The Reproducer

7/27/2019 The Reproducer

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THE REPRODUCER


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Sofie Elana Hodara

All rig hs reserve d.

Prined in he Unied Saes o America.

THE REPRODUCER

BYSofie Elana Hodara


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Tis hesis is submited in parial ulfillmen o he requiremens or he degree

o Maser o Fine Ars in Design and approved by he Design Review Board

o Massachusets College o Ar a nd Design in Boson, Massachusets.

May

Zachary Kaiser

Assis an Proessor o De sign, Tesi s Advis or

Massachusets College o Ar and Design

Brian Lucid

Proessor o Design


Jan Kubasiew icz

Proessor o Design, Tesis Advisor



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For Ariel, Henri, Paul, Susan, and Wendy.


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TABLE OF CONTENTSABSTRACT xi

INTRODUCTION xv

PART I User as Consumer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Wha is a Consu mer? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Consumers in Dynamic Media Sociey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ideniy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Te Perec Human Applicaion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Te Original . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Te Updae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Te Weeping iPhone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Device as Emoional Expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Te Prooype . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

PART II User as Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Producers in Dynamic Media Sociey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Producer as Reproducer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Te Almighy Algorihm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Te Algorhim and Te Reproducer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

iones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Working wi h UBIQ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Te Original . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Te Updae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

iHear. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Mobile Melodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Te Insrumen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Analysi s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CONCLUSION

WORKS CITED ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


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Tis hesis addresses how our personal dynamic echnologies rom

lapops and smarphones o email and social media accouns shape

our percepions o he world.

I pus he digiized ineracion, as engagemens wih our echnologies,

a he cener o his invesigaion, and rames he world we live in as a

Dynamic Media Sociey. In his sociey, our ineracions become auhor-

ing orces o value, wih economic, culural, and social implicaions.

Par I invesigaes he value o he digiized ineracion as a new ype

o commodiy rom he sandpoin o he user as consumer. Jus asaccumulaion o wealh and consumpion o heir avorie brands offer

consumers validaion, he digiized i neracion becomes an indicaor

o sel-worh and ideniy. Facebook likes, endorsemens on LinkedIn,

and a high number o ollowers on witer can be seen as valuable

commodiies, inorming he users' undersanding o heir role and

place in he world.

In Par II, I examine he user as producer o such ineracions. From

his perspecive, he echnologies o producion in a Dynamic Media

Sociey can be seen as an inrasrucure o reproducion composed o

he producer and predicive compuer modeling sofware. Hence, he

creaion o value in sociey can be ariculaed hrough a negoiaion

beween he producer o daa and he resruc uring abi liies o a lgorih-

mic sysems o surveillance.

My particular interest in new media is instigated by a public outcry of aversion as seen in the New YorkTimes, late-night talk shows, and a host of pop-scholarship to the growing ubiquity of personal tech-

nologies. I believe this aversion is important, as it is a symptom of a drastic and revolutionary transition

in our communication and information infrastructures. But the validity of these concerns needs to be criti-

cally examined. My generation, due to its privileged perspective straddling a before and after viewpoint,

has a responsibility to reflect on what constant connectivity is actually changing.


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INTRODUCTION


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INDUSTRIAL

SOCIETY

DYNAMIC MEDIA

SOCIETY

POST-INDUSTRIAL

SOCIETY


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INTRODUCTION XVII

FIGURE 1

his diagram illusraes he relaionship beween h e capabiliies oproduc ion a nd con sumer d emand i n a ree -mark e ind usri al soci ey, a re laion -ship ha drives he economic or exchange-value o a maerial commodiy.

ECONOMIC WORTH measured byEXCHANGE-VALUE

MATERIALas

COMMODITY

PRODUCER CONSUMERINDUSTRIAL SOCIETY

INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY

In ree-marke indusrial sociey, he economic worh,

represened by exchange-value, o a given maerial

commodiy, is deermined by a dynamic relaionship

beween he inra srucu res o producion and con-

sumpion, respecively producer and consumer. Te

exchange-value becomes he governing deerminan o

an absrac noion o value in an indusrial sociey.

In Global Culure Indusry(,Scot Lash and Celia Lurys book on

he impac o brand experience on

culure and ideniy, hey discuss he

differen ypes o value a commodiy

can possess: A good is a commodiy

o he exen ha i is characerized

by exchange-va lue. Te exchange-

value is an abs racion r om is

use-value expressed in absrac

equivalens, in money (). In oher

words, in a basic a nd radi ional

view o capia lism in an indu sria l

sociey, he inrasrucure o produc-

ion and consumpion deermines

he absraced worh o goods and

services commodiies expressed

in moneary unis.

Tis creaes a di rec relaionship

beween he exch ange-value and

maerial qualiy, or disinc physical

properies, o a given commodiy.


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INTRODUCTION XIX

CULTURAL WORTH measured bySIGN-VALUE

BRANDas

COMMODITY

PRODUCER CONSUMER

FIGURE 2

his diagram illusraes ha he relaionship beween produce r andconsumer deermines he sign-value o a once- absraced commodiy: he brand.Here, culural desirabiliy (sign-value) replaces economic worh (exchange-value) as he srucuring orce o value in consumer sociey oday.

POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY

POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY

Te corresponding diagram illusraes how in a pos-

indusrial sociey (also known as consumer sociey),

he value o a given commodiy is deermined no jus

by he maerial coss o producion, bu by he culural

success o is brand qualiies o ex perience (Lash, ).

Te worh o a commodiy is no longer measured by is

exchange-value a lone, bu by is sign-value is logo or

brand as well.

In Frederick JamesonsPosmodern-ism and Consumer Culure, he wries,

a some poin ollowing World

War wo a new kind o sociey began

o emerge (variously described as

pos-indusrial sociey, mulinaional

capialism, consumer sociey, media

sociey, and so orh). New ypes o

consumpion he peneraion o

adverising, elevision, and he media

generally o a hihero unparalle leddegree hroughou sociey mark a

radical break wih ha older pre-war

sociey ().

Te main shif ha Jameson reer-

ences was one rom a value srucure

based on maeria l quali y o one

based on culu ral capia l. As a resul ,

he value o a Louis Vuiton sachel

is no longer deermined by is smar

consrucion bu raher by he saus

o is sign (Uricchio). Tis shif was

caused by a change in producion

rom he manuacure o goods o he

provision o services, as in a service

sociey. New echnologies required

less labor and acceleraed mass pro-

ducion, and, as a resul, he acory

worker was replac ed by he salesma n.

Along wi h dropping pro ducion

coss, he media-scape changed in

pos-war years, as well. Imagery was

everywhere: on elevision, in caa-

logues, on billboards, ec (Harrison).

Adveri sing and brand ing became

a decisive acor in he process o

consumpion. I now coss less o

make a Coke han i does o adverise

Coca-Cola, he brand.

Whats g

country is

started th

the riche

essential

as the po

watching

Cola, and

President

Taylor dri

think, you

too. A Co

amount o

a better C

the bum o

drinking.

same and

good. Liz

President

knows it,

Andy Wa

of Andy W


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INTRODUCTIONTHE REPRODUCERXX XXI

Te value o a commodiy is emanci-

paed rom is maerial qualiies and

embedded in is signage, represened

by is logo. In erm s o culura l desir-

abiliy, he absrac sign becomes

more imporan han he commodiy

i represens (consider how endorse-

men campaigns drop celebriies who

find hemselves in rouble wih he

law). Te inrasrucure o produc-

ion is responsible or he expression

o a brand experience ha appeals

direcly o he consumer on a per-

sonal level, signified by is signage.

Te brand, or logo, gains auhoriy in

srucuring worh.

For example, adverising campaigns or Renaul,

Frances symbol o indusrial sociey in he way Ford

once was or he Unied Saes, presen he company

as a concepualizer o auomobiles. And Renaul

acually does end o manuacure an ever-declining

par o each car ha bears is brand.

In he s, Renaul manuacured percen

o each car ha was delivered o he dealer.

oday i manuacures no more han percen,

and Renauls echnology and design complex

a Guyancour is he companys larges indusrial

sie. I is here ha he cosly firs uni is manuac-

ured. Tere is a sory (perhaps apocryphal, bu

noneheless illu sraive) ha Volkswagens head o

purchasing in Brazil expressed his saisacion ha

he company had succeeded in shiing he core o i s

manuacuring operaion offshore, leaving he head

office in Germany o do wha i did bes: pu he

badge on auomobilesIn a ime o globalizaion ,

firms ry o re-ocus hemselve s on aciviies ha are

plane-wide in scope, he ones ha reach he grea-

es number o cusomers. Immaerial aciviies, in

which he cos is in he firs uni (brand promoion,

or example), are much more profiable han he

abricaion o he goods hemselves (Cohen, ).


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INTRODUCTION XXIII

FIGURE 3

his diagram demonsraes he developmen o social value hroughhe commodiicaion o a digiized ineracion simulaneously produced an dconsumed by a single u ser (illusraed by he inroducion o red ex).

