Theories of Emerging Media and Communications Review

Guardian article by Greenwald about information Snowden leaked

"Glenn Greenwald, provides an in-depth look into the NSA scandal that has triggered a national debate over national security and information privacy. With further revelations from documents entrusted to Glenn Greenwald by Edward Snowden himself, this book explores the extraordinary cooperation between private industry and the NSA, and the far-reaching consequences of the government's surveillance program, both domestically and abroad"

Vannevar Bush; "As We May Think"

Bush published works known as "As We May Think" discussing the effects of scientific destruction and then further discussing the technologies that were created using the same science for war, including the initial premise for the computer.

Tufecki; "Engineering the Public"

Corporations use Facebook as a way to advertise their products based on the interests of the users. They use the Gramascian Model of social control, or in a more definitive sense, using things that we enjoy and desire as a way to give them attention through the use of "desired interests." The author is concerned that some of Facebook's user don't see these "adjustments" as an issue. While the media continues to change our perception of news and the collection of information, it begins to change us as people. Additionally, as companies and corporations continue to flourish, their access to technologies that identify and moderate our networks multiply. With such increase, our entire perception of media can be swayed in any direction they please. Agreeing with Tufecki, users should have a say in whether they want their news feeds being manipulated or not.

Generative Technology

Dynamic, re-programmable equipment not limited to hardware. A generative piece of technology, like the general purpose personal computer, can be used or programmed to do whatever the user needs it for. The beauty of the generative Apple 2 was that users did not have to work for or even partner with Apple in order to program for it. Anyone who could write code could run it on the Apple 2 and those with code-writing friends could run their own programs as well. It gives control to the user and not the vendor.

Nakamura; "Identity Tourism and Racial Passing on the Internet"

Early in this article, Nakamura uses the approach of website interface design to examine in the network structure of Race. She points out that the text-based chatrooms example like LamdaMOO put the sex, sexual preference, religion and age into the race category, instead of identitying the "white" as a category, which means the site assumes the user is white. Then, she claims that the internet was almost completely composed of middle-class white men at that time. Also, she argues that many of these white men like to impersonated Asian women to get attention in these new social spaces. She uses another component of the internet usenet newsgroups to support her argument. The usenet newsgroup called "alt.sex " dedicated soley to asiansis also the only one of the infamous "alt.sex" newsgroups which overtly focuses upon race. Nakamura's article main focuses on how people change their race, gender and appearance on the internet and examines how in role-playing communities differ from the reality. These readings explained that online, people (often white men) sometimes pretend to be of a different racial group and that when they do so, typically they embody very stereotyped caricatures of people of color

Monahan and Gillom; "Surveillance" Social media & Internet use

Everything online generates data, which is subsequently stored and recorded. Gilliom and Monahan make sure to stress this point in this chapter in which they depict our lives online and how closely our actions are documented. They open with the benefits of the internet, being connected to others, expressing oneself, and accessing vast amounts of available information. Next the duo touches on how algorithms are used to make your access more personal in order to better suit you. Which begs the question of what searches are private or not? Social Networks and friends are touched next, the concept of sharing and oversharing in order to get attention from others online. We want to know people care about what we are doing, and don't mind that we are publishing our pictures to friends as well as submitting them to be archived possibly being used against us in the future. The privacy settings of Facebook being ever changing is mentioned, and sheds light on the fact that most users are in the dark about the lifespan of the things that they post.

