Digital Content

Media systems and technologies influence how we understand and perceive our world.

When media shifts to electronic media, McLuhan calls this phenomenon - The Electric Person

Digital Media technologies are “Extensions” of our senses, become a lens we use to see and sometimes navigate through the world

These invisible architectures have the potential to influence how we interact with the world, each other and other systems.

Many of these technologies and systems were designed without a lot of planning or understanding of the potential social implications they might have.

Important to investigate these systems for power dynamics and bias because they:

1. OFTEN PORTRAY AN ILLUSION of neutrality

2. Control + influence low and high stakes outcomes

Brings us to Algorithmic Bias - indicates this is something we need to be able to identify.

Photoshop - a lens to better understand digital media technologies such as the pixel-based image.

The more we know about the building blocks and core concepts of digital media, the more opportunity we have to take control / be intentional with digital media systems + platforms.

Enter Race + Ethnicity

Race + Ethnicity as social constructs - these categories are constructed by individuals + systems

If digital media systems partially inform how we understand and interact with the world

And social constructs are informed by these understandings + interactions

Then digital media and digital media systems partially inform our perspectives on race + ethnicity, both in how we define ourselves and how we perceive others.

Why authorship and understanding are so important - these media have high stakes outcomes

Who “controls” conversations?

How is content being read and understood differently through different platforms?