SOCIAL WORTH measured byUSER-VALUE

DIGITIZED INTERACTIONas

COMMODITY

PRODUCERCONSUMER

PRODUCERCONSUMERDYNAMIC MEDIA SOCIETY

DYNAMIC MEDIA SOCIETY

oday our digiized ineracions wih new dynamic

media echnologies he ap o a ouchscre en, click o

a keyboard, or u rning on o a Nike FuelBa nd can be

considered a new ype o commodiy wih auhoriy

o creae value and worh in sociey. Layered aop he

pre-exising sysems o indusrial and consumer socie-

ies, he producion and consumpion inrasrucure o

clicks and aps becomes a new measure o social worh, a

power ha I call user-value.

So we have hree inerconneced ye

disinc ypes o value. Economic

worh is a mea sure o he mae-

rial qualiy o a good, expressed as

exchange-value, or price. Culural

worh mea sures he succes s o a

brand, or a commod iys sign-va lue.

And he power o h e social is mea-

sured hrough he quanificaion o

digiized ineracions: user-value.

Social worh, in urn, has he power

o deermine he culural success

and economic worh o goods and

services a la rge (commodiies oher

han he click). Te value o, or

insance, a pair o Nike sneakers is

no longer measured solely by he

qualiy o he sneaker o he appeal o

he Nike logo, bu raher by a users

digiized ineracion wih Nike: he

quaniy o likes, li nks, ollowers,

hashags, ec. clicks.

Implici in is name, social worh

correlaes wih he value o a social

nework developed on dynamic

social media plaorms. For example,

he worh o Kim Kardashians

million witer ollowers correlaes

o he worh o he Kardashian brand

(sign-value) as well as Kardashians

markeing power (exchange-value),

bu he socia l nework has a value o

is own: social worh (user-value).

Tis is measured in he producion


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INTRODUCTIONTHE REPRODUCERXXIV XXV

and consumpion paterns o user-

generaed digiized ineracions,

whereby a greaer qu aniy o iner ac-

ions gives Kardashian a greaer

social worh.

In his sysem, an ineresing rela-

ionship develops beween he role

o producer and consumer. A any

given insance, he user o a digiized

ineracion as a commodiy acs as

boh producer a nd consumer o ha

ineracion. A user acs as a consum-

er when she clicks o likea picure onFacebook. because embodied in he

acion o clicking is he consumpion

o a service, i.e., he abiliy o likeha Facebook offers. In his sense,

Facebook becomes a digial depar-

men sore o sors, providing a range

o ineracions-as-commodiies olike, o share, o upload, ec. ha auser can consume hrough clicking.

Simulaneously, a user also acs as

producer when she clicks o like apicure on Facebook. By liking, sheproduces a unique even on her ime-

line a new piece o conen on her

profile as well as on he newseeds o

her riends and ollowers.

Alhoug h i appears h a he roles

o producer and consumer dissolve

ino each oher, is imporan o

differeniae beween he wo as

hey each shape disinc ypes o

social value. Consumers o digiized

ineracions, or any commodiy in

general, consr uc and affi rm heir

ideniy and social sanding, or sel-

worh, hrough wh a hey choose

o consume. Consider how valuable

Kim Kardashian eels when she

consumes her ens-o-housands o

litle hears or likes or whaever i

may be hroughou he day (her lie

mus be worh somehing, righ?).

I is a similar ki nd o affi rmaion oher social sanding as when she con-

sumes a cerain level o luxury dress

or exravagan vacaion. Par I o his

hesis invesigaes how ideniy and

sel-worh are shaped by consumers

o digiized ineracions.

Par II o his hesis examines how,

as producers o digiized ineracions,

a single users ineracion acs wihin

a larger nework o commodiies. On

one hand, i is only hrough hese

large neworks ha he power o

user-generaed value is harnessed.

On he oher hand, hese incredibly

large quaniies o ineracions, or

daa, are repurposed by algorihms in

he service o corporaions and agen-

cies o shape value on a macro scale.

Par II explores he power dynamic

beween hi s new measurable soci al

value and he alg orihm a s auhoring

orces o worh in sociey.

Kim Kardashian, image from her Twitter account (one of the top ten most despised Twitter accounts in

2012, according to the examiner.com).


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e couresy o Google Image Search.

PART 1

USER AS

CONSUMER


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WHAT IS A CONSU MER?

Dicionary.com defines consumer as a person or organizaion ha uses

a commodiy or serv ice. Tough his definiion appears sraighorward

(I wrie his as I consume a coffee), here are several inricacies Id like o

address abou wha consiues a consumer. When considering is ey-

mology, Raymond Williams i n Keywords indicaes ha he i niial usage

o he word, in h-cenury English, had an unavourable sense, i

mean o desroy, o use up, o wase, o exhaus as in I am devouring

my coffee. As is usage coninued ino he 18h cenury, consumerbegan o emerge i n a neural sen se in descr ipions o bourgeoi s poliical

economy (). In his hesis,, he earlier negaive connoaion inorms

he words meaning.

For my purposes, a consumer is someone who ulfills he inended

uncion o a commodiy. In oher words, o consume a commodiy

is o use i up, specifically or he service i was designed or inended.

Te ac o consumpion, hen, implies a compleion or realizaion o a

process. For example, a plasic grocery bag as a commodiy is consumed

when we fill i wih grocer ies or deliver y ood. However, when I use a

plasic grocery bag o show kindergarners how o make plasic-bag

ghoss or Halloween decoraions, he sudens and I are no acing as

consumers. Insead, we are producing creaing a new use, and a new

commodiy, rom he plasic bag.

Tis disincion is imporan. As Wil liams wries: "In he new predomi-

nance o an organized marke, he acs o making and o using goods and

services were newly defined in he increasingly absrac pairings o pro-

ducer and consumer, producion and consumpion ()." o consume

carries he weigh o acualizing a commodiy, while using an objec

in an alernae way, such as making ar, does no complee he cycle.

Insead, i creaes a differen cycle o producion.


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USER AS CONSUMERTHE REPRODUCER4 5

CONSUMERS IN DYNAMIC MEDIA SOCIETY

Our ubiquious personal echnologies are changing he meaning o

consumpion in wo ways. Firs, hey change how we consume. ake,

or example, purchasing new shoes. Insead o going o he neares shoe

sore, we begin our process online. We read reviews and raings insead

o alking o riends or he shoe salesperson; we price-shop, scouring he

Inerne or coupons and upcoming deals, insead o window shopping

and waiing or in-sore sales. Tis process his change in how we con-

sume is a di rec ranslaion o our habis as offline consumers. Online,however, he nework is he medium hrough which we go abou he pro-

cess; he Inerne becomes a middleman beween he desire o purchase

shoes and he climacic atainmen o shoes. Wha is noable is ha he

Inerne accumulaes a record o his process (ransorming hese acs o

consuming ino a orm o producion, addressed in Par II o his hesis).

Second, our new media echnologies change wha we consume. A whole

new marke o goods and services dynamic media commodiies is

consanly a our fingerips. In addiion o maerial goods, absrac ideas,

and culural rends, we can now accumulae sofware applicaions and

ineraces. Tese digial services are ools or enerainmen, liesyle,

educaion, business, ec. Like al l consumable commodiies, hese

plaorms have inended uncions ha are realized hrough a digiized

ineracion rom clicking he back buton on our web browser, o liking

a pos on Facebook, o playing he laes iPhone app. I isn ha we click

o consume he resuling inormaion; raher, by clicking on a link or

The user of dynamic media

technologies is simultaneously

both consumer and producer.

CONSUMER

PRODUCER

USER

rigger, we are consuming ha paricular buton or inended digiized

uncion, hereby ulfilling is designed or consumable desiny.

Tereore, jus as a cusomer may buy new sandals, users may click o

navigae heir dynamic ineraces. For example, I have o ap o open my

Facebook app in order o consume he likemy moher gives my Face-

book profile picu re, o wach a vid eo on Youube, or o read Evgeny

Morozovs laes aricle.

And by liking my profile picure, my moher acs as a consumer as well.

Her ineracion consumes a service offered by Facebook (he abiliyolike). By creaing unique conen, and cusomizing Facebook or ohers,

she is simulaneously acing as a producer (producing consumable con-

en or ohers). Tis is o ineres as i demonsraes how dynamic media

creae a dynamic relaionship beween consumer and producer. How-

ever, or he purposes o Par I, we consider he influence o new digial

commodiies as hey inorm he ideniy o consumers, no producers.

IDENTITY

When I clic k o consume he likemy moher has given my Facebook

profile picure, I receive validaion, suppor, accepance he way own-

ing he righ pair o shoes affirms my ideniy. Simulaneously, when my

moher cusomizes Facebook wih her like, she, oo, affir ms her iden-

iy as a loyal moher, and also as an adep user o social media despie,

due o her age, an inheren lack o social media experise, a sk ill-se

reserved or Millennials and he ew generaional groups ollowing hem.

In his ligh, he ac o consuming hese new ypes o producs becomes

a reificaion o how we view ourselves, and consequenly, how we presen

ourselves. All o our online ineracions and digial places rom appli-caions like Vine or DouLingo, o our banking services conribue o


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USER AS CONSUMERTHE REPRODUCER6 7

consrucing our ideniy. William Michell describes his process while

wrii ng abou he spa ial/ani-spai al divi de o he ne work in his bo ok

Ciy o Bis:

radiionally, you needed o go someplace o do his sor o hinghe bar, he pub, Main Sree, he mall and where you wen pegged your

peer group, your social posiion, and your role. I also ramed expecaionsabou how you should represen yoursel()

While Michell i s inerese d in place in a n ani-spai al nework, I am

ineresed in ideniy wihin his nework. Insead o consuming a beer

a a bar, we are consuming our witer accouns, wherever we may be.Despie he ac ha he wee we consume may never ake on a maerial

orm, consuming i reflecs who we are in he same way ha our choice

o drinking a paricular beer a a paricular esablishmen reflecs our

social sanding. Te ac o consumpion serves, in he same way i always

has, o affirm our undersanding o our saus and value in he world.

