Completed Blogs
Blog #1- Times when Technology didn’t live up to it’s promise for me
The times when technology was a let-down to me were when I had many times where I had somehow dialed or activated the emergency 911 button on my phone. I have dialed 911 on my phone many times, not by typing it, but by using the emergency button on my phone's lock screen. It has happened to me several times, but I always manage to end the call before anything happens, though one time I got very unlucky. I remember I was in my friend's car and we were just heading off to Round 1 to go have some fun. I was just chatting with them while my phone was in my butt pocket. I don't have my ringtone on because it's always going off, so I prefer it off. I guess, somehow, my butt called emergency 911 again, but this time, I didn't know my phone was ringing, calling 911. By the time I grabbed my phone, there was someone on line saying, "Hello? Is anyone there?". I panicked and hung up, and told my friends. I was scared that I would get into trouble one day because of the number of times it has happened to me. Another simple story would be the many times that I am listening to music as I'm heading to class, and my butt somehow skips forward or skips the song I'm listening to, which annoys me so much. Lastly, I also woke up super early to buy these movie tickets for a movie that I really wanted to watch, and I had the opportunity to watch it before the movie came out in theaters. I knew the movie was very popular, so I knew the tickets were gonna sell out, so I was ready to buy them. When I got to the website, though, when it was time, the whole site crashed on me, and it took me 30 minutes for it to finally work; however, the tickets sold out, and I got so mad. Luckily, my friend managed to get in and get us some, but I almost lost my mind.
Blog #2- Surveillance of Marginalized Communities
Article: “Another Arrest and Jail Time, Due to a Bad Facial Recognition Match”
Is this technology helping citizens when it’s affecting many certain groups as well?
The technology that police use is facial recognition software which can help citizens when it comes to problems like theft, assault, etc. However, this technology is affecting many certain groups like Black and Asian people. Mr. Parks was accused of shoplifting and assault when actually he wasn’t even in the area at all. He was 30 miles away from the crime but somehow, the police’s technology claimed that it was him that did it. It only works when it doesn’t involve either black or asian people which reproduces hierarchies because it makes the police look like they were right and caught the right person, giving the person who didn’t commit the crime a chance at all because they used to believe in the technology over a person’s speech. This technology isn’t helping because but just creating a boundary between between and their power with technology.
Article “Rethinking Cyberfeminism"
How does technology reproduce hierarchies of power to women when it comes to cyberfeminism and their critiques?
The technology contributed to women’s and girls who want to build communities and transform people’s lives while also reinforcing hierarchies. They are able to express themselves about their gender and power. This brings them together all in one place to distribute their practices, global feminism, and disembodiment. Technology sets a path for these women to place material about economics, racial, and gender to engage more with digital spaces that challenge inequality. It helps them try to reach a higher place in hierarchy so that people can see and hear them.
Is this way of marketing Cyberfeminism in economic transactions the best way to impact the social justice and equality that women claim for their hierarchies?
I would say that technology would be the best way to market and expand cyberfeminism because technology helps bring people together and will help other women learn more about this and engage more into their material. Thanks to technology, the hierarchy continues to group more power and distribute more into the world and helps a certain group, meaning women. It impacts people about the justice of not the race or individual but also the gender and equality that they deserve to have.
Nicole Brown: Race and Technology- Youtube Video
Why does the algorithm crash with reproducing hierarchies of power, especially to white people compared to other race groups like black people and how does technology contribute to it?
It crashes with reproducing hierarchies of power because the United States continues to bias and believe things that don't connect with people but just base off their race and color. Just like Nicole Brown mentioned in her video that the United States gave more medicine or health care to white people just because they got “more sick” then black people which doesn’t make any sense. These little algorithms are the reason why hierarchy isn’t changing but continuing to affect people. Furthermore, they choose to believe these algorithms and use technology to help them achieve their goals. Nicole mentioned how the Chicago police had a list of people that were involved in crimes with the use of technology but the list had children on it which didn’t make sense but they continued to arrest people who didn’t commit any crime until 2019, they stopped making those lists. Technology just continued to affect hierarchy from being built in a way that is fair and understandable.
Blog #3- Memes and Cultures
Race After Technology
In what way are memes being oppressed to people’s culture in technology?
