Ruminations on our relationship with technology
Christopher Cocchiarella Social media’s twofold problem: manipulative algorithms and addictive design After posting a five-part article on social media reform, as well as publishing a couple of editorials on this topic (one highlighting the problem with social media, the other looking at solutions to this problem), I thought it would be helpful to sum up these thoughts. … Read more
Addictive design vs. ethical design in social media Summary: When applying professional ethics to technology design (including ethical design in social media), there’s no such thing as a ‘neutral’ design. Designers have to make design choices. And those design choices will influence people’s decisions, including how they use the technology. Therefore, designers might want to … Read more
Personal privacy and data protection regulations for social media Summary: An ongoing problem with several social media platforms is that they’re designed to monitor and manipulate what people can see or experience online. That’s because the goal is to keep users on these sites for as long as possible—namely, by commodifying their attention, collecting their … Read more
Why indefinite online censorship won’t save social media from hate speech Summary: Is online censorship inevitable on social media? Going forward, social media companies will probably need to moderate some content online to prevent dangerous speech. However, trying to moderate other kinds of online speech, such as hate speech, will likely remain an endless game … Read more
Moderating content to prevent dangerous speech online Summary: Inevitably, social media reform will have to include some content moderation, or screening and removing harmful material online. At the same time, figuring out what content social media companies should moderate is a complex question. Still, there’s at least one clear answer: dangerous speech. Dangerous speech refers … Read more
Instrumentarianism and social media Summary: Instrumentarianism refers to Big Tech’s power to monitor and manipulate what you can and can’t see online. For instance, social media sites may use this power to commodify people’s attention and private data. The goal is to keep users on their sites for as long as possible, often through click-bait … Read more
Technics of art vs. aesthetics Summary: There at least are two dimensions to any kind of artwork: art vs. aesthetics. More specifically, it’s the difference between artistic skill vs. aesthetic vision. One way to understand this difference between art vs. aesthetics is to consider it in the context of using technology. For instance, take fashion … Read more
What is “cognitive surplus”? In the previous part of this two-part book review, I summarized some of Clay Shirky’s ideas in his popular book Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations. As pointed out, Shirky makes several interesting observations about how new media, such as smart devices and social networking sites, give users … Read more
Critique of Clay Shirky and organizing without organizations If you’re somebody who regularly reads about technology trends and how they shape society at large, you may have come across Clay Shirky’s writings (if not the occasional critique of Clay Shirky and his ideas). Shirky is an influential author when it comes to discussing the social … Read more