From he sar, he Inerne has offered a means o explore and

experimen wih ideniy, because in order o exis online we need a way

o reer o ourselves: we need a name, a login, a profile. Each new service

rom a New York imes accoun o a new umblr page is ied o

a paricular user, a digiized embodimen o ideniy. As we presen

ourselves o differen communiies, our sanding in relaion o ohers is

aken ino accoun. By looking a digiized ineracion as a commodiy,

he parameers by which we can assess our accepance by ohers and our

sel-worh become quanifiable. How many riends do we have? How

many likes? How many ollowers? How many endorsemens?

One o he inspiraions or he ollowing case sudies is Sherry urkles

bookAlone ogeher. In i she examines, among oher hings, how

consan conneciviy (especially among eenagers) allows users o

experimen wih ideniy consrucion. A imes her research eels daed,

ingrained wih he s ear o neworked anonymiy resuling in online

sexual predaors. Neverheless, she idenifies digial communiies as

public places (be hey anasy worlds like Second Lieor an chain)

ha are no separae rom he real world, bu raher opporuniies o

explore he very real process o consrucing ideniy.

urkle considers being conneced o one anoher as an obsession, even

an addicion. She quoes eigheen-year-old Roman: I I ge a Facebook

message or somehing posed on my wallI have o see i. I have o ().

On a superficial level, his echoes he negaive implicaion o he word

consumer inroduced by Williams. Te ervor wih which we consume

is paricularly eviden wih our new media echnologies; we ea up appsand devices ravenously, blindly, wihou considering he impac our

consumpion may have on our abiliy o connec wih ohers.

Tereore, or he purposes o his research, I define his newound

ehered-ness as a orm o consumpion. In he ollowing case sud-

ies hePerec Hum an Applicaio nand he Weeping iPhone I examine

how consumpion affecs our percepions o ideniy and our relaion-

ships wih ohers.

TePerec Huma n Applicaion, highl ighs he i mpac o quani ficaion

o he digiized ineracion as a commodiy ha can be measured and

compared. I explores how we consruc our sense o sel in he digial

age, and enables us o criically consider he effec o quaniying our

sel-worh. Te Weeping iPhoneexplores some o he assumpions we,

as consumers, have made abou dynamic echnologies, and he effecs

o hese echnologies on our relaionships wih ohers .

As wih radiiona l goods and se rvices, ou r choices abou wha, a nd how

we consume have worked and wi ll always work o i norm our sel -worh.

Ye given ha hese new goods a nd service s do no have a a ngible place

in he world, he quesion arises: wha kind o lasing philosophical im-

plicaions does he absraced naure o digial ineracions have on howwe undersan d and ideni y ourselves as physical bein gs?


18/73

e couresy o Kimberly Maroon

CASE STUDY

THE

PERFECT

HUMAN

APPLICATION


19/73

e

PERFECTHUMANAN APP FOR YOUR LIFE

I recenly atended a yoga class

wih my siser. As we waied or

class o begin, we lay exended on

our mas. Wih her eyes sill closed,

she urned o me and saed in he

quie, darkened room, I hae i.I eel naked wihou my phone.

I is an all-oo-amiliar, i no an

already rie eeling: he nudiy o

no having our cell phones by our

sides, o no having our conacs

in our pockes.


20/73

THE PERFECT HUMAN APPLICATION 13

TO SHARE ANDCOMPARE MAKESPERFECTION ATTAINABLE

As we spend more and more time connected online, we are

spending less time connecting with people offl ine (as there are

only so many hours in a day). As a result, it is increasingly moreimportant to give meaning to those online interactions. Te

Perect Human Application offers the user the ability to under-

stand the lie he or she lives online, not through quality but

through quantity. How else will we know how perect we are or

how perect we can become?

TePerec Huma n Applicaion () is a social neworking applicaion

ha racks and aggregaes he quaniy o user ineracions made on

smar devices and social media accouns in order o generae real-ime

saisical inormaion on a users uncioning. Te calculaes a

compeiivePerec Hum an Score, which allow s a user o rack h is or

her progress oward perecion, i.e., a greaer (or lesser) quaniy han

yeserday. Mos impor anly, he allows us ers o compare he ir

perecion o ha o riends and amily as well as o a greaer communiy

o users. Trough his process o scoring, he applicaion meaphorically

urns he user ino a se o dynamic daa, mak ing i easy or users o see

jus how perec hey are, and even easier or hem o gauge how perec

hey could become.


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THE PERFECT HUMAN APPLICATIONTHE REPRODUCER14 15

User ineracions are divided ino six caegories, known collecively as

Te Anaomy o Perecion. Each caegory represens a differen grouping

o online acions made by he user hroughou a -hour period. Tese

caegories are name d afer offl ine goals: or example , Communicaion

Skills: exing is he New Hugging is an aggregae o all he mi nues

users spend alking on heir phone, as well as any ex or voicemail hey

send using heir phone. I is analogous o he wha used o be ace-o-

ace conversaion. Looks: I s Whas Ousid e ha Couns measures he

number o phoos a user is posed in online, reerencing he misleading

beauy ha a flatering an gle and good lig hing ca n produce. Each o he

six caegories are presened in he applicaions inerace as glance-able

numerical and graphical daa.

THE ORIGINALTe Perect Human,Jorgen Leth

Te applicaion was inspired by Danish film direcor Jorgen Lehs

shor film Te Perec Human, and updaes L ehs exa minaion o human

perecion. By criically examining he measures o perecion apparen

in conemporary sociey, boh he film and he applicaion quesion how

hose parameers drive he exisenial consrucion o sel-hood.

In he film, Leh, simulaneously narraor and objecive scienis,invesigaed how he perec human o 1967 uncioned how he

beauiu l Danish man and woman adhe red o superficia l socieal id eals

o perecion in he 1960s. Afer enumeraing a number o perec unc-

ioning aciviies, he movies ocus pivoed during a very delicious

dinner, when he woman myseriously disappeared. Her absence

provoked a srange urn o evens. Leh narraed: Wha is he perec

human hinking?Abou he ood he eas, happiness, love, deah? And

in response, he young man, while chewing, wondered: Why is joy so

quickly done?Why did you leave me? Why are you gone?

Wih h is line o q uesioni ng, Le h was no longer inve sigai ng he

qualiies o perecion, bu raher asking: Wha is perec(ly) human? He

urged us o consider he universal, imeless, and philosophical hemes

ha make humans human. Te smiling, lighheared, handsome young

man is regardless (and i is his word regardless ha makes he

word perec so per ec) o he era he li ves in, he accumulaion o his

grooming, his age, his experience, his knowledge, his lack o knowledge,

his conusion and his resuling loneliness. His conusion sems rom

he unknowable quesions o exisence, rom he desire o undersand

he sandaloneIha he is. He longs or companionship and accepance


22/73


among ohers as a validaion o sel in he ace o ineviable deah. And

so, as he perec human mus, he asks quesions whose answers, i hey

even exised, would offer no comor.

Te commens on his ques. I urns his exisenial quesioning

ino a number a number ha has meaning only in relaion o oher

numbers. And hough each number represens a possible saing o he

need or validaion, he number is disanced rom is meaning and he

poenial or companionship ha i represens. As he user would only

be ineres ed in his or her score, in wi nning he game, he or she would

orge ha on he oher side o he number is an ineracion wih anoheruser anoher human. Lehs young hero, he perec man, revealed his

perecion hrough his ear o loneliness and consan quesioning. Te

heme ha defined Lehs characers in he s is unveiled in he ,

by he applica ions abiliy o bri ng o he ore ron he di fficulies o

negoiaing real companionship in he digial landscape.

Tere is one final lesson o be learned rom Leh: he espoused he

wesern radiion o a sc ienis e xploring empi rical know ledge o expos e

he absrac, he romanic, he erriying, and he humane. A is es-

sence, he is buil upon he dichoomy beween quaniy (empirical

daa) and qualiy (absrac and qualiaive knowledge). Te applicaion

updaes Leh o reflec and mock he concerns o he presen age where

he amoun o quanifiable inormaion is growing rapidly; hrough

is immediae accessibiliy, i calls atenion o he copious amouns o

numbers always lying in wai or us o consume. Bu i does so ace-

iously. Wih is complex marix o scoring and is slick, blun graphics, i

urns conemporary survival skills ino meaningless numbers as i o re-

veal he uili y o quani y: no mater wha or how much da a we scrape,

here will never be an algorihm o answer our exisenial quesions.

THE UPDATETe Perect Human Application,

By racking and quaniyi ng a users conneced acions, he applicaion

updaes he desire o Lehs perec human or companionship. And in

imiaing Leh, he applicaion doesn simply offer he user a quanifica-

ion o accepance, bu he opporuniy o conron he ear o loneliness

and deah in our ehered world.

