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NM3205: Blogpost #10: Wearable Technology

In the article “The diverse domains of quantified selves: self-tracking modes and dataveillance” by Deborah Lupton focuses on the notions of self tracking, the various purposes and impacts of dataveillance such as data detection and collection in both the private and public sphere. Lupton addresses the new and advanced digitization of technologies such as wearable devices that have benefits but also their problematic concerns over individual and national privacy. This essay has raised several questions on my end: Have our awareness over the implications of dataveillance devices and intervention to our individual privacy prompted us to take any action for our own rights on our own privacy? Or is the line between convenience of self tracking/self optimisation and infringement on our individual privacy/exploitation becoming blurred? It was something I always question myself because I myself have never experienced the extreme implications of using dataveillance devices when self tracking my daily activities. In fact, like what Lupton mentioned about private tracking, that it is extensively useful in terms of observing and moderating our personal information such as the number of hours we study, sleeping patterns, tracking our fitness activities our period cycles for women.

Maybe digital wearables in this day and age is inevitable because of how efficient, convenient and maybe accessible in can be to individuals. I do not agree to a large extent with Lupton’s point about how private tracking is only made relevant to minority group of people – those who are privileged with higher income. While that may be true, that those who have “higher income” can access highly advanced wearable devices such as fitbits or Applewatch, mobile applications that are made for dataveillance and data collection are catered for mobile phone users to download and use them anytime anywhere.

For example, I am an avid user of Forest, a tracker that helps you grow a virtual forest with a variety of trees every time an hour of productivity (any form of activity) is being accounted for. I also use a fitness tracker, Nike Run and a period cycle tracker, Flo, in which both are mobile apps that assist me to track my running and mood swings respectively. The utility of these devices are done voluntarily but am I aware that there is a possibility my data could be tracked? It may be a very trivial case. Perhaps, true, that such wearable technology is still susceptible to manipulation or hacked or lack of encryption and etc. But what about data collection in other complex situations and institutions such as commercial or marketing industries that repurpose, commodify and exploit our personal data? Is protecting our privacy a losing game now? Data collection and exploitation is being generated faster and faster and our demands for privacy rights or transparency to companies (of wearable devices) who have been accused of suspicious data exploitation activities is the most we could do as users of their products. Conclusively, I think with the advancement of technology, there is always a need for more precautions when it comes to utilizing wearable devices to track our personal data. We never know the extent how our privacy could be infringed and its always safer to be careful in times like this.

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NM3205 Blogpost #9: Digital Intimacy

In the article “Tinder and humanitarian hook ups: the erotics of social media racism” by Corinne Mason investigates the problematic nature of Tinder and the particular group of individuals that fall under the term Humanitarians of Tinder. This specific group of Tinder users, are infamous for their circulation of images or selfies that feature volunteering work or humanitarian content, mostly of radicalised children who are person of colour or from a ‘third world country’. This article takes on a theoretical approach about why such practice has been embedded within the digital world, more specifically dating apps like Tinder or OK Cupid.

In the American context in this advanced technological era, users of Tinder are able to curate their own idealised identity on the computer mediate platforms such as dating apps. Users of such applications have various intentions but Tinder, clearly, offers digitalised platform for people to meet new people, perhaps, for the purpose of hooking up. Users make intentional choices when laying out their selfies – for the consumption and gaze of other users. Humanitarians of Tinder are those users who craft their profile cleverly to appear humble and selfless, socially aware of the humanitarian problems and crisis (globally).

The ‘white saviour trope’ becomes a strategic methods to appear attractive in the eyes of those swiping on Tinder, and potentially, gain suitors who view them as someone who is ‘different’ and ‘socially aware’. The analysis of the Tinder Humanitarian and the attraction towards such racially and classist desires were discussed in more detail throughout the article. But one key point that I can resonate strongly with is the concept of whiteness and desire to do good. Mason addressed very valid points about how white people “steal the pain of others” for their own personal benefits. It let me to question the superficiality of their humanitarian work in the first place. These deeply racialised practice have been so normalised, not just in American context but specifically of those who have the privilege of acting on these humanitarian work and take selfies to be shared to the many users on Tinder, just to appear good and desirable. This definitely implies that desirability can be determined by one’s goodness and how their goodness separates themselves from the rest who are unlike them. This perpetuation of this practice demonstrates the normalisation of desirability being raced and classed, which indeed, can be extensively problematic in the digital world.

