3/16(Sat.) Is Big Tech turning into Big Brother? (Host: Kat)
發表於 : 週五 3月 15, 2019 1:28 am
Dear friends,
As someone who has wandered over the past 5 years in some 20 countries with just a backpack, I work, play, and stay in contact all on my laptop. No one I know has run up more screen time than I have. It stands that I'd care very much how the online life impacts one's real life.
And every Yoyo meeting is a great time to get off the screen for some real face time! Join me this Saturday as we take a look at the Big Tech and their tremendous reach. We'll try various discussion formats to make it even more fun.
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It's hard to deny that the Big Tech - Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, Netflix, other major info-tech service providers, along with their Chinese counterparts - have greatly shaped our work, social and leisure life. Some may even say they have controlled our life.
While I was putting this post together, the fact that I had to use various info-tech services whose practice and near-monopoly status I'm critical of was an irony that wasn't lost on me. In a way it has also proved my point.
Sure, one can boycott Facebook over the Cambridge Analytica data scandal; But Facebook also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, and of course Facebook Messenger, all are social media platforms with most users just after Facebook. One can use DuckDuckGo instead of Google to avoid the user data being tracked and the filter bubble that comes with it; But Alphabet, the owner of Google, includes Android, Google Search, YouTube, Google Maps and countless apps that all collect and sell user data. And seriously, if we don't want to use either Android or Apple's iOS for our phone, just what other realistic choices do we have?
"Silicon Valley’s search and social media giants determine who sees what information, and how. Never before has such a small number of companies had the power to connect billions of people instantly—and with it, the ability to shape and alter the information ecosystems of entire societies." (WIRED)
How much "control" or "choice" do we the users have over our online activities? Have we gotten to the point that we simply can't live without certain services? How can we better navigate (if not beat) the system, once we learn more about the players and their algorithms at work? Let's talk!
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☛ The power of the Big Tech:
We'll explore some of the ideas from the links below for our discussion. The views expressed are solely those of the respective authors:
♦ We're building a dystopia just to make people click on ads (Zeynep Tufekci, UNC/Harvard, TED)
♦ Why We Can't Break Up With Big Tech (NPR)
https://www.npr.org/2019/02/10/69287714 ... h-big-tech
If you have time for longer articles or videos, here's more:
♦ Is Big Tech Merging With Big Brother? Kinda Looks Like It (WIRED)
https://www.wired.com/story/is-big-tech ... s-like-it/
♦ Who’s Afraid of Big Tech? (Cato Institute)
https://www.cato.org/events/whos-afraid-big-tech
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☛ To prepare:
If tomorrow you found that you had lost access permanently to LINE, Google, Google Maps, Gmail, Android or iOS (your mobile OS), PChome (or your favorite online shopping site), YouTube, Facebook, and your default computer browser - and also everything you had saved on those systems - what would you do or use to replace them? Please make a list of the alternatives to each app or service mentioned above.
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Agenda:
3:50 ~ 4:00pm Greetings & free talk / ordering drinks / getting newcomer’s information
4:00 ~ 4:20pm Opening remarks / newcomer’s self-introduction / grouping
(Session I)
4:20 ~ 5:20pm Activities (60 mins)
5:20 ~ 5:30pm Regrouping / instruction / break
(Session II)
5:30~ 6:20pm Activities (50 mins)
6:20~ 6:30pm Concluding remarks / announcements (10 mins)
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聚會日期:列於該貼文主題內
聚會時間:請準時 3:50 pm 到 ~ 約 6:40 pm 左右結束
星期六聚會地點:丹堤濟南店
地址、電話:台北市濟南路三段25號 地圖 (02) 2740-2350
捷運站:板南線 忠孝新生站 3 號出口
走法:出忠孝新生站 3 號出口後,沿著巷子(忠孝東路三段10巷)走約 2 分鐘,到了濟南路口,左轉走約 2 分鐘即可看到。
最低消費: 80 元
注意事項:
1. 文章是否需要列印請自行斟酌,但與會者請務必自行列印 Questions for discussion。
2. 與會者請先閱讀過文章,並仔細想過所有的問題,謝謝合作!
給新朋友的話:
1. 請事先準備2~3分鐘的英語自我介紹。
2. 請事先閱讀文章以及主持人所提的討論問題,並事先寫下自己所欲發表意見的英文。
3. 全程以英語進行,參加者應具備中等英語會話能力,對任一討論問題,能夠以5到10句英文表達個人見解。
4. 在正式加入之前,可以先來觀摩三次,觀摩者亦須參與討論。正式加入需繳交終身會費 NT$1,000。