talk to US students in colleges to: Help them practice their English, Better understand US cultures, Better understand a specific college/major
CME Group Marketing Analytics
I currently work full time at CME Group in the Marketing Analytics realm. I use data to make recommendations to 1) marketing managers about their commodity campaign strategy 2) UX designers about new page designs 3) senior directors and leadership on visualizing market trends.
Marketing Strategy|Analytics
Michigan Muscle Club: Bringing leadership, marketing, and inclusivity
In the Winter semester of 2018, I joined the Michigan Muscle Club (a bodybuilding and fitness club) and started as new the VP of Marketing. Being one of the first females in the club, I found it a challenge to create an open environment for people of all genders and levels of experience. Through social media marketing and photography the club was able to get from no female members to a 50/50 ratio as well as increase our member count from active member account from 40 to 75 in just one semester. Throughout my time at Michigan, I held the roles of VP of Marketing, President, and Senior advisor where I created an inclusive atmosphere with mentorship and a focus on community to train effectively. Check out our club page!
Leadership|Social Media|Strategy
Information Flow Case Study
The Dabbawallas of Mumbai are a group of people that take part in a lunch box delivery system throughout the city. A ‘dabba’ is a lunch container and a ‘wala’ is a mobile street vendor. These dabbawallas have been coordinating the delivery of homecooked meals to thousands of Indians for hundreds of years. They carry tiffins of food from the home to the office of the worker and then the empty tiffins from the office back to the home in an organized fashion. This paper analyzes the organizational structures within the Dabbawallas of Mumbai who have harnessed the power of code in a non-traditional format. This information flow has brought success for hundreds of years due to the infrastructure's simplicity and control.
Analysis|Cross-cultural Communication
Into the Black Box: Twitter Edition
Since the 2016 Cambridge Analytica Scandal, users are becoming more aware that their online interactions have consequences beyond what they originally thought. Now, consequences can shape or influence users’ free thinking. Social media sites seem to be black boxes where very few people completely understand the extent of how much data is collected and harvested about a user. With Twitter, users are not aware of just how much information it collects about the user, apart from the voluntary information given by the user in tweets and interactions with the page. This paper hopes to analyze the extent to which Twitter collects data about a person beyond their voluntary information. We consider voluntary information to be what the user has tweeted, liked, retweeted, or any other actions on the page along with the information they have chosen to provide to Twitter such as their name, birthdate, etc.
Filter Bubbles|Algorithms|Infosec
UM ITS Public Cloud Shared Responsibility Model
ITS offers its users services which provide provisioned access to cloud vendors such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Microsoft Azure to various campus units. ITS implements a shared responsibility model for cloud service use, meaning that they provide some security features, but customers also have a responsibility to provide security on their end. This project entails creating a tool to display the shared responsibility model based on how a customer consumes a cloud service. The tool will help users parse security requirements and understand their role in protecting their cloud environment.
University of Michigan Information Technology Services. UX Consulting
Chipotle Marketing Analysis
Using the Big Picture framework to analyze marketing challenges and opportunities facing the Chipotle brand. This presentation recaps the framework as well as discusses the brand's key marketing impediments, and proposes revisions to Chipotle's big picture strategy.
Live for Now Campaign Crisis Management Case
A crisis management case study analyzing Pepsi's Live for Now Campaign. This analysis analyzes the extent to which social media played a critical role in initiating and mitigating the crisis of the campaign starring Kendall Jenner.
Technohumanism.
My interests lie at the intersection of privacy, storytelling, and humanism.
I am intrigued by the concept of storytelling- I like to engage in deeper conversation and learn personal stories. Maturing as a global citizen, I see the world enriched by our unique cultural backgrounds. However, I also see the risk of a cultural divide through algorithms, miscommunications, and inequitable access to information. My goal is to be part of the solution by increasing understanding among people by using the human connection. I live with the perspective: if you're missing one piece of the story, you have a completely different narrative.
Throughout my time at University of Michigan, I have become curious as to how storytelling can further extend to political opinions and world perspectives. As we further transition into the virtual realm, voices appear to be more equal and democratic. However, I have used my perspective to allow me to better understand consequences of filter bubbles, echo chambers, and algorithms.Combining my interests of privacy and storytelling allows me to better understand impacts of algorithms on pre-exisitng interlocking structures of marginalization; as well as again a better understanding of how to utilize technology to be at the forefront of this new era of TECHNOHUMANSIM.
Storytelling and Technopolitics: It's time to pop your filter bubble
Keynote Speaker- Research|Privacy|StorytellingFeb 14, 2020
At U of M, inspired by Brandon Stanton’s blogging methods in Humans of New York, I brought my love for storytelling and photography to create a blog called Students of Umich. It's a Facebook and Instagram that allows me to follow students' journeys as they chase their passions and become enmeshed in university life. It discussed raw, uncensored and taboo topics including identity, sexual assault, mental health, and religion. I wanted this to be an account where people escape their echo chambers.
Starting this account as a freshman, I solely manage, run, and built the account to over 4,850 followers.
Women are still underrepresented in the field of engineering in 2019 but are nonetheless striving and succeeding in breaking the boundaries of science and engineering. They have a diverse set of passions, struggles, failures, accomplishments, and role models that comprises who they are and what they do. With this portrait series, we highlight that diversity through the thoughts, feelings, and stories of just a few of our Michigan Engineering graduate students.
Awards.
View my Resume.
Learn more about me on paper.
Get In Touch With Me.
She, her, hers
University of Michigan Alumnus
Analyst, Designer, Creator, Storyteller, Technohumanist
Feel free to look into my social media projects linked at the top of the page. Also, please connect with me on LinkedIn and contact me via email. Let's create!
Contact Information:
Email: bhagwsom@umich.edu