Paper Example. Social Media Technologies

The use of social media technologies has provided a space where individuals can exercise their freedom of choosing sites as it has provided a variety of platforms that individuals can use for communication. The increase in big data, the appeal with the figure of data scientists, the development of novel forms of data analytics, and the passive-action of interactivity are interwoven through the increasingly powerful and comprehensive sensing devices and networks. The increase of entrenched and distributed sensors indicates the growing impassive interactivity. Various media devices such as smartphones, drones, cameras, and the advancing array of environmental sensors, (fixed and mobile) and the online interactive platforms have developed an individual's daily life to a life that is technologically equipped. However, there is a shift from targeted, purposeful, and discrete, methods of collecting information to always-on, pervasive, and ever-advancing forms of capturing data. The increase in the use of sensors shows the essential changes in the comprehension of surveillance, privacy, and processing of information. For instance, motor vehicle companies have used the embedded sensors and devices on cars to detect crimes and the time they are being done, by the use of GPS. The current advancements in technology have also led to a change in the forms of communication and ways of doing things. It is proposed that the notion of a sensor society is the most effective way of approaching these interconnections and exploring their significance in society (Andrejevic and Burdon 23). Sensor society refers to a world where the interactive devices and applications populating the environment of digital information come to double as sensors. In most cases, the sensing action cast a shadow on the interactive functions in terms of total amount of data generated by a smartphone about its users in a specific day is likely to further outshine the amount of information that is actively communicated by the users in form of emails, text messages, and phone calls (Andrejevic and Burdon 23). This has led to the development of numerous applications and other methods of communication that have given social media users the freedom of choosing the most suitable method of expressing themselves, although it has increased surveillance.

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Each activity by a device user produces data about itself, where the text was sent, how long did the phone call last, and which websites were visited, among other activities. In that case, sensor society can be described as the emerging practices of collecting and using data that complicate and reconfigure received categories of surveillance and privacy. The emerging sensor society has led to the increased deployment of interactive, networked devices on sensors. It has also resulted in an explosion in the volume of sensor-generated data and the resultant development and solicitation of techniques that handle large amounts of data (Andrejevic and Burdon 25). It has also led to the development of storage, collection, and analytical infrastructures designed to put to use the sensor-derived data, which has led to increased surveillance through obtaining of personal data. This has led to the perception of visibility and discipline when using these technologies, cases of indiscipline on these social media technologies are taken as violation of the terms of use, and reprimanding actions can be taken by the service providers or the authorities.

Social media technologies have also led to the use of computational processes to sort, classify, and hierarchize people, ideas, and places as well as the opinions, behaviors, and expressions that are formed in association with the processes. This computational process is referred to as the algorithmic culture (Andrejevic and Burdon 27). Social media provides sites for ones to express their opinions through the online ratings of videos, TV programs, among others, which indicates the freedom of the consumers to present their views. However, most companies use algorithms to make decisions about what their consumers love the most, which leads to the establishment of culture. Therefore, in the quest to meet consumer demands, companies such as Netflix have used the algorithm in their development of art (Andrejevic and Burdon 34). Therefore, the algorithm has led to the development of products that suit consumer demands.

The Impacts of the Proliferation of Digital Media on Fandoms

Fandom involves a specific mode of reception, where fans watch multiple television pieces of information and use them to analyze expressive details and bring heightened narratives to the control of the consumer (Fandom 277). Fandom also involves a particular set of interpretive and critical practices, where fans' critics help to resolve gaps, explore additional details and emergent potentials. Fandoms provide a base for consumer activism, where consumers are able to communicate with information providers and assert their rights to make judgments regarding the production of their favorite programs (Fandom 277). They also function as an alternative social community, where individuals communicate and share ideas. However, due to the development of digital media, Fandoms have been used by service providers as a measure of consumer's satisfaction and a medium through where consumer's response is evaluated to determine the effectiveness of TV shows displayed as Subscription Video-on-Demand.

