The Dark Side of Alarm bells, analysis and the way out

Sander Duivestein & Jaap Bloem

Vision | Inspiration | Navigation | Trends [email protected] II Contents

1 The Dark Side of Social Media: Image: flickr.com > r.lassche01 a reality becoming more topical by the day 1 Contents PART I ALARM BELLS 7 2 2012, a bumper year for social media 7 3 Two kinds of Social Media Deficits 9 4 Addiction in the Attention Deficit Economy 10

PART II ANALYSIS 12 5 Ten jet-black consequences for Homo Digitalis Mobilis 12 6 Social media a danger to cyber security 20 7 The macro-economic Social Media Deficit 21 8 How did it get this far? 22

PART III THE WAY OUT 25 9 Dumbing-down anxiety 25 10 Basic prescription: social is the new capital 27 11 The Age of Context is coming 28 12 SlowTech should really be the norm 30 13 The Slow Web movement 31 14 Responsible for our own behavior 33

References 35

Justification iv Thanks iv

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The authors, editors and publisher have taken care in the preparation of this book, but make no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential Image: PhotoDisk damages in connection with or arising out of the use of the 2013 Sogeti VINT, Research Institute for New Technology information or programs contained herein. The opinions expressed Text Jaap Bloem, Sander Duivestein & Thomas van Manen are the collective ones of the team of authors and do not mean any Book production LINE UP boek en media bv, . the official position of the sponsoring companies. “ serve as an initial reminder: aninitial as serve Twelve may four years the sources from past selected media. social of to reap darkness theexpel benefits its side.Webright to continuously need andactively just as sumupour to deny concern, not musings These the for ofourhuman andmirror egos. the platform as andmedia sense tribal basic inits social the intimate given thebrows from start combination of - eye which should have raised media, nature ofsocial the to social question haveMany nowopenly begun instead. “soziale Medien” anddeliberately the phrase English use of to speak stillrefuse Many worse. Germans or even “vulgus”) intimate (Latin: its “populus”), cousin vulgar (Latin to popular just opposed as value societal to true of “sozial” exclusively since to that be word used related fom the mere rising meaning skepticism a sound was for instance inGermany,From there the beginning, sought after.badly so was efit which that deficits tend darkenben- to the bright and societal financial brought attention us deficits, andknowledge has gadgets media social ofprecious focus uniquely new The mobiledevices. oftheir own in the headlights caught inthe ofrabbits mankind caricature rather unify today media social inthe Fall so-called believe of2008, Tim , as and repartee” to us wanted O’Reilly “aphorisms, epigrams ofstimulatingInstead aclassical wasn’t to contain. values, easy our liberal given that, inthefrantic chaos nameofdemocratization a unleashed also thereafter groundswell media the social however, elite.merce Unsurprisingly media andthe mass bybigcom- oppressed that hadbeen masses critical as itwouldairvoices out of the as long fine tion was the Web coined term guys - 2.0.That libera in2004 back meantto whenO’Reilly’s mean was media insocial what the word social was to use” “For everyone Expelling thedarkness a reality becomingmore topicalbytheday 1 Quote” The DarkSideofSocialMedia: big-commerce-is-watching-your-kids-courtesy-of-their-phone-apps/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/robwaters/2012/12/11/parents-beware- Their PhoneApps” “Parents, Beware: BigCommerce isWatching Your Kids,Courtesyof http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/12/call_it_antisocial_media_even.html “Call ItAntisocialMedia:EvenTwitter HasaDarkSide” reflects-darker-side-of-social-media-512959.html http://www.firstpost.com/world/false-tweets-on-hurricane-sandy- “The darksideofsocialmedia:Fake tweetsduring Hurricane Sandy” the-10-types-of-social-media-addict-infographic/ http://mashable.com/2012/10/12/ “The 10Types ofSocialMediaAddicts” catching-criminals-and-learning-to-avoid-them-75131.aspx http://source.southuniversity.edu/crime-and-social-media-sites- Avoid Them” “Crime andSocialMediaSites—CatchingCriminalsLearningto The-Dark-Side-of-Social-Media/ba-p/880 http://h30565.www3.hp.com/t5/Feature-Articles/ “The DarkSideofSocialMedia” http://schedule.sxsw.com/2011/events/event_IAP5405 “Terrorism 2.0:AlQaeda’s OnlineTools” http://da.scribd.com/doc/43733307/Social-Media-Madness-2010 “Social MediaMadness http://www.blindfiveyearold.com/asocial-media “Asocial Mediaisontherise” massive-fail-the-anti-social-world-of-social-media http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/ “Massive fail twitterers-and-how-to-tame-their-tweets--users/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevefaktor/2013/01/04/the-10-types-of- “The 10Types ofTwitterers andHow toTame TheirTweets” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20851797 “Huge riseinsocialmedia‘crimes’” — the anti-socialworldofsocialmedia” — join ordie”

The Dark Side of Social Media 1 2

ia report went to press — was published in the South d

e China Morning Post on 15 September. The observa-

m tions that were made about whipped-up hatred were

al perfectly in line with our books Me the Media (2008) i

c and The App Effect (2012). In fact, this report, The o

s Dark Side of Social Media, is a further elaboration of We never look up anymore the same issue.

e of of e In the first week of January 2013 a Tumblr website put our d i

s society into a fearsome perspective. The website features a collage of images of people staring down at their cell

a phones. They are lost in time. Frozen in the moment. Their d body is in meatspace, but their mind is in cyberspace. They are completely detached from their surroundings. The the rk is created by a researcher on mobility who lives in Helsinki, via Finland. The About page contains the following statement: Free download Free download via http://www.ict-books.com/ “The world has gone mobile. We live in an information http://www.ict-books.com/books/ books/inspiration-trends/ society and are connected to information anywhere we go, inspiration-trends/me-the-media- the-app-effect-pdf-lowres- and whatever we do, 24/7. And that has changed how we as pdf-lowres-en-1-detail en-detail people behave. We never look up anymore.” Good grounds for our efforts present themselves on a The blog went viral for some days. Newspapers from all near-daily basis. Lucid enumerations, such as Criminal Use over the world payed attention to the site. According to of Social Media (2011) by NW3C, the American National the international Metro the “New Tumblr illustrates our White Collar Crime Center, are quite explicit. And accord- tech-dependent society”, tech website Mashable named it ing to recent statistics, a crime is being commit- “Beautiful Tribute to the Tech Obsessed” and newspaper ted in the UK every 40 minutes. Social media are so easy Daily Mail made the following statement: “Photos capture to use, so fast, so accessible and so widespread, that this the way mobile phones have changed the way we interact should not cause anyone any surprise. with the world around us”. The power of social, now open to all The Tumblr website “We Never Look Up” visualizes the Andrew Lam, the author of the Chinese Dark Side article, society we now live in. It creates awareness of the effect denounced the fact that “the power of social media, now that social media and smartphones are having on our lifes. open to all, means even fools can cause chaos in far-flung In an interview with Metro the creator made the following places, with only an ill-made video.” Lam was referring to comment: “I’m not saying it is a negative thing, when done the anti-Islam Innocence of Muslims, which provoked safely. It’s just that we need to be aware of that times change, worldwide emotional , one of which resulted in the and behavior as well. But in social context, with friends, death of Christopher Stevens, the US ambassador to Libya. etc., it’s kind of rude to finger on your mobile the whole time. My message is not to judge, just to make this behavior con- Me the Media deals with the “power of social media” crete.” Just like the creator of the Tumblr site, we have been which came into vogue in 2007 when, for the first time, keeping track of it all, of course: beginning with the English more information was produced in one year than had been search string Dark Side of Social Media. The latest remark- produced in total since the invention of writing, 5000 years able article under this heading — right before our own earlier. It just goes to show how easy it was, even years “ but to expose the related developments and concerns, and theandconcerns, but to related expose developments for achaptercalled Notto oftheiroverthem, gloat own. definitely apparent media that the ofsocial dark sides increasingly andThe (2008) (2012), itbecame App Effect Me theMedia books When wewere workingonthe VINT Alarm bellsandanalysis,butalsoawayout … places far-flung chaos in cause thatcan offools Haren. Speaking Project X behind the catalysts twogreat hadbeen Zealander New whatsoever. Eventually anda outthat itturned aGerman ofany signs nature apps didnotneed andlocation phones the unwelcomeBut obviously their with smart visitors removed. been had signs andstreet as aprecaution off cordoned the around hadbeen area their house elsewhere, putup been family had andher girl inquestion time. The Control present atby the ofRiot the smallnumber troops that something prevented ofdamage, couldeuros notbe andmillionsof dozens some in violence, ofinjured people goneoutofcontrol. into It aProject X occasion resulted aiming partly to the wide, turn far and from flocking came Eventually ofyoungpeople thousands media. by social Subsequently, the hype’s reinforcedwas effect snowball consequences. unpleasant potential to theandits mistake party.private gave Thetraditionalpress extensive to butomitted mention a thatbirthday onFacebook, itwas the announced celebrationNetherlands, ofhersixteenth Haren, from 2012, agirl inthe life.real On21 September in events world similar attempts madeto repeat have been inthe completely places that gets outofhand. Invarious for youngpeople three aparty X,about filmProject can - ofthe Ameri the release MarchEarly 2012 witnessed Project X Haren app. Messenger and the BlackBerry media role and account ofsocial evaluate for the catalyzing to afterwards government directly bythe British moned Twitter2011. Facebook, InMotion were andResearch sum- inAugust cities inBritish ing example the is riots ofchaos the current “open calls Lam to all”.book’s The strik most than Me what with Andrew The theMedia, deals App Effect ago, to create andpublishinformation Even oneself. more Quote” - - sis dealing with ten with jet-black dealing forsis 21 consequences is ananaly part Thesubsequent loudness. increasing with that bells went ofalarm off throughout the years all sorts We inthis report. rocket arecord with of three-stage start For finda to youwill think away out. about this reason, activity. the represented major share ofall “social networking” rhythm. thatof ourlives’ Inlate 2011, comScore reported the human upsetting dimension ing apparent onallsides, nature- explosively hectic is its becom With media, social lifeis ahot of The quality topic that at digital the moment. in1995. Negroponte Nicholas about living”, itis anymore, director Lab MIT Media stated entitled, but“Computingnotabout computers is was article Computerare now“The for the 21st Century”,as Weiser’s 1991 are nowdominating the They computer landscape. manyas early in so words inthe as Scientific American andtabs pads the thatThe mobile Mark predicted Weiser Dark Social first edition ofTheSide. completeMedia moment to publishthe theautumn perfect of2012, was boom, in the The definitive ofbreakthrough the tablet Pads andtabs:computersofthe21 leverage as but that may serve also combination predicament, inanawkward that putus has the andwith helpour behavior ofourtechnology. It a is of doneonthe thatbasis something onlybe removed, can socially. We must stress be that imagine theofhectic barb asas well soul, individually our affect they callous; so be Facebook murder ifwemay orsuicide, beyond even ism, Actually,- andhooligan rioting extend they beyond far amilddefinition. to use aspects, Haren. ourten wetackle distressing Instead, or Project X the Arab Spring riots, the British involving such violence as orevents nests expressly hornets’ out, avoiding political way Andfinallywepresent our Mobilis. Homo Digitalis out as well! out as naturally andanalysis, bells alarm So media. andwith from apart lives point astarting as — to add value andhumaneness toto our addvalue — definitelywithout not — using the right vision the vision using right st century — but away st century century — social social -

The Dark Side of Social Media 3 4

No Calm Technology You cannot let technology rule you

d ia As early as twenty years ago, the prematurely deceased The digital elite is well aware of all this. In Silicon Valley Xerox PARC visionary Mark Weiser was aware that the they deliberately send their children to schools where no digital development would end in “pervasive” and “ubiqui- computers are used. And at Boston University, in May 2012, ial m e

c tous computing”, as he called it. But at the same time — in Eric Schmidt of Google called on the assembled students advance of a human way out — he predicted a situation “to please turn off the thing for one whole hour a day”. “You of “Calm Technology”. Many technologies have indeed cannot let technology rule you.” That was his message and become invisible, but their effects are all the more notice- this radiates solicitude!