Open Source

Exclusively deals with software, and means the source code is openly available, allowing for modification, and that the software may be redistributed freely. Much open source software is free of cost, but some applications do carry licensing fees. (ex. Firefox, wordpress, java)

Dunn; "Too Liked to Fail"

Gaby Dunn's "Get rich or die vlogging: The sad economics of internet fame" concerns the real financial struggles that YouTubers face every day regardless of possessing a substantial following. She discusses the lifestyle of a YouTuber, and how they financially and socially keep up with their online career. She provides several examples of famous and smaller content creators to explain the different metrics of how the YouTube business works. Further on, she reveals the harsh reality behind the false perceptions of YouTubers, including herself, financial success and what it truly means to be a "sell-out" on YouTube. Dunn explains how although the online community may be full of happy personas expressing a passion for their interests, it's a hard way to make a living. Fame comes with attention, and with attention comes unnecessary and unwanted confrontation, which can take a toll on anyone entertaining online. These readings concerned free labor, in which the giant U.S. tech corporations pull in giant sums of money from our labor for them, which is marketed to us as pleasurable, efficient, etc. And they concerned flexible labor, a form of labor made possible by networked media. With flexible labor, people are supposed to be on call 24-7. This is touted as being good for workers. The readings demonstrated that in fact this kind of work does not pay well; does not protect the worker from exploitation; does not provide typical workplace protections against harassment; and grants no benefits such as healthcare.

Jardin, "Men Invented the Internet"

Gender inequality is a raging monster and is especially prevalent in fields where women are underrepresented such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Jardin speaks about this issue, concerning a specific article published by the New York Times. Jardin writes with an obvious tone and clearly voices their position on the issue; women are under-credited and under-valued for the work that they produce in STEM fields. Meanwhile, in the piece it is stated that men are given the majority of the credit, even when said credit is not due. Jardin also brings up the fact that not only are women often overlooked for their work, but the treatment that they endure in the workplace is often overlooked as well. Women are sexually harassed and discriminated against, topics which are swept under the rug and accepted as commonplace. More cases like that of Ellen Pao/Kleiner Perkins, are being brought into the light and making strides for gender equality and treatment in the workplace. These readings explained how the history of neglecting girls' and women's interest in tech means there are low numbers of them in the STEM fields; that this effects what is developed in digital media & technology corporations; that it also affects what stories are told about the history of women in and their contributions to tech (Jardin's article on Ada Lovelace); and how this affects women users of tech

Greenwald; "The Harm of Surveillance"

Glenn Greenwald's "The Harm of Surveillance" dives into the dangers, and effects that mass governmental has on the society and the individual. He makes the claim early on in this writing that the desire for privacy is a piece of our humanity. "We all instinctively understand that the private realm is where we can act, think, speak, write, experiment, and choose how to be, away from the judgmental eyes of others. Privacy is a core condition of being a free person." Greenwald is speaking to the point that we are no more truly free than when we have complete privacy. He continues to argue that, because of outside pressures, whether it be social, governmental, or economical, a lack of privacy "...restricts our freedom of choice". The effectiveness of a large scale surveillance system is largely determined on whether or not the subject is aware that they are being watched. Near the end of his writing he makes the argument of the that in a true democracy, it should be an absolute rarity that the governed body does not know what is happening behind the scenes. There should be thorough accountability between the government and the governed. He makes this point: how can we be called private citizens if our privacy has been taken away? "Transparency is for those who carry out the public duties and exercise public power. Privacy is for everyone else."

Hossfield; "`Their Logic Against Them': Contradictions in Sex, Race, and Class in Silicon Valley"

Hossfield explores the inequality of Silicon Valley using her own findings and that of a large study in 1988. She aims to show the unfairness of gender, race, class status, and nationality within the workplace of technological manufacturing. She begins by defining Silicon Valley's region and culture. Just south of San Francisco in Santa Clara County, California, this area found economic success and booming growth in microelectronics. Like many factories overseas, the assembly sites typically consist of white males managing largely female and third world racial workers. This reading demonstrates that keeping costs low for Westerners happens at the expense of the health and well-being of vulnerable populations, including those in the Global South and female immigrants in the United States

Carr; "Amorality of Web 2.0"

In "The Amorality of Web 2.0", Carr stated that "the internet transformed many things, but it had not transformed us". He makes the cultural deterministic point of view that it is culture that has changed society and not the web or technology that has changed society. He states the argument that people, no matter if technology is in the picture or not, are selfish and self absorbed. Then the argument is made that, we are the web and technology, and that it is just an extension of human thought. Carr ends by portraying to his readers that the web does not have hands and feet or even a brain; it is just a set of 1's and 0's placed together to make things happen. People make the internet much more than it really is.

