Metaviews

The historical significance of this pandemic rests not just in the severity of the accompanying disease or the high rate of infection (fueled by superspreaders) but in the data being generated about and around the virus. This is the significance of the quantified or datafied society: seemingly everything is measured and monitored.

If one were to draw a word cloud from our pandemic posts I imagine that the coupling of disinformation and dystopia would be prominent. These two bed fellows are pillars of this pandemic, framing our perception, and influencing our psychology.

Every once in a while I wonder what we’re missing amidst this pandemic as all eyes are focused on the wild news cycle driven by the coronavirus, politics, protests, celebrities, or some lady we’ll momentarily refer to as Karen. The ongoing proliferation and accessibility of facial recognition technology is one of them.

When it comes to social media, TikTok is different. Not necessarily in a good way, but that difference is notable and arguably an element of the platform’s success.

Facebook’s top two officials will be meeting today with civil rights groups who have successfully organized the largest boycott of the platform’s advertising system to date. The boycott has been using the #StopHateforProfit hastag, and has been led by organizations like the ADL, NAACP, Color for Change, and Common Sense Media among others.

I’m kind of in holiday mode, but wanted to share and comment on this news story that dropped today.