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NM3205 Blogpost 8: Play

In the chapter “Enjoying It: Candy Crush and Capitalism” from the book “ Unproductive enjoyment: A culture of distraction” by Brown address the behavioural nature of an individual with mobile app games and the reasons behind why we seek distractions for fulfilment, with reference to the workplace environment. Brown also addresses this in relation with the Lacanian idea of the Big Other, which briefly illustrates the concept of a higher authority or a bigger figure that watches over us and embodies the “power to ensure our confrontation to the order of things”. This Big Other, in the context of the workplace could be identified as something imaginary, “the system” that exists amongst employees in to ensure maintenance of workplace such as abiding by the rules and laws. Additionally, Brown also points out that we seek affirmation from the “Big Other” more than we actually do from existing individuals.

One example that Brown provides to support the idea of how we hide from the “Big Other” is how we turn to mobile app games for distractions and fulfilment as an alternative to distract one’s self from the dissatisfaction of work is Candy Crush. There are many mobile app games as well as social media apps that assists us with this much needed distraction away from the stresses of work and the alienating one’s self from working conditions. While Brown addressed this in the context of the workplace, I made the assumption that this phenomenon can be applied to school environment as well. As a university student, it is to no surprise that we purposely engage in mobile app or social media activities to avoid studying so that we can achieve the satisfaction needed to pursue studying later on. According the concept of the “Big Other”, students may act on such distractions until we realise and recognise that they are to return back to their studies. This is because we acknowledge the surveillance of the “Big Other” overwatching us and regulating us to get back to our work.

I think the relationship between the concept and our subconscious choice of distracting ourselves from work is relative to a lot of individuals who experience discomfort and dissatisfaction with the working life. Perhaps this comes from a personal perspective where my satisfaction does increase and provides me the illusion that I am being productive, and in these moments that we then seek affirmation from the “Big Other” because after being distracted, eventually, we return to work. Then again, to what extent are we productive when we return to work? Or are we just conditioned to think that we are satisfied and are ready to continue working?

[pecanqistina]

NM3205 Blogpost 7: Consumption

Based from the article “Public Curation and Private Collection: The Production of Knowledge on Pinterest.com” written by Deborah Lui, it explores in depth about the tandem of both activities of personal collection and social and public curation that is explicitly showcased in this platform. Ideally described as a website that encourages you to “collect and organize both the things you love and that inspire you”, Pinterest is very well known for their customization of “mood boards” and a search engine for a diversity of inspiration, not just for the layman users of Pinterest but also business and marketers who seek to promote their own small businesses (e.g. homebased chefs, small business individuals, make up artists etc.). Lui focused on how the boundaries between private and public are being blurred as these individualized curations of self interest and identity building is made visible to other public users – imitating the concept of curated exhibitions and scrapbooking but in the form of digitalized formats.

As an active Pinterest user myself, this article provided me a perspective that I was unconscious of. It highlighted interesting facts about the convergence between these two practices of collection and curation. As a publicity member for several curriculum activities and clubs at NUS, I heavily depended on Pinterest as my main source of inspiration because of readymade Pinterest boards or the diverse range of preferable aesthetic ideas that are catered for me. I have several “moodboards” that are created over the years, ranging from art and photography inspirations to ideas for my graphic design work and publicity material. One observation that I strongly resonate with in Lui is the algorithm of Pinterest to cater to out self interest, ultimately stimulating our gratification to be entertained by the aesthetics of such materials that Pinterest offers us users.

The article emphasizes on the consumption of public users on personal content creation, be it original or a customized board made. There is an underlying notion that users of Pinterest are co dependent on the existence of other creative boards to gain inspiration or acquire ideas. Additionally, Pinterest’s algorithmic system of churning out content to suit the tastes of the user is a strategic way of increasing consumption online. Personally, I view the consumption of online curation as a mutually beneficial form of communication amongst Pinterest users. Despite Lui mentioning how Pinterest lacks the aspect of communication and socialization, the concept of curation and collection and the interdependency shared between users is a form of communication.