Monahan and Gillom; "Surveillance" Credit cards

In Chapter 2 ("It's In The Cards"), Gilliom and Monahan explore the role that cards play in the surveillance of our everyday lives. Through examples such as credit score, school IDs, and customer loyalty cards, they reveal how these cards are used to form an individual's identification in a complex 21st century computer system. They then go on to explain how this collection of personal information holds both benefits and drawbacks to anyone who may be affected by its presence. The tread of one's "plastic trail" allows access to data for all to interpret; this phenomenon is investigated by Gilliom and Monahan as to what exactly may come about as a result. The authors' other argument revolves around the overuse of cards in an our everyday lives and how they control everything that we do. There is no privacy whatsoever. Cards identify you, give you access to money, track what you buy, see where your location is, provide health care, and allow you to travel. All of this information can be used by data aggregators. Data aggregators can use all of this information for surveillance with no place to hide. A person can automatically be searched in a database without their knowledge. This is a pretty scary thing to think about. A person's life is literally governed by these little plastic cards in our pockets.

Monahan and Gillom; "Surveillance" Education

In chapter four of SuperVision, the Gilliom and Monahan discuss both the drawbacks and benefits of upgraded surveillance in schools. It is clear though that the drawbacks outweigh the potential benefits. The beneficial side of the argument is that students are in fact safer on school grounds than they are at home or somewhere else. However, because of new surveillance students can have a lengthy criminal record before they are even eighteen years old and in a sense their freedom of decision and basic rights are being taken from them. Students are tracked with attendance and at times this kind of strict surveillance can cause students to act out instead of following the rules. Incidents that would normally cause a student to spend time in detention, in school suspension, out of school suspension, or community service, are now plaguing their records in forms of assault or other misdemeanors. The surveillance in some cases has even gone as far as parents making the decision for their children on the foods they will eat. Parents take away a basic freedom of letting their child decide if they are going to eat fries or vegetables. In a place that is supposed to be empowering, students can find themselves losing the most power and having to willingly submit to surveillance and rules that take away their rights or are punished for their disobedience. School systems are resembling prison grounds now more than ever with harsh punishments and strict surveillance, causing children to lose their developing individualities. In order to see change and still make the school an empowering place, students have to show resistance to these regulations and gain back their rights instead of falling in line with who the schools try to make them be.

Shirky, "The Political Power of Social Media"

In the Clay Shirky article, "The Political Power of Social Media", argues the exact power of social media and the implication it holds towards politics and how it affects U.S. interests and the U.S. policy should respond. Starting with the prime example of the corrupt Filipino president, Joseph Estrada, being overthrown of power due to a chain of text messages being sent out to thwart him going unpunished for his acts. This is just one passage of the long history of how social media has created a movement towards a greater power. With the help and influence of many figures such as activists, actors, non-governmental and governmental organizations among many others, social media has taking activism to a whole other level. With more participation with the rest of the world in the conversation of change, the voice of the common people can be heard. Even though there is a wide array of this theory being tested out and being successful, there is also evidence of it being unsuccessful and ultimately failing. This lack of success could be due to the fact that social media is not often taken seriously and sometimes reduced to a joke.

Jones; "Is Twitter the Underground Railroad of Activism?"

In the article, "Twitter the Underground Railroad of Activism?", written by Feminista Jones, argues about how Twitter turned into this alternate form of activism for the African American culture in this Day and age. Relating to how "work songs" were used in times of slavery as ways of communication between the slaves and even more recently how early Hip Hop culture painted vivid lyrical pictures of everyday African American life. Twitter has turned into a new medium for the African American twitter users who urge for sociopolitical changes, adopting the title of "Black Twitter". This community aims for the goal of fighting injustice and uses twitter as a provocative platform to get their message across in just as powerful as any earlier Hip Hop song or spiritual work song. Although twitter is seen as just another social media website to the average user, there are subscribers that take full advantage and can definitely make a difference that their voice can be heard with Twitter being the tool to convey it.

