Ruminations on our relationship with technology
Why social media incentivize online outrage culture It’s no secret—during election years in particular—that online outrage culture dominates plenty of social media. That’s especially true whenever politics come up. According to Pew Research, social media users in the U.S. are now more likely to describe political discourse as “stressful and frustrating” on sites such as … Read more
The Cambridge Analytica data scandal Many of us first heard about the Cambridge Analytica data scandal shortly after the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. At that time, we learned that Cambridge Analytica, a consulting firm, acquired personal data from tens of millions of Facebook users before selling it all to political campaigns, without users’ clear consent. … Read more
What is surveillance capitalism? No doubt, one of the unintended consequences of social media has been the loss of privacy. (See Part I of this three-part article.) To recap, big tech companies like Facebook surveil what you do online, collect massive amounts of your personal data (your likes, dislikes, consumer preferences, locations, comments, private messages, … Read more
“Narcissus as narcosis” Throughout history, new technologies have changed culture and transformed society, sometimes with unintended consequences. For instance, the printing press had the effect of spreading literacy and transforming tribal, oral cultures into national, literate cultures. Likewise, electronic and digital technologies are transforming society in fascinating but unpredictable ways. As Canadian philosopher and media … Read more
Online outrage on social media “Geez, I was only on Facebook for three minutes, and in that time I lost eight friends!” So said a buddy of mine as we were catching up over beers. Unsurprisingly, his remarks took place during an election season. As usual, he (and many others) saw no shortage of outrage … Read more
Research on Internet Generation, or iGen How do smartphones and social media affect the minds and lives of today’s youth? More parents and teachers began asking this question after the first iPhone came out in 2007, just a year after Facebook opened to everyone 13 and older. Since then, most teens have never known a … Read more
A cost-benefit analysis: To delete or not delete Facebook? I joined Facebook in 2009. By 2018, I deleted my account. After a decade observing how it affected our culture, I realized the costs outweighed any benefits. Taking advantage of the “Delete Facebook” movement, I seized the hashtag #deletefacebook and freed myself from the matrix. Some … Read more