[pecanqistina]

NM3205 Blogpost 6: Precarity and Labour

Nuryn Qistina (TW1)

The chapter of “What is the Sharing Economy” on “Hustle and gig: Struggling and surviving in the sharing economy” by Ravenelle explores the concept of the “sharing economy”. In this chapter, he explains how the concept was coined to describe forms or companies that “connect people” with the intent of distributing, sharing and reusing goods and services. Despite the clarity of what the sharing economy is about and how they navigate through various “sharing activities” that were established to explain how services under this sharing economy recirculate goods, increase utilization of durable needs, exchange services and share productive assets, this term can be problematic to certain extent and can be deemed as inappropriate or confusing. According to Ravenelle’s argument, he criticises how sites or companies under the sharing economy often do not exhibit or operate similar services from one another. Briefly, the term sharing economy is always reinvented and changed according to respective companies who fall under that category.

Ravenelle argued that the sharing economy can be better defined as a “collection of app-based technologies” focusing on the lending/renting of assets for profit or for a higher good. To a large extent, I do agree with his argument. He introduced the term “gig economy”, services that focuse on “short term opportunities”. I agree that many individuals desire human interaction and the sense of belonging. Majority of companies under the sharing economy operate in a way that focuses on building the connection between individuals and encouraging face to face interactions and create a sense of belonging within the community. Despite such visions, Ravenelle also addresses how trust is still not increasing and that on the other hand, companies under the sharing economy have preferences of maintaining anonymity such as AirBNB, where hosts rarely physically interact with their guests and there was also a decline in quality service for Lyft because of their emphasis on social interactivity amongst their consumers.

Personally, I resonate strongly with Ravenelle’s conclusion that there is potentially a lack of interest in human interactivity amongst some services in the sharing economy. This ultimately diminishes the term itself. The gig economy focuses on the fact the demands for short term labour. In my opinion, with such high competition for employment or need to increase or gain income, many workers or consumers may not necessarily prioritize human interaction.

[pecanqistina]

NM3205 Blogpost 4: Media Industries

Nuryn Qistina (TW1)

In the article written by Jenkins about “Cultural acupuncture”: Fan activism and the Harry potter Alliance. This article features the concept of fan activism in relation to seeking out global contemporary issues such as human rights and social justice issues via their roles as fans of a particular fandom. Through frameworks of certain fandoms such as Star Trek, Harry Potter or other celebrities, fan communities view activism as “less intimidating” and “accessible” because the fusion of performing progressive action and expressing their passion about something facilitates the sense of shared resistance and solidarity that individuals feel to take a step forward in performing activism.

Jenkins clarified in the article that the “fan activism” is defined as a “form of civic engagement and political participation that emerge from with the fan culture itself”. Often practiced through the infrastructure of fan practices, culture and relationships within the communities, fan activism draws on the frameworks from their practices and culture to design an improved quality of life and “strengthen the social ties within the community”

The article provided varied examples of the fan activism from the Harry Potter Alliance or other fan communities such as Star Trek and Madonna and etc. Similar to the practices of such fan activists, we can also observe the same phenomenon amongst the Korean Pop culture communities such as the fans of Bangtan Sonyeondan (BTS), a famous Korean boy group. Unlike Harry Potter and Star Trek, movie series that are latent with elements of issues such as equal marriage, human and labour rights and net neutrality. For the fan activists of BTS, the actively encourage raising awareness for mental health such as depression and etc. Additionally, their activism heavily focuses on violence against youths and teenagers, ranging from verbal, physical and virtual violence. The cultural acupuncture in this phenomenon is the idea of deploying the meaning of the music produced by the boy group themselves and making attempts to related to the contemporary issues in the real world.

The process of fan activism comprises of structure that is complex and extensive allyship that had many forms of mobilizations and methods of lobbying for rights of contemporary issues that are relevant to the their own fan community.

[pecanqistina]

NM3205 Blogpost 3: Mobile Media

Nuryn Qistina (TW1)

In the research article “Portable Objects in Three Global Cities: The Personalization of Urban Places”, by Mizuko Ito, Daisuke Okabe and Ken Anderson examines the use of the mobile devices and their functions in transcending through the “constraints of space and time”. By identifying on specific devices that individuals commonly utilize in their everyday routines and spaces, the authors aim to examine how these devices, technological or not, facilitate individuals to “inhabit, navigate through and interface with the environment”. It was mentioned that these mobile devices make up the mobile kit that us individuals carry around with us, things that are portable and make up our identities as specific individuals and how we mediate our relationships with the people around us and the environment that we are in. This research begins on the basis of documenting participants and the devices and kits they carry around with them in certain locations and how the mediate and transcend the spaces and time for the individual.