Monahan and Gillom; "Surveillance" Cell phones

In the first chapter, the authors examine the complicated relationship between cell phones and surveillance and a few outdated ways of thinking about surveillance. They outline the different ways that cell phones can be used for surveillance, such as tracking your location, creating data about your social life and characteristics, becoming "roving bugs" for audio surveillance, and creating a network of over 300 million mobile cameras in the U.S. alone. Although they present many concerns about these surveillance technologies, the authors also recognize a few benefits such as locating someone in the forest or during a medical emergency.

Raymond; "Cathedral and the Bazaar"

In this essay/book, Eric S. Raymond explains the benefits of open source programming and the many things it did to help revolutionize the way software engineering worked. The author presents different development models categorized as "Cathedral" and "Bazaar", as well as the overall differences they possess in the building of large systems and software. The growth of open source software development eventually led to the adoption of Linux based operating systems. Linux allowed its users to freely write and improve their source code. As a result of this, improvements to the code came at a much faster and more effective rate. The future of the computer industry changed immensely because of this.

Kendzior, "The Subjectivity of Slacktivism"

Kendzior speaks about the new age, online, digital hipsters: slacktivists. They are similar to activists in that they support a cause, but differ in one important aspect. Activists act, while slacktivists slack. Merely seeming as if they care about the topic they are posting about, but never really taking action for the cause. Kendzior uses the example of Kony2012 to bring light to slacktivism.

Lanier, "Hazards of Digital Maoism"

Lanier writes about his concern for the enormous amount of faith that people put into "foolish collective" sites on the Web. He discusses the influence of several sites including MySpace, Britannica, Google, various blogs, and most frequently, Wikipedia. Lanier delves into whether these sites pertain to trustworthy content. Furthermore, he explains the relationship between the collective and the individual. Lanier also explores the possibility of the population beginning to see the Internet as an "artificial intelligence." Finishing his piece, Lanier reminds the public to consider the individuals first. The entire article is a strike against anonymous collectivism, and how it is ruining our minds and internet economy by mixing up opinions in a well-known site.

Timothy Leary; "Cyberpunk"

Leary's main argument in this piece was that the cyberpunks are the innovative thinkers who continue to challenge the social norms and the authoritative figures. He observes that their advancement in the technological and mental world has posed a threat towards ideals of conformity. Leary encourages the behavior of a cyberpunk in order to advance the developments of the 21st century.

Levy; "Collective Intelligence"

Levy describes the concept that a new mode of production named "Collective Intelligence": no one knows everything, but everyone knows something. The network will be able to make a temporary, voluntary, strategic type of community to pool everyone's knowledge together, for a common goal. Levy use examples to define that, the collective intelligence not only created a new knowledge space, also inspired a broader participation; It not only represents the result of mutual sharing of information aggregation in the new media era, but also mark the great effect of human produced together, which can even change commodity culture and country works.

Vaidhyanthan; "Open Source as Culture/Culture as Open Source"

Open Source is all the rage now, it is rapidly growing in popularity among online users with the expanse that is now the internet. It is viewed as rather new, however this is very much not the case. Open Source isn't new, in fact, it used to be the norm online. During the 1980's is when that changed, copyright and intellectual property became a priority to those in the fields of computer science because of the development of unique source codes and their sharability. Doing so meant that people could not actively share or edit their codes, and left all monetary gain to tycoons. With this, innovation would not occur without a way for the innovator to commercially gain. This lead to the creation of the Free Software Foundation and the operating software that is Linux. Both promoting open source and availability to its users.

