Alex Blechman [@AlexBlechman]. Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus as a cautionary tale Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don't Create The Torment Nexus. November 2021. URL: https://twitter.com/AlexBlechman/status/1457842724128833538 (visited on 2023-12-10).

In Plato’s Phaedrus [u1] (~370BCE), Socrates tells (or makes up1) a story from Egypt critical of the invention of writing: Now in those days the god Thamus was the king of the whole country of Egypt, […] [then] came Theuth and showed his inventions, desiring that the other Egyptians might be allowed to have the benefit of them; […] [W]hen they came to letters, This, said Theuth, will make the Egyptians wiser and give them better memories; it is a specific both for the memory and for the wit. Thamus replied: […] this discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the reality.

19.3.2. Privacy Concerns# Another source of responses to Meta (and similar social media sites), is concern around privacy (especially in relation to surveillance capitalism). The European Union passed the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) [s47] law, which forces companies to protect user information in certain ways and give users a “right to be forgotten” [s48] online. Apple also is concerned about privacy, so it introduced app tracking transparency in 2021 [s49]. In response, Facebook says Apple iOS privacy change will result in $10 billion revenue hit this year [s50]. Note that Apple can afford to be concerned with privacy like this because it does not make much money off of behavioral data. Instead, Apple’s profits [s51] are mostly from hardware (e.g., iPhone) and services (e.g., iCloud, Apple Music, Apple TV+).

Poster:The Last Samurai. February 2015. Page Version ID: 1025393048 This image is of a poster, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher or the creator of the work depicted. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:The_Last_Samurai.jpg&oldid=1025393048 (visited on 2023-12-10).

Meg van Achterberg. Jimmy Kimmel’s Halloween prank can scar children. Why are we laughing? Washington Post, October 2017. URL: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/jimmy-kimmel-wants-to-prank-kids-why-are-we-laughing/2017/10/20/9be17716-aed0-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html (visited on 2023-12-10).

Nuremberg Trials# After the defeat of Nazi Germany, prominent Nazi figures were put on trial in the Nuremberg Trials [r13]. These trials were a way of gathering and presenting evidence of the great evils done by the Nazis, and as a way of publicly punishing them. We could consider this as, in part, a large-scale public shaming of these specific Nazis and the larger Nazi movement. Some argued that there was no type of reconciliation or forgiveness possible given the crimes committed by the Nazis. Hannah Arendt argued that no possible punishment could ever be sufficient:

17.3.1. Intersectionality# As we look at the above examples we can see examples of intersectionality [q13], which means that not only are people treated differently based on their identities (e.g., race, gender, class, disability, weight, height, etc.), but combinations of those identities can compound unfair treatment in complicated ways. For example, you can test a resume filter and find that it isn’t biased against Black people, and it isn’t biased against women. But it might turn out that it is still biased against Black women. This could happen because the filter “fixed” the gender and race bias by over-selecting white women and Black men while under-selecting Black women.

Constance Grady. Chrissy Teigen’s fall from grace. Vox, June 2021. URL: https://www.vox.com/culture/22451970/chrissy-teigen-courtney-stodden-controversy-explained (visited on 2023-12-10).

You probably already have some ideas of how crowds can work together on things like editing articles on a site like Wikipedia or answer questions on a site like Quora, but let’s look at some other examples of how crowds can work together. Fold-It [p19] is a game that lets players attempt to fold proteins. At the time, researchers were having trouble getting computers to do this task for complex proteins, so they made a game for humans to try it. Researchers analyzed the best players’ results for their research and were able to publish scientific discoveries based on the contributions of players.

CSCW 2023: The 26th ACM Conference On Computer-Supported Cooperative Work And Social Computing. URL: https://cscw.acm.org/2023/ (visited on 2023-12-08).

Reddit# Reddit [o3] is divided into subreddits which are often about a specific topic. Each subreddit is moderated by volunteers who have special permissions, who Reddit forbids from making any money: Reddit is valued at more than ten billion dollars, yet it is extremely dependent on mods who work for absolutely nothing. Should they be paid, and does this lead to power-tripping mods? A post starting a discussion thread on reddit about reddit [o4] In addition to the subreddit moderators, all Reddit users can upvote or downvote comments and posts. The reddit recommendation algorithm promotes posts based on the upvotes and downvotes, and comments that get too many downvotes get automatically hidden. Finally, Reddit itself does some moderation as a platform in determining which subreddits can exist and has on occasion shut down some.

