Web Connection Density

Word Airplane Traffic

myths and tensions of the digital age

global media access = diversity?

If the global flow of atoms is constrained by trade restrictions and by taste, and the flow of people by employment opportunities and immigration laws, the flow of information is constrained by our interest and attention…

We pay attention to what we care about and, especially, to persons we care about.

Information may flow globally, but our attention tends to be highly local and highly tribal; we care more deeply about those with whom we share a group identity and much less about a distant “other.”

Ethan ZukermanDigital Cosmopolitans: Why We Think the Internet Connects Us, Why It Doesn't, and How to Rewire It

the illusion of diversity

How much media use?

http://onesecond.designly.com/

myths and tensions

The parity of digital media access

Global Internet Penetration

http://thewebindex.org (visualizations)

Word Airplane Traffic

Internet Traffic: How evenly distributed globally?

Real time: http://www.akamai.com/html/technology/dataviz1.html

Global Air Traffic vs Global Internet

Online Censorship

Internet Penetration & Accessibility

Consumption vs Production

What do we produce… Revolution?

Internet Access vs Mobile phones

7+ billion people on EarthOnly 40% have access to internet http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-

users/ 75% have access to mobile phones (2012)

Global Internet Penetration

Mobile vs desktops internet access

Mobile vs desktops internet access

Syrians (and Syrian refugees) during war

Social Network vs Email

myths and tensions

The homogeneity of digital media access

World Dominant Social Network?

World Dominant Social Network?

but that was yesteryear….

Social Networks video

myths and tensions

The benefits/risks of digital media access

Location-Based Services: “Geolocators”

Zimbabwe

Monitoring illegal forestry…

and disaster.

Haiti Earthquake

Facets of privacy threats in the digital age

• TMI (Too Much Information)• Data Tracking (Commercial)• Data Tracking (Government)

TMI

• Silly– Does anyone really care what you had for breakfast?– How many “selfies” are too many? Narcissistic or empowering?

• Serious – Cyber bullying, risk to minors, stupid/criminal behavior

• 78% of kids in the US experience cyber bullying. • In 2012: 15-year-old Amanda Todd committed suicide after 2 years of

relentless harassment online.

Photo by Ela

Narcissistic

Photo by Ela

TMI

• Silly– Does anyone really care what you had for breakfast?– How many “selfies” are too many? Narcissistic or empowering?

• Serious – Cyber bullying, risk to minors, stupid/criminal behavior

• 78% of kids in the US experience cyber bullying. • In 2012: 15-year-old Amanda Todd committed suicide after 2 years of

relentless harassment online.

TMI: Privacy threats

TMI: Privacy threats

TMI: Privacy threats

Mind Reader Video

TMI: Privacy threats

Data Tracking and Gathering (Commercial)

• What is the primary goal of Facebook?• How many of you read the conditions before signing up?• How valuable ($$) are data for companies?

Terms and Conditions Video

Data Tracking and Gathering (Commercial)

• How much can companies know about us?

Target video

Data Tracking and Gathering (Government Surveillance)

• All this data: a goldmine for governments!• Government surveillance is on the rise globally.

– USA (NSA), Russia, Iran, China, Syria, Germany, Brazil…– Guardian report on government surveillance

Data Tracking and Gathering (Government Surveillance)

Data requests received by Google

Data Tracking and Gathering (Government Surveillance)

Data requests received by Google (by country)

myths and tensions

The neutrality of digital media access

Understanding Search Engines

• Components of a search engine (keyword based)– Crawler: Constantly explores the web, copies, updates (ping) &

delivers pages to the search engine provider.– Indexer: Analyzes delivered pages, extracts search terms and

indexes them in a database– Runtime system: answers queries, returning most relevant pages

from the indexer.

• Key is the meaning of “most relevant”– Implications of Google’s “PageRank”

Search Engines

• Search engines are not neutral but follow intentional algorithms

• Increasingly personal and invisible algorithms that may create “filter bubbles”

Filter Bubble (until 4:45)

Net Neutrality

• A two-tier internet?

John Oliver Net Neutrality

myths and tensions

The diversity of digital media access

Global Access = diversity?

If the global flow of atoms is constrained by trade restrictions and by taste, and the flow of people by employment opportunities and immigration laws, the flow of information is constrained by our interest and attention…

We pay attention to what we care about and, especially, to persons we care about.

Information may flow globally, but our attention tends to be highly local and highly tribal; we care more deeply about those with whom we share a group identity and much less about a distant “other.”

Ethan ZukermanDigital Cosmopolitans: Why We Think the Internet Connects Us, Why It Doesn't, and How to Rewire It

The illusion of diversity and global access

Facebook app