e of s o of i d e able in all their harshness. In a time when we have to visit a website like Calm.com for some peace and quiet, many SlowTech pad and tab devices

ark s will regard the concept of “Calm Technology” as an odd Children in elementary school and adult students — they balancing act. seem worlds apart, but we are all firmly in the grasp of the concepts of “mobile” and “social”. We have known and seen the d Kill your Web 2.0 life this for a long time, but it seems to be getting worse while It was not without reason that the frivolous Dutch initia- becoming more generally accepted at the same time. If this tive Web 2.0 Suicide Machine was launched in 2009: “to is indeed the case, who are we to criticize such an obviously delete all your energy-sucking social networking profiles, natural step in the development of mankind? Sure enough: kill your fake virtual friends, and completely do away with “mankind” — that is the phraseology used by the Google your Web 2.0 alter ego.” SuicideMachine.org delivered us crowd. For they are always on about “humanity” — prefer- in no time from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, among ably “augmented humanity”. others. After the website’s conclusions and the way out it offered, Facebook went into a state of shock and reacted by In May 2012, Joe Kraus of Google Ventures argued strongly demanding the immediate discontinuation of all Facebook- in favor of “Slow Tech”, formulating a necessary human related activities. SuicideMachine.org is no longer active, supplement to it. He began his appeal with a short film by but under this URL the following liberating program still is: singing the of — would you believe — the Windows Phone as the device least likely to snatch us You want your actual life back? away from our physical environment. Windows Phones Wanna meet your real neighbors again? have deliberately been designed that way, and not without Sign out forever. reason. Conclusion: “We need a phone to save us from our Make the switch to Web 2.0 free life. phones.” We will see how this works out with the Windows Phone 8 and the Microsoft Surface devices. Stop Self-Procrastination. Isn’t time really precious nowadays. Ultra-social and sensation-seeking So many people you don’t really care about. On the other hand, many people feel that smartphones and Unfriending has never been this easy. tablets do not snatch us away from the world at all; on the contrary. What better way is there to be in touch with all Improve your relationship. the thrilling media and with friends than with a modern Get rid of stalkers. screen device? Just when we are developing some degree Say goodbye with dignity. of literacy, people won’t accept it, claiming that we are not May you rest in a better Real Life. part of this world, whereas we are actually more interested in everyday life than ever before. “ The Dark inTheSideof media social of of allthe sideeffects According we“describe to the Joost, jet-black consequences Homo DigitalisMobilis toys are entering life. his digital whennew certainly oflife in,man remains stage heis achild, Whatever ing. inHetBisschop Financieele andonFrankwatch- Dagblad Steins (April Joost violence 2012), orourfriend ofvisual full in-box”, splash bytheinathree-page coined NRC aterm columns allthe “slave same.Whetheritis renowned ofthe priggery, all butitfills the ofpedagogic degree ahigh with atheme to be seems media All inall,the side dark ofsocial havepoint. a They theircomputers. without send childrensciously to schools daddy, mummyis why elite on.This andso the digital con- Motor system, media. of more digital than experiencing oflife inastage whenexploring should consist careful be With little children itmayadifferent be matter. You have to High degree ofpriggery? times? donebetween that be can work School, doing. other that things need outthat point dotoday is there Allyoucan are also clock. territory, credits gaining exploring unknown intellectual challenges, device, media anyone’s anexciting Buttoday? Interactive, real-time, good. for unbalanced too consumption anactivity is and passive body. neither situation the world, represented real Alright, the advent ofTV, available to every became this escape themselvesinadifferentimmerse and exciting world. With whocould onlythe bookworms itwas In bygone times boredom! Away Here ourchance is at last. ofourspecies? cal with thenaturescope to develop - full typi offerus app device anddoesn’t creatures, sensation-seeking an ultra-social, of technology. Are wenotsimply true? this really Butis completely world so ourselves we immerse inourartificial ofintimacy”,lonely but fearful why Andthis is she says. TurkleSherry adifferent ofMITtakes view. “We are Quote” … Real life at last! Round-the- life at… Real last! … Butsurely - imagine. imagine. economy onecan the worstattack onourknowledge-based is onmobiledevices media social of the go-with-the-flow ofalltoday. Most aholeinthe head. need is thatfact The apps allday. like we that weneed is kindofliteracy the This upbyyour mobileandyour taken in.Being anyone join can for inthis way the rest, imagedoes some together with all there timefor quantity. is is Theaccessibility of text cannon, tennis ball oursocial-mobile of thewith game ourlineofapproach. For, that indeed is media: inthe heat Mobilisandthe jet-blackHomo Digitalis sideofsocial Centre.”patient inthe Medical VU true. Alltoo anER as much as andhas to terrorization exposed manipulable, andmind,is sick inbody stupid, antisocial, Mobilis”,Digitalis “is way to onhis becoming quotes, Joost Media ofnuance” asense Social with devices tends to ourattention shorten maybe devices This span. the constant as attraction ofour our uniquehuman talents, are.nology. He says they Krausweare thinks wasting Joe Tech ofCalm the thoroughly realization ruining not infact - wonderwhether“mobile”One may and“social” even are long way to go. that so stilla is nowadays, about tweets post people we see weare.”intuition, thecleverer of thing is notsort the This ofour For and quiet. peace doonthebasis themorewecan “Technologyare ofthe the nineties: soundbites tocreate is Technology,the traditionofCalm inIT. stage anew These that technology.withis kind ofadvice exactly inline This favorboth in argue ofSlowTech: They with easy take it We are allfor technology, Schmidt. Kraus like andEric Joe attitude thiscritical development. towards at the extremely sametimeitis to adoptavery important We, But to are deny the last this. the authors ofthis report, abreakthrough inthe ofmankind. obviously development of is andmobile” aspect “social Themodern media. social wehave nothing at clear: make allagainst us ourselves Let “Calm” IToffers fullscopetohumancleverness … Today’s “Homo

The Dark Side of Social Media 5 6

a rather drastic way of putting it, but our ten major objec- d ia tions — our distressing aspects (see section 5) — still refuse Functional Creativity to down. They may be today’s reality, but hopefully not skills tomorrow’s! Genuine Calm Technology is informative, not ial m e

c intrusive. It does not demand extra attention, thus leaving Critical more room for our own mental capacities. E-safety thinking & evaluation Our way out

e of s o of i d e The least we can do is practice SlowTech every so Digital Literacy often — thus making sure that our devices do not gain the Cultural Effective

ark s upper hand. “You cannot let technology rule you!” At the & social communication same time we will become more skilled in the meaningful understanding usage of our screen devices and the makers will consciously the d try to minimize the dangers and drawbacks by better Ability to Collaboration implementing the functionalities: particularly in a socio- find & select and psycho-ergonomic sense. information

To put it briefly, our way out — minimizing our ten major distressing aspects — is a matter of combining behavior Source: FutureLab (2010): Digital Literacy across the Curriculum and technology in a better way. Even to a point where it approaches the ideal situation of Calm Technology. Away By the end of 2012 the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts with the impulsiveness and the maddening omnipres- and Sciences (KNAW) published a critical report warning ence of social and traditional media. And certainly in that about digital illiteracy. Dutch students threaten to become combination! digitally illiterate. The situation is really urgent. The Dutch business community loses billions of euros each year. As has been observed above, a behavioral component ought to be an inextricable part of this, for “SlowTech is a state of mind, not a lack of gadgets”, as the beautiful motto reads on wchulseiee.net, the website of Ewald Lieuwes. We find this behavioral component in the linking theme of “Digital Literacy”, a new literacy with at least the following eight principal areas. It is universally applicable, not just in , for the very reason that there is still so much instructing to be done in the field of digital literacy. “ creating similar emotions. In her memorable Christmas Inhermemorable Christmas emotions. creating similar thealienation. present state Inmany ofthe web people, is since 1999 Dictionary word noun(“hectiek” the andpressure stress alife”,“Get Eliotmay have meantto say, for all amidst forcraving rapid progress: that wehaveand the hefeels inourpathetic knowledge lost toprobing paper. lines are thelife,wisdom about the They life? Eliotcommitted true the following we stillrecognize where do situations, allthe amidst current hectic In short: information inmorestreams. andmore lost new been has that andthe knowledge for knowledge, inourpassion lost to gonethat have has weseem wonders where the wisdom T.S. Eliot, ageofinformation. He the longbefore modern winner Prize andNobel poet same theme the with famous We ofdigitalization. stress to the hectic come the across proximity out be losing to andofsolidarity.seem They ofphysical the loss regretted Beatrix Queen of 2009, speech allthisInherChristmas leave us? But where does . now weare to referring the Web ofthe World ofthe instead onthe web andsensors in2014. Already ofdevices trillion to have are onlineandweexpect one billionpeople A few eventually, environment ourliving ofit. andourperception ofWeb 2.0) (2004: the start conference) people via to, (1994: pages from ened the firstannual World Wide Web ofthe Worldfocus Wide Web andbroad- deepened was the Within andapps. tablets decades, three smartphones, media, through social particularly business, a booming been has conference ofmedia in2004, the digitalization since the first ever eight years, the past Over Web 2.0 2 PART IALARMBELLS Quote” Where istheknowledgewehavelostininformation? Where isthewisdomwehavelostinknowledge? Where isthelifewehavelostinliving? 2012, abumperyearforsocialmedia — — — frenzy) has only been inVan onlybeen has frenzy) Dale all he experienced was chill and was all heexperienced the corresponding Dutch one- Dutch the corresponding T.S. Eliot,TheRock, 1934 reading in a solemn voice: inasolemn reading itat with length, great dealt Beatrix Queen of2009, speech three times that times three amount oninvolvement the with current network drastically. Butat the sametimeGMstillspends for budget the social its eral Motors reduced Facebook before - Right inMarch went 2012, Gen public, with ofadvertising. regard to use Thereis the skepticism more than 135 million onLinkedIn. there onFacebook wereusers and over800millionactive 2012, Twitter Inearly that. had225 millionaccounts inall, like just 500 billion ofbrandengagement, is worth dollars That others detail. with their ingreat sharing lives cernedly web, uncon- onthe social andfeelings volunteer their views ofmillionspeople hundreds says: Just Dachis imagine, futureofmarketing. hyper-targeting the is glorious media and,intheirare view, overthe moon the explosion ofsocial Dachis Group,2010. includingDachis of Jeff Many people, more andthe thanapps in2009 iPad alittle added extra in and an unstoppable ofsmartphones advance was There way backtowhatunitesus. ated individualhasreached itsendpoint.Wemusttrytofinda on thecontrary, distancesare increasing. Theidealoftheliber empty. Thatemptinesscannotbefilledbyvirtualget-togethers; a certainsenseof“togetherness”ourexistenceisbecoming become unrelated tosolidaritywiththecommunity. Butwithout becoming more and more individualistic. Personal freedom has They communicatethrough fastshortmessages.Oursocietyis versation, lookatotherpeoplewithoutactuallyseeingthem. nowadays. People speaktooneanotherwithouthavingacon- to theenvironment. Sometimeseven neighbors are strangers We tend tolook away from the other and shut our eyes and ears humans. Today peopleare mainlyconcernedaboutthemselves. Modern man does not seem to be greatly interested in his fellow ization havemademanmore independentandmore aloof.[…] tances havebecomesmaller. Technical progress and individual- In thesetimesofglobalization,speedshavegoneupanddis- -

2012, a bumper year for social media 7 8

S one billion Facebook users. There it is in its entire splendor: Regardless of their the real New Economy, where the Attention, Experience value, Facebook, Twit- and Knowledge Economies converge — after 12 years, in the ter, Linked­In, Tumblr, M B ELL year of crisis 2012. Flickr, YouTube, Google+ and many more social media are absorbing all attention and shaping our perception of ALAR But with all the guilty pleasure and the constant sharing of the environment, while they contain more than enough trivia, what should happen now is that we must simply roll knowledge and information for a full day’s work and more. up our sleeves: economically and socially. This being the What with the information overload and the multitasking, case, infobesitas, information addiction, constant distrac- McKinsey felt in early 2011 that enough was enough: tion, counter-productivity, Facebook and retweet depres- sions do not come at a welcome moment. A body of scientific evidence demonstrates fairly conclusively that multitasking makes human beings less productive, less cre- Facebook Depression ative, and less able to make good decisions. If we want to be Medical practitioners now observe depression in teenagers effective […], we need to stop. […] The widespread availability of that is not brought on by typical teen angst, but by Facebook. powerful communications technologies means employees now Researchers coin this symptom “Facebook Depression,” and share many of the time- and attention-management challenges teens who experience it are at risk of isolation and depres- of their leaders. The whole organization’s productivity can now sion and may turn to inappropriate online resources that pro- be affected by information overload. […] Resetting the culture to mote substance abuse, unsafe sexual practices, or aggressive healthier norms is a critical new responsibility for 21st century or destructive behaviors. Unless parents monitor their child’s executives. Facebook usage and ensuing behavior, they won’t know their McKinsey Quarterly, January 2011 child is depressed. Source: Diagnosis: Social Media Syndrome (2011) Problems with media are very diverse and have always existed, but the “social” intensity we observe today is Retweet Depression definitely an overkill. The Global Social Media Adoption in You are often thrown into bouts of manic depression when you 2011 report by Forrester Research demonstrates that social discover that your tweets have not been re-tweeted enough. media adoption is often considerably over 80 per cent and This depression often deepens when you find that your Tum- has practically complete coverage in Chinese urban areas. blr posts have not been re-blogged, or your Facebook status The easy access through smartphones in particular causes updates have not been liked. a disproportionate call on people’s time. This has been Source: “Do You Need a Social Media Detox?” (2011) proven by much quantitative research in recent years.

