First published in Construct, a publication of The Working Capitol, 2017.

On Algorithmic Time

Sara M. Watson
Aug 22, 2017 · 1 min read

Time is not my own,
yet it is mine alone.
Time standardized
for the railroads speeding capital.
Time rationalized, coordinated after
Greenwich, the empire, long before
time turned atomic.
“Newton, forgive me,”
time is not universal or absolute.
Now time is personalized, neoliberal.
Annihilating space and time? Panic!
Personal timelines disturb our sense
of time, space, and each other.
No longer linear, time is sorted
on the edges: affinity, weight, decay;
optimized for: reach,
engagement, impressions, eyeballs,
mouse hover, thumbstopper.
Terms change
constantly, accounting for micro signals
and inferred interests,
without a chance to sort yourself.
Relativity in the extreme,
objective ordering of subjective experience
varies from app to app, person to person —
Zuckerberg’s Theory of Relevancy.
Time gestures no longer a flick of the wrist,
a wind of the crown,
but a swipe, a pull to refresh
an infinite scroll
loading more…
closed loop of algorithmic time —
ICYMI.

)

Written by

Technology critic. 👩🏻‍💻Singapore / Boston.

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