🧠 CCT218 Final Exam Study Guide

🧠 CCT218 Final Exam Study Guide

 Remediation

New media (like YouTube) always takes parts of old media (like TV or film) and changes them. It's like remixing. This shows that media is always connected to past media forms.

Example: TikToks or vlogs use movie editing styles but in a casual way.

Male Gaze

This idea says that media often shows women in ways that please straight men—like objects, not full people. bell hooks said race matters too, and Black women see this differently and may push back with their own views.

Example: Music videos showing women dancing in tight clothes, mostly for men watching.

Datafication

This means turning everyday actions (like scrolling or liking) into data. Platforms use this data to show you content, ads, and more. Zuboff calls it "behavioral surplus."

Example: Instagram tracks what you like to suggest other posts.

Algorithmic Bias

This happens when computer systems treat people unfairly—usually because the data or design is biased. It’s not just a tech problem; it reflects real-world inequality.

Example: An iphone camera didn’t recognize a Black person’s face for FACE ID.

Extractivism

Extractivism means taking natural or human resources for profit. In media, it’s about mining minerals for phones, collecting your data, or using cheap labor to run platforms.

Example: Lithium mining in Chile for smartphone batteries, or content moderation farms in the Philippines.

Encoding/Decoding

This idea (by Stuart Hall) says media creators send a message (encode), but viewers interpret it differently (decode). People don’t just accept what they see—they can agree, partly agree, or reject it.

Example: A Nike ad might seem inspiring to one person but fake or manipulative to another.

What are the main logics that underpin algorithmic media? Provide examples.

Datafication, Selection, Commodification

How do digital media contribute to environmental degradation? Choose one industry.

Take the smartphone industry: it involves extractive mining (lithium, coltan), energy-intensive manufacturing, and waste-heavy disposal. Mining in Africa and South America contributes to habitat destruction, water pollution, and exploitative labor. Design features like planned obsolescence further increase waste.

Data centers used by platforms like Google and Netflix require massive amounts of electricity for computation and cooling. Streaming alone makes up 70% of internet traffic and produces significant CO2 emissions. The internet is estimated to consume 10% of global electricity, possibly rising to 20% by 2030.

The "cloud" metaphor hides the reality of physical infrastructure, water use, and server farms. Disassembly and e-waste management are often outsourced to countries with low labor and environmental protections, creating global inequities.

Thus, digital media are materially grounded and ecologically costly. Solutions like solar-powered servers (e.g., Low-Tech Magazine) show alternatives, but mainstream media systems remain extractive.

What is algorithmic bias and how can it be reduced?

• Using diverse, representative datasets

• Hiring inclusive design teams

• External audits and transparency in algorithm design

• Building human oversight into automated systems

What is the role of authenticity in today’s media? Which theories help explain it?

Baudrillard’s concept of hyperreality helps explain this. In hyperreality, simulations replace the real—media constructs are experienced as “more real than the real.” Think of Donald Trump, whose persona as a reality TV star blurred truth and performance. He didn’t just lie—he became a spectacle, a simulacrum masking the absence of an authentic self.

Barthes’ idea of mythology also applies. He compared professional wrestling to staged moral battles. Trump, like a wrestler, represents narratives (justice, humiliation, stamina), not facts. This resonates with populist media strategies.

Present an example of remix culture and discuss it in the context of today’s media industries.

Remix culture means people take existing media—like videos, sounds, or memes—and mix them into something new. It’s creative, but it also raises legal and business issues.

Example: TikTok users often remix sounds and trends to create new dances, comedy, or edits. A sound clip from one video might be reused thousands of times in new ways.

This shows that media is no longer just made by big companies. Regular users shape culture too. But companies still try to control it. Platforms like YouTube or TikTok use copyright systems that can block or demonetize remixed content.

There’s a tension: creators want to remix, but media industries want to protect their content and make money. Sometimes remixers get hired or go viral, other times they get taken down.

So, remixing is common today, but it exists inside a media system that tries to balance creativity with control and profit.