Datafication, Algorithms, and Digital Society: Key Concepts and Ethical Challenges

What is datafication?

Turning aspects of life into quantifiable digital data for decision-making and profit.

What is big data?

Extremely large, complex data sets that require new tools/analytics.

What is an algorithm?

A step-by-step, finite, rule-based procedure that transforms input into output.

What are the three elements of the process of datafication?

Capture, Structuring, Use.

What does 'capture' refer to in datafication?

Everyday activities are continuously recorded.

What is meant by 'structuring' in datafication?

Raw traces are cleaned, categorized, and turned into structured data.

How is data used in datafication?

Data is combined and analyzed for prediction, targeting, ranking, and automated decision-making.

What is the formal definition of datafication?

The transformation of many aspects of our lives into computerized data for tracking, predicting, and influencing behavior.

Who benefits from datafication?

Medicine, transportation, marketing, finance, city planning, climate science.

What challenges does datafication pose?

Risks of profiling, discrimination, loss of human discretion, and pressure to manage by metrics.

What are the three Vs of big data?

Volume, Velocity, Variety.

What does 'volume' refer to in big data?

Huge amounts of data.

What does 'velocity' refer to in big data?

Speed of data creation and processing.

What does 'variety' refer to in big data?

Different data types such as text, numbers, images, and more.

What is surveillance capitalism?

An economic system where companies collect behavioral data to sell predictions about behavior.

What is the main goal of big data companies?

Profit via targeted advertising and behavioral prediction.

What is technological determinism?

The view that technology shapes society, which is rejected in favor of mutual shaping.

What is structured data?

Orderly formats like databases and spreadsheets.

What is raw data?

Data that is not objective and subject to interpretation.

What is programmed sociality?

How algorithms shape interactions and relationships on platforms.

What are filter bubbles?

Personalized algorithms that limit exposure to differing viewpoints.

What are calculated publics?

Algorithmically generated audiences created by platform criteria.

What are the sources of algorithmic bias?

Dirty data and latent bias.

What is dirty data?

Incomplete or biased data sets used for training algorithms.

What is latent bias?

Existing societal inequalities reflected in algorithms.

What is the problem with algorithmic accountability?

No independent body audits algorithms, leading to low accountability.

What are some strategies to combat algorithmic bias?

Improve data and design, auditing and transparency, algorithmic literacy and regulation.

What is data justice?

Linking datafication to social justice for fair use of data and algorithms.

What are the forms of data justice?

Procedural, distributive, and structural data justice.

Why do technological, ethical, and legal questions matter?

They are essential to understanding systemic patterns and injustices.

What is the big picture takeaway regarding datafication and algorithms?

They are not neutral tools but infrastructures of power tied to surveillance capitalism.

What does the political economy perspective focus on?

It examines who owns what, who profits, and who is exploited.

What is the access divide?

It refers to unequal access to devices and stable internet.

What factors shape the access divide?

Income, geography, education, and disability.

What is the skills/use divide?

It highlights differences in people's ability to navigate digital tools.

What does the participation divide indicate?

A small minority creates most content while the majority mainly consumes.

What is the outcome divide?

It refers to unequal benefits from technology.

What key insight is drawn about digital technology and inequality?

Digital tech does not erase inequality; it often exacerbates existing ones.

What is the political economy of digital media?

It studies how ownership, profit, labor, and power shape media systems.

What are key questions in the political economy of digital media?

Who owns platforms? Who profits? Who creates value? Who gets exploited?

What does Smythe's 'audience commodity' concept entail?

Users' attention becomes a product sold to advertisers.

What is digital labor?

Users' posts, likes, photos, videos, and reviews create economic value.

What is playbour?

When work feels like fun, leading people to not feel exploited despite creating unpaid value.

What critique does Fuchs provide about the internet?

He argues that the internet is not democratic and is dominated by corporations.

What is the precariat?

Workers with unstable, insecure, low-rights jobs.

What are examples of precariat jobs?

Uber drivers, delivery workers, microtaskers, freelancers.

What does the term 'identity tourism' refer to?

Users adopting different identities as temporary 'costumes'.

What is cybertyping?

Internet-specific stereotypes produced through digital interactions.

What are the masculinized roots of tech culture?

Military origins of computing and male stereotypes in tech fields.

What is cyberfeminism?

The belief that digital tech could allow escape from gender norms.

Who is Anita Sarkeesian?

A feminist critic analyzing portrayals of women in video games.

What forms of harassment did Sarkeesian face?

