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Notes and Reflections on Books and Media
by Hannah Leitheiser
Small Changes
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power | Shoshana Zuboff | 2019 | Link |
2019-03-16
"0.39% more likely to actually vote than users receiving the informational message" - Nature, referenced in - Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power (2019)
The influencing power of companies like Facebook and Google is in small percentages over masses. This was an A/B test where some where shown five of their friends who voted and given an "I voted" button. Come to think of it, I think I've seen that on FB myself. Being able to make 0.39% more people do something feels in a different category than an over-powerful state sending in their SS to gun you down or ship you to a concentration camp. It's the softest of soft power. Plus these sites are awfully useful. Makes it hard to feel oppressed. Is it a frog in boiling water sort of thing? Is it something we should worry about?
