As a digital generation, we are generating data traces all the time. From the walls of Pompeii to the ‘walls’ of Facebook, we generate data relentlessly without thought. We create unimaginable amounts of data and with access to live patterns and observations of data, comes predictive power of user groups’ future actions from shopping habits to social behaviours. Predictive power makes way for social control and surveillance capitalism- this is where China’s surveillance system is currently running.
My remediation this week is based on the claims that China makes to it’s citizens and the rest of the world that their data-driven technology is based on improving security and the lives of its citizens by classing it’s citizens into ‘social credit’ scores based on behaviour through surveillance. However, with 170 million cameras installed and another 400 million to be installed in the next three years, China is planning and already in the process of a digital dictatorship.
My remediation this week is based on the mobile phone being an always-on connectivity device. The predominant medium was first the printing press, radio and tv- all of which are only connected when you switch them on. Today, the mobile/smart phone is always on, always connected and always on the individual which means the internet is now part of your body and your body is not part of the internet. Today, the human body is IN the medium – in real time.
Closed appliance vs generative platform (no good or bad)
A closed appliance such as Apple, carefully curates the environment of the iPhone and other products they develop. Apple has complete control over the platform, the content (apps) and the user (what we can do).
“We define everything that is on the phone… We don’t want your phone to be like a PC. These are more like iPods than they are like computers.” – Steve Jobs
Whereas, Android is the opposite. It is an open and free platform which anyone can access and modify the code. Android has no control over the platform, the content or the user because of the nature of it’s open ‘garden’- Google Play and many different independent android markets can be accessed from any android device, unlike Apple. Android also allows rooting OS where gaining access to the system allows complete control for the user over the hardware and software.
Permission culture (and locked appliance) APPLE
We are locking your options because we know better
Creative commons provides free licenses for creators to give permission for others to use their work in advance under certain conditions. This allows a fast-track for the creators as they don’t have to give permission individually to use the work.
“The most powerful and sexy and well loved of lobbies really has as its aim not the protection of “property” but the rejection of a tradition. Their aim is not simply to protect what is theirs. Their aim is to assure that all there is, is what is theirs.”
Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture, 2004
Copyright creates artificial scarcity/value over content. The industry wants to control content, ideas and uses.
My remediation this week is based on how content creators, especially in the movie sector, have no accurate prediction on how successful the content will be with audiences. Despite what they spend on the movie (or content), audiences may engage with a movie on a much lower budget due to an unpredictable algorithm. This uncertainty sees content fighting for the audience’s attention with no predictable ‘route’ for audience interaction in sight.
Chelsea Wood, Lily Cooper, Bella Reid, Kayleigh Sandow Design by Clee Designs
I decided to make Lifestyle Gurus to address the fact that most lifestyle and fitness pages are run by extremely fit and healthy people which portrays a healthy lifestyle in an almost unachievable way.
I decided to get my friends together to produce content that is relatable, fun and informing all in one. We have been posting some easy, healthy recipes and sharing some workouts that out users can do at home.
I started with a whole different concept of a positivity page which didn’t get a lot of engagement because the concept was too broad and I didn’t identify with a niche audience. See below.
I wasn’t enjoying my page and due to the LACK OF feedback and interaction I knew I had to change something. Based on this, I decided to iterate my concept by thinking about I would enjoy and content I wish I had on my Instagram feed as a teenager/ young adult. I stuck to Instagram because it is an easily accessible platform and the content we are making is timely and efficient, #FIST.
My friends and I’s group chat is 90% us sharing workouts and recipes we want to try, so I thought this needs to be something, and what better than for my DA.
They all loved the idea and were all in, so we come up with ‘Lifestyle Gurus’ with the purpose of creating content for what we think is missing in the health area on Instagram. We are aiming to share content that is different from health influencers on Instagram by not sharing unrealistic pictures of ourselves, helping motivate and relate to our users who are going through tough times of body image by sharing our own personal experiences and showing fun behind the scenes of what influencers don’t share when working out and eating healthy.
As soon as our first post was put up, we gained 50 followers in the space of 2 hours and our engagement doubled from my last DA account. We are now at 157 followers in a week.
Where to from here?
In the future, we want to share a segment on our page once a week called #LETSTALK where we talk about an insecurity or issue we have/are facing around health and fitness to show our users that ‘healthy’ people on Instagram struggle too.
WE HAVE THIS SUGGESTION BOX OPEN FOR USERS TO GIVE US FEEDBACK BUT IT HAS BEEN SPAMMED SO WE ARE GOIMG TO DEDICATE A POST EVERY FORTNIGHT TO FEEDBACK ON OUR PAGE INSTEAD OF A STORY SO WE GET GENUINE FEEDBACK
When isolation is over, we hope to share some recommendations on food outlets/restaurants that are cheap and healthy and share some exercise circuits users can do with their friends.
We’ve found through our feedback loop that our workouts have been getting the most engagement so in future we will focus more on equipment-free workouts. A few of our users have said they want more lunches, dinners and plant-based meals in the future so we will be doing more of that as well.
My remediation this week is based around “modern reality being mediated by images.” (Debord, 1967)
Jean Baudrillard’s work also relfects this opinion, that it isn’t about actually having these experiences, it’s about being seen to have these experiences or products.
Debord’s statement is extremely prevalent today when looking at social media, Instagram in particular. All those who post to the app, create a reality through thought-out, framed images which merely represent a reality. “The real is perceived by audiences as a string of images” (Baudrillard, 1981)
Debordalso states “all ‘having’ must now derive its immediate prestige and its ultimate purpose from appearances.”
What Debord and Baudrillard’s work have in common is the outlook that consumerism isn’t about the quality of the products being sold, it’s the image they create for consumers about the appearance of owning the product.
My remediation is based around the following quote, the accumulation I created represents things today that most people wish they had, not because they like them, but because they would like to be associated with owning them.
“In societies where modern conditions of production prevail, life is presented as an immerse accumulation of spectacles.” (Debord, 1967)
chats with chels 