Rape and death threats, doxxing, and attempts to deplatform her.

What is the core theme regarding capitalist structures in digital society?

Capitalist structures still shape digital society.

What is Link 16?

A secure military tactical data link for real-time information sharing.

What was a limitation of the F-22 before 2017?

It had no two-way communication due to stealth requirements.

What change occurred in 2017 regarding the F-22?

It gained secure two-way communications capabilities.

What is chaff used for?

A defensive countermeasure to confuse enemy radar.

What is the purpose of the F-22 in the three-aircraft formation?

To stay fully stealth and act as the 'silent hunter'.

What role does the F-35 play in the three-aircraft formation?

It works as the translator/gateway, receiving stealth info from the F-22 and converting it into Link 16 messages.

What does the third aircraft in the formation do?

Receives translated data and helps distribute it to larger networks.

What new development occurred in 2023 regarding Link 16?

Link 16 became space-enabled with new satellites broadcasting signals globally.

What are the four key internet milestone dates?

1960: Early ideas for decentralized networks; 1969: ARPANET created; 1972: Email invented; 1989-1993: The Web developed.

What does TCP/IP stand for?

Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol.

What is the logic behind packet switching?

Data is broken into small packets that travel independently and are reassembled at the destination.

What is Tim Berners-Lee known for?

Inventing the World Wide Web and creating HTML, HTTP, and URLs.

Which older internet technologies are reflected in Link 16?

Packet switching, decentralized networks, redundancy, and standardized communication protocols.

Who can detect the F-22 when it flies in stealth mode?

No one except AWACS or highly advanced enemy radar systems.

What are 'Rube Goldberg gateways'?

Overly complicated communication work-arounds that shouldn't be permanent.

Who can hear Link 16 transmissions?

Any platform with Link 16 capability.

When did Link 16 development begin?

In the 1970s.

What are the types of digital data?

User-generated, platform-generated, machine-generated, and metadata.

What are the key features of digital data?

Massive scale, high speed of creation, high variety, persistence, and traceable digital footprints.

What are the three core challenges of digital data?

Messiness, platform dependence, and ethical uncertainty.

What does methodological bricolage mean?

Mixing qualitative and quantitative methods depending on the digital environment.

What is digital ethnography?

Studying online cultures, communities, and interactions.

What does social network analysis (SNA) study?

Relationships, structures, and connections among people or entities.

What are the strengths of computational text analysis?

Efficient for big datasets and identifies patterns not detectable manually.

What are the key ethical tensions in digital research?

Public vs. private data, user expectations, de-identification, platform terms of service, and vulnerability.

What are the four core ethical principles in digital research?

Autonomy, beneficence, justice, and transparency.

What is trace data?

Behavioral records generated passively by users.

What does API stand for?

Application Programming Interface.

What is context collapse?

Different audiences collide online.

What are the challenges of researching digital society?

New types of data, changing platforms, algorithmic filtering, incomplete access, and evolving ethical rules.

What are the three V's of Big Data?

Volume, Velocity, Variety.

What are algorithms?

Step-by-step computational procedures used to make decisions and automate tasks.

What is a filter bubble?

A situation where algorithms personalize content so heavily that users mainly see information confirming their beliefs.

What do algorithms need to function?

Data that must be collected, cleaned, categorized, and structured.

What is 'tidying up' data?

The process where platforms remove or demote unwanted content, creating a curated information environment.

What is algorithmic bias?

The reflection and amplification of biases present in the data or societal assumptions of designers.

What are examples of algorithmic bias?

Facial recognition misidentifying darker-skinned faces and predictive policing targeting over-policed communities.

How can algorithmic bias be combated?

By using more diverse training data, ensuring transparency, and increasing public algorithmic literacy.

What is algorithmic literacy?

Understanding what algorithms do and their social consequences.

What are key ideas in data justice?

Datafication must be analyzed in social context and can disproportionately harm vulnerable groups.

Why do algorithms feel 'neutral'?

They appear automated but are shaped by human assumptions and choices.

What is deep mediatization?

The idea that our world is co-constructed by humans and automated systems.

What is predictive policing?

Using past crime data to target minority communities, reinforcing systemic racism.

What change did Facebook make in 2018?

Facebook prioritized posts likely to spark engagement, which had negative outcomes like boosting divisive content.

What is dataveillance?

Monitoring individuals through digital traces and algorithmic tracking.

What are black box algorithms?

Algorithms that operate invisibly to users, with hidden workings.

What is self-tracking?

The process of producing personal data that is collected by various entities.