Overview
1,200-1,500 words. Read all please and follow precisely.
Choose one piece of content (an article, report, podcast, or video) that describes how technology is being used in a real-world context.
- Begin by providing a brief summary of the technological phenomenon described in your chosen content, explaining the key elements and context needed to understand the case.
- In your personal analysis, discuss which specific aspects of this case caught your attention and why this particular example resonated with you personally. What made it stand out as significant or interesting?
- Then, select two to three readings from our course that are most relevant to understanding your chosen case. Explain how these course concepts help you interpret and make sense of the phenomenon you've described.
- Use this real-world example to either expand upon the theories we've discussed in class, critique these theories based on how they apply (or fail to apply) to your case, or both.
Your analysis must focus on an empirical (real-world) example and demonstrate a clear connection between course theories and practical application. Make sure to engage with specific course readings rather than just general concepts.
Assignment Details
Begin your essay by including a link to your chosen piece of content at the very top of the page. This will serve as the primary source for your analysis.
Write your analysis in a clear, flowing essay format that demonstrates the progression of your thoughts and ideas. Avoid using bullet points or lists - instead, develop your arguments through well-structured paragraphs that connect logically to one another.
When referencing course materials or additional sources, use proper academic citations. This means including both in-text citations and a complete reference list at the end of your essay. You are encouraged to research your chosen case beyond the initial content piece if additional context would strengthen your understanding and analysis. However, make sure to cite any supplementary sources you consult.
Remember that this is an analytical essay, not a report. We want to see how your thinking develops throughout the piece, including how you connect ideas, develop arguments, and reach conclusions. Focus on creating smooth transitions between concepts and maintaining a coherent narrative thread throughout your analysis.---
Most importantly, I attached a paper I previously wrote for this class. Please match my form of writing, and ADD CHARACTER to the essay. Make interesting comments, add perspective, I do not want this to sound AI Generated. Please make it interesting and make it a fun read. Please pick a reading from the list I will provide you and emphasize concepts and ideals from them. If you need a pdf of the reading, I could provide it. I will provide 3 anyways, see if you could use them to create a good enough analysis with them. Do not be repetitive, show growth in your thought process. Try to add personal memories or moments --- if you choose the sports articles, add memories from viewing sports, and add them to add character. For example the 2022 world cup, Messi's 2nd goal, the goal line technology added so much suspense and intensity.
Use one of https://cactusware.com/blog/sports-technology or https://www.ft.com/content/f0235866-d8db-467d-a8b0... ---- Title it The Digital Referees -- IF it would be easier to connect my course concepts to another case you can find, go ahead. Just make it interesting.
PICK THREE OF THESE -- you can find online.
Brubaker, Rogers. 2022. “Introduction.” Hyperconnectivity and Its Discontents. Medford: Polity. (bCourses)Fourcade, Marion, and Kieran Healy. 2024. “The Box of Delights.” In The Ordinal Society. Harvard University Press. (bCourses)Wark, McKenzie. 2004. “Abstraction” and “Class.” In A Hacker Manifesto. Harvard University Press. (bCourses)O'Gieblyn, Meghan. “Image.” God, human, animal, machine: Technology, metaphor, and the search for meaning. Anchor, 2021. (bCourses)Sadowski, Jathan. 2018. “Potemkin AI.” Real Life Magazine.Ensmenger, Nathan. “The Environmental History of Computing.” Technology and Culture 59, no. 4 (2018): S7–33.Winner, Langdon. 1997. “Cyberlibertarian Myths and the Prospects for Community.” ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society 27(3): 14–19.Asparouhova, Nadia. 2022. “Idea Machines.” Blog post, May 12.Whittaker, Meredith. 2023. “Origin Stories: Plantations, Computers, and Industrial Control.” Logics Magazine 19.Turner, Fred. 2023. “You Call This ‘Flexible Work’?” The New York Times Magazine.Bouk, Dan. 2015. “Insurance and the Origin of Big Data.” Le Monde diplomatique.Lauer, Josh. 2020. “Plastic Surveillance: Payment Cards and the History of Transactional Data, 1888 to Present.” Big Data & Society 7(1).Funk, McKenzie. 2023. “The Man Who Trapped Us in Databases.” The New York Times.Hill, Kashmir. 2023. “Tech Issues.” Your Face Belongs to Us. Random House. (bCourses)Turow, Joseph. “What Marketers See in Voice.” The Voice Catchers: How Marketers Listen In to Exploit Your Feelings, Your Privacy, and Your Wallet. Yale University Press. (bCourses)Deleuze, Gilles. “Postscript on the Societies of Control.” October 59: 3–7 (1992).del Nido, Juan. 2022. “On Gladatorial Truths.” Taxis vs. Uber: Courts, Markets, and Technology in Buenos Aires. Stanford University Press. (bCourses)Couldry, Nick, and Ulises A. Mejias. 2019. “Data Colonialism: Rethinking Big Data’s Relation to the Contemporary Subject.” Television & New Media 20(4): 336–49.McMillan Cottom, Tressie. 2020. “Where Platform Capitalism and Racial Capitalism Meet.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 6(4): 441–49.Srnicek, Nick. 2022. “Data, Compute, Labor.” In Digital Work in the Planetary Market. MIT Press. (bCourses)Zuboff, Shoshana. 2015. “Big Other: Surveillance Capitalism and the Prospects of an Information Civilization.” Journal of Information Technology 30(1): 75–89.Fourcade, Marion, and Kieran Healy. 2024. “The Great Unbundling.” In The Ordinal Society. Harvard University Press. (bCourses)Doctorow, Cory. 2023. “The Enshittification of Tiktok.” Wired Magazine.Fourcade, Marion, and Kieran Healy. 2024. “Layered Financialization.” In The Ordinal Society. Harvard University Press. (bCourses)Jackson, Trevor. 2022. “The Crypto Crisis.” Dissent Magazine.Mathews, Sarah Thankam. “The Meet-Cute Revenge.” Harper’s BAZAAR.Marwick, Alice E. 2015. “Instafame: Luxury Selfies in the Attention Economy.” Public Culture 27(1): 137–60.Noble, Safiya Umoja. 2018. “Searching for Black Girls.” In Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. NYU Press. (bCourses)Eubanks, Virginia. 2018. “A Child Abuse Prediction Model Fails Poor Families.” Wired.Turner, Fred. 2019. “Machine Politics. The Rise of the Internet and a New Age of Authoritarianism.” Harper’s Magazine.Heath, Joseph. 2023. “A Simple Theory of Cancel Culture.” In Due Course (blog).Ebner, Julia. 2020. “Meme Wars: Undercover in Europe’s Biggest Trolling Army.” Going Dark: The Secret Social Lives of Extremists. Bloomsbury. (bCourses)Burrell, Jenna. 2019. “How the Machine Thinks.” Big Data and Society.Khan, Salman. 2024. Brave New Words: How AI Will Revolutionize Education. Penguin.Wang, Xiaowei. 2020. “Behind China’s ‘Pork Miracle’: How Technology Is Transforming Rural Hog Farming.” The Guardian.Morozov, Evgeny. 2023. “The True Threat of Artificial Intelligence.” The New York Times.Chiang, Ted. 2023. "Will AI Become the New McKinsey?" The New Yorker.