Ironically enough, after it went public in March 2012 with Taking all these matters into consideration, this The Dark an expected market capitalization of 100 billion dollars, Side of Social Media trend report is definitely qualitative Facebook seemed predestined to become the digital fast- in its nature. We urge reflection, present our reasons, and food counterpart of the equally valuable McDonald’s chain. offer a way out. To individuals and organizations alike. Both enterprises are characterized by the same fastfood Social media are a reality and their intensity may well cause culture: massive, accessible, fast and plentiful. Not only did the negative sides to gain the upper hand, if we do not take Facebook fail to make the 100 billion, its stock exchange care. “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, value even saw a gradual drop to 45 billion in early Octo- doesn’t go away”, to use the admirable expression by the ber 2012. Nevertheless it meant that Facebook realized an science-fiction author Philip K. Dick, and this is certainly excellent large-cap (10-200 billion) quotation, only second true for the dark side of social media. to mega-cap. “ intellect, and that is primarily used instinctively, used andthat arule. primarily is intellect, as are ofour the megaphone The media lins andGoebbels. the Grem- andBreivik, are like plentyBambi ofexamples, There have dominated in the always and disruption media. caricature spirit, ofourcompetitive Of course, on the basis hand. that havesides itandoften gohandinwith the upper butdonotforgetAbsolutely anddark the true, caricatural it dowith wecan things Allthein mankind. wonderful that Surplus the Internet stirs up Cognitive the so-called of attention, marketers from and adherents of particularly plentyreceive media social of effects the positive arule, As Economy, Economy. andthe ofthe failure Knowledge ofAttention kind lazy Economy, Experience asuperficial a causes media context, to addiction social aninstinctive Inthis communication dissociated. be andculture cannot of Attentionfrom Economy whichpopping up, Deficit Attentionterm Economy, the concept see weincreasingly Obviously, the twoare related. closely ofthe Instead usual • • twofold: are They that media. are dueto orare stimulated bysocial “mutilations”, butrather shortcomings, about media, social in the application of (failings) deficits about not concerned chart. weare Deficits clear: Media perfectly be To Social inour andindividuals for organizations media of social consequences negative andmeasured the perceived ranged inculture andineconomy. of ouranxiety: origins We have Here liethe main of manandthe domainofbusiness. the domain areas: twomajor complementary distinguish “social” and“media” into youexpect: rolled can one.We nature, “social media” What have else many dark sides. of view. To conclude wecan bytheir with, that, very start at point this theme astructural from looking have been Ever Me since we ourbook theMedia in2008, , published 3 Quote” • • Deficit”. of“Financial forms andmacro-economic: Business “Attention (Disorder)” Deficit of forms andcognitive: Cultural, social-psychological Two kindsofSocialMediaDeficits … not only in terms of themes, but also in terms of effect. ofeffect. interms butalso ofthemes, not onlyinterms inparticular: media inoursocial are currently prevalent sides anddark inthe sand.Caricatural ourheads prefer to bury we are notchic orbecause they As inthehigh hitcharts. would rathersilent enplein about publique keep have been why,is the This reason thatthings we those for many years, —

and that is putting it in very civilized terms. They They terms. civilized and that putting is itinvery Image: ? Image:

Two kinds of Social Media Deficits 9 10 4 Addiction in the Attention Deficit Economy S

Apart from obscenities and generally everything we prefer in the context of social media, put it as follows in their M B ELL to deny, with social media we have certainly allowed things article “Users of the World, Unite! The Challenges and to get out of hand. The things hurled into the world by the Opportunities of Social Media”, which was published in ALAR majority of Facebook and Twitter adherents are a pathetic Harvard Business Review early 2010: pastime in economically benevolent times, when fortune smiles on us and success just falls into our lap. Now that The concept of Social Media is top of the agenda for many busi- we really have to roll up our sleeves to keep our jobs and ness executives today. [Many] try to identify ways in which firms scrape an income together, we come to realize that we do can make profitable use of applications such as , You- not have the time to share all our thoughts and activities Tube, Facebook, Second Life, and Twitter. Yet despite this inter- with others for hours on end. However, old habits die hard, est, there seems to be very limited understanding of what the for the smartphone full of apps is burning a hole in our term “Social Media” exactly means. pocket and our purse. These habit-forming gadgets have popped up more and more frequently of late, in relation We are not sure how to deal with them; we do not know to revolt, crime, riots and terror. Small wonder, maybe, in how they will work out. What we do know by now is that times of crisis and perhaps there is not so much new under failing to decide a proper course for social media does cost the sun. a lot of money. It has all been articulated quite clearly in the IDC report Cutting the Clutter: Tackling Information Our feelings with regard to social media are best character- Overload at the Source (2009), including obvious solu- ized by ambivalence. This is only natural, for we intensify tions. According to research by Harmon.ie and uSamp, our own behavior by means of social media. We may aim to entitled I Can’t Get My Work Done! How Collaboration & create as much co-operation as we like, but in many cases Social Tools Drain Productivity (2011), businesses are losing the behavioral intensification ends in a caricature rather more than $ 10,000 worth of income per employee on an than anything else. As we know, much social media behav- annual basis, specifically due to digital interruptions. With ior is not particularly intentional. Most of its manifestations an hourly wage of $ 30, this comes down to one and a half are outpourings: status updates, feel-goods or feel-bads. hours per working day. Of the respondents, 10 per cent For the most part, social media behavior is letting oneself indicate that they miss deadlines, 21 per cent complain of be carried along by a gulf stream of new incentives: “social information overload, 25 per cent lack the time to think interaction on top of social communication”, as the English deeply and creatively, and 33 per cent mention a general Wikipedia aptly puts it. This may all too easily evoke a feel- inability to work properly or efficiently. Almost 60 per cent ing of inspirational serendipity, and that subjective experi- of the interruptions take place in the context of co-opera- ence is a major reason why social media behavior is turning tive and social tools, such as e-mail, social networks, text into social media addiction. In a positive case, that behavior messaging and instant messaging, in addition to switching or addiction intensifies the intended focus and flow, in a between applications. A striking 45 per cent indicate that negative case the opposite is true — when it distracts us they are unable to work longer than a mere 15 minutes on from what we should really be occupied with. end. The report shows that digital addiction, or Online Compulsive Disorder is omnipresent: at work and at home. Potentially, “social interaction on top of social communica- tion” shows great promise for organizations, but in point We no longer live in an Attention Economy, but in an of fact we are not quite sure how to deal with it. Andreas Attention Deficit Economy. This parallel with AD(H)D is Kaplan and Michael Haenlein, who are frequently quoted drawn more and more frequently, by referring to Atten- “ Attention Deficit Social Media Disorder (ADSMD) Disorder Social Media Attention Deficit AttentionPartial inthis context. the Continuous coined term amongothers, Microsoft, 1998, Stone,with whohadafine Linda record Apple and as back Attention and far theComingAge As Dark (2008). The Erosion of aptly entitled Distracted: Group), very is Research theson, “muse” (Information ofIORG Overload Jack byMaggie that for the this reason latestmust book be uniqueinhistory. is It media mation overloaddueto social ofthe onlythe present infor disturbing level true, certainly sense” much their lose common all information long day thatthey so Stein gets “Everybody sigh: Gertrude collector and art all,didn’t After perception. ring author the renowned recur simplywell perhaps wonderifthisaregularly is Disorder for example. Media Social tion Deficit We may Quote” — and this was in1946,and this was ofherlife. It year the last is Time Social media sites Normal Ongoing work - Your attention - - Social media sites ADSMD Ongoing work 11 Addiction in the Attention Deficit Economy 12 PART II ANALYSIS S I 5 Ten jet-black consequences for YS

AL Homo Digitalis Mobilis A N

The addiction to social media on mobile devices, and all the net Is Doing to Our Brains, for which he was placed on the hypes, hopes, hints, hazards, etc. that we share daily, seem shortlist for the Pulitzer Prize 2011. Carr believes that all to have become so excessive that there is mention of irre- multimedia and social violence on the Internet blunts and sponsible time-consumption, to say the least. As a result, a dulls us. In his opinion, people are increasingly behaving proper and lucid focus on what is genuinely important has as web browsers, although the Internet is no more than become impossible and instinct is taking over. The follow- an unstructured bundling of links. The fact that we devote ing ten jet-black consequences of social media are looming so much attention to it frustrates the process of in-depth up everywhere. We are becoming stupid, anti-social, we are thought. In section 9, “Dumbing-down anxiety”, we take egocentric and are stumbling around with blinkers on; we exception to this theory, as a part of the way out that we are are even becoming physically and psychologically ill. Our offering. memories are degenerating and we are prey to manipula- tion, monitoring, terror, and urge for sensation. Privacy no The debate about smart and dumb has a lengthy history longer exists. Every one of these developments is a restric- thanks to the Internet. In the book with the eloquent title tion and a deviation: ranging from tunnel vision and lack of The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies individuality to illness and psychotic exaltation. Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30), dating from 2008, Mark Bauer- Nothing new under the sun? What do you think about an lein, a professor of English at Emory University, articulated intensification, intimization and addiction that are unprec- his dissatisfaction. Perhaps it may indeed be the case that: edented in the whole of human history?! As stated, the “Social media simply spread emotions faster than reason- social media mania is rather inconvenient in times such as ableness”, as Phil Baumann, CEO of CareVocate, stated. Is these. We really do have something else to do rather than that perhaps the problem of the 21st century? Whatever the just hanging around in our mobile social media circles via situation, it remains a hot issue, with its culmination lodged all kinds of crap apps. In order to gain real benefit from in social media, at least for the time being. social media, we should start by dealing with them in a cau- tious and focused way — less instinctively and impulsively. In the article that appeared in the NRC (national Dutch Fortunately an increasing amount of attention is being daily newspaper) entitled “We are suffering from obses- paid to this development. Messages about the Back Side, sive digital collection rage”, Anouk van Campen and Jan the Dark Side, the Flip Side, the Nasty Side, the Other Side Truijens Martinez made a number of interesting supple- and the Ugly Side of Social Media succeed one another at a mentary observations that we fully underline. Translated rapid rate. from Dutch, the essence of the article is as follows:

1 Social media make us stupid Because we register everything and do not need to remove it, we At the end of his book The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, are approaching a turning point where viewing our photos and From Edison to Google, Nicholas Carr asked himself if the reading all the opinions we leave behind on the Internet con- Internet truly made us smarter, as many people assume. sume more time than the life that remains to us. […] We keep On this topic, in-between several articles and blogposts, things not because they are memorable moments but because he wrote the book entitled The Shallows: What the Inter- we do not dare to lose a moment. We are increasingly afraid to “ warnings remain undiminished inforce! remain undiminished warnings toning to interest shift wayHowever, infindinga out. all - nowbegin is media ontheofsocial dark sides emphasis that weestablish the prevailing Mobilis, Homo Digitalis ern Tojet-black round off first this mod- for consequence the Wildeby Erik Mahendran. andDilan the Web via howitallhappened check can tutorial History historically. Wedeveloped where we dothis insection 8, In this context interestinghowthis situation itis to see

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tant, everythinggradually becomesequaltonothing. than theprevious one.Butifeverythingbecomesequallyimpor mation ofamomentthatisevenmore beautifulandsignificant less valuable than the next one. We consistently seek the confir everything intosomethingmemorable, eachmomentbecomes in hisorherownlife.[…]Exactlybecauseweare converting new humanbeingisnolongertheleadingactorbutavoyeur ence ofthemoment,whilewebuilddigitalwallsaround us.The The memorybecomesmore importantthantheactualexperi- rather thanactuallyexperiencing.[…] are changingintospectatorsofourownlives.Weare watching attempting tofindever-more momentsandtostore them,we cial momentsandare showingthattoothers.[…]Whileweare lose ourimportanceifweare notconstantlyexperiencingspe- Image: mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl Image: - - ogy will ultimately creator. will its against turn ogy thatis afraid - She technol theabout present state ofaffairs. Carr, to Similar Nicholas ogy? Turkle nurtures concern also incharge whois ask we can at this phantom Looking behavior, the case. out notto be think that although that amessage, wehave turns received Syndrome. WeMedia we digoutourphonebecause often Social as read currentlythat is being SMS the abbreviation It message? reason notwithout anSMS perhaps send is can contact at all.Whypersonal should youtelephone ifyou Technologies intous ourselves. to have make no iteasier says Turkle, us, connect media are onlydriving they infact changinging and amind, was shaping us.” Although social And now, thecomputer,- ofbecom amachine,ontheborder “We us: changing is are shaped byourtechnology tools. modern that shape our us”and tools thereafter —declares Marshall from McLuhan phrase Turkle, Sherry afamous sociologist borrowing nology Technologyfrom (2011),- tech Other Each from and Less entitled Alone Together:In herbook We More Why Expect 2 book The Filterbook Bubble the was follow . Theimpulse for this an outline latest to ofhis give onthe ofTED stage stood Ating andtunnel vision. the endofMarch 2011, EliPariser - cocoon inincreasing resulting andinnovation, creativity eliminate and thus sourcewatch also of out, animportant serendipityifwedonot alltrue automaticallywill bury media social the Internet and information inourprofiles, of problem. Onthe basis more serious aneven in handwith hand goes development This andego-tripping. into pursued the of realms be can andanti-social Dumb 3 Social mediaare makingusanti-social Ego-tripping, cocooning,tunnelvision — - ortechnol human beings — “We shape our tools - 13 Ten jet-black consequences for Homo Digitalis Mobilis 14 S I YS AL A N

ing statement by Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuck- 4 Social media are making us (mentally) ill erberg: “A squirrel dying in front of your house may be more Anyone who reflects seriously on Pariser’s objections can relevant to your interests right now than people dying in be troubled by these, but that is something that will affect Africa.” This was just too much for Pariser. It made it clear us whatever we hear. Humans are simply not capable of to him what was fundamentally wrong with personaliza- processing everything that comes to us via the Internet tion on the Internet. People online are not aware of the fact and social media. Our brains freeze after a certain amount that information is being filtered for them. Personalization of information. In the article entitled “I Can’t Think” that categorizes people even more and blinds the user: “It’s your appeared in Newsweek at the beginning of 2011, vari- own personal, unique universe of information that you live ous scientists all expressed the same opinion. Too much in online. What’s in it depends on who you are and what information leads to erroneous decisions. We become you do. But the thing is, you don’t decide what gets in, and irritated, overloaded, we lose our grip on things. In fact, it you don’t see what gets edited out.” And in this way we end often leans toward psychotic behavior, according to Phil up in one big , with the danger of mediocrity Baumann in his blogpost Beware Psychosis in Social Media instead of democracy. But actually that complaint is some- (2010) and his presentation 8 Stages of Social Media Psy- thing that has been heard down through all the ages. In the chosis (2010). Besides qualifications such as the Dark Side case of social media, however, the extra problem in the and the Ugly Side, we also encounter ominous terms such speed and the large quantities involved. As a result, we all as depression, neurosis, psychosis and mania being used in run the risk of losing our grip on things. Anticipating the relation to social media. (We shall save the danger of digital way out, it is essential, primarily as an individual, to attach dementia until the way out.) We have known this for long serious conclusions to this development. enough, as is demonstrated by this quote from Comput- able, October 1996: At the beginning of 2012, the Facebook data team pub- lished the report called Rethinking Information Diversity in Networks. According to this study, the so-called “weak ties” in someone’s network are genuinely of great importance:

