Connecting digital & physical experiences

Physical experiences act as great metaphors. With these, they can help us better understand our relationship to technology.

Language

From “Reddit and the Struggle to Detoxify the Internet” by Andrew Marantz

  • The only way to understand the Internet, at least at first, was by metaphor. “Web” and “page” and “superhighway” are metaphors. So are “link,” “viral,” “post,” and “stream.”

  • What is social media? In sixty minutes of oral argument, Facebook was compared to a park, a playground, an airport terminal, a polling place, and a town square. It might be most helpful to compare a social network to a party.



Body

From “The Digestive Mind” by Russel Brown

  • The stomach contains a spirit called Yi, which means “Mind” or “intellect”.

  • The goal of digestion is to foster nourishment. Same applies to the mind.

  • To the mind, information and experiences are the “food” that we consume.

  • The way we take in information is not great for our digestive systems.

    • Without proper digestion, the stomach/mind either unhealthily attaches to information (obsession, fixating, over-rumination) or dumps it (forgetfulness, confusion, lack of focus), which is why my memory seems worse than ever, as I forget much of what I read on the Internet almost immediately, if I remember that I read it at all. It’s constipation or diarrhea.

  • How to cure the Yi: Reevaluate your relationship with how much information you really need on a daily basis.



Cities

From “How would Jane Jacobs design a social media platform?" by Jasmine Sun

  • How cities are platforms

    • digital public square

    • platform-content distinction

  • Communities and neighborhoods

    • communicate with key stakeholders before executing changes

    • once rollouts happen, administrators must plan to respond to backlash with empathy, educate users, and provide multiple effective channels for dissent.

  • Eyes on the feed

    • based on "eyes on the street"

      • empty spots are more vulnerable to violence

      • solution? fill up with vibrant life

    • for an "eyes on the feed" system to counteract prejudice, the online community must start out with a critical mass of users from minority backgrounds.



To reply you need to sign in.