Wikipedia:Administrators. November 2023. Page Version ID: 1187624916. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Administrators&oldid=1187624916 (visited on 2023-12-08).

Sarah McQuate. 'I don't even remember what I read': People enter a 'dissociative state' when using social media. ScienceDaily, May 2022. URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220523135018.htm (visited on 2023-12-08).

Many have anecdotal experiences with their own mental health and those they talk to. For example, cosmetic surgeons have seen how photo manipulation on social media has influenced people’s views of their appearance:

11.2.1. Individual vs. Systemic Analysis [k2]# Individual analysis focuses on the behavior, bias, and responsibility an individual has, while systemic analysis focuses on the how organizations and rules may have their own behaviors, biases, and responsibility that aren’t necessarily connected to what any individual inside intends. For example, there were differences in US criminal sentencing guidelines between crack cocaine vs. powder cocaine in the 90s. The guidelines suggested harsher sentences on the version of cocaine more commonly used by Black people, and lighter sentences on the version of cocaine more commonly used by white people. Therefore, when these guidelines were followed, they had have racially biased (that is, racist) outcomes regardless of intent or bias of the individual judges. (See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Sentencing_Act) [k3].

Neurodiversity. November 2023. Page Version ID: 1187185735. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neurodiversity&oldid=1187185735#Neurotypical (visited on 2023-12-07).

General Data Protection Regulation. November 2023. Page Version ID: 1187294017. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=General_Data_Protection_Regulation&oldid=1187294017 (visited on 2023-12-05).

For example, a social media application might offer us a way of “Private Messaging” [i1] (also called Direct Messaging) with another user. But in most cases those “private” messages are stored in the computers at those companies, and the company might have computer programs that automatically search through the messages, and people with the right permissions might be able to view them directly.

Jordan Pearson. Your Friends’ Online Connections Can Reveal Your Sexual Orientation. Vice, September 2014. URL: https://www.vice.com/en/article/gvydky/your-friends-online-connections-can-reveal-your-sexual-orientation (visited on 2023-12-05).

Social media data can also be used to infer information about larger social trends like the spread of misinformation [h10].

Mark R. Cheathem. Conspiracy Theories Abounded in 19th-Century American Politics. URL: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/conspiracy-theories-abounded-19th-century-american-politics-180971940/ (visited on 2023-11-24).

One difference you may notice with different social media sites is in how you form connections with others. Some social media sites don’t have any formal connections. Like two users who happen to be on the same bulletin board. Some social media sites only allow reciprocal connections, like being “friends” on Facebook Some social media sites offer one-way connections, like following someone on Twitter or subscribing to a YouTube channel.

Ethics of Choosing Data Representation

All models are wrong. November 2023. Page Version ID: 1183166756. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=All_models_are_wrong&oldid=1183166756 (visited on 2023-11-24).

Buy TikTok Followers. 2023. URL: https://www.socialwick.com (visited on 2023-12-02).

Though we might consider these to be run by “human computers” who are following the instructions given to them, such as in a click farm:

Scenario: A Parent With Alzheimer’s# Suppose you are in the position of needing to decide what to do to care for a parent. Although they are used to an active and independent life, it is clear that they have been showing signs of worsening, early stages Alzheimer’s [b80]. You believe they are no longer able to safely live on their own, but they get upset at the suggestion that they might need help. You have two options. Either you can intervene, by ignoring your parent’s wishes and securing a professional carer or care home to support them, or you can choose not to intervene, hoping that they will finally realize they need care. You have consulted with your siblings, and they left the final decision to you. The cost of professional care will come out of your parent’s financial reserves (they can afford it), but you will need to spend their money for them against their will. You don’t know what to do, so you sit down and work through your options with a list of ethical frameworks.

Kantianism: “Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law.” Meaning: only follow rules that you are ok with everyone else following. For example, you might conclude that it is wrong to lie no matter what the consequences are. Kant certainly thought so, but many have disagreed with him. Deontological thinking comes out of the same era as Natural Rights thinking, and they are rooted in similar assumptions about the world. Deontology is often associated with Kant, because at that time, he gave us one of the first systematic, or comprehensive, interpretations of those ideas in a fully-fledged ethical framework. But deontological ethics does not need to be based on Kant’s ethics, and many ethicists working in the deontological tradition have suggested that reasoning about the objective reality should lead us to derive different sets of principles.