We found that even though people are more likely to consume and share information that comes from close contacts that they interact with frequently (like discussing a photo from last night’s party), the vast majority of information comes from contacts that they interact with infrequently. These distant contacts are also more likely to share novel information, demonstrating that social networks can act as a powerful medium for sharing new ideas, highlighting new products and discussing current events. “ be sure rather than risk being sorry. They send their kids send kids their sure rathersorry. They be being than risk Google, Apple and The management of prefer Yahoo to endorphins. or the are new brain-candy media other social have sex orreceivemoney. Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and brain inmuch whenyouconsume the food, sameway as that information yourself stimulates sharing about the Tamir byDiana Research media. Mitchell andJason shows andother and sex aresocial to to inferior the use longing sleep such as needs claimsthat primary even Hofmann Twitter more cigarettesoralcohol. is resist difficulttothan demonstrated thatUniversity’s School Business Booth For example, media. Wilhelmsocial ofChicago Hofmann of Recent studieshave the effect clearly shown addictive section 2). also amongother (see things for Facebookgiven depressions, Media Syndrome, dating March from is 2011, awarning Social entitled Diagnosis: this situation.with Inthe report is unhappyAcademy of on end.TheAmerican Pediatrics for consoles hours andgame smartphones computers, Twitter,Facebook, YouTube, to their areglued They etc. with text are busy messaging, information. They of digital bombardment to a24/7 formation, are currently subjected Young are minds stillintheof process whose people, Quote” manifest itselfmuchmore clearlyinthecomingyears. computers, it can be expected thatthis phenomenon will only that everyone canexchangeinformation with one another via one of the largest suppliers of information in the world. Now able detailisthattheresearch wascarriedoutbyReuters, to takethedecisionsthatare absolutelynecessary. Aremark- tion in whichtheoverloaded administrator simply does notdare just waitfortheinfo-graphics ofTielanus” as aresult ofhavingtodealwithtoomuchinformation afflictions. Thismeansnotonlythatdecisionsare madetoolate uncertainty, headachesandotherequallyvagueirritating The managers whom they interviewed complained about stress, classify “informationoverload”asacauseofmedicalillness. according topsychologists,anewfeature isthatittimeto has beenbroadcasting itformore thantenyears.However, It isanoldmessage.CommunicationsscientistVanCuilenburg — but alsotoasitua- — “I’ll and real teachers. and real books, schoolboards, old-fashioned with are given classes to Waldorf where computers are and prohibited schools, physical aspects of human development. But with the Butwith com- ofhuman development. aspects physical mainlyhadaninfluenceand other on resourceshas the of use tools The oftools. allkinds bymaking evolution own have their externalized According people evolve. to Case, oneanotherjointly and affect andtechnology which people the way studied in Case Amber Cyborg anthropologist are the norm? andanabsence ofmemory seconds “goldfishcalled syndrome”, where attention ofa spans few Willcouch potatoes? to the weallhaveso- succumbed like? Willof the futurelook weallhave into changed digital ofourpersonality. thethis is basis the What individual will We anymore, although memory ourlong-term scarcely use shuts down. there aninformation is overload,this memory at any onetime.If inourshort-term things memory seven around onlyremember wecan as have onelarge drawback, However, for this. ourshort-term memory use this does that indicated the weprimarily has web.scan Research On the Internet weclick we constantly linkto from link: 5 deviation”. ofconversationthe art or hesitation interruption, without “for to ties relearn orsessions Internet-free retreats rural trends for the coming year.- opportuni new He foresees several hedescribed article Magazine.Inhis BBC bigin2013?” be for clinics “Will addiction an article digital Future BBC andformer executive,strategist wrote Media adigital 2013, NicNewman, of In the firstweek January blackboards, chalk,pens,paper, booksandeventeachers. ment andhumaninteraction”. Classeshavereverted tousing “reduce attentionspansandinhibitcreative thinking,move- The mastersofthee-universeappearconvincedthatcomputers to California’s Waldorfschools,where computersare banned. Google, AppleandYahoo executivesare sendingtheirchildren Social mediacorrode ourmemories Source: “TheprivateschoolinSiliconValley where techhon- chos sendtheirkidssotheyDON’Tusecomputers” 15 Ten jet-black consequences for Homo Digitalis Mobilis 16

S The US military is developing software that will secretly manipu- I puter, it is different. Computers are not an interface of the

YS physical manifestation of humankind, but an intermediary late social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, using a fake

AL of our consciousness. online identity to influence the conversation on the Internet and

A N spreading pro-American . In the study Millennials Will Benefit and Suffer due to As reported by the Guardian, a California-based company has their Hyperconnected Lives produced by the Pew Research been contracted by the United States Central Command (US- Center, Case was asked about the consequences of modern CENTCOM), which oversees US military operations in the Middle technologies upon our brains. In her view, the most impor- East and Central Asia, to develop software that is described as tant effect is that our memories are changing: an “online identity management service” which will allow one person to control more than 10 separate identities throughout Memories are becoming hyperlinks to information triggered by the world. keywords and URLs. We are becoming “persistent paleontolo- Web Experts considers this project similar to China’s efforts to gists” of our own external memories, as our brains are storing control and restrict freedom of expression on the Internet. This the keywords to get back to those memories and not the full project also allows the US military to create a false consensus memories themselves. or discussion in online forums, cornering unwanted opinions and any comments or statements that are not in accordance In section 9, “Dumbing-down anxiety”, we shall advance a with government objectives. number of perceptions and reflections on this topic in the Source: “US Develop Software Social ” (2011) framework of our way out. One of the most terrifying examples is the #cut4bieber 6 Social media are extremely manipulative case. In the beginning of January 2013 a photo wherein At the end of 2010, Timm Sprenger and Isabell Welpe, two teen idol Justin Bieber was smoking pot went viral. On students at Munich University of Technology, published the subforum “/b” of the Internet message board 4chan, a their thesis Tweets and Trades: The Information Content breeding ground for memes, one of the readers posted the of Stock Microblogs. Their stock market prognoses can be following message in a thread: “Lets start a cut yourself for followed via the website TweetTrader. The following two Bieber campaign. Tweet a bunch of pics of people cutting expectations are particularly interesting. The first is that themselves and claim we did it because Bieber was smoking Twitter “will increasingly offer more specialized versions weed. See if we can get some little girls to cut themselves.” of the service”, while the second is that their results “dem- onstrate that users providing above average investment Immediately after this message, various fake accounts on advice are retweeted (i.e., quoted) more often and have more Twitter were created where pictures were posted of girls followers, which amplifies their share of voice in microblog- who cut themselves. All these posts were provided with the ging forums”. Twitter users with a good reputation therefore hashtag # CuttingForBieber, #CutForBieber and #Cut- have more clout. Their tweets are disseminated more by 4Bieber. Unfortunately, the joke worked. Soon real photos the RT mechanism and thus have greater influence on the of girls who mutilated themselves by cutting in their arm, prediction. A major danger lurks here. The price of stocks were posted on the Internet. One of the girls even put up and shares can easily be manipulated in this way. This is the following message: “It hurts, but I do it for my Justin”. merely a minor example. Other forms of Social Media Manipulation, such as those implemented by institutions It wasn’t the first time that the 4chan Bieber fans took the like the army and local governments for example, were also piss. Earlier they started a rumor that Bieber had cancer revealed in 2011: and called on real fans to shave their heads to support Bieber. “ ill. And when people are using social media for violence we And forviolence ill. are media using when people social for used be But also itcan forgood. used be can information “Free had played: flow of media on the social role reflected Minister,Prime He the ofCommons. House addressed to control the Cameron, David On11 August, the unrest. the height ofthe rioting on the streets Itonlydueto the read ahuge message. can presence was to auniquePIN number, Thanks people. only the receiver to alargeof message group toanencrypted send it possible makes Messenger TheBlackberry ofthespreading rioting. amajor InMotion, role played inthe Research ger from - Messen Blackberry especially media, Social cities. British andother inLondon rioting ofmassive the cause was gan Dug- Thedeath of later wounds. his He from London. died in police shot bythe metropolitan was old Mark Duggan innumerable, unfortunately. On4 August 2011, 29-year- of“terror”.the heading arealmost again cases The real-life under example spot, this could haveoccupied The previous 8 onlytweets. his posted Breivik whenAndersBehring ringing should have started could and bells Alarm examples ofthis. aretion API good future better.- Markets Predic andthe Google Predictive be excellentlycan data the to predict ofdigital used flood Thepresent yes. awhole-hearted was question to the last more hadpaid attention?” ifpeople Theanswer prevented Internet? What doyouthink? Couldthe dramahave been whaton toward is the sufficientlyhappening is directed inthe ofEurope, rest butalso notonlyinNorway ment, youthink that Do - theextreme govern right-wing ideas. radical his inwhich heaired He kept the Internet. extremely was on murderer Breivik active AndersBehring mass Norwegian “The follows: as elucidated statement was Friday. ofUtøya island onthe previous Norwegian The monitored.” the was behindattack on this the The reason better “Internet should be on25 JulyNetherlands was: statement Telegraafdaily ofDe site inthe newspaper to home,the Closer inthe USandinChina. situations: aninstance oftwoBigBrother was example The previous 7 Quote” Social mediaencourageterror Social mediafuelBigBrother situations — more than 16,000 officers were onduty at — that able the government was Facebook commented onthe invitation: doors. toter anaudience were summoned closed behind InMotion, Facebook Research andTwit the riots, After Dark The Sideof. InternetDelusion: Freedom The Net book byEvgenyence articulated ofthe message Morozov inhis tostopthem.”need hadfirst-hand TheBritish - experi live transmissions from people who directed their webcam their webcam whodirected people from live transmissions in the Fukushima I plant inJapan. nuclear that, power After of 11 Marchtsunami 2011, occurred anuclear catastrophe andthe subsequent ofanother aresult earthquake As for the wholeday theirwatched devices alet-down.Quite People onTwitter had were angry. They into the BayofHawaii. it. small wave drifted Andthat was Twitter, Onlya Absolutely nothing. nothing happened. on hadcounted down everyone after moment ofclimax, Hawaii had 15 hours to go. flooded. wouldbe At coast the amapsented that the timeat indicated which the Hawaiian Hawaii. towards Various pre- andsped media oped social - devel notonlyfor the Atsunami had consequences land. 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- Image: sxc.hu > mdmason > sxc.hu Image: 17 Ten jet-black consequences for Homo Digitalis Mobilis 18 S

I toward a Geiger counter were broadcast on Ustream. In 10 Social media put an end to privacy and creativity

YS real time, pictures showed how people in the affected area The introduction of Google+ at the end of July 2011 revital-

AL were struck by the ever-increasing radiation. Some trans- ized an old discussion. Should you use your real name on

A N missions attracted more than 10,000 viewers. the Internet? On Facebook this has been obligatory for some time, while on Twitter you can call yourself what This calls to mind the film Untraceable. In the film, a serial you like. At the moment of introduction, Google+ was still killer posts live of his victims on the web. At the bot- undecided. During a presentation in January 2010, Mark tom of the image, a counter registers the number of visitors Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, stated the following on to the site. The counter must not exceed a given number, the topic of privacy: “People have really gotten comfortable otherwise the victim will meet a gruesome end. Of course, not only sharing more information and different kinds, but thousands of people log in. The snuff movies spread virally more openly and with more people. That social norm is just and the victims die one after the other. “The more people something that has evolved over time.” In Zuckerberg’s view, who watch, the faster the victim dies.” Social media ensures privacy is not an issue. Privacy simply no longer exists in that the dividing line between information and sensation is the current era. wafer thin. It is not strange that Zuckerberg holds this opinion. In the This is underlined by what Craig Silverman calls the “Law article entitled “What Facebook Knows”, Tom Simonite of Incorrect Tweets”. People are often more interested in declares that Facebook is perched on a golden mountain of erroneous information than in the rectification that fol- data. According to Simonite, Facebook only needs to find lows. For instance, actor Jeff Goldblum was erroneously a way to sell all the possible insights that they could obtain declared dead in a New Zealand newspaper. He had appar- from this abundance of data: ently died after a fatal fall on the film set. Rectification of this news item was made almost immediately, but the unholy tidings persisted on Twitter. Ultimately Goldblum

had to appear on The Colbert Report program to Image: digitalcrossrhodes.com halt the rumor mill.