Quantity not Quality

Te speaks o is users as consumers. I collecs wha hey do who

ollows hem on Insagram and who chas wih hem on Facebook and

urns hose acions ino numerical values. I is he digial orm o he

ineracion ha allows i o be racked and quanified wih ease, which

hen allows i o be ransormed ino an indicaor o sel-worh. Te

caegories ha orm Te Anaomy o Pereciondivvy up our acions ino

differen sources o value. For example, in our iniial user-esing, Ceren

Paydas (a suden a MassAr) scored very high in communicaion skills.

Knowing her background (she is fluen in hree languages and signifi-

canly younger han he ohers being esed), i was ineresing o see her

numbers compared o ohers.

BINCAM

Designed to increase

individuals awareness of

food waste and recycling

behaviors, BinCam augments

a kitchen bin with a mobile

phone to automaticallycapture and log individuals

waste management activity.

Photos are uploaded to the

BinCam app on a social

networking site where

users can share and review

the bin-related behavior of

themselves and others.

di.ncl.ac.uk/bincam

BEAM TOOTHBRUSH

Brush Smart: The Beam

Brush is the worlds first

smart toothbrush, a manual

brush that monitors your oral

hygiene habits and reports

them to a smartphone app.

beamtoothbrush.com

SLEEP SMART

This is the only bed

that puts all other beds

to sleep. The Sleep Smart

is composed of the most

sophisticated combination

of technology, and automat-ed sensors to measure and

respond to body ergonomics

and movement. Comes

complete with integrated

Bluetooth connectivity

and the Sleep Smart app,

with a daily dashboard

to summarize essential

sleep statistics.

sleepsmartbeds.com


23/73

THE ANATOMY

OF PERFECTION

Te choice o divide digial ineracions

ino six caegories comes direcly fom Lehs

examinaion o he Perec Human uncioning

ATTRACTIVENESSNow we will see how he perec human looks Tis is how an ear looks. And here is

a pair o knees. Anoher ear.Narraor dicaes, emale pus on lipsick, zoom on emale ear, zoom on male ear,

::::.

We are struck from the start by the beautiful actor and actress Leth has

chosen to portray perfection. Today, however, it is completely normal not

just to wear make-up, but to augment pictures of ourselves with filters and

photoshop. Once those manipulated pictures are posted online, they hold an

unexpected authority about our beauty. Just as Leths perfect humans need

to look young, today we need not only to be beautiful in a traditional sense

but to publicize those looks online. For more information on this topic, please

watch The Hobbit, South Parks17e10 found at southparkstudios.com.

Its whats on the

outside that counts.

But more important

than looking good is

sharing those good

looks with others.

SCORINGfor all

activity related to

photo and video

media via applicablesocial media plat-

forms, +1 point.

WRITTENSKILLSWe will see he perec human uncioning Male adjuss bow-ie while wearing

black sui, ::-::.

Walking. Running. Jumping. Falling. Look, now he alls. How does he all?

Male jumps hree imes in whie oufi, male a lls. Male sands up wearing black

oufi, ::-::.

Though Leth never articulates the ability to pick himself up, the Perfect

Human demonstrates the action of falling as well as standing up. This physi-

cal competence represents the perfect ability to persevere through hardship

(be it physical or emotional). Today, to be competent enough to metaphorical-

ly pick yourself up from a fall, can be equated to ones ability to organize and

manage her email accounts. These email accounts keep us tethered to our

responsibilities, and the ability to continually keep up with our emails (write

efficient and witty emails throughout the day) is a task which represents just

how perfect we are.

Emailing best

paired with morning

coffee.

SCORING+1 point

for every email sent

or received from

connected email

accounts.

Texting in the new

hugging. We used to

have conversations,

make plans, and even

say I love you. Today

we text. It is the only

perfect way to show

you care.

SCORINGcompiles

all text-based com-

munication services

and awards +1 point

for every text sent or

received.

COMMUNICATIONSKILLSHow is i o ouch he Perec Human? How is he skin? Is i smooh? Is i warm? Is i

so? Is i dry? Is i well cared or? he Perec Humanmakes love.

Female and male make love in bed; aferward, male balls up i n eal posiion,

::-::.

This is the first instance in the film when the two appear in the same shot,

and the only part of the film that involves direct physical contact between

two humans. But Leth doesnt just narrate the humans connection, he asks

his audience to consider that touch, in intimate detail, from their perspective.

Just as Leths man and woman come together to make love, today we come

together via our constant communications. The physicality of that contact,

has been replaced by it s consistency a consistency the PHA tu rns into

measurable quantity. No longer is it important if we are good kissers; rather

we must constantly talk to those we love.


24/73

Its 9 am. Do you

know where you

are supposed to be?

Managing a packed

schedule is a true

sign of perfection.

SCORING+1 point

for every event add-

ed to calendar. User

is not rewarded for

attendance, just for

scheduling.

RESPONSIBILITYLisen o he human geting ready. Lisen o he perec human living. Lisen o is

sounds. Wha is his human hinking.

Narraor dicaes, male clips nails and shaves, ::::.

Leths Perfect Human, despite living in a boundless perfect world, still has

to get ready. However, when Leth calls on us to notice him getting ready,

we are not sure for what he is preparing though the dinner shor tly follows.

The act of getting ready is presented to the viewer in isolation, as an ab-

straction correlating to responsibility. Getting ready implies the act of prepa-

ration, the content of which is less important, than our ability to consider and

plan for the future. Today, the PHA updates this to award points for maintain-

ing the calen dar the absolute ab straction of pre paration while gives no

reward for attendance as perfection, accord ing to Leth, is measured not by

what we do, but by what we wish to, or prepare to accomplish.

POPULARITYYes, here he is. Who is he? Wha can he do? Why does he move like ha? Look

a him now. And now. Look a him all he ime.Narraor dicaes, male dances, ::::.

Nearly halfway through the movie, the Perfect Human appears with

sunglasses, as he dances to music only he can hear. As he smiles at his

audience along wi th his goof y dance moves, he wants us to smile b ack and

the Perfect Human becomes the epitome of likable. He is young, handsome,

lighthearted, easygoing most importantly, he is popular! Today, this popu-

larity, i.e., social media activity calculated via the Perfect Human smartphone

application, is an update of Leth prompting us to examine this interaction as

a plea for attention: Look at him now. And now. Look at him all the time. In

the 60s, the confident, laid-back jokester could easily become the center of

attention at any dinner party. Today, we seek to attain that attention online

receiving validation and affirmation of our worth in society.

We used to develop

friendships in the

high school cafete-

ria or by frequenting

our local bar for

after-work drinks.

Today, we hang out

online.

SCORING+1 point

awarded for every

action performed

on applicable social

media accounts.

Cash is a thing of

the past. We have

all seen rappers

make it rain in the

club, but have you

seen the investment

banker flash his bank

statement on his

touchscreen?

SCORINGfor any

action made though

online banking apps,+1 point.

SUCCESSWhy is orune so capricious? Why is joy so quickly done? Why did you leave me?

Why are you gone? Very, very delicious!

Subiles, male speaks o himsel a dinner, alone ::-::.

Followed by his grievous Why is joy so quickly done? Why did you leave

me? the Very, very delicious! stands out as an abrupt change in the Per-

fect Humans temperament. Leth has aligned the Perfect Humans perfec-

tion, in this moment, to the success of his activity: the delicious meal. This

success abruptly stops him from dwelling on his heartbreak, and reframes

his situation around his perfection (with the following lines: Today, too I

experienced something I hope to understand in a few days.

Currently, though, a good meal means nothing compared to the numbers in

our bank accounts, and as a result success should be measured by our finan-

cial presence online (not the qualitative assessment of dinner). Whether we

have a lot of actual money or not is unimportant. Its the action of spending

and depositing through Amazons Buy now with 1-Click, to checking the

status of our direct- deposit which makes the contemporary Pe rfect Human

successful today.

Screen grab rom Te Perec Human,Jorgen Leh .


25/73


Tese six caegories represen he divisions ha enable us o undersand

where and how we need o improve our uncioni ng. Wihou hese ca-

egories, i would be difficul o evaluae wha acually makes us perec.

Perhaps differen caegories will ake on differen levels o imporance

or differen users. Tis reedom mimics our maerial economy by crea-

ing a sor o digial deparmen sore where we can make our choices

known. One person values educaion; anoher values a new car. Tese

divisions allow us o consruc and undersand our social sanding in

evermore specific ways.

Shareable and Comparable

InAlone ogeher,urkle explores he repercussions o he inimacy we

have wih our mobile devices. Using he experience o sixeen-year-old

Julia, urkle noe s how, or Julia, h ings move rom I have a eeli ng, I

wan o mak e a call o I wan o have a e eling , I need o make a c all or

in her case, send a ex. Julia even conflaes her phone wih her riends:

Even beore I ge upse and I know ha I have ha eelingIll pull

up my rien duh, my phone(). According o urkle, we u sed o

reach ou o one anoher or assisance and companionship in imes

o need or exciemen, bu oday we can experience a eeling wihou

sharing i wih ohers. While Leh s perec human was defined by his

loneliness, by his desire or companionship, oday we need companion-

ship in order o even eel loneliness.

