Apryl A. Williams

Apryl A. Williams is an Assistant Professor of Communication & Media and an affiliate with the Digital Studies Institute at the University of Michigan. Williams is also a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and an affiliated researcher at NYU's Center for Critical Race & Digital Studies.

As a multidisciplinary scholar, Williams studies the experience of race and racism online. Her work positions the Internet as an inherently racialized space with its own processes, norms, and rituals of racial meaning-making. Williams' critical race perspective on the Karen and BBQ Becky memes has been widely cited in popular press including but not limited to Time Magazine, On the Media, Slate, and Detroit NPR. Her forthcoming book on digital inequalities in online dating examines racial bias in online dating platforms both from the macro-level perspective of safety protocols and policies in dating apps and presents perspectives from individual users. Williams' work interrogates user agency when using match-making algorithms and highlights the experiences of people of color as they navigate the ever-changing social rules that govern online dating.