Example of a panopticon. “ the masses not longer view it as an issue, as Zuckerberg as anissue, itas notlongerview the masses that innormalization, problem lies ofthe privacy the crux proponent ofprivacy. What if challenge togreatest every perhaps is the nohardship is butratherThis apleasure. identity. To panopticon inthis digital living many people, where weplay content with media, andbuildonouronline The playground to which refersis the fieldKeen ofdigital ofSilliconchrist Valley, Keen: Andrew Vertigoanti - bythe written so-called Digital that been has the product”. book in the upon touched pointis also This are you are fortheservice, platforms notpaying and“ifyou toand more ourage.We relevant to ourdata random give more Foucault, becoming to andthis statement be seems atrap”, is “Visibility wrote the French Michel philosopher control andexploitation. use ofits Facebook having shadow controls us data with ourdigital andthrough inward, the window which the platform runs, through the window, Facebook the with on data wefeed outward looking Facebook: with the similarity to see far andcontrol Weknow allthe residents. to look donotneed tower. Onewatchman intheguard, tower sufficient is to the andthe outward other facing onefacing two windows, cells ofthese has Each ofcells aring it. surrounding with ofa tower Thebuilding consists ofpeople. groups upgrade to study, control, guard, it possible discipline, compare and opher ofthe Enlightenment,in1791. Apanopticon makes byJeremy the philos Bentham, English described principle anarchitectonic the panopticon for (Greek “all-seeing”), and The worldcalls to mind according Google Facebook to Quote” we considered painistodayviewedaspleasure. once saw as a prison is now considered as a playground; what House has reappeared withachillingdigitaltwist. What we into anInternetofpeople,Bentham’s industrialInspection Today asthewebevolvesfrom aplatformforimpersonaldata out upsettingusersandregulators, itcouldbelucrative. for anykindofbusiness.AssumingFacebook candothiswith­ sell insightsminedfrom it.Suchinformationcouldbethebasis One potentialuseofFacebook’s datastorehouse wouldbeto - words about Google andFacebook: Google words about harsh Francisco,Summit inSan anduttered surprisingly the Web 2.017 October during 2011, Poole gave aspeech OnMonday for ground memes. breeding adigital board, Poole the is founderChristopher ofthe 4chan message Google. Facebook institutions and by theofthis decade: power are simply exerted complying the with discipline not people However,comments. to remainswhetheror the as question the Internet, this will entail the thisdeath will ofcreativity.the Internet, human. InPoole’s view, ifthere nolonger on is being About andexpressiveness onthecreativity Internet. identity about andanonymity andabout Poole talking is path where rules? chaos path ofanonymity, the path onwhichthe nothing fixed, is 4chan, the wechoose orwill have for us, paved Google identity. Shouldweoptfor the path that Facebook and ouronline with to deal howwewish we have to choose According where at to Poole, acrossroads, wehave arrived Making mistakes. are passionateabout,whatyouare interested in, beinganidiot. people. Part ofgrowing upisfindingoutwhoyouare, whatyou expressive ontheInternet.AndIespeciallyworryabout young What’s really atstakenowistheabilitytobecreative and totally different andyettheyare stillthesame. can lookatpeoplefrom anyangleandyoucanseesomething that youhave.[…]Butinfactweare more likediamonds.You have youbelievethatare amirror. There isonereflection We are allmultifacetedpeople.GoogleandFacebook would matic. There are manylensesthrough whichpeopleviewyou. is abnormal.Itjustapartofbeinghuman.Identitypris- We allhavemultipleidentities.Andthatisnotsomething 19 Ten jet-black consequences for Homo Digitalis Mobilis 20 6 Social media a danger to cyber security S

I To obtain a picture of what we can expect in the realm of products have no idea of what is going in and out of the

YS cyber attacks and crime, we sought advice from Websense, business network.

AL a company that has been producing security software since

A N 1994. The following seven predictions, which Websense 5. As an extension of the previous point, this warning is a claims can be made with a large degree of certainty, are far rather simple one: Containment Is the New Prevention. from trivial and, unfortunately, are once again intimately It means that there must be permanent supervision of linked to social media. whether or not data are leaking away or are infiltrat- ing via network connections. This is done by installing 1. At the top of the list, in huge bold letters, there is a a containment zone that is constantly monitored. If serious warning about naïve use of social networks and unusual traffic is taking place there, the route in or out social media. Websense cautions about the dangers of can be closed and the data in question can be analyzed. cyber crime, and your social media identity may be more Organizations with the proper software will be right on interesting than even your credit card. We have now top of the problem and the appropriate action can be become accustomed to Social Security Numbers and automatically taken within seconds. credit card data being stolen and sold online, but in the coming year the online mafia will intensively switch its 6. There are also sufficient external (social!) factors that attention for the first time to our social media IDs. form a source of concern, such as the Olympic Games in London, the presidential elections in the US, and the 2. The second warning is directly related to the first. The infamous end-of-the-world predictions. This kind of most important blended cyber attack will come via happening can always be used to prepare and implement our so-called “friends” on social media and networks. large-scale cyber attacks. This will take place via search We currently have campaigns on TV against phishing engines, but also increasingly via social media and net- e-mails, an increasing number of so-called “Advanced works. We have all underestimated this risk. At present, Persistent Threats” are also on their way, based on social we still do not associate social media with cyber crime, forms. Playtime on social media is definitively over. but that is going to change forever in the near future.

3. OK, where are we most active on social media? That’s 7. To summarize everything in the final point: the dangers right, on our mobile devices. Next year we will encoun- of “social ” — a pleasant — and ter a surge of more than a thousand cyber attacks on malevolent anti-virus products will increase enormously. smartphones and tablets. This has been on the cards for Particularly the so-called “exploit kits”, the software years, and we were ultimately hit by the first real mobile packages that enable systematic attacks, will play a malware in 2011. Botnets and exploits have now also major role in this context. Attention will be shifted from appeared, because, in the post-PC era, criminals and the installation of anti-virus tools to the installation of hackers have switched their attention to mobile devices. system tools, for defragmentation and a faster Internet connection, for example. 4. In the technical domain, mobile platforms and the use of Google, Facebook and Twitter mean that the so-called “safe” SSL/TLS tunnels (Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security) for corporate IT can cause a blindspot. This occurs when security tools are not capable of decrypting in the tunnels. As a result, such flawed “

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- 21 The macro-economic Social Media Deficit 22 8 How did it get this far? S

I “Growing at an accelerated rate toward a Smarter Planet on continually paying most attention to the wrong things. If

YS the digital power we have developed.” That is the aspiration this becomes too much, we are prescribed an anti-ADHD

AL of IBM, among others, on various fronts. But what do we pill such as Ritalin, which is also popular as a party drug.

A N think about it? Complaining seems to be all the rage at the In vernacular speech, Ritalin is often described as “vitamin moment. We are less capable of concentrating. We con- R”. The fact that it is amusing says enough. It seems to be tinually divide our attention among various digital stimuli. completely accepted that humans, as social creatures, are This is largely the consequence of the imposing range of becoming increasingly anti-social in their physical environ- social media, in combination with the sensory temptation ment. And perhaps even stupider. (Wikipedia devotes con- that issues from mobile screen devices. Digital siderable attention to the smarter-or-stupider discussion; seems to be the accepted norm these days and apps make see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is_Google_Making_Us_Stupid.) this even easier. They function as enticing signs to guide Perhaps we are becoming more rapidly addicted to all us to exactly that corner of the digital universe that we are kinds of things via our social media addiction, as indi- eager to see. Chatting, news, Twitter, Foursquare, Face- cated by recent research by CASA, the Center for Addic- book, Google+, Wordfeud, sudoku, sport, sex, shopping, tion and Substance Abuse, among American teenagers of photos, video, you name it. Moreover, we prefer to be lazy 12-17 years. Does the addiction relationship come from an rather than tired — a feature that humans have never man- excess of the wrong examples? Or does the cause lie even aged to alter down through their whole evolution. deeper than that? Losing oneself in fake intelligence and social surrogates does not look so very smart. How did we If the saying “practice makes perfect” leads to splendid new get this far? inventions, that can be regarded as a good development. But if half of the world population subsequently becomes How did we end up in this post-PC era? Into which histori- mere consumers, this gives rise to a number of serious cal trend does this development fit? Surfing with intent will problems. Concentration is seldom focused. Ready knowl- bring us to the Web History tutorial that is given at the UC edge is declining rapidly. Addiction is on the increase. And, Berkeley School of Information. Unfortunately, smart and worst of all: we gratify ourselves with eye-candy and sen- determined searching also seems to be a dying art these sual appearances. Superficial communication has become days, and probably the various apps and “information at the norm and we only experience an intense group feeling your fingertips” contribute even more to this evolution. We online. In that context, we live in our own, rich digital fair- do not want search engines but finding services. In itself, ground, from which we resolutely exclude our immediate this is a logical demand, but the present finding services surroundings — and everything that requires more focus largely consist of common-or-garden information. Still, we and intellectual effort. are now able to respond to the first question, concerning how we ended up in this digital swamp — and with this, in It was no different with television, portable music play- a smarter-stupider debate. In their Web History tutorial, ers and computer games. But now, in the post-PC era, this Erik Wilde and Dilan Mahendran teach us the following. individually experienced abundance is perhaps assuming In this age, this should be a part of everyone’s everyday scary proportions. Screen devices and apps are the new ready knowledge. But alas, education limps along, blind to beads and bangles, by means of which we can permanently historical highlights. gratify and measure our physical, mental, social and intel- lectual conceit. All four stultify, due to a lack of focus. In The history of the Web in a nutshell this way, the average Earthling is becoming a caricature of We owe our present “Global Information Space”, as thus himself. We are becoming even lazier and run the risk of articulated, to the inventor Tim Berners-Lee, but the idea “ retained from his Nobel Prize for Chemistry in1909, he for Chemistry Prize Nobel his from retained of Wilhelm With Ostwald. that had the Ostwald money into implementation. the footprints hestepped Indoingso, lettre.In1934, avantsystem la consideredelectronic Otlet inaphysical which served than 12 millioncards, brain”. ofartificial a“kind as self described more created He Mundaneum which hehim- ofworld bank knowledge, , his In1895, work onthe than Paul ahundred years. began Otlet In their tutorial,Wilde andMahendranthen more skip andevents. facts important the most well as as discipline, andpractical science ofeach principles the general andparticularly items ofhuman knowledge, simply to present thebetween order ofandconnections was European Enlightenment.Theaimof Encyclopédie this in1751,volume ofwhich appeared toward the endofthe d’AlembertJean their, the with Encyclopédie first displayed the with Diderot ambitionthat and Denis should begin we andexperience. Infact, ability ofhuman knowledge anddeploy documentation It the about description, is forgotten. notremarkable.simply certainly been Anditis orhave unknown remained ofthis development details that haveevents place taken since many then, as ofthe old.Thereis no acentury continuous at linein is the least Quote” - be able to find the piece of knowledge they needed: they able toknowledge be findof the piece would common citizens, ingeneral,butalso future. Science inthe anywhere world inthe near accessible to everyone could be ofhuman that knowledge the totalbody believed Française Encyclopédie to the new dix . Wells passionately ofaPermanentIdea World- anappen as Encyclopaedia” 1937, Wells H.G. “World article his published Brain:The In brain” byOtlet. to expressed similar the something idea a“world envisaged Ostwald ofintellectual work. nization aninternational DieBrücke: institutefunded for the orga- ence, willcomeintoexistence. material formandsogiganticinitsscopepossibleinflu- future, thisPermanent WorldEncyclopaedia,socompactinits the like,thatitisdifficult nottobelievethatinquitethenear for thepractical needsofmankind,forgeneral educationand matter ofsuchmanifestimportanceanddesirability forscience, Peru, China,Iceland,Central Africa,orwherever else[…] Itisa for all mankind.[…] It canbereproduced exactlyand fully, in ments, tothecreation, thatis,ofacompleteplanetarymemory an efficient indextoallhumanknowledge,ideasandachieve- There is no practical obstacle whatever now to the creation of 23 How did it get this far? 24 S

I In 1927, Emanuel had built the first electronic document

YS retrieval system. You enter a number, press a button, and

AL the required microfilm document appears three minutes

A N later. Wells later had the same principle in mind for his , as did for his , de memory extender, which he described in 1945. The Memex illustration on the previous page shows a remarkable simi- larity to today’s tablet devices.

The pace increased dramatically from 1960 onward. In that year, began the first computerized hypertext project, called Xanadu. In 1974, his book Computer Lib/

Dream Machines inspired many digital pioneers. NLS was Image: msulearntech.pbworks.com the first working hypertext system: the oN-Line System of Doug Engelbart and his Augmentation Research group. They also invented the mouse and the windows principle. Eventually these initiatives grew to become NoteCards by Xerox Parc in 1984, and HyperCard by Apple Computer in 1987. In 1980, Tim Berners-Lee built the ENQUIRE hyper- text system, named after a reference work from the Victo- rian era. Four years later, that was suitable for other types of computer, and Berners-Lee presented the Distributed Hypertext System in 1989. This was intended to be flexible and intelligent. It supported various computers and operat- ing systems, automatically recognized patterns, and repro- duced the most recent situations via so-called live links. We had landed in the PC age and Web 1.0. Web 2.0 followed after the turn of the millennium, and now we are in the post-PC era with an increasing number of screen devices. These are becoming ever-cheaper and more powerful, they have a Natural User Interface (NUI) instead of a window/ mouse interface (GUI), and we can choose from an assort- ment of millions of apps.

