~ TA-TD-TTO-TIG-TP-A-TIT-SARTTT:TSIABTP-ITCGTROUSTFOB-THATG ~ The Autocrat – The De-Territorialzied Terrorist Organization – The Insurgent Group – The Prankster – And – The Internet Troll – Share A Relationship To The Truth: They See It As Beside The Point – If They Can Get The Rest Of Us Scrambling To Find Our Balance – They Have Achieved Their Goals

~ ‘ML’-ATWCEAOWTTM ~ “Media Literacy” – Assume That We Could Even Agree On What That Term Means

~ U-TOUWWFA-HPC-WHT-SOI-SA-L-S-U-A-CSO-TMOREWKAC ~ Ultimately – Those Of Us Who Wish For A – Healthier Public Culture – Will Have To – Strengthen Other Institutions – Such As – Libraries – Schools – Universities – And – Civil Society Organizations – That Might Offer Richer Engagement With Knowledge And Community

~ WMSOCT-WMSAT ~ We Must Sharpen Our Critical Tools – We Must Stop And Think

~ I-COA-METTTTPUTBHAMETTTCUAOU-MOWWE-IMOORAI-LUTB-S-F-A-A-E-YWKCB-A-WCSTQ ~ It – Captures Our Attention – Maximize Exposure To The Things That Push Us To Be Happier And Minimize Exposure To Things That Cause Us Anxiety Or Unhappiness – Much Of What We Encounter – Including Many Of Our Responses And Interactions – Leads Us To Be – Sad – Frustrated – Angry – And – Exhausted – Yet We Keep Coming Back – And – We Can’t Seem To Quit

~ DTB-H-F-LA-SB-ICUBIR-T-I-C-L-L-F

~ Designed To Be – Habit-Forming – Like A – Skinner Box – It Conditions Us By Intermittent Reinforcement – Through – Instant – Constant – Low-Level – Feedback

~ WHSAPOCATWAWVAADGM-ATVMT-OADMHCTO-OH-OM-OW-OFO-A-OM ~ We Have Seen A Proliferation Of Casinos Across The World Along With Video And Algorithmically Driven Gambling Machines – At The Very Movement That – Other Algorithmically Driven Machines Have Come To Occupy – Our Hands – Our Minds – Our Time – Our Work – Our Family Obligations – And – Our Money

~ WFCIDO-TM-WPTBWWWPAS ~ We Find Comfort In Declaring Our – Tribal Membership – We Perform Tribal Membership With What We Post And Share

~ AFFT ~ A Forum For Tribalism

~ APM-BA-AAM-AAM-A-A-RM ~ A Pleasure Machine – But Also – An Anxiety Machine – An Anger Machine – And – A – Resentment Machine

~ SS-PO-IPS-TCBS ~ Surveillance System – Part Of – Its Pleasure System – They Cannot Be Severed

~ TMPSSITHOTW ~ The Most Pervasive Surveillance System In The History Of The World

~ CSOIUOBOIAC ~ Commercial Surveillance Of Its Users On Behalf Of Its Advertising Clients

~ S-AL-M-A-A-TSDAJ-T-GCOHAPEAC-SCU-BPT-I-GDTROCTG ~ States – Authoritarian Leaders – Monitor – Activity – And – Track Suspected Dissidents And Journalists – They – Generate Campaigns Of Harassment Against Perceived Enemies And Critics – States Can Use – Bogus Profiles To – Infiltrate – Groups Devoted To Reforming Or Challenging The Government

~ DCISCAETIUTJAPWATDMGI-FAS-CFAAQL ~ Data Collection Is So Cheap And Easy That It’s Unnecessary To Judge A Priori What Among The Data Might Be Important – Firms And States – Collect First And Ask Questions Later

~ TC:AIIEOMCASS ~ The Cryptopticon: An Inscrutable Information Ecosystem Of Massive Corporate And State Surveillance

~ TWOTCA-C-H-S-AM-OCNBSWIWWAFWP ~ The Workings Of The Cryptopticon Are – Cryptic – Hidden – Scrambled – And – Mysterious – One Can Never Be Sure Who Is Watching Whom And For What Purpose

~ TLBSACSHMA-ASSSRRSDSOPMAHJBAFOBLTDOTOM ~ The Line Between State And Commercial Surveillance Hardly Matters Anymore – A State Security Services Regularly Receive Significant Data Sets On People’s Movement And Habits Just By Asking For Or By Licensing The Data On The Open Market

~ WSPETAO(P)N-T-ACMS-TWFTWOICDAPPATNFCNTUTCG ~ We So Precipitously Entered The Age Of (Potentially) Near-Total And Continuous Mutual Surveillance – That We Failed To Weigh Our Individual Consumer Desires And Personnel Predilections Against The Need For Certain Norms To Uphold The Common Good

~ OPADUDNMITAE-TAIAD ~ Our Privacy And Dignity Ultimately Do Not Matter In The Attention Economy – They Are Inconvenient And Disposable

~ TAE ~ The Attention Economy

~ TVONBFRHACOAFTBT ~ The Virtues Of Not Being Famous Rarely Have A Champion Or A Fairy Tale Behind Them

