ABC News Australia, 2018, 27:14… When big government meets big data, you get 'Social credit', China's new amalgamation of all data points collected on an individual and processed to produce a 'score' that ranks you based on 'trustworthiness'. Score high, and you can reap rewards like lower interest rates or speedier services, but fall foul, and you could end up under effective house arrest.
Vox, 2018, 5:55… Museums — both new pop-ups and traditional institutions — are capitalizing on smartphone culture by creating spaces whose main appeal is being a backdrop for a great selfie. As more kinds of retail experiences move online, spaces like this — where digital reproducibility through social media is an active part of the design — are only going to get more common.
Inside Edition, 2018, 1:41… Backlash over the electric scooter craze is growing. Social media videos show people so fed up with the modes of transportation that they are throwing scooters from rooftops. In another video posted to Instagram, one scooter was set on fire. Others are tossed into the trash or ocean. The backlash is happening across the country, but particularly in southern California, where Bird scooters are left on sidewalks for anyone to rent through a cell phone app.
ABC News, 2018, 7:27… The makers of Real Doll (the most like-life sex dolls) have built AI into their latest models, creating a conversation partner akin to Siri, Alexa, and other digital assistants. This development is not surprising given that digital technology has been infiltrating our love lives for years.
NYT, 2017, 4:02… You don't have to get digital plastic surgery in order to be a person online, but there are a lot of companies that strongly suggest that you do. And many of these products have a really particular idea about how we're supposed to look: super white, hyper feminine and creepily youthful.
How does the power elite view their employees in 2017? First off, they remove the human element by calling them "performers" (as opposed to people) and are introducing technologies that further solidify a panoptical structure of control... This hour-long episode has shocking examples of economic and employment changes which are discussed in a corporate ideological framework. Technological impacts on education are discussed too. Concepts evident here include the work/life balance, the power elite, neoliberalism, panoptical surveillance, depersonalization, class struggle, and many more...
Available FREE for a limited time on YouTube. Original video link here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0990xks/billion-dollar-deals-and-how-they-changed-your-world-series-1-3-work
We need to have a serious discussion on Internet authority and control. As Facebook has become a geopolitical force in this neoliberal era, it is disturbing to learn how much influence the business has garnered in every sphere imaginable. This is a good example of the reach of the corporate giant which raises some unsettling possibilities, chiefly “Digital Colonialism” and information control.
You can read more about this issue here: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/17/technology/facebook-government-regulations.html?_r=1
A short video briefly detailing how robots may be used in funerals. The discussions we can have here are endless and it would be interesting to explore this idea in class.
A timeless example of impression management, the managed self, and front-stage/back-stage behavior. My favorite part of this tantrum is 1:18 when he momentarily snaps back into a composed impression. In 5, 4, 3, ...
Using the Contact Hypothesis where a system of domination and subordination is established when 2 unequal groups first meet, should we really be actively seeking out extraterrestrials? And who should be making that decision for our entire planet? What repercussions could this have on our society? How does this square with the democratic ideal of the collective prosperity of the people? While these questions may be rather absurd in an empirical sense, they get at something about the operation of society that is applicable to a wide array of other topics including technology, civilization, and power.
