As the internet envelops us and seeps into every aspect, every minute of our lives there are some deep questions we're having to ask about the kind of society we want and the actors behind the scenes that are controlling this influence and power.
Obviously the entire debate around the election, fake news and the russians is the highest profile example of this. But I want to draw your attention to a piece by James Bridle:
Something is wrong on the internet
This piece is being shared by everyone I know on Twitter and rightly so, it's important. If you've already read it or seen the headline and dismissed it I want to ask you re-read it closely. The issue is not that these videos "aren't that bad" or that "it's a weird peppa pig thing" it's that this corruption of motivations is playing out all over the web in many different niches. From kids youtube to ethnic cleansing in Myanmar.
Thinking critically about this YouTube Kids issue the key piece in my mind is this:
It's never been more obvious to me of a situation where what users want (tightly controlled content for kids) is at odds with the motivation of the corporate entity Google (which needs an algorithmic filter).
James end's his piece with this:
Aside from the fact that "infrastructural violence" is a beautiful (and haunting) phrase there's something interesting here. We don't have tools to understand what's happening. What exactly is the issue? How big is it? How deep does it go?
This whole piece reminded me of a personal digital art project I worked on back in 2015 that I never published called Privacy Glitch. In this context of ways of seeing and understanding hidden networks I decided to publish the piece and you can check it here:
http://tomcritchlow.com/2017/11/07/privacy-glitch/
In particular, personally I found these images of Hillary and Trump (generated back in 2015) arresting:
The networked age is maturing and we're starting to see some weird structural effects emerge. It's a fascinating, if troubling, time to be working in the digital world.
Obviously the entire debate around the election, fake news and the russians is the highest profile example of this. But I want to draw your attention to a piece by James Bridle:
Something is wrong on the internet
This piece is being shared by everyone I know on Twitter and rightly so, it's important. If you've already read it or seen the headline and dismissed it I want to ask you re-read it closely. The issue is not that these videos "aren't that bad" or that "it's a weird peppa pig thing" it's that this corruption of motivations is playing out all over the web in many different niches. From kids youtube to ethnic cleansing in Myanmar.
Thinking critically about this YouTube Kids issue the key piece in my mind is this:
It's never been more obvious to me of a situation where what users want (tightly controlled content for kids) is at odds with the motivation of the corporate entity Google (which needs an algorithmic filter).
James end's his piece with this:
Aside from the fact that "infrastructural violence" is a beautiful (and haunting) phrase there's something interesting here. We don't have tools to understand what's happening. What exactly is the issue? How big is it? How deep does it go?This whole piece reminded me of a personal digital art project I worked on back in 2015 that I never published called Privacy Glitch. In this context of ways of seeing and understanding hidden networks I decided to publish the piece and you can check it here:
http://tomcritchlow.com/2017/11/07/privacy-glitch/
In particular, personally I found these images of Hillary and Trump (generated back in 2015) arresting:
The networked age is maturing and we're starting to see some weird structural effects emerge. It's a fascinating, if troubling, time to be working in the digital world.