AN AUTO-ETHNOGRAPHY OF "POST-TRUTH"

have we relinquished objective truth to be swayed by what appeals to our emotions and individual principles? citations and bibliography *these recollections are purposefully nonlinear: they can be read bottom to top; top to bottom; or in any order desired, to create a multitude of meanings*

[postverum]

Circuit-Breaker

As this blog is in its infancy, I am being recommended default content, entirely untailored and untethered from people and content I am accustomed to. It elicits disconcertion, which indicates to me that I am more engaged with online content if it appeals to my personal sensibilities; thus I am susceptible to the polarising nature of internet “echo chambers” (Gillani, Roy, Saveski, Vosoughi & Yuan, 2018, p. 823). I find the creation of this social profile a ‘break’ in the homophilic networks/circuits I participate in on my personal accounts. 

Image Description: A green-hued, glitchy GIF of seascape, focused on the seafoam from the wake of a boat.

[postverum]

Attention and Autonomy

“Instead of showing me posts from people I regularly interact with in day-to-day life, I’m being suggested new content, new creators...so much new media, it’s a bit overwhelming...” - Nov 19

The immediacy of digital media is a double-edged sword. Information is near-instant to retrieve; general knowledge can be expanded upon in a matter of seconds. But we are now conditioned to need to know now. Digital, “persuasive” technologies demand our attention, offering instant information in exchange for our diminishing ability to focus (Williams, 2017, p. 73). There are pervasive online influences that attempt to move us away from personal goals, becoming distractions (p. 78-79). Insidious shifts can occur in our individual belief systems as a result of the exchange of a highly sought-after online currency: attention.

In response to these growing issues, the online application ‘Social Mirror’ was set up in 2018 to make Twitter users aware of the connections between their politically engaged contacts, granting individuals the autonomy to visualise their position in a political ‘web’. (Gillani, N., Yuan, A., Saveski, M, Vosoughi, S. & Roy, D., 2018, p. 824). I anticipate that more projects such as these will attempt to allow us to regain our sense of guiding focus.

Image description: Black and white still from a home surveillance camera. Indistinguishable figures are gathered outside of a bar.

[postverum]

I think we are living in anti-intellectual times, and that is evident across the political spectrum. The quickness of social media allows for forms of vitriol that do not exactly support thoughtful debate. We need to cherish the longer forms.

Judith Butler

[postverum]

Consumption

“I notice that there are people who utilise social media as a creative tool; who make ‘outputs’. I find that I spend the majority of my time being a passive consumer of digital content, and consider to what extent to I actively engage in modes of online production...” - Nov 10

I liken the immersive nature of digital content to ‘consumption’. This food/technology analogy is explored in Sutton’s text, as she explores how the word ‘detox’ has been extracted from diet culture, appropriated and applied to retreats from social media (Sutton, 2017, p. 10). In turn, this moralises our online interactions, in particular vilifying long periods of time spent on digital platforms (a digital ‘binge’?). I see that we not online consume online content, but are consumed ourselves; transfixed and absorbed by virtual spaces, our sense of the ‘real’ has been warped.

Image Description: A black and white image of bowls of (eaten) snacks, drinks, and empty glasses and mugs. There’s a shiny deck of cards strewn across the rug. To the right hand side is an iPhone, thematically out of place and yet strangely ubiquitous to a snapshot of a social scene such as this. 

[postverum]

Visit Original Link

Transcript: Excerpt from Journal, November 17th. From my phone’s log, I can see that I have spent 6 hours and 15 minutes on social media alone, today. Sometimes, I will spend hours back-to-back endlessly scrolling through digital landscapes. I can see that I’ve picked my phone up 59 times today; the first pick-up was at half twelve at night. I wonder – how does spending this much time engaging with social media affect my mental capacity? Am I paying attention to the implicit biases of the content I consume? I have received 91 notifications today, my phone lighting up or ‘pinging’ with each one. I am constantly distracted…maybe my reasoning and critical analysis skills become dulled from the bombardment of information, so much so that I’m not aware of how I’m being influenced to think and act online, and in person...

Background noise: Cildo Meireles, “Babel” (2001).

[postverum]

A Digital Individual

“I’m paying attention to the sorts of media I consume, what forms they take...who do I choose to follow? Why do I follow them? How does their content affect/shape my everyday life?” - Nov 6

The first thing I do when I wake up is check my social media. I’m aware of the pervasive role that social media has in my life, and yet, I cannot image disengaging from the digital sphere. I utilise social platforms to keep up-to-date with what is happening at present: social, cultural and (particularly so now) global news. This year has seen the introduction of ‘fact checks’ of content across social media platforms, in direct response to a growing public concern with the legitimacy of information; “post-truth” anxieties  that deliberate what is real or ‘verifiable’ (Harsin, 2018, p. 2). Currently, I am trying to be more aware of the content I consume on a daily basis—through regular ‘culls’ of accounts that once resonated with me, but no longer serve me. It’s a highly individualistic, akin to ritual, process. 

Image Description: A blurred, black and white mirror ‘selfie’ image, taken on an iPhone.