~ TMWS-GOS-PADOTA-TMWGATTH ~ The More Time We Spend – Grooming Our Self-Presentation And Declaring Our Tribal Affiliations – The More We Grow Acculturated To This Habit

~ WMHR-‘PA’ ~ We May Have Reached – “Peak Advertising”

~ PDIP ~ Personal Data Into Propaganda

~ TGS ~ The Great Scramble

~ ‘R’-HNRT-TH-TE-TM-TE-O-TT ~ “Relevance” – Has No Relationship To – The Helpful – The Enlightening – The Moral – The Educational – Or – The True

~ SIESPC ~ Specializing In Ethically Suspect Paid Content

~ JIFTBTSI-A-TINJCDAI ~ Journalism Is Feeding The Beast That Starves It – And – There Is Nothing Journalists Can Do About It

~ FAGAQLTHOC-T-R-C-A-W-TAFON-TNAIATHEITAU-MPM-C-HS-O-P-CHOBDADSODF ~ Firms And Governments Are Quickly Learning The Hazards Of – Connecting – Thermostats – Robots – Cars – And – Watches – To A Fairly Open Network – These Networks Are Insecure And The Humans Embedded In Them Are Undependable – Malevolent Political Movements – Criminals – Hostiles States – Or – Pranksters – Can Hijack Or Bring Down A Delicate System Of Data Flows

~ LWATS-WSTTAMA-INMT-TSU ~ Like With Any Technological System – We Shape These Technologies As Much As – If Not More Than – They Shape Us

~ DI ~ Digital Imperialism

~ DBV-C-RT-P-BTF-A-M-RT-EAL-BTAOP ~ Dollars Became Votes – Commerce – Rather Than – Politics – Became The Forum – And – Markets – Rather Than – Elections And Legislatures – Became The Aggregators Of Preferences

~ IA-GAC-LIVAODOI-TBU-T-LC-A-I-AF-TIICW-D-DS-SMTBU-A-TLWCCLAUAC ~ If A – Global Advertising Company – Leverages Its Vast Array Of Dossiers On Its – Two Billion Users – To – Limit Competition – And – Invite – Antidemocratic Forces – To Infest Its Channels With – Disinformation – Democratic States – Should Move To Break It Up – And – To Limit What Companies Can Learn And Use About Citizens

~ BE ~ Be Evil

~ BTEO-2010-TITSMW-RR-SABAT-A-UDP-W-ATISOE ~ By The End Of – 2010 – The Idea That Social Media Would – Revolutionize Revolutions – Strike A Blow Against Tyranny – And – Unleash Democratic Participation – Was – A Theory In Search Of Evidence

~ T-N-A-IOPHOT-T-A-T-TLWIAI ~ Techno-Narcissism – Assumes – If Only People Had Our Tools – Toys – And – Techniques – Their Lives Would Improve Almost Instantly

~ D-CG ~ Democracy-Colored Glasses

~ ITHO-PM-NMWAI-YSCODTTO ~ In The History Of – Protest Movements – New Media Were Always Important – Yet Seldom Crucial Or Determinative To Their Outcomes

~ P-Q-CQC? ~ Psychographics – Qu’est-Ce Que C’est?

~ TDAOP ~ The Dark Arts Of Psychometrics

~ PE-TPOHDAC-A-GATTEFROTMLTBMBTM ~ Political Engineering – The Process Of Harvesting Data About Citizens – And – Generating Algorithmic Tools That Efficiently Focus Resources On Those Most Likely To Be Moved By Tailored Messages

~ M-HCFSL-P-TSL-E-SH-P ~ Marketing – Has Changed From Something Like – Poetry – To Something Like – Engineering – So Has – Politics

~ TCOPHBC:EOUIAWACOPIGFUAOIGRTGFO-C-N-O-W ~ The Culture Of Politics Has Become Customized: Each Of Us Is Asked Whether A Candidate Or Platform Is Good For Us And Our Immediate Gratification Rather Than Good For Our – Community – Nation – Or – World

~ C-G-‘T’-ATMILWCR-BI-C-C-A-C ~ Citizenship – Grows – “Thin” – As Too Much Information Lies Within Convenient Reach – But Is – Cacophonous – Confusing – And – Contradictory

~ NO-TR-WDIH-OU-O-HIUTD ~ No Obligation – To Reveal – What Data It Has – On Us – Or – How It Uses Those Data

~ WW-MACOT-A-WIIRACIOLWCOTL-TC-WMFOO ~ When We – Make A Cult Of Technology – And – Welcome Its Immediate Rewards And Conveniences Into Our Lives Without Consideration Of The Long-Term Costs – We Make Fools Of Ourselves

~ WHB-D-PFA-D-A-D ~ We Have Become – Data-Producing Farm Animals – Domesticated – And – Dependent

~ ‘TI’-A-ID ~ “The Internet” – And – Its Discontents

~ IWAGT-R-TRIO-A-ROIE-WMDIS-TGD-Q ~ If We Are Going To – Resist – The Rising Illiberal Oliopoly – And – Reform Our Information Ecosystem – We Must Do It Soon – It’s Getting Dark – Quickly