Portfolio #4

Part 1:

One main idea I seemed to learn was just how unavoidable these advances in technology are. It is good to try to prevent car accidents or through the use of facial recognition, a plastic reduction might occur in terms of credit/debit cards. However, my initial thought was that people are becoming too dependent (like Disney’s Wall-E movie). It seems beneficial for companies because you don’t pay wages to robots but people have lost employment due to AI. Even in the Prospect Magazine piece, technology has become so ingrained in our society it’s almost unfathomable to operate without it. Which is how companies can take advantage of their users and manipulate surveillance. It also made me think of YouTube’s algorithm and how it suggests more extreme content under the guise of providing videos that users might enjoy. I also wondered what this tech is doing to us mentally/physically because there has to be some sort of impact of watching these surveillance cameras all day long.

In terms of my own social/digital media, I’ve definitely encountered this happening. I’m always getting “Cookies” notifications the minute I enter a new website. The most jarring is when I see clothes I had just previously viewed on American Eagle, for example, now being ads alongside my YouTube video. But I’m extremely paranoid about AI services. It’s partially why I refuse to utilize Siri, Cortana, or Alexa on any of my devices. I know that my data is already being logged online, so I don’t want to help add to my already existing file. But, as I mentioned before it is almost unavoidable to not encounter these “cookies”.

Part 2:

The term ‘participation’ seemed to align with Gillespie’s definition of “discursive work”. This is because participation could be manipulated to mean several things depending upon the desired end goal. Participation is associated with one’s engagement and involvement in society. But, participation overlooks how it is not accessible for all, such as voting disenfranchisement. It also does not have to refer to community participation in one’s town. Participation can revolve around social/digital media communities as well. Also the word ‘active’ seems to align with participation. However, I believe you can be inactive in society and still be deemed a participant ie boycotting. Through boycotting, you are not participating in your community per se, however, you made the conscious decision to engage in a form of opposition.