Almost everyone has had the experience of your phone "listening to you"; you could be discussing a brand or a topic with someone and a few moments later, advertisments regarding said brand/topic will appear across your socials.
As unsettling as it is, it is a reality we have all accepted. For most people it does not deter from using the internet and all social media. Although the inundation of advertisments has definitely curbed my usage of specific apps, I have never really thought to halt my use altogether. Most people feel this way, especially if people have grown up with the internet and social media. There's a certain level of addiction that can't be compromised. This was expressed by many of our classmates in the Thursday discussion; most of us unfortunately have addictions and this addiction is definitely taken advantage of by companies.
This quote, which is found from the Google mission statement summary, captures the essence of what Google is trying to provide to its consumers. It sounds almost machiavellian in a way, as though they will do anything to make things easier and more accessible for a user, even if that user's privacy is somehow interfered. As we discussed in class on Thursday, it's hard to say if their ease of access is worth giving up some of our privacy. Many people make efforts to avoid Google services, but nowadays that is also very hard to avoid as school and work have become reliant on Google apps for their workflow.
The most disturbing (but also kind of funny) example I can offer regarding survelliance capitalism is the Amazon Alexa. There was a point in time where I actually had one in my household, and knew people who actively used an Alexa; they were pretty popular at some point. There have been some stories of Alexa saying creepy things to the people who own it, and like our phones, it is listening to us to know what we want. After all, it is there to serve us and to also make our way of life easier and more efficient. As Amazon is such an omnipotent company known to exploit its workers, I stopped using the Alexa as I was not sure what it was doing with my personal information. It's invasive to have a product in your household that poses itself as helpful, but ultimately it isn't necessary, especially if it seems to be listening at all times.
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