Sad By Design:
In the podcast, they talk about how social medias are made and influence us. The main point is that social media has now become vital to how we socially interact with one another. Dumbed down, basically we can’t function as social beings without it. Although, we are highly dependent on social media not only because it’s addictiveness is innate in us, that we don’t even think twice about it but also because how the apps are designed. They are specifically made to target, appeal and be addicting to us. We literally cannot put our phones down.
The counter point to thinking about this is not to change the way the apps are made but to change the way we interact with the app. Most of what draws us to social media is the want to be involved, to have knowledge and to stay connected. As depressing as it sounds, it almost impossible to just say fuck it and ditch your smart phone. But instead we need to reacquaint ourselves with humanity and how we deal with social interactions face to face, no technology involved.
This is super important to delve into. To change how social media runs our lives, we need to step back to the basics to how we run as a society. I’ve been taking an institutional critique class, where we spoke about institutional racism in a similar context. To sum up, how do we take a step back if it’s so ingrained with who we are and how we function? What would it look like in this year? I understand we had a time when technology wasn’t as it is, but how can we be current without it?
Programmed Visions:
New Media is an art form or a study that is all based around software. In this current day, we’re so attracted to the internet. We’re constantly searching it and adding to it. Through software, we are able to get new knowledge and information that let us navigate and add to our experience as a society. But there is so much data and information being collected out there that there is no way to ever get to the bottom of it. We don’t even know what information our phones or computers are retaining for us. As we add to software, software also excels from itself, it’s an entrance to the unknown, which also makes it a paradox.
Thinking how this relates to new media, is new media a search into the black hole of the unknown?
How To Be a Geek:
Being a geek is highly related to technology and a sort of obsession within the world created with technology. This article looks at how we, as geeks, are starting to create a language about software. As we know, software is a vast unknown explored area, and as geeks, we’re constantly trying to gain all the information we can about a subject. But when it comes to software, it’s nearly impossible to know everything you can with it. Can you imagine knowing everything on the internet?
Geeks themselves as well have always been looked down upon, I remember the computer geek as a big persona when I was a kid, especially because my brother was one. There are things like geek squad, which is literally a company made to help you with your technologies. But now as software and technology are all around us, it’s time to real claim geeks as a positive thing. Heck yes knowledge.
New Ways of Hiding:
We all know that our devices are actively watching and tracking us. Till last week, I really didn’t know to what degree we’re actually being watched, which is literally our every move. The meta-interface of our technologies is where we are being watched and all of our data being stored. It’s what knows us and draws us back to it. It’s plainly like we are being monitored in ways that we can’t even think of, and we give into it. I choose to use my phone and social media every day, and I’m quite honestly unconsciously addicted to it.
Meta-interfaces are everywhere and in every smart technology that we use. How can we escape if we’re being watched?
But in a sense that we’re all being watched, how likely is it that I am actually being watched, like whose is looking at my stuff? What importance is it?