Memes can be a way for someone to attack a person’s culture by reinforcing existing biases and inequalities that society has spread around the world. Memes were created for something or someone to be funny but instead, communities took advantage of that and used it to spread information about a person’s culture in a way that was supposed to be “funny”. In, “Race After Technology” by Benjamin, he talks about how names are racially coded to influence people into calling people racist words and that type of behavior usually landed on Black people with “Black-sounding” names to highlight those racial discrimination. Overall, memes became a way for people to attack other people’s culture through technology.
How are people resisting against the discrimination of their cultures that are happening through memes?
People in the community are advocating for actions against the inequities that are taking place in technology (like memes). They also prioritize human empowerment over efficiency or profit. Their main focus is to create more equality in society while facing the challenges that technology contributes to the problem. In “Race After Technology”” by Benjamin, they also mention that people will also try to limit their children’s exposure to technology in order for them to not be put into those places where they see the hate for their culture.
Algorithms of Oppression
What contradictions exist within the systems of algorithms that effect cultures in technology?
The contradictions that exist in the system would be how many algorithms strengthen the racism, sexism, and inequality that happens in technology. For an example, memes are a main choice to contribute spreading some sort of information in a way that can connect to younger generations, however, sometimes, that algorithm can be used in a negative way. In the article, “The Power of Algorithms” by Noble, he mentions that he seen someone negative algorithms that targeted Black women and girls that were proven to not have been a glitch but the real thing. This just shows how people take advantage of algorithms that are being used in society. Memes were supposed to be funny but now people are using them to be racist or sexist about someone or their culture.
What believes or tricks keeps people from questioning the injustice in these algorithms that effect cultures?
Some tricks that keep people from questioning thee injustice algorithms would be sarcasm in my belief. I feel like, nowadays, people who post memes (the algorithms) that are being negative about cultures, always come out with the excuse like “This is suppose to be a joke” or “This is dark humor, it isn’t suppose to be taken seriously”. People are always finding a way to get away with the troubles their memes can contribute to someone or someone’s culture. People are choosing to ignore the fact that what they are saying online isn’t right. Some people also believe that they have the freedom of speech so they can say whatever they want even if the chance is that their behavior is effecting society. In the end, people choose to believe that what they are doing, is fine because “it’s just a little joke”.
Blog #4- Digital Labour
What myths or ideas keep people from questioning how digital labor is causing injustice to communities?
Some ideas that keep people from seeing the injustice that digital labor is doing not just to our communities but also our government is the social media ideology. Fuchs talks about in his article that many popular narratives are suggesting that social media enhances democracy and equality while in reality, it’s just cooperation that dominates attention to economies and limiting political participation. These ideas hide people from the exploitative capitalist structures behind platforms. This makes digital labor invisible and unseen to us when it’s literally right in front of us.
In what ways are certain groups being exploited because of digital labor?
The main groups that are being exploited or affected because of digital labor are people who are putting in the effort in advertisements, marketing, or even media platforms. Those people are doing everything in their own power and creations to do things with technology however, social media continues to rely on things that aren’t authentic and are made by technology such as AI. Saying that, they also “exploit factories or mines that are tied to the suffering in the Global South”, said Fuchs. The digital capitalism is sustained by stratified systems that are not paying overworked minders, and exploiting in variety forms like “playbour” and “slave-like” conditions.
Social Media as Participatory Culture by Fuchs
Whose interests are being served by the digital labor system?
Fuchs mentions in the article, “Notions of Participation”, that Jenkins and many others say that it primarily serves interest to large corporations like Google, Facebook, and Youtube (but not to those who create and share content). This creates advertising revenue and profits that flow upward to shareholders, not to the users. They gain cheap access to massive amounts of consumer data and users’ unpaid activities are turned into data and content that can be commodified. In the end, these big companies are taking advantage of all of these little users that are contributing to their success.
How is power maintained with digital labor and its representation in technology?
Fuchs explains that power in the digital labor system is maintained through capitalist ownership and the way technology represents participation. He goes saying that platforms are corporately owned and users generate content and the data but don’t own or control it. In general, social media is framed as “participatory culture”. It hides the reality that user participation is actually unpaid labour generating profit for corporations. People like us who just enjoy those creators’ activity are just enjoying it but it doesn’t take away the exploitation and the fact that the labour feels like play makes exploitation less visible, reinforcing corporate control.
Blog #5- Digital Identity
Whose interests are being served in this digital identity system?
