Advocacy in Technology and Society/A People's History of the Internet

In class edit-a-thon activity

In this activity, you will be contributing resources to our course's 'living syllabus', building towards a class bibliography. In your group, share what you're reading (books, chapters, or articles), listening to (podcasts or other audio), and/or what you're watching (video or other media, e.g. lectures, TED Talks) on emerging tech and society. Draw on what we read for class, what you read for reflections, and/or what you've read in other classes that interacts with our class material. Each group member should contribute at least one resource.

Goal:  Contribute resources on this topic, broadly framed. Please share citations and a brief summary about your contributions.

Format:  Each contribution should include the following:

• APA citation of the resource
• Type of Resource: Book, chapter, article, podcast, etc.
• Brief summary of the resource
• Name of Contributor (that's you! if you choose to include it)

Here is an example of what that would look like when you add it to the page:

Aho, B., & Duffield, R. (2020). Beyond surveillance capitalism: Privacy, regulation and big data in Europe and China. Economy and Society, 49(2), 187–212. Type of Resource: Research Article Summary: The paper employs a comparative approach to analyze two pivotal big data policies: the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) implemented by the European Union and China's social credit system (SCS). It asserts that these policies reflect distinct perspectives on data and individuals, serving as tangible governance measures in response to the proliferation of data surveillance infrastructures and the concept of 'surveillance capitalism' advanced by scholar Shoshana Zuboff. The paper contends that while the EU endeavors to reactively curtail the influence of surveillance capitalism through the GDPR, China actively embraces its principles for enhanced state utilization, thereby setting Europe and China on divergent trajectories of socio-economic development in the era of big data. Contributor: Jaclyn Sawyer

With your group, build out this page with your contributions. To avoid any issues, one person should edit the page at a time. 

What we're reading:

Type of Resource: Therapy for People Who Can’t Go to Therapy

Aguilera, A. (2022, September 27). Opinion | Therapy for People Who Can’t Go to Therapy. The New York Times.

This article dissects the impact technology has had on access to therapeutic services. Aguilera highlights the benefits and detriments of telehealth services, specifically as it relates to menthol health services. Aguilera describes how telehealth opened a platform for larger percentages of people to more readily access therapeutic services from safe and private locations.However, the article also highlights how telehealth practices can be exclusionary of certain races, ethnicities, or socioeconomic backgrounds. The article sheds light on the importance of examining how the internet has impacted, both positively and negatively, society’s access to healthcare.

Contributor: Alyson Forgione

Zhou, Q. (2020, December 28). Building the (fire) wall: Internet censorship in the United States and China. Harvard International Review. https://hir.harvard.edu/building-the-fire-wall/

Type of Resource: Editorial Article

Summary: This editorial article discusses the impacts of internet censorship in China and geopolitical implications of the U.S. government's response with the expansion of the "Clean Network Initiative". The author asserts that the United States and China are "waging an 'internet sovereignty' war" that restricts the internet freedoms from people in both regions. The article suggests that developing surveillance technologies in China have now become products that authoritarian governments could purchase and use on their own citizens. The article contends that the proliferation of internet censorship and surveillance tactics, and restrictions of internet freedoms, goes against the foundational values of the "World Wide Web" as a platform for open and free information and communication.

Contributor: Eugene Li

What we're listening to:

A People's History of the Internet: SomethingAwful

Type of Resource - Podcast from SoundCloud

https://soundcloud.com/vaguebookingpodcast/episode-43-a-peoples-history-of-the-internet-somethingawful?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Summary: The podcast discussed the notorious forum that changed the Internet forever. The internet has changed the way we act and think, which has affected politics. Massive adolescent online collectives were the starting point for the most influential recent political movements on the far left and right. seen how the community of anonymous messageboard users has changed over time in terms of interests and activities. The internet itself is encapsulated in sites like 4chan and 8chan, which are at once the cutting edge of modern politics, comedy, language, and culture, and a new low point for all of the above. They were the original meme machines, mostly used by young men. The late 2000s recession is when memes started to take on political overtones. However, the site's ideology quickly shifted, and it became the alt-right's birthplace and breeding ground.

Contributor: Yuheng Li

What we're watching:

Reimagining the Internet. Charlton McIlwain, Black Software

Type of Resource: Youtube video

Charlton McIlwain, a professor in NYU’s Media, Culture, and Communications department, talks about the history of the Black Internet and his book “Black Software: The Internet & Racial Justice, from the AfroNet to Black Lives Matter.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4YNT7KJuk8

Contributor: Irina