This is how simple it is: we can summarize 33 slides in less than 700 words and a picture. Has your interest been aroused and do you want to know more? If so, check it out. See the YouTube video about how Paul Otlet imagined his Mundaneum in 1934. Wikipedia gives comprehensive descriptions of this. Put Facebook and Twitter aside for a moment, and direct your sole attention to a theme that will fascinate and educate you. “ Pictures. byColumbia for adapted the goingto silverscreen is be distraction inthis timeofdigital the least onship Champi Memory - thating things hewonthe annual USA memory. attrain his remember Eventually good so hewas with deals book Foer’s. The experiment to Remembering) the Palace: of Forgotten Memory het onthouden(The Art van kunst entitled Het devergeten is edition geheugenpaleis: The Science ofDutch and Remembering . The Art Everything in2011early underthe title Moonwalking Einstein: with published which was examples book, are his above from quite well. The function can andother devices palaces that proof the Simonides’sman, is living memory so-called author Joshua Foer, young American ordinary aperfectly tiva”, and the journalist Nowadays ofremembering. the art better. the laid foundation Simonides ofthe “Ars Memora- toinformation retain considerably humanfallible memory the andspace enabled onlocation that based mnemonics Plato’s ofCeos Simonides the poet Greek it hadstruck days, inthe firstplace. himself whatbefore heknew asking Even systematically priate to the father whowas ofskepticism, memory. Obviously, poor appro his most about - this was ease. Michel inthe 16 too, deMontaigne ease. nothing to Alzheimer’s andhas dowith existed always Dis something is that has This to us. dear is memory Our ontherestraints Internet. some wouldhave this king Clearly imposed forgetful. us to make bound is thefeared, king inwriting, ting things andPlato. Put Socrates to from come us down has fear to history. prehistory atransitionfrom Thamos’s as writing, when the god Thamos king tian art of Toth him offered the - bothering the Egyp was question This blessing? A mixed 9 PART IIITHEWAY OUT Quote” in 2006. His achievement is so remarkable so is achievement His in2006. Dumbing-down anxiety th — century, worried that the book that the book — not in - - - “only” changing, is our behavior. is “only” changing, may Effect TheGoogle what is orperhaps: inany What changing is case, ing. that are chang- ofhuman toreferred “processes memory” cautiously the themselves very researchers publications, andother Unlike in The Slatest headlines the suggestive have upanymore. to we donoteven look —thatchunks manageable easily in —presented knowledge oninformation and onthe App nowadays: Effect likewise Funny that wetend to rely. And onthat Effect Google andresults. process search exactly thestill be way it was: will that Assuming tomorrow everything browsing. start so a first expressionfront ofadaptive lnternet in skill. ofyou, As the opportunity? given howwedothings, solely about change?it toOris structural subject faculty processing ofthe Isthe human changing? use memory/ our memory matters? physiological AreIs it about ourbrainschanging? tempting Whatso precipitate. Is exactly to changing? be is It Fingertipsof Having Information atOur it. is , hadproved Consequences Cognitive on Effects Memory: entitled Google summer of2011. University, byColumbia Recent research inthe ofThe theSlatest headline was Altersnet Memory” In spite continues ofthe anxiety Foer to “Inter rankle. case, - 25 Dumbing-down anxiety 26

T equally well be a prelude to a better understanding of mat- came the computer, and the notion of . U ters in their structural context: “Perhaps those who learn We have always had the idea that someday digital technol-

Y O will become less occupied with facts and more engaged in ogy would surpass our own intelligence. Many felt that this A larger questions of understanding.” It sounds rather pomp- came true when the IBM computer Deep Blue defeated ous and not very scientific. world champion Gary Kasparov at chess in 1997. But, all in

THE W all, the question as to what intelligence really is still stares Nicholas Carr, shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize with his us in the face. Possibly one of our awkward abstractions is book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our the best answer. When it comes to analogies, we have now Brains, which broaches the subject of loss of concentra- embraced the MRI scanner, which shows us what is going tion and intensity of experience, could not agree more with on in the brain. Even to a neuronal level. But we do not Sparrow and her team. He concludes his blogpost about have a very clear conception of how that correlates in con- their research as follows: crete terms with our favorite abstractions: memory, brain, mind, self, soul, intelligence, being bright or stupid — to We are becoming symbiotic with our computer tools, […] grow- put it mildly. A more differentiated view can make subtle ing into interconnected systems that remember less by know- distinctions with regard to discussions about this, which ing information than by knowing where the information can be can easily turn out to be too black-and-white. found. […] We must remain plugged in to know what Google knows.

These are established, but not particularly world-shattering facts. Nor is the title of the blogpost, Minds Like Sieves, an epoch-making insight. Simonides of Ceos was aware of this, and in the Netherlands the internationally renowned Professor Willem Wagenaar made minds like sieves his magnum opus. The abstract cliffhanger that Carr used to end his blogpost is significant:

As memory shifts from the individual mind to the machine’s shared database, what happens to that unique “cohesion” that is the self?

Memory, the brain, the mind, and now “the self”: a kind of soul and relic of psychoanalysis and the Gestalttherapie. Are antiquated abstractions such as these supposed to elucidate the discussion, in the year 2013?

The same goes for analogies that have been the steady companions of the memory discussion and the brighter/ stupider debate throughout the centuries. Even today, we sometimes still refer to “racking one’s brains” when some hard thinking is required, and hear the somewhat archaic expression “the cogwheels of our brains”. After mechanics “ computers ever. The combination of attention, experience small andeasy-to-use of apps powerful onthe most boom andonthe other the enormous crisis, there this serious is On the onehand what matters really the is ensuingeffects. “tech”Apart allthe from amazing around changes us, unconsciously. or consciously to have orat this, noticed least surprised, all the same andnations than notime, but inless ofbanks debt crisis overthe tocurrent gloss true, Stillitis notenough, mies. the job: Attention, Econo- andKnowledge Experience date from years Economy New the real Thereis, it days. these standard itis component: ofthem have Andmost thatan app for social itnowadays. attention, You experience andknowledge. there is name it, in2015. allcontain our Andthey downloaded have been will 98 billionmobile Bergapps Insight, of firm Swedish andthe onreality future:according to thelent perspective nology, economy, culture andhistory. It affords an excel- now come tofor stand onebigaddition:the- sumoftech in ourlives are interwoven closely andfunctionality technology Digital andintense. wonderful so own apps. Magnificent, all that Magnificent, “tech” apps. own ofalltheir andmost the andtheto smartphone tablet, use orwants uses Everyone reach for theirthey mobiledevice. longbefore takes itnever or inaplace ofentertainment: are onthe road,at home,at Whetherpeople work lives. have our changed media Amazement at how social report. ofthis trending that what this is the marked beginning is notsurpris So it the understanding. first step towards Ever around since been us. such Aristotle, amazement has We at the happening things amazed to be cease never social isthenewcapital 10 Quote” Basic prescription: — … All in all, one would expect people to be to be people … Allinall,onewouldexpect to such a degree that name“tech”to the such pet adegree has — based on the other three tipped to do onthe other tipped three based — admittedly, twelve — never before was it was before never - basic prescription against many dark sides of social media. media. many against ofsocial dark sides prescription basic a form Business andSocial Society ofSocial the direction them into steer efforts Conscious andcommitment. ency oftranspar inbymeans fitted to be need conspicuous, andOccupy, Anonymous WikiLeaks, to mention the most such . as andsubcultures as such awareness andother ofempowerment, forms digital are currentlythey more intensive dueto the than ever are Actuallyofalltime,but they incultural clashes. itself manifests also media nomic +cultural +historic) ofsocial The remarkable “tech”eco- + character (technological cycle for anew andsitting outthe winter inpreparation wood cutting dead economy. donethere What currently primarily is is being inthe ofthe rest andprosperity growth radical ofnew basis emerge thatstructures the induecourse outto turn be inwhich new process, growth is whatthe marks tion. This them inthe andsteer direc right media embrace social We directive. is media way ofhandlingsocial shouldbold of the economy. and Here the demandfor too adecisive contrast theinlarge with sectors relatively growth gradual is in sharp media social ofmobile growth The radical 2004. thewith consumer experiment ofWeb 2.0, in which started dovetails commitment Business andtransparency, Social onpeople-first, focused Being ofe-business. development later, Eight years ment. the is natural Business next Social Hut, 1994) the with e-commerce(Pizza consumer- experi once began to e-business Similar the way the established that the is message. Society: andaSocial Businesses Web 2.0 the from social through it, with Going to Social businesswise. profits, nature andthe human intellect and knowledge — — as with the seasons. the with seasons. as consciously linked to our social-minded to oursocial-minded linked consciously — should enable to us reap - - 27 Basic prescription: social is the new capital 28 11 The Age of Context is coming

T What can we do against the invasion of social and mobile us, but sway to changes in the context of the users, in a U technology and their content, which upset our rhythm on a manner of speaking.

Y O 24/7 basis, distract and enrich us at the same time? In any A case, for most of us it is hardly an option to train our over- In Program or be Programmed (a pamphlet with ten com- burdened brain in such a way that we are distracted less mandments for the digital age), media critic Douglas Rush-

THE W often or less quickly. Rather it is up to new digital tools to koff argues in favor of the following philosophy and the ignore the immediacy of real time and to present messages most practical way out when it comes to the dark side of in the correct context. social media: “do not always be on”. The same point of view is held by Clay Johnson in his book The Information Diet: The continuous state of distraction can be overcome by A Case for Conscious Consumption. He makes out a case for “undesigning” the culture of multitasking and constant a balanced diet, for consuming information in moderation: updates, says media theoretician Geert Lovink in his book Networks Without A Cause. Technology must be made sub- The classification and categorization of information are always servient to us again, by aiming to realize a situation where subjective, and sometimes controversial. Do not worry nearly attention takes the place of distraction for example. To that as much about achieving some set standard of balance, or even end, a suitable context needs to be created that draws our emulating my diet. Worry about consuming consciously, and attention. making information — and our information providers work for you, rather than the other way around. Form healthy habits, In his article “The Future is not Real-Time”, Joshua Gross and the right balance will follow from it. formulates a similar thought. An e-mail from a friend had given him pause to think. The remark: “We’re exposed to Unless connectivity becomes faster, bigger and cheaper, more content than at any time in our lives yet the amount of we increasingly tend to adopt an “always on” status. Our time to consume it isn’t increasing” caused him to write the devices and, as a kind of continuation, our human system following words: too, are “extensions” of the online universe and vice versa. The devices we use place us right in the centre of a tor- I believe the future is not real-time. Instead, we will find rent of e-mails, tweets and other updates. We give up our ways to artificially stem the constant flow of information thoughts in exchange for the false goal of immediacy, as if through algorithmic summarization. We will find ways to we could survive in a permanent state of readiness. bring information we are truly interested in back to us at a pace and time that is more manageable. Instant notifica- We take a stand against technology without any sense of tions will be reserved for those few precious individuals and time and moderation, but it is a battle that cannot possibly apps that absolutely need our attention, rather than those be won. A solution, in fact Rushkoff’s number one in his list that simply want it. […] The real-time web is a bit like a fire of ten recommendations, is to be “not on”. A different solu- hydrant — either the valve is opened or closed, but there’s no tion is the shift towards context. Not to being anti-social, filter to stem the flow; we become the filter for the massive which is often the case in real time, but in-context. These flow of information. Content should always feel like a , not are two basic principles for a new stage of technology that a burden. To turn it into a gift, we need to start focusing on calls for attention at the right moment without constantly ways to control the flow. distracting.

Here the concept of Right-Time Experience is central. The technology evangelist Robert Scoble is the co-author of Uncontrolled real time should make way for controlled the book Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the right time. Experiences should not impose themselves on Way Businesses Talk with Customers. In conjunction with “ Defusing the Big Data Frenzy: theBig Data Defusing We trend report this outinourfree pointed theWeb: In away, intuitive. We becoming is technology already individuals: as us understands software Change Your Lifewith &Work how, deals book . This last, at How it Willthe interim workingtitle The Context: Age of with book Shell Israel, currently heis workingonanew Quote” for; weneedtoberidofsearch commands. real-time behavior. Thewebhastoknowwhatweare looking knows where tofindusonthebasisofdigitalfootprintsand want way betweenthephysicalanddigitalworld.[…]Whatwe mobile devicesofallkindsandsizeswillbetheprincipalgate- munication only. Viacontext-consciousapps,forexample, The cellphoneisnolongeradeviceforthepurposeofcom- and imprecise fieldcalledpredictive behavior. harvesting and sharing mountains of human data and a new based onwhatthetechnologythinksyoushouldsee.It’s about It’s aboutpersonalizingwhatyouseewherever youlookonline, — as yetperhapslargelyunarticulated —

is thattheweb Image: http://prote.in Image: 29 The Age of Context is coming 30 12 SlowTech should really be the norm

T In the summer of 2012, the Gartner Research Agency pub- In-Memory Analytics, Text Analytics, Speech Recognition U lished its annual hype cycle. In relation to the previous hype and finally Predictive Analytics. The distribution of these

Y O cycle, a number of technologies are new, although they may coherent and occasionally inextricably linked technolo- A have had a place in earlier versions. This is stated literally in gies — almost 20 per cent of all “2012 technologies” — is the information leaflet. Gartner indicates that we ought to enormous. The above-mentioned nine categories cannot be

THE W see a total of forty-eight “2012 technologies” in combination, separated in this way other than on the basis of divergent depending on our interests and needs. But a clear overall argumentations. Therefore, Gartner’s hype cycle is little picture is lacking, while all the pieces of the puzzle are avail- more than a flattened roller coaster or, at best, a Babylonian able. Now that the broad contours of the digital puzzle have discussion print. But there is already enough confusion of been fully developed and dressed, we have a good basis to tongues! distance ourselves from all the technological tumult. Instead, we wish to look for convergence: at the way in Following Gartner’s advice to try to see various technolo- which our life fits together, businesswise and in private. gies in their proper context, we examined the Big Data MIT Media Lab director Nicholas Negroponte commented cluster because that is currently making a breakthrough. as far back as 1995: “Computing is not about comput- Across almost the entire hype-cycle rollercoaster – from ers any more, it is about living.” And he was right: in the “Inflated Expectations” via “Disillusionment” and “Enlight- 10101st century, digital will be a part of life itself and will enment” on to the “Plateau of Productivity” – we encounter help shape that same life. The reciprocal relationship will the following nine categories. Big Data itself to start with, be expressed in connections between apps, analytics, (big) then Social Analytics, In-Memory Database Management data, media, mobile and social. All these technologies will Systems, Activity Streams, Audio Mining/Speech Analysis, be aligned to one another under the term “SlowTech”.

