Irresponsibility Killed the Cat: Software Accountability Concerns
This program is tentative and subject to change.
As society becomes ever more digital, lack of accountability by software companies has spread in the industry and worsened the experience of using software applications for many users worldwide. This lack of accountability occurs when companies do not take responsibility for issues that users face, do not explain decisions they make regarding the operation of their applications, or make decisions that affect the user experience by implementing unwanted/harmful features or removing useful ones. Lack of accountability can harm users and reduce software quality to the point of creating useless or undesired applications. Despite this, there is very few research on accountability concerns and the use of automated approaches to gather and analyze them. To address this gap, this study analyzes posts in 10 software-focused communities on Reddit and identifies accountability concerns and the reasons users voice them. We use manual analysis, machine learning, topic modeling and time series analysis as part of our approach. Our best performing model identified 2,217 posts (out of 8,350) containing an accountability concern. Moreover, we found five major accountability themes that Reddit users tend to make concerns about, including the control of user-generated content, accounts being falsely suspended, payment issues, and other technical problems. Our work highlights the importance of having a space for users to voice their concerns. Software companies and development teams may use our methodology and findings to develop software that remains valuable and relevant for its users through time.
This program is tentative and subject to change.
Sun 27 AprDisplayed time zone: Eastern Time (US & Canada) change
16:00 - 17:30 | Responsible SE Session / Day 1 ClosingResearch Track at 210 Chair(s): Ronnie de Souza Santos University of Calgary | ||
16:00 15mTalk | Irresponsibility Killed the Cat: Software Accountability Concerns Research Track Aria Zegers Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Natalie Preciado Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Jan Duchnowski Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Fernanda Madeiral Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Emitzá Guzmán Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam | ||
16:15 15mTalk | In Defence of Collaboration Ecosystems: Addressing Critical Collaboration Elements, Cognitive Biases, and the Role of Technology Research Track Larry Abdullai LUT University, Kseniia Perova LUT University, Jari Porras LUT University , Sanaul Haque LUT University, Ekaterina Albats LUT University, Stefanie Kunkel Research Institute for Sustainabiltiy (RIFS) Helmholtz Centre Potsdam | ||
16:30 10mTalk | Creative Problem-Solving: A Study with Blind and Low Vision Software Professionals Research Track Karina Kohl UFRGS, Yoonha Cha University of California, Irvine, Victoria Jackson University of California, Irvine, Rafael Prikladnicki School of Technology at PUCRS University, Andre van der Hoek University of California, Irvine, Stacy Branham University of California, Irvine | ||
16:40 10mTalk | Towards debiasing code review support Research Track Tobias Jetzen University of Namur, Xavier Devroey University of Namur, Nicolas Matton University of Namur, Benoît Vanderose University of Namur Pre-print | ||
16:50 10mTalk | The Good, the Bad, and the (Un)Usable: A Rapid Literature Review on Privacy as Code Research Track Nicolás E. Díaz Ferreyra Hamburg University of Technology, Sirine Khelifi Hamburg University of Technology, Nalin Arachchilage RMIT University, Riccardo Scandariato Hamburg University of Technology | ||
17:00 10mTalk | Inequity in Software Engineering: Looks that Matter Research Track Mary Sánchez-Gordón Østfold University College, Rahul Mohanani University of Jyväskylä, Ricardo Colomo-Palacios Universidad Politécnica de Madrid | ||
17:10 10mTalk | Lost in Transition: The Struggle of Women Returning to Software Engineering Research after Career Breaks Research Track | ||
17:20 10mTalk | Day 1 Closing Research Track |