Digital Engagement: Living in a Material (Online) World
During the Digisoc ‘Digital Engagement’ session, a quote from Aral Balkan made me begin to question how much of our digital world is commercialised?
He stated that ‘‘Facebook wants us to think it is a park when it’s actually a shopping mall”. By this he meant that we are made to believe that we are free to roam these digital platforms and that they are there to connect us, but actually what they do is collect untold amounts of data about us so that we can be farmed and exploited into generating financial gains for the ‘higher powers’.
The question is, is Balkan onto something here? Are we truly being imprisoned by the ‘ball and chain’ that is the consumerist online world?
StopAd ran several experiments whereby individuals, like the Youtuber ‘TheDanocracy’, were asked to click on any ad that appeared on their Facebook page and to purchase the product. What it identified is that on average each Facebook user will be shown at least one ad every two minutes!
This isn’t just Facebook either, as we encounter advertisements daily from all digital channels, including Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and even LinkedIn. There is no way of escaping the inevitable which is ‘Click Here to Add to Basket’ or entering Balkan’s mall.
Invasion of Privacy?
Not only are the advertisements popping up all over our screens, they are also tailored to our characteristics and interests, making it even more likely for us to find ourselves adding our bank details on the shopping cart page. As stated in an article written on ‘Enveritas Group’, the data that is collected by these digital platforms will come from data inputted by ourselves on our profiles, such as our likes and dislikes, but may also come from data mining companies, who will go through numerous databases to collate further specialist data.
Now as soon as data mining is mentioned, the ‘Facebook and Cambridge Analytica’ scandal usually springs to mind, resulting in many becoming sceptical about their information solely being used for market research purposes.
A report carried out by CBI in 2018 showed that:
- 54% of consumers believed that data was misused by companies previously
- 73% of consumers now wish to know what their data is being used for
Demonstrating that there are high levels of appeal in companies and digital platforms being open and honest about the use of data to win over the loyalty of their customers.
After the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May 2018, it would be expected that this honesty from companies would flood in, and has, with many not allowing access to their websites until the ‘Cookie Policy’ has been accepted with one click.
Nonetheless, the invasion of privacy doesn’t get any better, with some companies now using audio surveillance to gain information, not just from website data. In Michael Smith’s article ‘Protecting Privacy in an IoT- Connected World’, he talks about the use of voice command and built- in microphones becoming more common, with conversations being recorded and forwarded on to companies for their own personal use. Smith’s idea further proven by the fact that, voice command technology use has increased by 3400% since 2008, with many individuals now owning Amazon Echo products or using Siri on their iPhone.
This is now making you question whether your voice is the reason for the advert you are seeing at the top of your computer screen. How scary.
Can We Blame Them?
The question we should ask ourselves however, is can we blame them for the mass amount of advertisements online? Can we blame them for invading our privacy?
With statistics from Hootsuite showing that the current revenue of digital advertising on social media is $51.3 million USD, and from Omnicore stating that on average one person will spend 1 in every 6 minutes online, it’s hard not to value the importance of digital marketing and engagement with consumers.
Additionally, the ‘invasion of privacy’, if used in accordance with the GDPR, DOES result in our own customised advertisements. This is something us consumers love according to Omnicore, highlighting that the most effective way of creating content is making it relevant to the audience (58%), with the additional personalised emails increasing transactions by six times.
If this doesn’t highlight the importance of digital engagement in our digital society, I don’t know what will!
How Can We Use It?
Furthermore, digital engagement isn’t only important for the collection of data and the creation of advertisements, it is also about how we interact with one another and the digital society around us.
If we are unable to escape the commercialised digital world, like Balkan said, how can we make it better for ourselves?
A prime example to prove this would be GraceFitUK as mentioned in Amy’s Digisoc Post. The reason being is that she is an individual who is just a university student but is now also the owner of two successful businesses. Something that could not have happened without the use of digital engagement. She managed to build a community, solely online through social media, by constantly interacting with her followers and listening to their preferences to be able to build a fitness brand and reach 1 million followers!
Now, although this an extreme example and I am not expecting everyone to go away from this and build their own multi-million pound brands, what should be acknowledged is that we are living in the digital age where: conversations can be held in different time zones, brands can be built just from using social media, and adverts are now customised to the most personal of levels.
Even if Balkan did say Facebook is an online shopping mall, the park that he mentioned at the start can be created because you have the capability to make choices that, before digital engagement, seemed impossible.
You can choose your preferences, you can build your brand, you can connect with others, and that is why digital engagement isn’t so bad after all!
Reflection
After working in a tech savvy consulting company in London before my University adventure, I always believed I had the upper hand in digital knowledge. I presumed I was in control of my technology, but boy was I wrong!
The Digital Society sessions, such as the ‘The Internet of Things’ and ‘Digital Engagement’, have honestly opened my eyes clearly to how much I rely on my digital appliances. After writing my first comment response regarding ‘The Internet’ and the use of my phone, I decided out of curiosity to turn on my ‘activity usage’. I was honestly terrified to discover that my average usage amount stood at 5 hours and 58 minutes per day, with three quarters of this being spent seamlessly scrolling through social media!
In order to escape from the digital world, this discovery resulted in the immediate action of ensuring that my weekday evenings were NOT spent gawping at my phone. They became phone free evenings, where I spent my time reading and rekindling my love for watercolour painting.
Most definitely not the skill I expected to uncover whilst studying about the Digital Society, but one I am grateful to have ignited once again.
Nevertheless, although I gained unusual skills, there are still techniques that I struggled with, predominantly my critical writing skills. Funnily enough, being at University, you would expect ALL students to be able to critically analyse information, however I found this to be my greatest obstacle in my ‘Digisoc1’ post. A great descriptive piece of PrettyLittleThing but that wasn’t what the question was asking!
This has consequently resulted in reading, re-reading and re-re-reading through all my feedback and the guidance on the Medium Page to understand exactly what I should include to write my final (boohoo!) Digisoc3 post for critical evaluation. A now improved skill that will be beneficial to me, particularly in my career as management analyst (where the job is all about being critical).
However, the key skill that I am so grateful I have had the opportunity of developing is blog posting. When selecting Digital Society at the start of the year, I am sure I bored everyone with my constant repetition of ‘Oh I am going to get to blog, how exciting’. However, I didn’t anticipate how much impact this skill would be, and how passionate I would become, so much so I have begun planning my own blog targeted at offering advice to siblings of autistic children, like myself.
So, in conclusion, as apprehensive or clueless I may have been at the start of the Digital Society course, I can hand on heart say, although it has been challenging, it has been one of my favourite and most beneficial modules. Never in a million years did I expect to develop skills and ignite passions that were completely unanticipated, but I am so appreciative I had the opportunity to do so!