Briefly touching on key concepts of technosocial modes such as cocooning, camping and footprinting, terms used to describe how people respond and utilize their mobile and portable ICT devices and how these interactions within certain urban spaces, locations and time change. These terms assist to understand the different ways people communicate and behave in private, public spheres and infrastructures.

Delving into the concept of cocooning, which is the mode that individuals dynamics and behaviors are kept within their own private theory, having no personal interest in their environment. Individuals “mobilize their private media infrastructure within public infrastructures” to claim personal space. Briefly, cocooning is the process of viewing one’s environment as transient. Cocooning can also exist within the mode of camping. Encampment describes the situation where participants engage in communication together within a particular space and time. They “appropriate places where they feel some affinity”, possessing some sense of personal interest in their environment. This process may involve actually spending time and utilizing the facilities or object around them or communicating within others in the same vicinity. Yet, the cocooning can co exist with camping; the idea of doing work on the computer while being in a café or library or the listening to music while running in the park. Individuals still cocoon and mobile private infrastructures within public infrastructures.

[pecanqistina]

NM3205 Blogpost 2

Nuryn Qistina (W1)

In Debbie Rodan’s article on “Large, sleek, slim stylish flat screens: Privatizes space and the televisual experience” explicitly highlights the role of televisions and its technological advancements in contributing to the social atomization of spaces within the private sphere, creating a private and isolated experience that demonstrates clearly how the viewer’s space and experience is being privatized. Rodan emphasizes the key importance of how advertisers advertise television eventually configure the private space by creating the television as an aesthetic object or dissolving spaces and etc.

One claim that I will be focusing on is Rodan’s explanation on the television as an aesthetic object. To a large extent, the television is advertised in a way that appeals to the consumers and this is done by creating televisions to become more “artistic and aesthetic objects”. Additionally, televisions are advertised in aesthetic dimensions that invite the consumers to view them as a work of art or a gallery piece, extending the meaning of television beyond its functionality and more on the significance of its beauty and modernity. Television as an aesthetic object can also be transformed by the integration of nature and technology. The fusion demonstrates how the how television is framed in a way that transforms from the ordinary through qualities of the organic and inorganic.

One example that was feature in the article about the advertisement of the Samsung LCD TV (R8 Series) exemplifies how the integration between two “physically disconnected and visually fragmented”  images encourages the active participation of the viewers such as using the remote controls to activate and mediate the space around them and the television. Rodan expresses the beauty of television by explaining how individuals are empowered to conceptualized their own domestic space with the enhancement of technology in televisions. The aesthetics of televisions comes with its benefits; customizing the domestic space of the household and the private experiences of the viewer.

[pecanqistina]

NM3205 Blogpost 1

The article chapter “Living with Technology” written by McCarthy and Wright explains the dynamics of technology and its impact in relationships between people, their daily interactions and actions. The article explores the changes and shifts within communication technologies, and how these shifts transcend into the era of new computing which introduces the technologies of Interaction Design and User Experience Design which subsequently affects the relationships between people and interactive technologies. McCarty and Wright suggest how these technologies, one way or another, “support the relationships and activities that enrich the users’ experiences” which implies the significance of technological enrichment in people’s daily activities. As exemplified by the article, the father being able to utilize and interact with the variety of advanced technologies such as the security systems to monitor the household or using television cables and remotes for entertainment.

Most importantly, the shifts to advanced technology have assisted in many ways when it comes to communication. It has augmented the reality of individuals in this digital era, though its implications have always been seen as pervasive. Yet, human activity and the contingencies of everyday life is inherently affected by human computer interactions. This is particularly because of the attention given to the design of technological consumer products which further facilitates the peoples’ experience. The integration of information design and interface design and etc. that accounts for the active users and their experience contributes to “establishing and maintaining emotional ties, the sense of belonging or feeling of warmth” amongst their users when they consumer such technological products.  

The authors have addressed a variety of propositions that are central of the human computed interaction and its characterization of experience which ultimately impacts how we interpret our lives and our activities and ideologies. The advancement of technology has also geared the mindsets of users from being passive to more active, encouraging them to interact with technology in ways that cater to their needs and experiences, fulfilling their own intentions and completing the experience themselves. The quality of experience that we thrive for as users of technology has prompted us to focus on the “personal and particular character of experience” for ourselves.