Te need or companionship shapes he hear o hePerec Huma n Ap-

plicaion : o share and compare makes perecion atainable . I is only

hrough being able o compare ones numbers, ones measure o perec-

ion, ha a sense o sel-worh in he digial age can be atained.

Te makes i convenien o compare and share hese numbers

in differen ways. Firs, users can rack heir progress owards perecion

wihi n he calend ar inerace o he applica ion. Furher, us ers can

compare heir scores, as well as paterns o progress, o he aggregaed

average or o one specific ellow user perhaps a riend, amily mem-

bers, or coveed ce lebriy. Te applica ion allows use rs o compare he

anaomy o heir perecion hrough pie chars. Embracing a bold and

clean aesheic, hese graphics easily make perecion boh sharable

and comparable.

Conclusion

Wha ma kes he Perec Huma n Applicaio no ineres is is conex.

oday, he boundary beween quanifiable ineracions online andqualifiable experiences ouside he digial is permeable, and we sruggle

o disinguish beween hem, jus as much as we sruggle o inegrae

he online and offline places we inhabi. TePerec Huma n Applicaion

doesn goad us ino prioriizing he qualiy we associae wih offline

experience or he quaniy represenaive o online place; raher i asks

is users o reflec on he relaionship beween he wo.

Furher, when higher scores ranslae ino a higher perecion, his cre-

aes a more valuable user, or consumer. In a radiional sense, i works

in he same way consuming, or wearing, nice shoes does. We eel beter

abou ourselves. Online, he sel-worh we gain rom consuming Face-

book likes he dig iized i neracion may be enough or many, o g ive

hem confidence ha ranslaes ouside o he game.

Born ou o he desire o updae he exisenial quesioning o Lehs

perec human, he is a sairical commenary on companionship

and loneliness in a landscape drasically shaped by digial media. I

reveals a consumer whose ocus is on quaniy no qualiy, on scoring

raher han experiencing, hereby conflaing companionship and soli-

ude. Mos imporanly, i posiions sel and number side by side, calling

atenion o he complex and enwined relaionship beween he wo.

Phoo by Erik Jacobs

or Te New York

imes o urkle in her

Boson home, .


26/73

een grab romBlack Mi rrorepisode Fifeen Million Meris.

CASE STUDY

THE

WEEPING

iPHONE


27/73

Aer iniial user esing , i

was deermined ha users o he

Perec Human Applicaion were pu

off by he complex marix o scoring.

Addressing ha concern, he Weeping

iPhone is a proposed aler sysem, aseries o video noificaions o updae

users i heir perecion scores

all oo low.

Because, in an era when our phones

are expeced o ake responsibiliy or

so many differen asks, why should

users have o check he applicaion

o rerieve heir resuls?


28/73

THE WEEPING IPHONE 29

een sho rom i .

DEVICE ASEMOTIONALEXPRESSION

While the is a comment on how we have given away so

many o our parameters o sel-worth to social media and our

digitized interactions, the Weeping iPhone ollows suit, asking:when does tying our identity to technology interere with the

most complex experience o sel our ability to express our

most vulnerable emotional states?

Te subile o Sherry urklesAlone ogeher reads: Why We Expec

More fom echnology an d Less fom Each Oher.urkle is warning us ha

we may be neglec ing one ano her in avor o our i nelligen and always-

here echnology. Te Weeping iPhoneis a response o wha urkle ari-

culaes as a ransormaion o responsibiliy rom us o i. Te more we

use our devices as consumers, he more inimaely we are ied o hem.

Te Weeping iPhoneakes his inimacy o he exreme and asks: Can I

someday expec my phone o ake on he vulnerable role o expressing

an emoional reacion o he inimacy i so readily enables?

Characerized by heir disrupive naure, he Weeping iPhones noifica-

ion videos inerrup he users abiliy o use he phone. For example, i

a users Perec Human Score drops below he h percenile, he phone

assumes is user is eeling imperec, unloved, and worhless: like a loser.

So i auomaically plays a -second video iledLoser Syndrome in


29/73

THE WEEPING IPHONETHE REPRODUCER30 31

which a womans voice au ningly c hans: Loser, looooose r. Who do you

hink you are? You are nohing bu one big a loser. Accompanying his

inonaion, a collecion o Apple x-in-a-bubble icons accumulae in

mouning piles a he botom o he screen.

I low scores persis over several days, he phone akes on he burden

o expressing he depression caused by imperecion in a shor video

called Sae o Despair. No longer able o uncion normally, he phone

plays he sound o a human sob in andem wih flucuaions in is brigh-

ness, hereby sending ou an o is nearby owner.

I riggered, he videos play hrough o compleion. Tis imposes, o he

embarrassmen o he phones owner, an audible oupouring o emoion-

al disress on he surrounding environmen.

On he surace, he Weeping iPhoneransorms he phone ino a vulner-

able objec. Te program promps he user o atend o her phone, and,

in reurn, her perecion (as well as any emoional disress). Te Weep-

ing iPhones shor videos ridicule he ervency wih which we are atached

o our cell phones, and he reliance ha ensues.

THE PROTOTYPE

Te Language o Our iPhones

Te Weeping iPhonenoificaions call atenion o disinc norms

we have acceped i n our iner aces, like push noific aions, he A pple

iconography, and iPhone screen brighness. Tough noificaions can

be urned o ff, he deaul setings on any Apple produc offers users

ongoing alers and updaes or heir calendars, emails, games, and more.

For some, hese noificaions are liesavers. For ohers, hey are nuisanc-es ready o be promply disabled. I find hese pop-ups humorous. Tey

seem so serious your appoinmen is now ye heir sudden appear-

ance and horizonal-recangular orma, is reminiscen o he colorul

pop-up adverisemens ha appeared on early web browsers.

Push noificaions, as visual inerrupions, are an acceped par o he

iOS user inerace. urning his push noificaion ino a video, hereby

adding he elemen o ime, exacerbaes he role o visual inrusion ha

enables Apples noificaions o work so well.

Te Weeping iPhonerepurposes he iPhone iconography o an x-ou

bubble or deleing s ofware and applicaions a nd he phones screen

brighnes s unc ion (he ulimae bate ry draine r). I inegraes hese

mechanisms (ha are unique o he language o he iPhone) wih he

human voice rom he more radiional ran oLoser Syndrome, o he

universal and visceral expression o crying. By combining hese wo lan-

guages, he piece calls atenion o he dichoomy ha (wesern) sociey

has se up beween echnology and human.


30/73

Sooopathetic.You are dumb! Loooooooser

looooser.

You are

probably

the biggest

worthless

waste of

space and

disappointment

that has ever

lived, in the

history of

all time.

You are nothing

but one big fat

loser.

Te video-sills below demonsrae he

30-second push noificaion which plays i a users

Perec Human Score drops below he 10h percenile..

LOSER

SYNDROME

Increasing iPhone luminosity.

Te video-sills show he inrusive noificaion

which plays when low scores persis over several

days. In he video, screen luminosiy flucuaes

in andem wih he loud sobs o a woman crying.

STATE OF

DESPAIR


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THE WEEPING IPHONETHE REPRODUCER34 35

We have come o dis inguis h beween he hard, cold scie nce o echnol-

ogy and he sof, warm absracion o humaniy. Te Weeping iPhone

quesions: wha is he relaionship beween hem? Are hey really disin-

guishable or comparable as wo disinc opposies? When he user lisens

o he iPhone crying, does he or she gree i wih empahy or laugher?

And i w ih laugher, is i ou o discom or a discomor res uling

rom he unnaural sound o despair emiting rom a amiliar device? Or

is i a discomor rom he ear ha echnology will someday seal our

abiliy o weep?

Te Weeping iPhoneoblieraes he dichoomy beween he languageo he digial (he Apple iconography) and he language o us humans

(raning, crying). By anhropomorphizing he Apple iconography

and urning he expression o emoion ino he uncion o a designed

affordance, he noificaions conflae he dis inc roles o human and

device in an evermore inimae relaionship. Furher, in heory o course,

he applicaion asks us o consider wha kind o affordances we ake or

graned in our digial s ysems.

Emotions

Te use o emoional expression raises an array o issues. By linking he

Weeping iPhoneresponses o paricular scores rom he , he noifica-

ion sysem parallels our process o naming and hereby delineaing our

emoions. Tis simplifies he complexiy o he human abiliy o eel.

Caegorizing and medicaing emoions like sadness, anxiey, ear is an

imprecise and undeveloped science (driven by he pharmaceuical indus-

ry). When considering psychiary as a science ha aims o quaniy and

conrol, i doesn seem ar-eched o imagine a world where diagnoses

like depression, anxiey disorder, and schizophrenia are shifed ino he

domain o echnology.

A he same ime, wachi ng an iPhone cr y is un ny. Is unny because ,

firs, i doesn make sense. Why would an iPhone be able o express such

inimae emoions when we have such a d ifficul ime doing he same?

I is also uncomorable o see such a display o vulnerabiliy in public.

In ac, as i is socially unaccepable o ran and cry in public, doesn i

makes sense o give ha expression over o somehing else like our

phones? Wouldn i be caharic?

