8 Matching Annotations
  1. Oct 2025
  2. social-media-ethics-automation.github.io social-media-ethics-automation.github.io
    1. Web 2.0. October 2023. Page Version ID: 1179906793. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Web_2.0&oldid=1179906793#Web_1.0 (visited on 2023-11-24).

      The cited Wikipedia Bibliography for "Web 2.0" provides a solid definition of the Web 2.0. It described as the version of the internet we use today. Which mean you can actively interact with websites instead of just reading them. It's often called the "participative social web" because it lets you create your own content and share it or connect with others on platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Wikipedia. This evolution turned the web from a one-way information source into a collaborative space.

    1. The user interface [e27] of a computer system (like a social media site), is the part that you view and interact with. It’s what you see on your screen and what you press or type or scroll over. Designers of social media sites have to decide how to layout information for users to navigate and decide how the user performs various actions (like, retweet, post, look up user, etc.). Some information and actions will be made larger and easier to access while others will be smaller or hidden in menus or settings.

      The text says the user interface is what you view and interact with. My question is what do we call the part of the system that the user doesn't see? For example, the algorithm that decides what order posts appear in user's feed is a huge part of user experience. But it's not part of the UI. Is there a specific name for that "behind-the-scenes" part?

  3. social-media-ethics-automation.github.io social-media-ethics-automation.github.io
    1. Complex number. November 2023. Page Version ID: 1186512779. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Complex_number&oldid=1186512779 (visited on 2023-11-24).

      This chapter looks at the numbers we use for counting and measuring. It introduces the definition of "imaginary numbers" and "complex number" which were invented to solve problems that were previously impossible. The chapter shows how all different types of numbers work together and what properties they have.

    1. Thus, when designers of social media systems make decisions about how data will be saved and what constraints will be put on the data, they are making decisions about who will get a better experience. Based on these decisions, some people will fit naturally into the data system, while others will have to put in extra work to make themselves fit, and others will have to modify themselves or misrepresent themselves to fit into the system.

      This idea really resonates because it shows how technology designs force people to fit into boxes. For example, a freelance worker or gig worker using a professional networking site will be constantly prompted to list a single, current "Position" and "Company." This design assumes traditional full-time employment for every user, forcing them to choose one gig from their portfolio. And list themselves in a way that actually not accurately represent their flexible career.

  4. social-media-ethics-automation.github.io social-media-ethics-automation.github.io
    1. Sean Cole. Inside the weird, shady world of click farms. January 2024. URL: https://www.huckmag.com/article/inside-the-weird-shady-world-of-click-farms (visited on 2024-03-07).

      The article provides a vivid description of how the click farm works and how it becomes a popularity machine. A full room of smartphones, and every phone switches IP address frequently. These phones are controlled by a central computer, and automatically like and follow to boost content. This article also shows an example of how such operations are deployed for political ends. And reflects on how quickly social metrics can shape people's perceptions of legitimacy.

    1. But when some people want to get around these limits, they can make bots that don’t use this official API, but instead, open the website or app and then have a program perform clicks and scrolls the way a human might. These are much harder for social media platforms to track, and they normally ban accounts doing this if they are able to figure out that is what is happening.

      This description raises a question for me about the ethics of "good faith". This chapter implicitly frames this as a bad activity. But what about researchers, archivists, or accessibility advocates whose goals are aligned with the public good, but who are forced to use these methods because the official API is too restrictive and expensive? And sometimes it may simply doesn't provide the data they need or just lack of enough functionality?

  5. Sep 2025
    1. Actions are right roughly insofar as they are a matter of living harmoniously with others or honouring communal relationships

      I do not fully agree with this idea. While living harmoniously with others and honoring communal relationships is important, this argument is too asserted. This is because it lacks a system for evaluating other people. If you only care about making good relationships without considering their actions, you will compromise too much and enter an unequal relationship. This ethnic framework somehow neglecting human's subjectivity.

    2. Act with unforced actions in harmony with the natural cycles of the universe. Trying to force something to happen will likely backfire.

      In the early Han dynasty, Emperor Gaozu employed the ideas of Taoism, which is also known as "Rule by doing nothing." He recovered the economy after the war by implementing minimal management. This is a very good example of an ethical framework also serving as a strategy for governing.