Digital identity is a whole system that this new generation created with the technology that is growing in our communities. It’s a way for some people to expand themselves in different communities that connect with them remotely and spiritually. Some people also use this system in order to create new or different “identities” either for personal reasons or just for fun. This however, can be a huge problem because people then can fake their ages, gender, or race to get away with things that are harmful to other people. This misuses the real meaning (connecting with other people) of digital identity and just causes trouble and worry for people who see their loved ones using this system.
Who benefits from this digital identity and who is harmed by it?
This system really just benefits new generations who enjoy going through online social medias and just express who they are. It makes them feel connected in a way like how during Covid-19, tiktok exploded globally because it was a way for people to talk about their troubles, who they are, or just bring some joy during that time. It was just a way for people to be free even though they were locked in their homes. Still, people took advantage of this opportunity to use it for other things. The number of cyberbullying to people who created content or posted things went up a lot and the number of people who used false information in their profiles continued to increase, affecting people emotionally.
What beliefs or stereotypes keep people from questioning the digital identity system?
Some beliefs people believe in would be how “safe the internet” is and how everything is “true”. In this day in age, people (especially the newer generation) believe that cyberbullying or people on the internet are telling the truth. These days, you can see anything on the internet and people just believe or trust it. With AI continuously growing, it’s hard now to tell what’s true or not and newer generations are having a harder time telling what is true or not, making it easier for them to fall victim to things like predators, scams, etc. It’s common sense to be careful on the internet with your own identity but now it’s hard to be careful with how much the world is changing so rapidly.
How do economics shape these digital identities and everyday life?
It influences how people present themselves to the world and even how they interact with people socially. Platforms (Youtube, Tiktok, Instagram) also use people to “sell” themselves as an “item”, changing their identity into a form of labor which pressures people to change their identities to attract more followers or even sponsors. This just shows how much people change themselves and their profiles to portray what the world wants to see. For my profile on Instagram, I portray myself as a hot young lady when in reality, I’m a shy, quiet yet silly type of girl so when people get to know me, they see that I’m different from what “they imagine” me as. This just shows that small things like this can trick us so easily.
Blog #6- Race and Feminism
What groups are being exploited and how?
Source: A Cyborg Manifesto: Science Technology Socialist Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century
The groups that are mainly being exploited would be women and women of color. They are constantly fighting against this sexist world, especially in technology nowadays. Haraway also mentions in her article how humanity should just live in a world with no gender in order for there to be peace with this “men are stronger or better” debate and if that isn’t achievable, it's better being “a cyborg than a goddess”. Even in video games, women are being seen and treated as a “fragile, elegant, and pure” creature just to also make them show skin to entertain their male audience. No matter what, women are always fighting not just for their bodies but for their rights to be treated equally. This also brings in race in a beautiful way. Color or race matters when it comes to women’s rights. If you’re a woman, you deserve to be treated with respect.
How are feminists fighting against this injustice?
Source: Gender, White Supremacy and the Internet
Women are always fighting back by always spreading their feelings to the world about it whether it’s protest or spreading awareness online. An example would be girl gamers with their constant harassment for being a girl gamer. Men always complain and disrespect if they find out their team player is a girl in global games but women don’t back down on that. Games aren’t a men only thing but something for everyone yet because it’s mostly male audience, they don’t treat women well enough. These gamer girls also fight against companies who are constantly creating games with over-sexual girl characters, boy character’s only type of games. Everyday, women are fighting this injustice in different ways.
How does social media hide this problem?
Source: Gender, Technology, and Visual Cyberculture
Social Media hides this problem by overlooking this as a “small” issue. Whenever games come up with the issues I mention before, women would constantly give bad reviews on things that need to be fixed, however, like I said before, men dominate in this area and if they like it, these companies won’t be changing if the majority of people approve of it, hiding the problems. People also just tend to overlook just about any problems when it comes to them and always comment that they are just "highly sensitive" or “fragile”. They never take serious consideration on how these issues are affecting them no matter how much they post, spread, and talk about it.
How does the world create more problems in this topic?
The world creates more problems about this by just continuously adding fuel to the flames. An example of this would be abortion. This is a women’s body and she has the decision to choose what to do with it whether it concerns you or not however, the government what’s to choose for them what they can do with it which doesn’t help at all. Also, they are taking away so many health cares that women need just for their own “reasons”. The world is always getting into things that shouldn’t be decided on or put into political issues because it doesn’t concern them what and how someone chooses to live their life.
Blog Post #7 Platform Politics
What values are being violated in the use of trending news in politics?