Conclusion

Jus as he pis qu aniy aga ins qua liy, he Weeping iPhonesesechnology agains humaniy. By anhropomorphizing he cell phone,

he Weeping iPhonevideo alers conflae his divide. Te consumer he

paradigm o emoion akes he role o he hearless and annoyed

bysander, whi le he cold ech nology expres ses he d iscomor o e mo-

ional vulnerabiliy wih an indulgen ran o sel-hared and he primal

wail. Caugh off guard, he consumer may see his or her own v ulner-

abiliy mirrored in he reflecive glass i jus or a ew seconds and in

ha momen, he or she is meaphorically ransormed ino he uneeling

machine, unil he humor and annoyance o he siuaion se in.

Tough he Weeping iPhonedoes no i lluminae he digiized ineracion

as a commodiy, i does reflec on he repercussions o such consump-

ion. As consumers in he radiional sense, so much o our ideniy and

sel-worh are consruced rom wha we choose o consume. Tese deci-

sions differeniae us rom one anoher; hey inorm our saus and class,

dicae our sandard o living, and embody our belie sysems, morals,

and personal values. Our choices hold weigh, and as hey become ied

o he digial spaces we inhabi, hey carry a similar impac as choosing

which neighb orhood we live in or wha car we should buy.


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THE REPRODUCER36

While he looke d a our enw ined concep ion o sel-wor h wih

our glowing screens, he Weeping iPhoneis a reflecion on how hese

digiized ineracions, as commodiies ha inorm ideniy, relae o he

burden o emoion al vul nerabiliy. Te ears raised by Sherry urkle can

be easily moc ked, bu hey a re grounded in a ge nuine concern abou ha

relaionship. As our digial ineraces become more and more seamless,

and as issues o usabiliy dissipae, we have o consider he impac on our

emoional awareness.


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age rom ruck diions .

PART 2

USER AS

PRODUCER


34/73

PRODUCERS IN DYNAMIC MEDIA SOCIETY

In Par I, we examined digiized ineracions as

commodiies o consumpion: he user acing as

consumer. In Par II, we reverse our perspecive o

examine he user, as a producer. As we consume on

Facebook by reading and sharing a link o a Buzzeed

aricle, or example we are simulaneously producing

conen ha can laer be read, or consumed, by ohers.

I isn ha we creae he aricle we do no research,

compile, wrie, and publish i bu he ac o sha ring

reproduces he conen, in a unique consumable link;

unique, i only, due o is very own imesamp and oher

meadaa creaed rom he ac o reposing. As Facebook

calls i , his even, creaes a new ype o user: ha o

he reproducer.


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USER AS PRODUCERTHE REPRODUCER42 43

PRODUCER AS REPRODUCER

In his conex, he ac o producing unique conen on our digial iner-

aces rom uploading a phoo, o sending an email, o searching on a

browser is srai ghorward . And he role o he producer, as dis cussed

earlier, is simulaneously, ha o he consumer.

However, here is anoher way o undersand his siuaion. Consider he

erminology associaed wih sharing already-produced conen online:

we re-blog, or re-wee. By par aki ng in hes e specific in eracions,

a user may ake on he role o a consumer or a producer, bu she is also,

always, a reproducer.

Because all conneced acions are racked by digial sur veillance sysems,

any and all d igiized ineracions are produced again,reproduced, by he

algorihm or services ha collec, aggregae, and analyze hem. Hulu.com

keeps rack o no jus wha we wach bu when and or how long we

sream media. Google AdSenseknows which iems we buy and which we

haven ye bough. Beyond our browser window, companies and govern-

men agencies know when, where, and how heir services are being used.

Our clicks are reproduced as digiized records. Tereore, wheher a

user is producing heir own unique conen or re-posing conen rom

anoher user, all digiized ineracions become reproduce-able, urning

users, in whaever role hey are playing, ino reproducers.

It might seem logical that

the algorithm, which actively

reproducesthe data, would

play the role of reproducer.

However, it is users who

create the data being repro-

duced as they choose interact

on digital platforms. To call

attention to that choice (and

its implicit agency or power),

I have identified users asreproducers.

The red repro-

ducer indicatesthat no matter

which role the

user plays, he or

she is always a

reproducer.

REPRODUCER

CONSUMER

PRODUCER

USER

A his poin, I'd li ke o acknowle dge a paricu lar conex or wh ich o

consider he erminology a hand. Consider Waler Benjamin's inamous

Te Work o Ar in he Age o Is echnological Reproducibiliy. In his

pivoal essay, Benjamin examines he repercussions o changes in he

relaions and echnologies o producion, wha Karl Marx calls he base,

on he meaning and value o a work o ar represenaive o Marx's con-

cep o a supersrucure. Te absrac culural and poliical ideologies

implied by Marxs supersrucure and in Benjamins essay as an objec o

ar, can be seen as parallel o wha I call value in his hesis: an absrac

undercurren o economic, culural, and social srucures.

Benjamin, specifically, looks a he impac o hese changes on "he re-

producion o arworks" as well as how hese echnologies are employed

in he service o arisic pracices, "he ar o film" (). However, I

bring hi m up, no o discu ss ari sic pracice , bu nod o he ask he laid

ou or himsel as similar o he one in his hesis: an examinaion o how

reproducion via new echnologies affec conceps o meaning and value

in sociey. We can also examine he new qualiies o he echnologies

o reproducion oday, as heir differences accoun or a deparure rom

"he Age o echnological Reproducibiliy."

In Invening he Medium, published as he firs o wo inroducions in

heNew Media R eader (), Jane H. Murray describes digial media

wih "ou r definin g qualiie s: is procedura l, parici paory, encyclopedic,

and spaial properies" (). Te ormer wo properies allow or wha we

hink o as he defining experience o he digial medium, is 'ineraciv-

iy. Tey allow users o "speciy procedures which will no merely be

recorded bu execued," and manipulae "is processes and daa." For

Murray hese properies creae an immersive environmen, wih an

illusion o space, or cerebral deph, creaed by links o inormaion

resembling an encyclopedia. Murray likens he inricacy o he digi-

al environmen, firs o he poeic complexiy o Jorge Luis BorgesGarden o Forking Pahs (a shor sory ha is a labyrinh o infinie


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regression in boh orm and conen). And second, she likens he deph

o his environmen o he limiless and dynamic i normaion rails o

Vannevar Bus hs Memex (a ficional compua ional desk e nvisioned b y

he engineer in his Alanic Monhly essay As We May Tink).

Lev Manovich, in Te Language o New Media(), underakes a simi-

lar ariculaion o he properies o new and digial media. His principles

are: numerical represenaion, modulariy, auomaion, variabiliy, and

ranscoding (see chaper , Principles o New Media). Manovichs

principles explain ha all new media are numerically coded and modular

in srucure. Tis accouns or manipulaion by auomaed processes

(or algorihmic models) wih poenially infinie () variable resuls

o creae dynamic and ineracive neworked srucures, which he calls

media daabases or hypermedia. So, like Murray, Manovich recogniz-

es ha he infinie reproducibiliy o digial media by he reproducer

creaes a limiless, branching, ever-evolving digial environmen. In

poeic erms, reproducibiliy oday possesses a unseen deph.

Te inricacies o his deph, reverberae in an absrac undercurren o

economic, culural, and social ideologies, which Manovich reerences by

his principle o ranscoding. In my hesis, hose reverberaions srucure

value. And he orces respon sible or he cons ruci ng his digia l land-

scape o dynamic media are he reproducer and he algorihm.


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Codes are culural objecs embedded and

inegraed wihin a social sysem whose

logic, rules, and explici uncioning work

o deermine he new condiions o

possibiliies o users lives.

Cheney-Lippold, A New Algori hmic Ide niy

THE ALMIGHTY ALGORITHM

For my purposes, an algorihm is se o sysemaic procedures ha

make calculaions. While he highly complex procedures and compua-

ions ha compuer models are capable o are above he grasp o mos

laypeople, as well as lay-echnology, he undamenals o algorihms

are reminiscen o grade-school mahemaics: hey ake an iniial se o

inpu daa and ac on ha daa in a sysem o successive procedures o

produce an oupu. oday, algorihms collec, scrape, and mine daa;

hey find paterns and make predicions rom overlapping and inerrela-ing daases; hey evolve and ge smarer. Tey ransorm he digiized

ineracions we produce ino valuable (or no so valuable) commodiies.

In Ria RaleysDaaveilla nce and Coun ervailanc e, she wries:

we are hus in he mids o wha is exuberanly called a Daa Renais-

sance Daa has been figured as a gold mine and as he new oil o heInerne and he new currency o he digial world ().

She oulines he expansive new markeplaces or daa like BlueKai,

where daa is raded like socks wi h daa-ha ndlers and d aa-brokers.

O ineres, is ha he value o hese daases is ofen speculaive. Te

daa is raw; i awais exrapolaion, circulaion, and speculaion. For

our purposes, he erm raw daa works like a charm. And i is he algo-

rihm ha ransorms he raw daa we produce rom absrac quaniy

ino useul, and valuable inormaion. I daases are our ubes o pain,

he algorihm is our painbrush.

Tere is, however, a orewarning o be considered beore we coninue.