3D printing Wireless power BYOD Complex event processing Hybrid cloud Social analytics computing Private cloud computing Expectations HTML5 5 510 105 Application stores Gamification 10 5 In-memory DMS Big data 10 10 Crowdsourcing 10 10 Augmented reality 5 5 Activity streams Speech-to-speech 10 5 translation 10 10 NFC payment 5 Natural-language 10 10 Internet tv question Silicon 10 Audio mining/Speech analytics answering anode 5 Near field communication Mobile robots 10 batteries 5 Cloud computing Autonomous 10 10 vehicles Internet Machine-to-machine communication services of things 5 Mesh networks: sensor 2 3D scanners 10 2 Automatic Gesture control 10 content Home health monitoring 2 Predictive analytics recognition Volumetric & Virtual worlds Speech recognition holographic displays 5 Consumer telematics 3D bioprinting 5 Idea management Quantum 2 Biometric authentication methods computing 5 Consumerization 5 5 In-memory analytics 10 2 10 Media tablets Mobile OTA payments Text analytics Hosted virtual desktops Human augmentation

Technology Trough of Slope of Plateau of

Trigger of Inflated Peak Expectations Disillusionment Enlightenment Productivity

Plateau reached in: Time 2 <2 years 5 2-5 years 10 5-10 years >10 years Acronyms NFC Near field communication DMS Database management systems BYOD Buy your own device “ fastfood for digital junkies. According the Slow to junkies. Blood, for digital fastfood are nothing snacks, more Articles than article. digital tain to communicate managing without ofacer the relevance the announcements follow oneanother at lightning speed, inwhich newspaper” compared to a“hyper-paced be can the SlowWeb. term that Sheexplained web the popular experience offilm-watching)”,modern use the first was to Slow entitled “The who,inherarticle Blood the Web (plus: were upbyRebekka remarks picked his afterwards, Shortly evidence.” it’s and ofarguments aspectrum toconsider an opportunity web. It’s about being and first and notjust superficial; fast really going totake advantage ofthearchival nature ofthe ment along thelines ofSlow Food andifwe’re Slow Cinema, movement for the web: “We aSlow Internet Move need - ofSlow sort a thewrite first about Food to was Emerson “CinemaIn the article isn’t it’s dead, different”, just Jim inorder todown, findnatural enjoyment once again: in life. We slow just stillfor should stand amoment oreven things valuable the from truly us diverted has onspeed focus the shoulders ofhumanity. upon laid has Revolution The The one’s orcommunity. district own within oflivestock andthe keeping andseeds tion ofplants - andencourages the cultiva dishes, traditional andregional of Themovementfor the preservation strives to fastfood. opposed for the as sign SlowFood movement, the starting ofaMcDonald’sopening restaurantwas inRome.That In 1986 the Italian Petrinithe Carlo against protested 13 Quote” tranquil materialpleasure. ourselves againsttheuniversalmadnessof“thefastlife”with ity” thatispropelling itontheroad toextinction.Letusdefend sapiens must regain wisdom and liberate itself from the “veloc- even inourownhomes,forcing ustoingest“fast-food”.Homo virus: “thefastlife”thatfractures ourcustomsandassailsus after it.Speedbecameourshackles.Wefellprey tothesame tury firstinventedthemachineandthenmodeleditslifestyle Born andnurtured underthesignofIndustrialization,thiscen- Slow Food the yoke that resists the Industrial The SlowWeb movement - slowly permeates yourthoughts. slowly permeates invest timeandenergy, it as pleasure that something brings something inwhich youhaveis offinonegobut worked to Web It that something not is is compared to abook. be can • • of the SlowWeb. ofFast anumber contrasts WebCheng features those with ofhowtempting article, regardless Inhis itmaybe, seem. The Fast Webwish is aplaceto where donot weactually what the Fast Web andwhy weshould that: notwant is, ofmuch attention. the subject outlined was Chang Cheng Slow In the summerof2012,“The the article Web” by Jack • • have tohappeninreal time. time before setting pixel to page. Fresh thinking would no longer sufficiently noodled-with.Writerscouldbudgetsufficient dream- responders. Conclusionswouldbeintentionallypostponeduntil additive. Research wouldnolongerberestricted torapid- the elementsofPopular Web,butunhurried,re-considered, The SlowWebwouldbemore likeabook,retaining manyof things. do themnow. TheFast Webisacruelwonderlandofshiny me. Share me.TheFast Webdemandsthatyoudothingsand new updatesweb.Keepuporbelost.Clickme.LikeTweet for billionsofpeopleweb.Theyouhavetwohundred twentysix web. It’s thescalehardandfastweb. Thecreate adestination intellectual palettes,thesalt,sugarandfatofonlinecontent the otherweb.Thewebdesignedtoappealbasestofour spend twodozentimesadaycheckingweb.Theinoneendout there’s somuchstuff andIcan’t possiblykeepupweb.It’s the What istheFast Web?It’s theoutofcontrol web.Theohmygod sume information times. at fixed splintersupdate ourattention. It much is to better con- orFacebook we are tweet continually Every distracted. Rhythm versus Randomness time tothem absorb properly. matters attention that ourserious require until wehave application. the cites Instapaper to ItCheng keep best is Temporary versus Real-time — — Randomness means that means Randomness To explain this difference, 31 The Slow Web movement 32 Image: coolhunting.com > Hugo Eccles T •• Stressful versus Moderation — Moderation plays a major U role in the Slow Web. The aim is to use our time as effec-

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THE W the right information reaches us at the right time. •• Information versus Knowledge — “Information passes through you; knowledge dissolves into you.” You must be able to take action on the basis of information. This can only be done when the information has been converted into knowledge. Applying knowledge as a force, as a lever, by gathering data from all sides, storing, process- ing, sharing and capitalizing on them, will become an important new principle in the Big Data era.

In the meantime, a Slow Web Manifesto has appeared, for people wishing to repossess their lives and no longer be slaves to technology. Although the Real-time web certainly has its merits, immediacy ought to make way for more courtesy, in-context response and the human measure. New technologies such as Siri from Apple, the Kinect movement interface from Microsoft, Project Glass and Google Now, and IBM’s all contribute to rediscov- ering the human measure, due to the fact that we no longer have to spend our time on technologies and applications that do not take time into account. The saying “Standing still is the same as regression” does not apply in the case of the Slow Web. We must indeed stand still in order to reflect on things and let them sink in. Only in this way can we take the next steps in a well-grounded way. “ no longer have to crawl under desks to connect all kinds of no longerhave allkinds to to connect crawl underdesks inahuman way. ofthe technology make underlying use We can howwe shows Thedevice device. itapost-PC called first iPhone and the presented very Jobs In 2007, Steve itwere. as invisible, becomes background: ifthe complexityonly possible into ofthe networkfades the is ofoil.This form of allthis information: are data anew on basis the adjustments economicsocial and significant that make wecan evident increasingly It becoming is inundates basis. onadaily us is the quantity ofinformationis immense of this consequence up.Thedirect linked is and everyone the architecture ofwhich everything ofanetworkbymeans 40 wehave out Intheyears rolled past revolution. digital ofthe the beginning era, for anew signal the starting was In 1971, the ofthe introduction Intel 4004 microprocessor extravaganceedented andpersistence. tumult lifesubstitution ofreal forofanunprec is digital andtoil. anendto Butthe tardiness current andseek ness, to throw into ofadventure ourselves allkinds andreckless ofournature part been Since ithas the ofmankind, dawn to ouremotions media link ofsocial andthe to the connection senses the direct Particularly andapps. tablets oursmartphones, splendid,with so been never has said.Life easily is behavior sibility for ourown With anexcess- technology, respon ofirresistible taking 14 lowing memorable words onthis themelowing inthe 1960s: the Marshall fol McLuhan- philosopher articulated Media andmore more exciting realistic almost than life itself. time tive andinreal Quote” changes are made,menchange. we think.Thewayseetheworldandourselves.Whenthese anyone’s sensedisplacestheother sensesandalterstheway is an extension of the central nervous system. The extension of of theeye.Clothingisanextensionskin.Electriccircuitry ical. Thewheelisanextensionofthefoot.Book All mediaare extensionsofsomehumanfaculty. Mentalorphys- Responsible forourownbehavior — makes the tsunami of digital stimuli ofdigital themakes tsunami — everything interac everything — Big Data — that - - - of Alzheimer’s Disease. of Alzheimer’s Disease. are young whenwe especially training, ourmemory benefit and will noharm dous will alittleourselves this technology from completely automatically time?No, distancing andinreal resourcesdothis for us, whenourdigital nowadays things Why should weremember andapps. smartphones such as sources ofknowledge onexternalto ourdependence digital due reduced for skill example,our calculation drastically is that the fact ourmemory, Bythis wemean or Dementia. tal clear, things making to the- abridge theme ofDigi itwas as Altogether,may way have of been. Asian atypically this was what wehaveber ofhowhealthy eaten, regardless the meal little nolongerremem means - ifwecan “well-being” stated, all,itwas rather After well-thinking than that ofwell-being. website that onits wehadentered the world of observed World 2007, Korean the KBS South as back far As reality. butthis is moralistic, somewhat sounds operate. This onwhich they devices and the screen including games, media, ofsocial those particularly tions, havewill to toughen upandoffer to all resistance tempta- ingeneral,we acceptable. derailment also But, is occasional 5 insection outlined as black consequences” remains to habits adanger bad Recidivism twofeet. able toonourown we should be stand the firmer achievements, andattractive ourdigital powerful and human are behavior andthe inextricably more linked, onthe scene. 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34

T We therefore wish to recommend the following four golden U rules-of-thumb: Y O A 1. Do not forget that our memory becomes tangibly poorer if we do not train it. THE W 2. Accordingly, you should try to remember as many tele- phone numbers, names, poems, sayings and aphorisms as possible, just like memory champion Joshua Foer advo- cates in his book Moonwalking with Einstein dating from But, at the end of this report, we will not begin all over again 2011. by setting off alarm bells and unleashing analyses, which 3. Try to put aside all digital devices and grow toward a new are so strongly interwoven with an attempt to find a feasible balance and less dependence. way out. Instead, we prefer to conclude with thirteen tips for 4. Read books, articles and watch films; to subsequently a happy and fulfilling life, provided by Manfred Spitzer at discuss them with others and exchange ideas. the end of his Digitale Demenz:

In combination this is a very important part of our Digital •• To start with, eat well and healthily. Literacy. It is directed toward avoiding sinking into Digital •• Take at least 30 minutes’ exercise a day. Lethargy or worse: Digital Dementia. It is a question of self- •• Do not live in your own conceptual world, but in the discipline. Behavior and technology go hand in hand here, here-and-now. oriented to the place we allocate to our digital privileges •• Pursue feasible goals. in our life. Insight and responsibility – well-thinking, in •• Help other people, without self-interest and financial short — are what it’s all about, for our individual and collec- profit. tive well-being. •• It is better to spend money on experiences than on things. In 2012, Manfred Spitzer, the renowned German psychia- •• Surrender to music now and again, sing whole-heartedly. trist and professor, published his book Digitale Demenz: •• A good mood stimulates the brain areas for positive Wie wir uns und unsere Kinder um den Verstand bringen feelings. (“Digital Dementia: how we can wisen up ourselves and •• Be active and sweep obstacles from your path. our children”). This is quite a claim, and the was, •• Make life easier for yourself where you can. of course, that he regarded such developments too pes- •• Go out for a meal with friends instead of always hanging simistically and that we would teach ourselves to cope with around on Facebook. such resources. The issue of how many victims arise in the •• Spend enough time in natural areas, certainly if there are meantime, people that could have been helped by a little children with you. guidance, has not been addressed in this context. •• Avoid digital media wherever possible, and this applies especially to children. In his book entitled Hyperaktiv! Kritik der Aufmerksam- keitsdefizitkultur (“Hyperactive! Critique of Attention Defi- On the basis of these tips, we can certainly instigate sev- cit Culture”) the German philosopher Christoph Türcke eral interesting discussions. But as a cognitive neurologist points out that we are currently in an obsessive distraction and psychiatrist, Spitzer is not joking here. He regards the situation that is producing serious socio-cultural distur- problems of (digital) tumult in a much larger perspective bance. In addition, entertainment and divertimento are and in an extension of what the SlowTech/Slow Web move- leading to stress rather than relaxation. ADD and ADHD, ment advises us. It is in line with what MIT Media Director as structural cultural deviations, are the result. Nicholas Negroponte observed in 1995, and what we repeat here for the third and last time, namely: “Computing is not about computers anymore, it is about living.” “ Carr,Our DoingWhat the N. to Is (2010):Internet The Shallows: Carr, the N. The Big (2009): to Rewiring from Edison Switch: World, Carr, Us Making Stupid? What the Internet N. “IsGoogle (2008): J.(2011):Brockman, Is theInternet theWay Changing You Think?: digital dementia: http://rki.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_zoom_ dementia: digital (2012): “The First Company R. Cox, To Build Your Identity Into 2009: ofthe Netherlands, Beatrix ofQueen Speech Christmas Slow J.(2012): “The Cheng, Web”, http://blog.jackcheng.com/ How theiPhone -Unlocked X.(2011): Always Brian the Chen, On: Bloem, J. (2012): “De ‘technology hype cycle’ is kortademige kortademige is cycle’ hype ‘technology J.(2012): “De Bloem, Bloem, J., M. van Doorn, S. Duivestein, A. Sjöström (2012): (2012): Sjöström A. Duivestein, S. Doorn, J.,M.van Bloem, Me (2008): Rise Duivestein theMedia: S. Doorn, J.,M.van Bloem, Bloem, J. and S. Duivestein (2011): We Duivestein J.andS. Bloem, theWeb: herover De Beshay, K. (2012): “Being Social Is About Being Private”, Being IsAbout Social Beshay, (2012): “Being K. Digital Generation: How the Dumbest The Bauerlein, M.(2009): Bakshy, Information (2012): “Rethinking DiversityinNetworks”, E. 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- Distracted: The Erosion ofAttention and the Distracted: M.(2009): Jackson, to OnlineLurking”, Goodbye (2012): “Saying L. Gannes, http:// Gannes, L. (2012): “A L. Gannes, Further Blowto Will OnlineLurking: Quora Futurelab the across curriculum Literacy (2010): Digital Foucault, M.(1997): Toezicht Discipline, van geboorte enStraf. De Forrester Media (2012): Global Social Adoption Research 2011 , Foer, J.(2011): Moonwalking The Einstein: andof -Science Art with “Towards M.(2008): Flanagan, anAesthetic ofSlowinContempo- J.(2010):Emerson, “Cinema isn’t it’s dead, different”, just http:// T.S.Eliot, (1934): The Rock Duivestein, S. (2012): “De toekomst van virtuele persoonlijke assis persoonlijke virtuele toekomst van (2012): “De S. Duivestein, (2011): “Snack S. CultuurDuivestein, in2011”, http://www. (2011): “Computer S. Duivestein, slimmerdemens”, is dan into “Moving (2009): the AgeofRealtime”, S. Duivestein, http:// sabbatical: http://mtcoalhopper.blogspot.nl/2012/05/six-digital Duivestein, S. (2012): “Slow Tech: S. Duivestein, cultuur gebaseerd een voorkom deiPhone (2012): “Maakt Google’s Glass S. Project Duivestein, X (2012): “Google S. Duivestein, Coming Age Dark Books , Prometheus allthingsd.com/20120712/the-end-of-online-lurking/ 20120801/quora-will-now-publicly-show-who-has-read-a-post/ aPost”, Read Now Publicly ShowWhoHas http://allthingsd.com/ , Historische uitgeverij, Groningen uitgeverij, , Historische de gevangenis Remembering Everything, Penguin HC Press Cinema”,rary http://www.16-9.dk/2008-11/side11_inenglish.htm just_diff.html blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/2010/06/cinema_isnt_dead_its_ 22/slow-tech-voorkom-een-cultuur-gebaseerd-op-afleiding/ op afleiding”, http://www.frankwatching.com/archive/2012/06/ sanderduivestein.com/2011/04/28/snack-cultuur-in-2011/ computer-is-slimmer-dan-de-mens/ http://www.frankwatching.com/archive/2011/02/18/ www.frankwatching.com/archive/2009/04/22/26240/ month-digital-sabbatical.html maakt-googles-project-glass-de-iphone-overbodig/ overbodig?”, http://www.sanderduivestein.com/2012/04/05/ google-x-de-weg-naar-een-nieuwe-toekomst/ toekomst”, http://www.frankwatching.com/archive/2012/06/30/ de-toekomst-van-virtuele-persoonlijke-assistenten/ tenten”, http://www.frankwatching.com/archive/2012/04/19/ — De weg naar een nieuwe nieuwe naareen weg De