Source: Don’t feed the Troll by Kelly Bergstrom
Values that are being violated in trending new in politics would be the democratic and ethical values about authenticity and respect in today’s communities. An example of this would be the article, “Don’t Feed the Troll” by Kelly Bergstrom. His article talks about how a person in the persona named Grandpa Wiggly faked his authenticity which people saw as his true self on reddit causing that person to suffer harassment a lot. When the trending word “trolling” was used on Grandpa wiggly for his attention, they used it as he violated the value of truthfulness that they expected from them. In political terms, this trending news distorted the public’s understanding or trust.
How are certain groups being exploited by these trending news with the politics involved?
Source: Hate Crimes in Cyberspace by Danielle Keats Citron
The groups that are being exploited the most would be women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ people by people who are targeting them online and abusing trending political news and digital culture. They are often harassed, hate speech, videos that go viral to the public, causing more misinformation to spread. In the article, “Hate Crimes in Cyberspace” by Danielle Keats Citron, she exemplified how online hate campaigns “mirrors offline discrimination” meaning they exploit gender and race to intimidate people to be quiet.
How does the media entangle politics with “trending news”” and hide the problem?
Source: A Timeline of Leslie Jones's Horrific Online Abuse by Anna Silman
The media is entangled in politics with trending news by using it to weaponize public attention. An example of this would be in the article, “A Timeline of Leslie Jones's Horrific Online Abuse” by Anna Silman. She talks about how Jones was suffering throughout her whole life because of online abuse. This shows how the media is obsessed with “trending” stories and can hide deeper social problems rather than confront them. Jones’s harassment was powered by alt-right political actors, including Mil Yiannopoulos, who used it to make political anger and gain people’s attention. This whole situation was just seen as a battle rather than a human rights issue at all.
How is power maintained through trending news and manipulating people?
Source: The Origins and Evolution of Subcultural Trolling by Philips
Power is maintained through the trending news by the emotional manipulation, selective framing, and viral media dynamics that the people control through their attention and opinions. In the article, “The Origins and Evolution of Subcultural Trolling” by Philips, the word trolls is targeted like an emotional exploitability so political and media actors use emotional charges to trigger reactions. Trending news is used like a bait that pulls the public either into an outrage or a distraction for their own benefits.
Blog Post #8 Activism
How is power maintained through platforms that organize actions in real life?
Source: Black Twitter: A Response to Bias in Mainstream Media by Latoya Lee
Power is maintained through digital platforms by corporations and institutional forces that are owned and controlled. An example of this would be in the article “Black Twitter: A Response to Bias in Mainstream Media” by Latoya Lee and how Black Twitter still exists within the corporate infrastructure of Twitter and how they determine algorithms that prioritize profit. Also mainstream media is often distorting messages like #BlackLivesMatter as a trend even though it’s something much more than that. They enable real world activism and control communications by deciding what is visible to them.
Who benefits and who is harmed by these effects on social media platforms that organize actions in real life?
Source: Classifying Forms of Online Activism: The Case of Cyberprotests Against the World Bank by Sandor Vegh
People that benefit from this effect would be activist and grass movements. In the article, “Classifying Forms of Online Activism: The Case of Cyberprotests Against the World Bank” by Sandor Vegh, it states that activists benefit from greater communications through online tools and how the internet allows underrepresented groups to bypass traditional media and share their narratives. Even so, some activists are also harmed by it from hacking or criminalization. Also, websites or labels are harmed because the government can track activists online which can lead those platforms to shut down or label them as a threat to us.
How are people resisting these social media platforms from being a place to organized actions in real life?
Source: Communication Power and Arab Spring by Christan Fuchs
People resist these social media platforms by recovering them as tools rather than communication technology owned by corporations. In the article, “Communication Power and Arab Spring” by Christan Fuchs, he claims that real resistance is through the effort of protestors that protest through real places rather than online like public squares, streets, and in communities. This shows that the people don’t need social media to express their needs and wants. Fuchs also suggested that they can make websites or logs for communities to use that can bypass corporate filters. He adds that we must resist the myth that technology itself brings freedom” and that we need to know that it also brings inequality and class struggle as well.
How is the economy shaped through this in people’s everyday life?
Source: Communication Power and Arab Spring by Christan Fuchs
The economy is shaped through this by how social media and communication power operate with people’s everyday lives. Fuchs argued that platforms like Youtube aren't really for free expression but more for profit making systems. He goes on saying that likes are just data that companies sell for advertising revenue. Thinking of that, you can see how many people fall easily into corporations hands. The algorithm to be online for everything has shaped our economy. Being online is better for connecting with people when really it’s change in people is consuming corporate profits.