Embedded in boh o hese componens , he daa and he algorihm, is

he objecive neuraliy associaed wih mahemaics, science, and ech-

nology. In he inroducion o heir book Raw Daa is an Oxymoron,

Lisa Gielman and co-auhor Virginia Jackson eleganly describe daaas a complex concep because o is roubled hisorical relaionship o


38/73


neuraliy. Te auhors aim o look under daa o consider heir roo as-

sumpions (). Teir poin is ha daases, and he algorihmic models

a work, are designed objecs creaed by an auhor wih specific purposes.

Gielman and Jackson make a ew wonderul poins on his mater.

Firs, quoing Lev Manovich, hey wrie, Daa [do] no jus exis, [hey

need o be] generaed. Daa are imagined and enunciaed agains he

seamlessness o phenomena so daa garner immanence in he circum-

sances o heir imaginaion (). Te very abiliy o produce paricular

daases which allow ech sar-ups o succeed in bringing us he nex

new app is ingrained in our paricular economic, culural, and socialconexs.

Furhermore, how we analyze daa is subjec o he same orces. One

o Gielman and Jacksons final poins is ha daa comes in he orm o

daum discree unis in conras o he fluidiy o inormaion. As a

resul, daa are organized ino ables and chars, wihin which are hier-

archies. Te auhors poin, aken rom Geoffrey C. Bowker and Susan

Leigh Sars book Soring Tings Ou, is ha hese hierarch ies are shaped

by social order. Ye when phenomena a re variously red uced o daa, hey

are divided and classified, processes ha work o obscure or as i o

obscure ambiguiy, conflic, and conradicion ().

However, inerpreing our complex (and almighy) algorihms as

designed ariacs is difficul. In Te Real Privacy Problem (),Evgeny

Morozov eaures ransparen Predicions, a recen paper by al Zar-

sky, law proessor a Haia Universiy. Aligned wih Manovich, Bowker,

and Sar, Zarsky noes:

Analy ss carr y ou exensive asks and h ave ample oppor uniy o leave

an ideological (and poenially hidden) impression on he process. Teseopporuniies are eviden rom he very sar o he predicive process; hedaase mus be acively consruced, a imes by bringing ogeher daa

rom various sources. Tis ask requires various decisions, such as whichdaabases should be used. Oher decisions are more suble, wha couns as

an even which will rigger analysis. ()

Te process o accumulaing and mining daa, along w ih he param-

eers and variables, are all decisions designed or a specific goal. How-

ever, Zarskys ineres is no in he lack o objeciviy o daa-modeling

algorihms, bu raher in he ransparency, or abiliy o inerpre, o he

housands o variables and decisions hese sysems are buil upon:

a non-inerpreable process migh ollow rom a daa-mining analysis

which is no e xplainable i n human lang uage (). Tough Zarsky

maps ou he complexiies o making he design process o algorihmic

sysems ever-more ransparen, he noes ha even ransparency o

predicive behavioral paterns does no necessary make adequae or wise

ools or predicive modeling.

In any case, he neuraliy wih which wed like o associae wih our

echnologies and advanced mahemaics is a problemaic lens. However,

i is a lens ha is easy o shater. Te algorihm, as a designed objec, is

permeaed wih hisory, poliics, and socieal behaviors, rich wih a

perspecive all is own. In his hesis, we examine he algorihm as an

objec whose purpose is o ransorm he ac o digial consumpion ino

an inrasrucure o producion, sans labor coss (as well as ransorming

all users ino reproducers).


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Daa are everywhere and

piling up in dizzying amouns .

Lisa Gielman and Virginia Jackson, Raw Daa is an Oxymoron

THE ALGORITHM AND THE REPRODUCER

As producers, our d igiiz ed inerac ions resul i n he accumu laion o

massive quaniies o daa. Collecively, his amoun o daa is unahom-

able a , irelessly changing, inerrelaed deluge o numbers. Bu

hrough advancemens in compuer science, wih applied algorihmic

models, he digial inrasrucure o a Dynamic Media Sociey gives

hese numbers meaning. Tis is he inrasrucure o reproducion us-

er-produced daa, reproduced by algorihmic sysems, which srucure

meaning, auhoriy, and value. In he ollowing examples, I will examinehe power dynamics beween he algorihm as a orm o conrol relian

on socially generaed, reproduced, daases and he reproducer he

agen clickers creaing he daa in quesion.

o begin, les look a he specific example o ideniy in relaion o he

user, or reproducer. I draw on Universiy o Michigan researchers John

Cheney-Lippolds A New Algorihmic Ideniy: Sof Biopoliics and

he Modulaion o Conrol. Lippold looks a how algorihmic models

o surveillance, ofen used in markeing and adverising, define online

caegories o idenificaion, specifically gender. His ineres is in how his

algorihmic inerence acs as a orm o conrol. He ocuses on he web

analyics firm Quancas:

Te algorihmic process ha I will ocus on in his aricle looks a he webanalyics firm Quancas as i iners cerain caegorical idenificaions

rom seemingly meaningless web daa. As new inormaion ges creaedabou an individual hrough he racking o her web presence, a usersideniy becomes more defined wihin he sysem in accord wih he logic

o Quancass idenificaion algorihmsTe implici disorder o daacolleced abou an individual is organized, defined, and made valuable by

algorihmically assigning meaning o user behavior and in u rn limiinghe poenial excess o meanings ha raw daa offer. ()

Tis is he process o reproducion, where user produced daa is repur-posed by compuer models o srucure meaning in his case gender.


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Wha is u nique abou h is cyberne ic sysem() is ha gender i s no

longer a sraighorward caegory based on biology, bu raher a fluid and

dynamic process:

Algori hms allow a shif o a more fle xible and u ncional defi ning o hecaegory, one ha de-essenializes gender rom is corporeal and socieal

orms Gender becomes a vecor, a compleely digial and mah-basedassociaion ha defines he meaning o maleness, emaleness, or whaever

oher gender (or caegory) a markeer requires. ()

In oher words, gender, reed rom corporealiy, becomes a modula-

ing caegory, responsive o algorihmic inerpreaion o user daa, orreproducion. Bu mos imporanly, gender becomes a caegory defined

o exrac value rom raw daa in order o sui he needs o he marke.

In he case o Quancas, he caegory o algorihmically defined gender

deermines wha kind o conen (in he orm o adverisemens) a

user comes ino conac wih. Because he sysem is responsive o all

digiized ineracions, no jus individual users, conrol is no a direc

poliical inervenion enaced on an individual, bu raher he capac-

iy o suggesion o sofly persuade users owards models o normalized

behavior and ide niy hrough he con san redefi niion o ca egories

o ideniy. Te algorihms offer markeers he powers o ell us who

we are, wha we wa n, and who we shou ld be (). Cheney-Lippolds

warnin g is ha he algorih m is being u sed as a ool o power a nd conrol,

by is abili y o consan ly render our daa as meaning ul, mak ing

relevan inerences abou wha ha daa can mean (). Te original

inens and purposes o our ineracions, like our biologically defined

gender, are rendered meaningless.

Te abiliy o ransorm he disorder o digiized ineracions ino mean-

ingul and applied inormaion is erriying, especially i we look beyond

adverising ino how inrasrucures wih legislaive power could use

i. Consider research conduced by legal academics Ariel Pora and Lior

Jacob Srahile viz, a he Universi y o Chicago, exa mini ng how big

JOHN CHENEY-LIPPOLD

University of Michigan faculty

in Digital Environments.

daa mining echniques o individual ciizens can allow or more per-

sonal law including consumer conracs like rus and wills ailored

o individual ciizens. Te algorihmic models ransorm user daa ino

an auomaed applicaion o legal auhoriy. Pora and Srahileviz aim o

reduce malpracice and boos efficiency, bu he greaer repercussions or

liigaion and legislaion are righening.

Despie he disregard or he individual behind he clicks, can we

consider he user, insead, as an agen producer and an inegral orce in

creaing meaningul applicaions o inormaion? By no means does his

quesion miigae he ears oulined above, bu i does gran us, as users,a more empowered poin o view. Daa does no come rom nowhere. I

comes direcly rom us as a sociey o clicks.

ake Uber (uber.com), he smarphone-based car-or-hire service. Tis

service offers is consumers a variey o ineresing choices including a

syle scale (o order upscale cars or special occasions), as well as direc

paymen rom a credi card (Cashless & Convenien, heir websie

boass). However, he mos a scinai ng aspec o U ber as a serv ice is

ha i operaes on surge pricing: as demand in a paricular locaion or

cabs rise, he price o he are increases as well. NPRs Plane Money

podcas covered he economic pains and gains o Ubers surge pricing

in Why Paying $192 For a 5-Mile Car Ride May Be Raional (Febru-

ary 7, ). Here, our ineres in Ubers pricing mehodology has less

o do wih he heoreical and applied benefis o surge pricing, bu

raher how surge pricing is implemened. As Zoe Chase repors, Uber

knows wha people do when hey see a surge, and so hey know how

many people close he app a hree imes or our imes or five imes [he

normal price]. Andrew McDonald, regional general manager o Uber

Midwes, responds, So, we do have daa obviously mos o ha is

proprieary bu we rus he way he daa and our algorihm work righ

now, which is ha he muliple increases unil he poin where here is asupply and demand equilibrium.


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Tough he invisible algorihm ransorms ineracions ino applied

value, he d riving orce behind he value o a car r ide is he d igiize d

ineracion produced by consumers o Uber a a given ime.