Due to the proliferation of digital media, fandoms have taken a new shape, where individuals are able to interact more with their service providers. It provides a space from where fans can express their views and ideas, or express their concerns on race gender, sexuality, militarism, colonialism, and forced conformism. Digital media forms a ground where fans can create a connection across cultural boundaries. In the case of the Subscription of Video-On-Demand (SVOD), transitional media flows, and TV revivals, fans are used as the alchemist by the service providers to identify what they want (Fandom 277). Fandom, in this case, represents a progressive force where fans propose solutions that can be implemented, increasing consumer satisfaction and productivity of the information company. Thus, Fandoms have responded to the rise of digital media by increasing the power of fans in controlling media, as they represent the audience at large due to their activity and resistance, unlike the previous belief of inactivity and obsessiveness. SVODs use the discourse of quality TV in relation to the technological progress and emerging modes of audience engagement.

Impacts of Algorithmic Culture on Digital Media

An algorithmic culture can be described as computational processes that sort, classify, and hierarchize people, ideas, places as well as the opinions, behaviors, and expressions that are formed in association with the processes. To understand the impacts of algorithmic culture on digital media, one requires considering the theoretical and semantic work necessary in rendering the algorithmic information processing system clear as forms of cultural decision-making. The association between culture and algorithm is based on the fact that most of the viewers of media content such as Netflix are using the recommendation to express their reviews on a particular program (Bucher 1153). This indicates the power of the audience algorithm, which means that problematic reviews on a problematic film had control over the productivity of the movie. Currently, digital media have led to the development of culture in the current generation. Most viewers of online content have actively contributed to the activism of particular media shows. As a result, the audience influences each other to watch various programs due to the way they express their feelings, beliefs, about the media content. In that case, if the majority of consumers "love" the product, they influence others to love it (Lobato 246). While the audience interacts through platforms that allow them, they share their opinions, which might lead to the development of a culture that loves or hate a particular product. Therefore, due to the establishment of algorithmic culture, the success of TV shows and SVODs, which are made available by the digital media, is improved or deteriorated.

The politics of representation of algorithmic culture has been grounded on the algorithmic profiling systems that "de-essentialize identity from its physical and common forms and determinations while re-essentializing identity as a statistically associated, mostly market-related category." According to (Halim and Striphas 127), research has not fully indicated how algorithmic identity production surpasses sexuality, gender, race, among other known categories of cultural identity. One can infer more intimate aspects of a user's identity such as political leaning of religion, sexuality, body type and race. Therefore, as proposed by Jan Doe, public recognition of users using their identity can lead to negative response among the public. Thus, the political impacts of cultural identity among the algorithmic culture are that it could lead to the revelation of cultural identity, affecting the existence of the victims (Hills 318). Thus, cultural identity has had substantial impacts on the algorithmic culture especially when it is revealed on the public as it can lean on political views of race, sexuality, and sex.

Work Cited

Andrejevic, Mark, and Burdon, Mark. " Defining the Sensor Society." Television & New Media 16.1, 2015, 19-36. DOI: 10.1177/1527476414541552

Bucher, Taina. "Want to be on the top? Algorithmic power and the threat of invisibility on Facebook." New media & society 14.7 (2012): 1164-1180. DOI: 10.1177/1461444812440159

Fandom, II Reconsidering. "In My Weekend-Only." Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture (2012): 277.

Hallinan, Blake and Striphas, Ted. "Recommended for you: The Netflix Prize and the production of algorithmic culture." New Media & Society 18. 1, 2016, 117-137. DOI: 10.1177/1461444814538646

Hills, Matt. "Cult TV Revival: Generational Seriality, Recap Culture, and the "Brand Gap" of Twin Peaks: The Return." Television & New Media 19.4 (2018): 310-327. DOI: 10.1177/1527476417742976

Lobato, Ramon. "Rethinking international TV flows research in the age of Netflix." Television & New Media 19.3 (2018): 241-256. DOI: 10.1177/1527476417708245