User Inyerface, Mission Complete!
If you enjoy CAPTCHAs, creating passwords that fulfill a list of requirements, and spending time filling out forms with your personal information only to be met with errors, then you should definitely check out Bagaar’s User Inyerface. “User Inyerface” brilliantly captures and amplifies many of the annoyances that we face when companies use the web to gather information about us by creating the most poorly designed interface possible for data collection. However, interestingly enough, I could not help but reflect on how in many ways gone are the days where you had to register and fill-in a form with personal information. Now, you accept that the site uses “cookies” and are usually asked to subscribe to their newsletter for savings. In addition, to login you are offered the option to use your existing Facebook or Google accounts, and we willingly oblige to sidestep the process of filling out yet another form requesting personal information. However, what information about us are Facebook and Google providing to these partners? I do not even know…because like most people, I do not read the terms and conditions.
Awhile ago, I actually had a look at the data that Google has gathered on me. If you follow the instructions here you can have a look at the inferences that Google has made based on your user history and how it targets your advertisements. Google knew a lot about me – my age range, education, estimated household salary, my marital status, the fact that I am a parent, and interests. It was a little off in regards to my occupation which was interesting as I feel that I search for a lot of educational materials and resources. However, it seemed to think that I might be in the medical field…maybe due to all the research that I have done on Covid-19? Nonetheless, it is disturbing to realize how much information these tech giants are collecting on us, and how little we know about how it is being used.
I did not think that I was completely oblivious to the fact that these tech giants are gathering information and making inferences about us. However, it was not until I watched The Social Dilemma on Netflix that like many, I became aware of how this information is being used to sell our attention and manipulate our emotions as well as our actions (Rhodes, 2020). In the TedTalk “Tristan Harris: How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day”, Harris (2017) discusses the ethical problems and lack of oversight with how the algorithms are being used to influence us, and he also references how this is being done with kids. As a mother and educator, I would like to hope that this is maybe where we would start making (or demanding) changes as a society.
Furthermore, after watching Zeynep Tufekci’s (2017) TedTalk “We’re building a dystopia just to make people click on ads”, I am now even more concerned about YouTube than I was previously. A lot of media (and even political) attention recently seems to have focused on Facebook and how they influence users’ decisions. However, considering that YouTube is where the majority of children get their “start” when it comes to using a platform that is actively selling their attention and has the power to manipulate their beliefs (Tufekci, 2017), maybe this is where the change needs to begin. Tufekci (2017) describes how YouTube has the tendency to take you down a rabbit hole of introducing increasingly extreme views and the potential it has to radicalize an individual. In terms of how susceptible our society has been of late to the spread of disinformation and hate where the roots can often be traced back to a viral YouTube video, we as parents and educators really need to be demanding more transparency and control in regards to the algorithms that are being used.
The dangers unregulated algorithms pose to our children extends far beyond typical advertisements that may just have your child requesting they latest toy that they see in an unboxing (Tufekci, 2017), and writing me a note like my 6 year old daughter did recently asking for a “Scruffaluff” [Scruff-a-luv]. This now just seems like the tip of the iceberg. The real danger is the fact that she would probably spend all day watching YouTube videos if I would let her as that’s how engaging it is (and the same goes for my 13 year old son), and it’s impossible to know the extent to which what they are watching is influencing their thoughts and opinions at such an impressionable time. It is just hard to know how to mobilize society to work together to eliminate or reduce the underlying manipulations that are taking place when children use this streaming platform. However, then I pause and wonder if I have just turned into my parents who probably felt the same way about TV and video games?
References
Bagaar (n.d.). User inyerface. https://userinyerface.com/
Harris, T. (2017, April). Tristan Harris: How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day [Video]. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/tristan_harris_how_a_handful_of_tech_companies_control_billions_of_minds_every_day?language=en
Holmes, A. (2020, March 19). Clicking this link lets you see what Google thinks it knows about you based on your search history – and some of its predictions are eerily accurate. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/what-does-google-know-about-me-search-history-delete-2019-10#when-you-opt-to-turn-off-ad-personalization-youll-see-this-message-reminding-you-that-ads-will-still-appear-but-be-less-targeted-to-you-11
Rhodes, L. (Director). (2020). The social dilemma [Film]. Netflix. https://www.netflix.com
Tufekci, Z. (2017, September). Zeynep Tufekci: We’re building a dystopia just to make people click on ads [Video]. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/zeynep_tufekci_we_re_building_a_dystopia_just_to_make_people_click_on_ads?language=en
2 responses to “Attention Economy”