In Jeff Orlowski’s movie, The Social Dilemma, I found two very alarming aspects of the movie that connected to my life. First, I definitely identified with the lack of data security detailed in the film. Just the other day, I noticed an advertisement pop up on my phone that was related to things I had previously searched for to an alarming degree. This terrified me and also alerted me to the data harvesting that many of these companies do. I remember reading a study done many years ago that detailed the disparity in online prices of the same items due to data harvesting of the study participants’ computer search history data. While many of us turn a blind eye to this insidious data manipulation, it is evident when using common sense that this is an enormous underground business that threatens the entire world’s privacy every day.
The second thing I noticed that applied to me was the manipulation tactics social media companies use to addict us to it. When I had taken a hiatus from Snapchat a few days ago, I noticed that I kept getting spammed with tons of messages that desperately tried to make me open the app. I was also alarmed by this since I usually never get notifications from them other than when I get snaps or Snapchat messages. I sincerely hope that there is a way we can work to eliminate these secret data violations and invasions of our mental privacy from the market.
I identify with both of those situations. Recently, I have noticed one of my apps sending me multiple notifications throughout the day when it did not do so before. I assume it’s for the same reason you mentioned about Snapchat: I was on this app constantly during quarantine, but not that the semester has started, I am rarely on there. It is alarming that data harvesting seems to take advantage of users information and use it for their benefit. That is how business works, but this underhanded approach promotes customer distrust.