Lyon's article discusses Snowden's revelations as it related to state-based surveillance and Big Data today. This question Lyon poses in his piece stuck out to me: "what type of society do we want to live in?"
In order to answer this, I have to reflect on my own way of approaching my contributions to Big Data first. I don't think too much about the permanence of my posts. I do believe that I have a subconscious drive to make sure the posts I write on social and media and the like don't incriminate or endanger me in any way, but I also know that everything is a matter of interpretation (and therefore useless to mull over and stress about until it is perfect). While this may be a difficult pill to swallow, it's what really keeps us from being a society "marked by fear and mutual suspicion". It may be a stretch, but I believe that most netizens already live in blissful ignorance, aware of surveillance and permanence, and yet continually choosing to express themselves freely on various social media outlets.
And this is the type of society I want to live in: fearless, reckless, (dumb), and endlessly entertaining.
References
Lyon, David (2014). Surveillance, Snowden, and big data: Capacities, consequences, critique. Big Data & Society 1(2): 1-13
Hey Karl, your post got me reflecting on my own participation in social media and contributions to Big Data. I recall how in class, Dr. Grimes mentioned how children nowadays are getting educated on what and what not to share online. Even if they aren't they are on some level aware of the implications can be...
ReplyDeleteWhen I joined Facebook in grade 9, social media was a new world to me. I did not consider what could happen or who could see what I wrote. I would post candid statuses of whatever I was thinking or feeling at the time.
I definitely notice that I've moved away from that tendency and no longer share or participate as carefree as I had before knowing the implications of my posts.
I SELF MONITOR AND I'M PROUD!