Open Access

Open access (or OA) refers to unrestricted public access, usually in the context of research. Published research is remarkably expensive and takes up a large percentage of library budgets, thus unattainable to the public except through library membership. (ex. Britannica online)

Pariser; "Filter Bubble"

Pariser talks about the rising problem of the use of algorithmic editing by sites such as Google and Facebook to decide what you see and and what gets edited out. He explains how the data provided by the web is shifting from the original function of a connection to the world to now just a big combination of personalized preferences implemented by filters and only providing us with what he refers to as "information junk food."

Sterile Technology

Powerful equipment that has does not allow reprogramming and has little purpose in modern society. A sterile piece of technology means that the machinery does exactly what it was programmed to do. There are no surprises from the machine and the user cannot reprogram it to change its purpose. Sterile technology, while typically designed with the purpose of being useful to the user, is limited.

Simpson; "The Deadly Tin inside Your iPhone"

Simpson explores the tin industry in Indonesia. Tin is used as solder for electronics like tablets , smartphones , and televisions. Simpson explores the effects of tin mining on the workers and the environment. Simpson also discusses how the few regulations that apply to the tin industry in Indonesia are rarely and selectively enforced. Simpson argues that the solder in the electronics that joins metal work pieces together is the product of illegal and dangerous tin mining in China and Indonesia, specifically Bangka island. One-hundred percent of the tin sold to Foxconn Technology (a manufacturer of Apple products) comes from Indonesia. The article highlights the intense, manual labor that workers have to perform just so westerners can enjoy their technology. Simpson paints a somber portrait throughout this article of impoverished workers in these tin mines making only $5 a day, and returning home at night to their impoverished village. This reading demonstrates that keeping costs low for Westerners happens at the expense of the health and well-being of vulnerable populations, including those in the Global South and female immigrants in the United States

Enayati, "Facebook: The Encyclopedia of Beauty?"

Social media allows the everyday person to see images of other users on a daily basis. For teenage girls, social media, such as Facebook, is becoming a place to find out what is in: what clothes to wear, what shows to watch, what food to eat, what everyone is doing, but mostly importantly, what to wear and look like. Rather than aiming for healthy bodies, teenage girls are striving to look the best they can or rather the skinniest they can for likes and follows. Their inspiration comes from friends on these social media sites, not just from celebrities in magazines. By being aware of how many likes a photo gets or how many comments underneath that tell a girl how "hot" or "attractive" she is, other girls learn what they should copy. As social media continues to grow, it will become important, if not imperative, to teach each generation that while entertaining, social media websites should never be the first option for solid life advice. These readings explained how the history of neglecting girls' and women's interest in tech means there are low numbers of them in the STEM fields; that this effects what is developed in digital media & technology corporations; that it also affects what stories are told about the history of women in and their contributions to tech (Jardin's article on Ada Lovelace); and how this affects women users of tech

Linda Stone; "Continuous Partial Attention"

Stone explains our continuous partial attention as giving our partial attention to things continuously. This differs from multi tasking because of our motives. Multi tasking improves our productivity while continuous partial attention gives us the feeling of being aware and in a crisis state of mind so we don't miss anything.

Technological Determinism

Technology is understood to have effects and that those effects are the principal determinant of cultural change. (A) Change in technology is the most important change in a society and (B) technology is the basis of culture. For example, in technological determinism, guns kill people, not people.

Kessler; "Pixel and Dimed"

The "Pixelated and Dimed, On Not Getting By in the Gig Economy", Kessler talks about the job market and how there is such a big gap between the poor and the rich. He explains the idea that the rich have extra amounts of money and they can pay the people who are struggling to do small tasks for them. This small task market lets people be flexible with hours and people can choose what they do. This market is being forwarded by the digital age and apps on cell phones such as Uber or TaskRabbits. This seems like a good idea but the argument he makes is that this is not a good system for long term wealth. It is competitive, in some areas you have to be skilled, and the amount you make is very unreliable. These readings concerned free labor, in which the giant U.S. tech corporations pull in giant sums of money from our labor for them, which is marketed to us as pleasurable, efficient, etc. And they concerned flexible labor, a form of labor made possible by networked media. With flexible labor, people are supposed to be on call 24-7. This is touted as being good for workers. The readings demonstrated that in fact this kind of work does not pay well; does not protect the worker from exploitation; does not provide typical workplace protections against harassment; and grants no benefits such as healthcare.

