What can’t we measure in a quantified world?:
This talk focused on how our world now consists of many numbers. What can machines and technology really measure about us? – And what does the data really mean? For example, the discussion about measuring steps and the apps that collect and track your data. There is always a directly quantified element – like steps or how long you were at certain locations. She made it very clear that a lot of what’s being quantified nowadays doesn’t really make a lot of sense – like the baby thing and, again, tracking where you are throughout the day (mostly what’s silly about that one though is that it assumes things like the place you’re at for a few hours is “work” or the first time your phone moves is “when you wake up”). What’s worse is that this tracking and collecting of data is only growing in popularity.
Why do you think people want things in their life quantified? Why is there such an infatuation with numbers – and is it conscious or subconscious?
The Social Photo:
The idea of photos bridging both the past and the future is really interesting. I also love the discussion of real photographs becoming more and more of value. It’s odd, but I realize this in myself as well. A few weeks ago, my Grandfather handed me a group of photos of my younger mother and aunts and uncles. Each one had a different texture and feel – and each was a different size. It was so satisfying to have a physical image with it’s own unique features compared to the others in the pile. There’s just something very nostalgic about physical photos as well – they hold a different sort of value than our quickly taken and forgotten digital ones.
What do you think the future of photography holds? Will we enter a phase of going back to physically printed photos again?
What do Metrics Want? How Quantification Prescribes Social Interaction on FB:
This article talks about the quantification of social data in social media overall, but through the example of Facebook. Ben makes the important point of how Facebook is using a capitalistic approach by quantifying our basic need for socialization. We, in real life, are looking for relationships and friends. Yet, when likes and friends are quantified and the numbers are constantly shown in our face and compared, this data becomes addicting and has meaning attached to it that isn’t as true as we’d like to believe or admit. It’s like Ben says, if the numbers weren’t in our faces, there wouldn’t be this constant engagement with Facebook – because we wouldn’t feel the need to have ‘more’ without the quantified data constantly being compared to each other.
Do you think (or know something about!) quantifying social data like this is having major effects on our generation and how our brains work? (If so, explain your thoughts)