Or consider, he media-sreaming epicener Neflix. In his recen New

York imes Magazinearicle, Te Pos-Hope Poliics o House o

Cards, Adam Seinbergh wries:

Neflix knows a lo abou wha you wach. No jus generally, bu in agranular, daa-driven, clicks-and-duraion-o-viewing ime way. I knowswha everyone on Ne flix wach es, and how much hey wach i, a nd how

all o his migh ranslae ino wha people wan o wach nex.

Te Neflix algorihm ransormed user clicks ino a valuable, or desired,

commodiy: in his case, he hi series House o Cards. Tough he suc-

cess o Neflixs algorihm ulimaely works o benefi Neflix no he

user migh we see he algorihm as lisening o our desires? We ge

wha we wan: o binge-wach ye anoher hi e levision s how. O course,

no all o us wan o escape ino he ficional world o D.C. poliics, bu

his is no he place o debae he morals and ehics o elevision and he

enerainmen indusry. Wha is o ineres is ha he success o Neflix

is relian on user consumpion repurposed by he algorihm ino mean-

ingul inormaion..

Wih Ube r and Nefli x, he user as a reproducer becomes a di rec orce

srucuring value in sociey. Even hough he user is mos cerainly re-

duced, hrough he quanificaion o clicks, and no equal o bu raher a

he mercy o he algorihm, he user is agen. Ye he user as reproducer

does no ac alone; he power behind hese new inrasrucures comes

rom he collecion o reproducers: he social nework.

In Fronline documenary Generaion Like (), producer Dougl as

Rushkoff sis down wih Oliver Lucket, owner o he social media sar-

up heAudience. Founded in , heAudience works o build sraegicneworks social neworks o ans o increase cliens

populariy and ame. Trough a vas array o algorihmic ools, Lucket

mines and parses social neworks o deermine where demographic

ineress, or likes, overlap wih poenial adverisers. Te social nework

isel becomes a desired commodiy or Lucket and his cliens. I

becomes a coveed me asure o succes s or musician s and acors, an d

Lucket works irelessly social neworks never sleep o build and

expand hese neworks hrough sraegically curaing conen and bro-

kering parnerships. As Rushkoff narraes, he camera cus o a compuer

screen open o an image o he handsome Michael revino, sar o Te

Vampire Diaries. On he screen, an inern is Phooshopping a Sana ha

ono his smiling ace. Luckets business o audience analyics, hough

relian on economic and culural opporuniies, is ocused on nururing

social value, by any means possible.

Similarly, Boson-based Dito (dito.us.com) employs he power o he

social nework. A rendy phoo-analyics sar-up, is sae-o-he-ar

echnology reads phoos shared in social media o find logos and he

people wih hem. Is unique algorihm, eaured wih a beter-han-

yours quali y, boass o over-a-de cade-in-he -maki ng seven-proprie ary

echnologies developed by MI engineers. I no only enables logo

deecion and social nework analysis, bu people insighs who

akes phoos o my brand? Wha is he senimen associaed wih

my brand? Wha phoos are aken beore and afer he phoos o my

brand? Dito ran sorms he social ne work o consumers i no produc-

ers o valuable conen or is cliens: Social phoos are like a / ocus

group. We ound ha Gaorade wasn jus consumed during exercise,

bu by eens du ring meals .

And hough hey are sel ling hei r abiliy o e mploy he in rasruc ure o

reproducion hrough exising social neworks, I was drawn o a litle

sidebar above heir Ge in ouch inormaion. I reads: Did you

know? Curren social lisening ools aren designed o analyze phoos.Tey miss % o phoos wih logos in hem. Bu no Dito

OLIVER L

Founder o

media sta


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Te choice phrase social lisening seems o humanize he echnology.

Te algorihm, despie is myserious and hreaening powers, becomes

capable o possessing he empahic qualiy o lisening. Furher, i

openly acknowledges he reliance o willing paricipans in already exis-

ing social neworks us. Tere needs o be a sociey o users o hear, in

order o finesse he ar o lisening o our daa.

Te algorihms o Uber, Neflix, heAudience, and Dito all ransorm

he consumer ino a producer o valuable conen, necessary o drive

heir services. However, o reflec, his inrasrucure o reproducion

relies on willing ye ree labor. Mos o us don give his muchhough, assuming, perhaps ha i is jus an expression o ree-marke

capialism. Bu why, despie argumens ha he issue o ree labor em-

ployed across he digial economy has hisorical roos in lae capialis

sysems o consumer sociey (erranova), don we recognize he user as

an empowered and necessary orce in sociey? I believe we have a choice:

he user can be seen as manipulaed, offering unrewarded supplies in

erms o clicks or he success o ohers, or we can undersand he user as

a conribuor in srucuring meaning and auhoring value in sociey.

Regardless o how we choose o answer hese quesions, i is sill

uncanny o visi Ditos Phoo Firehose and see he warning: Te

Phoo Firehose conains unfilered public images sourced rom witer,

umblr, and Insagram and many may be inappropriae or some view-

ers. In real ime, anyone can winess he algorihm a work phoos

appear, eauring no only Chick-fil-A and Sarbucks, bu he names

and handles o users. Did he picure I posed earlier oday o my late

pass hrough heir sysem? How would I eel i i appeared or all o see,

unbeknowns o me?

Mos o us are aware o he degree o which sofware surveillance has

permeaed our personal daa and habis as users o digial plaorms.

I's no jus ha he NSA has access o our Facebook profiles (hank you,

Zuckerberg), or ha ad campaigns can now be ailored o our search his-

ories. Collecively, our conneced ineracions, embodied in our clicks,

reproduced as large daases, are ransormed ino inormaion used

by naional se curiy prog rams, marke ing and ad verisi ng campaig ns,

law enorcemen and law-making, and he lis goes on. Te quesion o

he momen is wheher personal privacy sands a chance in he ace o

daaveillance sysems.

o ocus on privacy or a momen (wih an sligh ye imporan depar-

ure rom our role as reproducers), Morozovs Te Real Privacy Prob-

lem discusses he hrea o daaveillance. He makes he noeworhydisincion ha privacy, in and o isel, is no he end goal. Drawing

on he work o Spiros Smiis, Germanys leading privacy scholar and

praciioner, Morozov explains ha privacy is an ideal o a jus and air

democraic sociey: habis, aciviies, and preerences are compiled,

regisered, and rerieved o aciliae beter adjusmen, no o improve

he individuals capaciy o ac and decide. Morozovs encourages us o

consider he uure Inerne in erms o privacy, bu, he wries, is he

ae o democracy isel ha should be our primary goal.

Te gold, however, is Morozov inclusion o a warning by German phi-

losopher Jrgen Habermas. Morozov wries ha big daa, wih is many

inerconneced daabases ha eed on in ormaion and algorihms o

dubious provenance, imposes severe consrains on how we maure po-

liically and socially. Ciing Habermas, he wries, he challenge is ha

an exclusively echnical civilizaion is hreaened by he spliting o

human beings ino wo classes he social engineers and he inmaes o

closed social insiuions.

Morozov reers o hese closed social insiuions as surrounded by he

invisible barbed wire o big daa ha is no o our choosing and ha we

canno rebuild or expand. Te wors par is ha we do no see i as such.

Te reproducer, clearly Habermass inmae, is imprisoned inside he

Dataveilla

by Roger

to name

control pr

aggregati

(Raley, 12


43/73


barbed wire o he algori hm. However, despi e her presumed bl indness,

he reproducer may no be as impoen as Morozov makes her ou o be:

or i is he reproducers willing conribuions o digiized ineracions

ha eed he algorihmic regulaion; can we see he inmae as he one

welding he wire or her ence , insead?

Treas o our privacy and o democracy aside, les ocus on he power

sruggle beween reproducer and algorihm. Te capabiliies o sof-

ware are relia n on he record o u nknowi ng user inerac ions which are

ransormed ino applicable inormaion o rerame and conexualize

greaer quesions o sociey. Furher, i is a social insiuion, or i iswe, sociey a large, who produce he conen govern ing he econom ic

and culural value o goods, services, and auhoring inormaion. A lo

is a sake, bu even i sociey is blind, migh we examine he sofware as

empowering he social? Or does blindness render us powerless? Are we

mere pawns in his real-ime inrasrucure o daaveillance, rendering

our inens as individuals useless as hey seal value and meaning rom

behind our col lecive back?

Wih is abi liy o ra nsorm da a ino meani ngul appl icaions, he algo-

rihm becomes an invisible hrea (Cheney-Lippold, Pora and Srahilev-

iz), bu one relian on a user-generaed inrasrucure o reproducion

(Uber, Neflix). Defining users as reproducers allows us o see hem as

a necessary orce, responsible or creaing a powerul and valuable com-

modiy: he social nework (heAudience, Dito).

o conclude, Ive ouched on he issue o privacy and daaveillance, one

a he hear o conemporary media discussions abou echnological con-

rol. Te preceding survey o ideas and services o he Dynamic Media

Sociey offers a superficial examinaion o he complex power relaion-

ship beween he algorihm and he user as reproducer. My hope is ha,

i we ignore he issue o ree labor, we can begin o see he producion

o clicks, in and o isel, as a measure o user-generaed power, a new

uopian srucuring orce o social value. Can we culivae h is social

value as use rs, o reclaim agency or auho

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