Blog #9- "Digital Community(ies) and "Safe Spaces"
Who are the groups that are being exploited on social media platforms and how are they being exploited?
Source: Virtual Homeplace: (Re)Constructing the Body through Social Media by Latoya Lee
The majority of people that are being exploited online would be Black Women who are using social media as a way to express their hair through blogs and vlogs. In the article, "Virtual Homeplace: (Re)Constructing the Body through Social Media” by Latoya Lee, she talks about how Black women are being punished for wearing their natural hairstyles in workplaces and schools. She mentions how they expressed themselves online also makes people hate them and call their hair unacceptable and is something that isn’t within beauty standards. Some people just claimed that their hair looks unprofessional or unruly which excludes them.
How are Black Women resisting this injustice and hate on them in Social Media?
Source: Virtual Homeplace: (Re)Constructing the Body through Social Media by Latoya Lee
In the article, "Virtual Homeplace: (Re)Constructing the Body through Social Media” by Latoya Lee, she says that many people in the black community, especially women, are reconstructing social medi by creating communities to discuss the hate they are receiving and also spreading self-love to those people who are being affected by this. They are also providing education to those people who are hating on their hairstyle and explaining the meaning and love of their hair. Overall, they are spreading awareness about their injustice and love for their hair.
How do economic structures shape “safe spaces” for communities that are online?
Source: Ethnic Online Communities: Between Profit and Purpose by Steven McLaine
In the article, Ethnic Online Communities: Between Profit and Purpose” by Steven McLaine, he mentions that many platforms like AsianAvenue, BlackPlanet, and MiGente, create a profit company that markets as ethnic safe spaces for people to connect with each other. Even though those are the purposes of those platforms, they are only built on seeing as a safe space for people but it only exists as long as they profit from it. It’s like a way to make and sell ads for people to join thinking they found a safe space when they had to pay their money in order to get in.
What stereotypes keep people from questioning the injustice in these “safe spaces” online?
Source: Are Y’all Ready for a Black Mermaid? by Latoya Lee
In the article, “Are Y’all Ready for a Black Mermaid?” by Latoya Lee, the stereotype that the audience had for the movie, The Little Mermaid, was that mermaids are naturally white and that they shouldn’t have auditioned and accepted a black woman to play her part. This hatred spread all other Black Twitter, and shows how their safe space was filled with white supremacy, cultural stereotypes, and color-blind ideology.
Blog #10- Surveillance
What values are being violated due to social media platforms becoming sites of surveillance?
Source: Fear as a Cultural Institution by Michael Partenti
The most important value that is being violated due to this issue would be privacy. In the article, “Fear as a Cultural Institution” by Michael Partenti, he states that it’s the number of things that people have to control over their own personal information yet social media is controlling that too.Their rights to their personal autonomy is being controlled over their own data. Also, their freedom to express themselves is being controlled because they are constantly being watched or self-censor for what they have to say. Their ability to speak freely is being violated due to the fear of retaliation.
How are people in certain groups being exploited by surveillance on social platforms?
Source: How Your Twitter Account Could Land You in Jail by Mother Jones
Certain groups that are being exploited would be Activists and protest Organizers. In the article, “How Your Twitter Account Could Land You in Jail” by Mother Jones, she states that police used Twitter to monitor activists and arrest them just because they were sharing their open to the public information that was meant to keep protestors safe. People who are also engaged in political dissent are also being exploited because their online presence becomes evidence of criminal intent for the government. Also, people who use social media for safety are harmed because their efforts to keep their communities safe is being seen as a criminal helping rioters.
How do economics structures shape politics with surveillance in social platforms?
Source: The Introduction to Antisocial Media by Siva Vaidhyanathan
It shapes it by surveillance being built into the business model. In the article, “The Introduction to Antisocial Media” by Siva Vaidhyanathan, she states that surveillance is not accidental but its engine into companies. For example, Facebook’s economic model is dependent on collecting people’s data. Economic structure creates a permanent system of political monitoring.
How is power maintained and reproduced due to surveillance in social platforms?
Source: Algorithms of Oppression by Safiya Noble
It’s maintained through corporate control. In the article, “Algorithms of Oppression” by Safiya Noble, she mentions that companies like Google act on keepers of humanity but they are just controlling information about people. It’s maintained through corporations controlling the truth about people.