Big Data is somehow predicting my life. In Zeynep Tufekci's article and the YouTube video, both the author and the publisher give the example of a pregnant woman (Tufekci 2014). The merchant may have known the woman was pregnant before she knew she was pregnant. When people switch their status, our shopping needs and even what we search for online change. The merchant collects all the data and concludes. Big data in collaboration with merchants also predicts the items I'm going to buy. After searching for thick-soled sneakers on Farfetch, I often see ads for Alexander Mcqueen sneakers on the YouTube ad page. Whether I clicked in to see the shoe or not, the shoe was engraved in my head through multiple appearances. When I was shopping once, I recognized it immediately and bought it. I think this is the power of data and advertising, which inadvertently helps businesses to increase sales.
Zeynep Tufekci explains that the digital approach is one of the most effective ways we can communicate (Tufekci 2014). People exchange information on the web to make society evolve. Communication is one of the essential things in human life. It is hard to imagine what a person's life would be like if he did not have a cell phone or the Internet and did not communicate with people. Therefore, the law imposes solitary confinement on people as a severe punishment. We get a lot of information because we communicate. However, I think some of the information we see on the Internet is what the publishers or the government would like us to see, and some of the information is hidden. Even with social media, such as TikTok, some video content is immediately pushed to many people as soon as it is posted, but some video content only gets a few dozen views. The way viewers look at society and life will also be subconsciously changed. On the second page of the article, the authors explain that commercial voter databases have access to the IP addresses and all relevant information of all U.S. voters (Tufekci 2014). Therefore, people will always receive or see relevant content of their interest. They are even subconsciously changed by the news that "interests" them. Does this mean "fake freedom, fake democracy"? The Internet and big data may be a tool to help politicians. Sometimes, the Internet benefits many people, such as celebrities and internet influencers. The Internet allows them to bring in views and grow in popularity; simultaneously, the Internet can quickly expose their scandals. Even if the celebrities have some scandals, these scandals are quickly suppressed and replaced by other news. Therefore, I think the Internet is a bad guy with a good guy mask or a good guy with a scar face. In short, it is sometimes good and sometimes bad, depending on the times and the content of the information and the impact of its release on the masses and leaders. The Internet and big data are a tool to facilitate life and a weapon at the same time. Even though there are times when people cannot speak freely or know the truth, the Internet still brings a lot of fun and helps people communicate as "herd animals".
References
Zeynep Tufekci. “Is The Internet Good or Bad? Yes.” in Matter magazine. 2014
Shoshana Zuboff on surveillance capitalism | VPRO Documentary - YouTube