Which of these algorithmic feeds defines me more?   This one?

Or this one?

Answer:  Neither.

How does seeing myself through an algorithm influence my sense of self?

I'd like to think my sense of self is in tact without any need of an algorithm to define it.

I happen to use multiple devices for work and entertainment.  Until recently, when I found myself back in College after 25years,  information was not even synching between my devices.   My laptop, therefore, picks up a meagre amount of my search requests.  It gets used most often as a word-processor, or I use it to access course content for the classes I'm taking or to search information that guides my programming for clients.   I typically use Google Chrome to do my searches, because it's set in a way that does not inundate me with "news" content the way Explorer does, and it allows me to remain more focused.  It often happens that, as I'm searching for scholarly articles in Chrome, the articles will open up in the other web browser.  Perhaps this is why there is content on anxiety and hip replacements in the feed (some recent searches I've had to make for school presentations). 

Do the assignments I'm given for school define me as a person?  Certainly not.  They are assignments.  That is to say that I have been assigned a task.  One that I might not have ventured to do, were it not for the marks required to pass a course.

The AI program imbedded in my web browser's software is simply making logical assumptions about what I would probably like to see based on what I have most recently or most often been looking at.  While it's true that hip replacement, pre/post operative anxiety, and pain and weight loss medication use was occupying my mind for the last three weeks, and it's true that I chose the scenic landscape wallpaper for my Chrome browser, it does not define who I am or what motivates me in my life.   

How can a computer sum up 49years of life experience and untold interactions with the world into a single feed?  For me the idea is preposterous.  I was born before this technology because mainstream.  My daughter's generation, by contrast, may very well seek to define themselves through the content they resonate with most.   They've been exposed to so much content since the day they were born.  From TV to radio, to print ads, to streaming music and video, to social media, to gaming, and so much more...it's harder and harder for new generations to be certain about anything, with all the distraction and all the push and pull of competing medias. 

Technology, Relationships, & Community:

How has technology changed the way I interact with others?  In what way has it affected my sense of belonging to a community?

If I look at where I'm sitting right now, I have a lap top in front of me, where I click away at a keyboard to type up this blog.  I have an iPad next to my laptop that I did my best to edit a video on for another project.   Next to that is my iphone, which I can use to communicate with by calling, texting, video calling, meme messaging, and more. 

We can all agree that in the last three decades, we've expanded our reach globally and we've radically cut the time it takes to deliver messages.  Letters that once took 2weeks by airmail or 3-6months by sea freight, now show up seconds later in my inbox via email or on my phone as texts.  Video calling was science fiction in the 1970s and 80s.  Today, there are hundreds of apps and programs that allow face to face visual conferencing in real time.   We can tell our AI phone bot to compose and send messages for us while we drive.   While these developments are pretty awesome, we are losing our penmanship.  My daughter's generation doesn't even learn cursive at school.  I imagine, with newer talk-to-text apps, her children will lose the ability to write altogether.   

If I were to apply Marshall McLuhan's Tetrad theory to Smart Phones as they relate to communication, here's what I might see:

Enhances: 

-Global connectivity and one’s ability to send/receive information anywhere. 

Obsoletes:

- Individual tools and products such as computers, fax machines, paper and pen, printers, manual cameras, books, services typically provided by people (eg: translation services), and much more. 

Retrieves: 

-a reinstatement of the sense of a global village where we can share things with a global community;

-creative content making and distribution - A 60second TV commercial used to take up to 2 months to prep, shoot and distribute to theatres/networks and required a lot of manpower.  Today, a 60sec ad or movie trailer can be created and edited by a single person in a few hours using a smart phone and streamed globally all in a day, garnering hundreds, if not thousands of views before noon.

Reverses:

-the very thing we wanted - connection - we get so comfortable on the couch with the online chats and social media feeds that it begins to isolate us and create more distance instead.  The idea of having to communicate in person after years of texting and only seeing people's faces on screens feels strange, uncomfortable, or even overwhelming.  (Kamermans, T. 2026)

There are also more dangers to be aware of today, with the increased capabilities that our new technologies can provide.

In agreement with some of John Gray's views, more technological progress does not necessarily equate to a more civilized society.  In his work Straw Dogs, Gray wrote that, "Science increases human power — and magnifies the flaws in human nature."  To list some examples of how technology only amplifies humanity's flawed and often deplorable nature, we need not look further than our satellite and wifi internet connections.  From online extortion and bullying, to cult grooming, to pornography, gaming, and social media addiction, to spreading misinformation and polarizing nations...we've begun to go backwards from what was once deemed "civilized" behaviour.  Or perhaps, with the technology and the global village we've created, our deplorable nature is simply harder to hide.   The criminality that has emerged alongside developments in technology has become more cunning.  Our safety is constantly compromised.  ("John Gray:" (n.d).

For my part, I do my best to limit how much or what kinds of information can be extracted about me through my smart devices in order to maintain privacy and to be less available to online scams and malware.    I've had to save my parents from such fates a couple of times.  Thankfully, nothing that broke the bank, but only because I intervened before anything more damaging than a bruised ego could occur.  I also restrict my daughter's device time at home, and will not give her a smart phone or tablet of her own in order to avoid unnecessary potential problems with bullies, trolls and/or predators. 

The problem with maintaining stricter privacy is that, in today's digital entrepreneurial landscape, unless I'm more visible online, my services are not considered worthy enough to purchase.  My little website gets 0 views.   Why?  I suspect it's because I'm not out there bombing the feeds with my endless videos or opinions about how others exercise.  In old-school fashion, I just quietly get to work when an opportunity to help someone presents itself.  More often than not, it's when I've met someone in person.

Those who know me know I'm not a fan of social media.   As I embark on my 5th career, and, as a sandwich generation adult, I don't really have the time or the inclination to use social media to enhance skills I haven't fully even acquired yet.   I'm stuck, because I'm not working enough, yet I'm paying out of pocket to re-educate in another field, and I don't have the extra capital to have a professional do my marketing for me.   It's quite frustrating.  I suppose that's why I have 3 punching bags. 

When it comes to personal relationships, I am so grateful that I met my husband 26yrs ago, during my years in film school, before social media ever happened.  Even still, I feel the internet and social media has wedged itself between us more than I'd like.  How is it that we, and so many other couples find it acceptable to sit or lay side by side for hours with their faces in their phones and computers, and not say a single word to each other??  Since the pandemic, we've been reduced to communicating in digital threads with our partners or our "friend groups," all the while managing digital work flows within our vast network of connections.   What's App, Meta, Zoom, Instagram, Microsoft Teams, TikTok, countless other apps  (as well as for banking/entertainment/music/dating and more)  and thousands of little mini communities now flooding our feeds, vying for our attention and interaction.