Anderson; "Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business"

The author looks at the economics of giving things away (starting with the granddaddy of the concept, King Gillette and his razors), and how it's fundamentally changing business -- and enabled mine. The first reading was characterized by the typical triumphalist rhetoric that new technology would drive costs down.

"The Internet's Own Boy"

The documentary "The Internet's Own Boy" follows the life of internet activist and programming prodigy Aaron Swartz. The film discusses Aaron's ideas of free and public access to online information, documents the government's punitive responses to his internet activism, and examines his legacy.

Cultural Determinism

The idea that culture causes us to think of and respond to technology casually. The culture makes/causes technology to develop and reach new heights while making humans lives easier. Meaning that the social beliefs and values of people cause change in technology. For example, in cultural determinism, the idea would be that people kill people (culture), not guns (technology).

Boyd; "An Old Fogey's Analysis of a Teenager's View on Social Media"

The overarching theme that Boyd argues revolves around her frustrations with the way the tech industry and tech press are interpreting a teenager's (Andrew Watts) view of social media. She speaks on how she has been studying teenagers and social media for over a decade, yet no one seems to be asking her thoughts on the subject. "Most don't even ask for my interpretation, sending it to me as though it is gospel," says Boyd. Her frustration isn't derived from poor writing quality on Andrew's part. In fact, she commends him on his lucidity. Instead, it comes from a lack of critical thinking by her peers. She continues on to argue that, while Andrew's writing is thorough, there are statements that should raise questions. Most important of all is that it's not an accurate depiction of the entire story. Boyd expresses with emphasis, "Teens' use of social media is significantly shaped by race and class, geography and cultural background." She continues to point out some of the fallacies with a few of Andrew's broad brush-stroke statements, reminding her peers of the reality beyond his limited perspective. They also revealed that media coverage about how social media is used assumes that young white men's experiences are the universal norm (when they aren't)

Majoo; "How Black People Use Twitter"

The writer attempted to expose Black people's behavior on Twitter, describing popular Trending Topics like "Black Ghetto Baby Names" or "If Santa Were Black," as a game of racial insults and buffoonery which involves a large sector of Black Twitter users. They also showed how people of color use social media in ways that may not be comprehensible to people unfamiliar with how people of color communicate amongst each other, and that this has historical roots that go back to slavery

Miller, "Technology's Man Problem"

There has been plenty in the press recently discussing the lack of women in tech. The facts are grim. Only 18 percent of computer science graduates are women. Women leave tech companies at twice the rate of men, which makes it difficult for those companies to gain much-needed senior female tech leadership. A recent New York Times article by Claire Cain Miller — "Technology's Man Problem" — outlines the alienation many women technologists feel in the industry. These readings explained how the history of neglecting girls' and women's interest in tech means there are low numbers of them in the STEM fields; that this effects what is developed in digital media & technology corporations; that it also affects what stories are told about the history of women in and their contributions to tech (Jardin's article on Ada Lovelace); and how this affects women users of tech

Rosen; "The People Formerly Known as the Audience"

This article talks about how people use to have no choice but go to certain people for media. Now media is run by the people so we can go anywhere, we can create our media. This talks about how news especially is being transferred from the television and newspapers to now the internet and "the former audience" is not going to let the big shots control the media on the internet.

Monahan and Gillom; "Surveillance" Work

This chapter of Monahan and Gilliom's book, "SuperVision," is meant to inform the reader of surveillance tactics used in the workplace, and how these methods may affect the performance level of employees. It seems employers are increasingly finding new ways to monitor their workers, some of which could be viewed as incredibly invasive. It is found that the more monitoring an employee is aware of, the more likely they are to feel out of place, insecure, and not trusted by their supervisors, which could directly result in a lack of exceptional performance.