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d ia Consumption, O’Reilly Media blog.libri.de/empfehlungen/rezensionen-pressespiegel/ rezension-zu-digitale-demenz-von-manfred-spitzer/ Johnson, S. (2006): Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today’s is Actually Making Us Smarter, Riverhead Trade Rushkoff, D. (2011): Program or be programmed: ten commands for ial Me a digital age, Berkeley, CA: Soft Skull Press c Kampen, A. van, and J. Truijens Martinez (2012): “We lijden aan obsessieve digitale verzamelwoede”, NRC, 07-01-2012. Sandoval, G. (2012): A peek behind the mask: Anonymous “Topiary” speaks: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57509524-93/a-peek- Keen, A. (2008): The Cult of the Amateur: How blogs, MySpace, behind-the-mask-anonymous-topiary-speaks/ YouTube, and the rest of today’s user-generated media are destroying our economy, our culture, and our values, Crown Shirky, C. (2008): It’s Not Information Overload. It’s Filter Failure, Business http://web2expo.blip.tv/file/1277460/ Keen, A. (2012): Digital Vertigo: How Today’s Online Social Revolu- Shirky, C. (2010): Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a tion Is Dividing, Diminishing, and Disorienting Us, Constable & Connected Age, Penguin

he Darkhe So of d e Si Robinson

T Silverman, C. (2011): “Eight Simple Rules for Doing Accurate Jour- Kirkpatrick, M. (2008): “Mark Zuckerberg on Data Portability: nalism”, Columbia Journalism Review, 16-09-2011, http://www. An Interview”, http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/mark_ cjr.org/behind_the_news/eight_simple_rules_for_doing_a.php zuckerberg_on_data_portab.php Simonite, T. (2012): “What Facebook knows”, http://www.technolo- Kirkpatrick, M. (2010): “Facebook’s Zuckerberg Says The Age gyreview.com/featured-story/428150/what-facebook-knows/ of Privacy is Over”, http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/ Slow Food Manifesto (2010), http://www.slowfood.com/_2010_ facebooks_zuckerberg_says_the_age_of_privacy_is_ov.php pagine/com/popup_pagina.lasso?-id_pg=121 KNAW (2012): “Digital Literacy in High School” [Dutch], Small, G. (2008): iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of http://www.knaw.nl/Content/Internet_KNAW/publicaties/ the Modern Mind, Collins Living pdf/20121027.pdf Spira, J. (2012): Overload Stories, http://www.overload-stories.com Kraus, J. (2012): “We’re creating a culture of distraction”, http:// joekraus.com/were-creating-a-culture-of-distraction Spitzer, M. (2012): Digitale Demenz: Wie wir uns und unsere Kinder um den Verstand bringen Lanier, J. (2011): You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto, Vintage Steins Bisschop, J. (2012): “Tijdlezer: Alarmbellen”, Het Financieele Lovink, G. (2011): Networks without a cause: a critique of social Dagblad, 7 April 2012 media, Cambridge, UK: Polity Toffler, A. (1970): Future Shock, Random House McLuhan, M. (1964): Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, The MIT Press Turkle, S. (2011): Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Tech- nology and Less from Each Other, Basic Books Meikle, J. (2012): “Twitter is harder to resist than cigarettes and alcohol”, The Guardian, 03-02-2012, http://www.guardian.co.uk/ Weinberger, D. (2012): Too Big to Know: Rethinking: Knowledge technology/2012/feb/03/twitter-resist-cigarettes-alcohol-study Now That the Facts Aren’t the Facts, Experts Are Everywhere, and the Smartest Person in the Room Is the Room, Basic Books “Millennials will benefit and suffer due to their hyperconnected lives” (2012), Pew Research Center, 29-02-2012, http://www. Weiser, M., Seely Brown, J. (1996): The Coming Age of Calm Tech- pewinternet.org/~/media/Files/Reports/2012/PIP_Future_of_ nology, http://www.johnseelybrown.com/calmtech.pdf Internet_2012_Young_brains_PDF.pdf Wikipedia: “Is Google making Us Stupid”, http://en.wikipedia.org/ Morozov, E. (2011): The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet wiki/Is_Google_Making_Us_Stupid Freedom, PublicAffairs wonderful internet page 1 > internet is gone: http://www.zintzen. Pariser, E. (2011): The : What the Internet Is Hiding org/2007/12/28/video-backflash-ii-07-it-s-a-wonderful- from You, Penguin Press HC internet/ Popham, P. (2009): “Carlo Petrini: The Slow Food gourmet who Wu, T. (2010): The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information started a revolution”, http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/ Empires, Alfred A. Knopf food-and-drink/features/carlo-petrini-the-slow-food-gourmet- who-started-a-revolution-1837223.html The Dark Side of Social Media 37 Brian Wallace and Nowsourcing at redeapp.com/index.php/red-e-app-blog/entry/the-social-media-monster-is-alive Nowsourcing and Brian Wallace INT, INT, |V

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and nanotech. In this way, life will become one huge test laboratory for the further development development further the for laboratory test huge one become will life way, this In nanotech. and

means of ordinary hardware and software, but subsequently also via biochemistry (“wetware”) (“wetware”) biochemistry via also subsequently but software, and hardware ordinary of means

The coming decades will see us intimately and physically interconnected within our own web by by web own our within interconnected physically and intimately us see will decades coming The

super active on the Web, involving citizens, , companies and politicians. and companies brands, citizens, involving Web, the on active super

CNN’s iReport, iGoogle, iPhone, myBarackObama, YouTube and the like. All are hyperlinked and and hyperlinked are All like. the and YouTube myBarackObama, iPhone, iGoogle, iReport, CNN’s

e-mancipates physical identities to the “Hyperego” level: the digital me’s we know so well from from well so know we me’s digital the level: “Hyperego” the to identities physical e-mancipates

activity in which individuals, organizations, and government engage. The Third Media Revolution Revolution Media Third The engage. government and organizations, individuals, which in activity

form of personal and identity. They increasingly form the basis of the social and economic economic and social the of basis the form increasingly They identity. brand and personal of form

In this Me-Media dynamics composites of digital alter egos are rapidly becoming an accepted accepted an becoming rapidly are egos alter digital of composites dynamics Me-Media this In

society, for technology, and for us. for and technology, for society,

This sweeping wave has far-reaching consequences: for business, for for business, for consequences: far-reaching has wave sweeping This

era of the Web is the Third great Media Revolution undergone by humanity. humanity. by undergone Revolution Media great Third the is Web the of era

and movable type, and after such mass media as radio and TV, the modern modern the TV, and radio as media mass such after and type, movable and

pate as individuals and consumers. After the printing press press printing the After consumers. and individuals as pate partici all we

mass media have been absorbed by the mass in which which in mass media new the by absorbed been have media mass trusted

“Me the Media” is how we call this multimedia web-based age. The old, old, The age. web-based multimedia this call we how is Media” the “Me

of what is referred to in this book as the Third Media Revolution. Media Third the as book this in to referred is what of

to a Conversation Society, which is the ultimate consequence, if not goal, goal, not if consequence, ultimate the is which Society, Conversation a to

moving ahead from the well-known concept of the Conversation Economy Economy Conversation the of concept well-known the from ahead moving

participate in a variety of ways. It is along these lines that the world is is world the that lines these along is It ways. of variety a in participate

the People” anew, so that each and every individual who chooses to can can to chooses who individual every and each that so anew, People” the

Through web media Barack Obama was able to deliberately implement “We “We implement deliberately to able was Obama Barack media web Through

resonating and swelling in a genuinely democratic way. democratic genuinely a in swelling and resonating Change.gov and Whitehouse.gov amongst others, his messages were were messages his others, amongst Whitehouse.gov and Change.gov

minius Thinking Cafe. YouTube and Facebook, and later at at later and Facebook, and YouTube myBarackObama.com, at campaign

being further satisfied. For example, during the the during example, For satisfied. further being is create, can media web

Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States the change that that change the States United the of President 44th the as Obama Barack

American soil, in particular those related to technology and media. With With media. and technology to related those particular in soil, American

Since the mid 19th century countless innovations have sprung up from from up sprung have innovations countless century 19th mid the Since Past, Present and Future of the Third Media Revolution Media Third the of Future and Present Past, who were kind enough to embrace and support kind embrace who were enough to our initiative. And although theyAnd although we would it necessary, do not think Langeweg, Margo thank to like surely van Menno Doorn, Erik Boreel van and Michiel Ommeren from Sogeti Thanks a to our gratitude express explicitely to would like We number of people and media. of all, Thomas van First to contributions content-related Manen, who made major lastthe stage work. of the Right outset from the open sought to dis- the we have did so repeatedly in Dutch media BNR like cussion. We several newspapers and Television, Radio, VARA/BNN weblogs. professional major Also, to we would like MARCOM the thank ­Ar http://www.ict-books.com/books/ inspiration-trends/me-the-media- VINT vint.sogeti.com

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Paris, Stockholm and Washington. and Stockholm Paris,

founded in 1994. VINT has offices in Amsterdam, Amsterdam, in offices has VINT 1994. in founded

VINT is the Research Institute of Sogeti, and was was and Sogeti, of Institute Research the is VINT

| | VINT

holding a postcard with a welcome video. welcome a with postcard a holding

displayed on top of the trigger page: in this case a robot robot a case this in page: trigger the of top on displayed

3 The additional Augmented Reality content will be be will content Reality Augmented additional The

methemedia.com/augmentedreality . from software

Augmented Reality content via previously downloaded downloaded previously via content Reality Augmented

2 The PC will link the captured image to specific specific to image captured the link will PC The

265 with a webcam. a with 265

1 Capture this book’s front, rear, page 51, 61, 74, 189 or or 189 74, 61, 51, page rear, front, book’s this Capture Make Me the Media “Pop” with Augmented Reality Tech Reality Augmented with “Pop” Media the Me Make

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The App Effect it became (2012), (2008) and The Alarm bells and analysis, of course This combination hascombination This put us in a difficult position, but basison the right vision of the it can also serve as a lever giveto our lives beyond social and with the media – and not without them thus may bemay so callous individual and social being. The frenzied and painful barb bemust excised social from the media. can only That be our behaviorand with done through our technology. These go much These and disturbance, much rebellion furtherthan go even or suicide murder further a Facebook than We have explicitly avoided political explicitly pitfalls have as such the We riotsrecent UK, in the Spring Arabian or Project the X Netherlands. the in Haren, Instead, jet- we grab our ten black consequences horns. by the We begin of all kinds of alarm with a chronicle bells We course of time and the seem gone off in to have be that reader the Then is presented ringing even louder now. with an analysis section starts that jet-black with the Digitalis Homo 21st-century consequences the for Mobilis. out. our we offer way In conclusion, increasingly sides social darker of the evident the that media deserved than more own It their elucidation. the was examine to amuse ourselves not to but rather concerns,developments and accompanying and the you will find a out. on a way deliberate to Accordingly, three-stage rocket work. in this Justification VINT working on the When we were books the Me Media