Algorithmic Advertising Discrimination

The ability of social media companies to precisely target advertisements to individual users based on those users’ characteristics is changing how job opportunities are advertised. Companies like Facebook use machine learning to place their ads, and machine learning systems present risks of discrimination, which current legal doctrines are not designed to deal with. This Note will explain why it is difficult to ensure such systems do not learn discriminatory functions and why it is hard to discern what they have learned as long as they appear to be performing well on their assigned task. This Note then shows how litigation might adapt to these new systems to provide a remedy to individual plaintiffs but explains why deterrence is ill-suited in this context to prevent this discrimination from occurring in the first place. Preventing machine learning systems from learning to discriminate requires training those systems on broad, representative datasets that include protected characteristics—data that the corporations training these systems may not have. The Note proposes a proactive solution, which would involve a third party safeguarding a rich, large, nationally representative dataset of real people’s information. This third party could allow corporations like Facebook to train their machine learning systems on a representative dataset, while keeping the private data themselves out of those corporations’ hands

Instagram

Overview: Capturing pictures helps to preserve memories that will be saved forever, and looking at them allows someone to take a journey back in time to when any given picture was taken. In this day and age, smartphones such as Androids and iPhones help to make picture taking quick and easy. With the swipe of a finger and a tap on the screen, a picture can be taken and saved on a camera roll in mere seconds. But it doesn\u27t stop there, with the smartphone application (app) called Instagram, photography can be taken to the next level. Instagram is a website, and also a free app, compatible with most smartphones. It is a form of social media in which users create a profile, including their name and a small biography about themselves. It allows them to upload and post pictures or short fifteen-second videos of anything they please and include a caption that goes with it. Both gender and age play defining roles in how the user actually uses the app. When looking at gender, it is interesting to explore the differences between what men and women post and how often they post. It is suspected there are differences in their usage because of cultural context. In general, women like to share with others what is going on with their lives and men are usually more reserved. This could potentially explain why women post more often, so their followers know what they are experiencing. Age is also something that impacts usage. When looking at the younger generations compared to the older, there is a difference in what and how often they post as well, so it would be interesting to explore why in fact there is this inconsistency in posting rates. