Portfolio Assignment #7
The first guest lecturer presentation given by Mr. Cooper about data, energy, extraction: what, when and where digital stuff is, concisely teaches me the cybernetic thinking (also known as black box thinking) through the examples of smartphones and bitcoin. From what I learned in the lecture, the black box thinking refers to the sole emphasis on the input and output, and the complete negligence and ignorance of the process (symbolized by a black box) which is applied to the usual practice of the general public nowadays. For example, most, if not all people possess their own smartphone these days and of course, they know how to use their phone by swiping, pressing, touching the screen and button but they never know or try to figure out the mechanism behind to make their smartphones functional. Smartphones aside, bitcoin is also a case in point suggested by Mr. Copper. In the lecture, he particularly pointed out the massive energy production behind bitcoin business and highlighted the disheartening situation of Greenland regarding the expanding data infrastructures. Speaking of the relationship of this topic to my own experiences, the black box thinking Copper raised resonates with my personal habit very much as I am exactly the typical kind of users who neither know how the smartphones become functional before going to our hands nor try to figure it out after we get them. I know I am not a minority. This topic really changes my thought about the idea of the relationship between digital media and society quite a lot. I used to think digital media stays digital which means all are intangible and somehow environmentally friendly. For example, e-books and audio-books replace printed books, thereby saving papers and trees eventually. But that never is the whole picture. The example of bitcoin really makes me reflect on the waste produced by digital media on society in a way that I have never tried. This side of the story really merits the attention of the masses.
The second guest lecturer presentation given by Ms. Gressitt-Diaz about care in the time of quarantine teaches me the mutual care that is happening digitally by the chance of social distancing orders. The mutual care may take place out of the self-care for oneself in the first place, but it has an impact on others intentionally or unintentionally. Digital care through sharing of the self may involve a certain level of self-branding or self-promotion which may be inflicted by neoliberal logics. Taking advantage of this trend, the government, the parents, brands, and media companies can have an ease to assess to the teenagers’ lives. Speaking of the relationship of this topic to my own experiences, I can understand how the self-care can ultimately lead to care for others. Taking a popular “bingo” trend as an example, Instagram users start to make, do and repost “bingo” cards for members of particular groups or communities in real life to cross out the boxes (of common things that the members usually do written on them). I believe this is a way of showing mutual care as people can entertain themselves by showing their friends what they have done as a member of the community. Meanwhile, they will tag their friends to do the bingo challenge as well so they can kill time and know more about each other as well. This topic reassures my thought about the idea of the relationship between digital media and society as I have always had the notion that digital media is about self-branding and self-promotion, but I have never expected the expressive culture of digital media favors the parental and governmental surveillance on teenagers.