John Perry Barlow; "Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace"

This declaration challenges the idea of government online. It states that the internet should be a free place for people to express themselves. It gives guidelines for how the internet should be ran.

Appendix; "Blown to Bits"

This gives a look into how the internet works and the theory behind the internet.

Townes; "Spread of TCP/IP and the Origins of the Internet"

Towne's argument regards the origins of the spread of TCP/IP and the Internet, as well as the reason behind it. According to him, the spread of the Internet is best understood as a process of normative diffusion that took place during the Cold War. Townes notes in the beginning was founded on academic and research interests. Townes also acknowledges some counters to his perception of the original intentions of the Internet and TCP/IP. Due to the context by which these new protocols emerged, he recognizes that some would believe that they were created for military means. While agreeing that TCP/IP was employed by the United States military and its allied forces, Townes argues that this use was not the principal under which the protocol was founded. Rather, the network and its protocol reflects the interests of the scientists who designed it. These interests, Townes would explain, are identified as academic freedom and its challenge to international politics. These points wrap up the basis for Townes' argument on the origins of TCP/IP and the reasons for which it was created.

Tufecki; "What Happens to #Ferguson Affects Ferguson"

Tufekci narrates on how the situation of the Ferguson incident was a net neutrality and an algorithmic filtering issue. She defends this by saying that there would probably be no Ferguson coverage if it weren't for other social media sites that do not use algorithmic filtering, because a lot of websites and social media sites control what you see on your newsfeed. The discussions, videos and pictures of the event could be seen everywhere on Twitter. But it could only see little news about Ferguson on Facebook.

Weinberger; "The New Order of Order"

Weinberger focuses on the way humans organize their possessions. Most people just organize a drawer or closet at home to their liking and convenience; but with the increasing availability of the Internet, Weinberger sees a new order in organization forming. Weinberger emphasizes that organizing online data is more efficient, because the user(s) can organize a item, like a photograph, into multiple categories, versus having only one physical place to hold the atom-made-photo. Storing and categorizing data such as music and photographs online also allows for a larger community to be reached at once.

Eveleth, "How Self-Tracking Apps Exclude Women"

When Apple released the much anticipated Health app, many of the women users felt excluded. It seemed to track and record everything, except for periods. The discussion begins by questioning gender bias within technology and then explaining the different types of quantitative self apps. These apps help people track and monitor activities within their daily schedules, but the question lies whether many of the functions are stereotypical and inaccurate. These readings explained how the history of neglecting girls' and women's interest in tech means there are low numbers of them in the STEM fields; that this effects what is developed in digital media & technology corporations; that it also affects what stories are told about the history of women in and their contributions to tech (Jardin's article on Ada Lovelace); and how this affects women users of tech

Scholz; "What the MySpace Generation Should Know about Working for Free"

When talking about websites that users spend hours on MySpace, used to be the dominating force online. The website had a strong monopoly of user's time, with numbers like 11% of the entire country's internet use spent on the site. A question that arose from the amount of time users dedicated to this site was how to consider the labor put in by their users. "Immaterial labor" and the online presence of teens and young adults creates a value for the company, but is that value ever reciprocated to back to the user? The work says that the relationship between the user and company is beneficial to both parties, the user generates value and reputation for the company and in turn, they are provided an online outlet for themselves. The sharing that users do makes their content more widely known and does the same to promote the company itself. These readings concerned free labor, in which the giant U.S. tech corporations pull in giant sums of money from our labor for them, which is marketed to us as pleasurable, efficient, etc. And they concerned flexible labor, a form of labor made possible by networked media. With flexible labor, people are supposed to be on call 24-7. This is touted as being good for workers. The readings demonstrated that in fact this kind of work does not pay well; does not protect the worker from exploitation; does not provide typical workplace protections against harassment; and grants no benefits such as healthcare.

Zittrain; "Future of the Internet - and How to Stop It"

Zittrain goes into the history of technology and shows its sterile and generative qualities. His presentation hints at the idea that nature of technology is returning to that of the past.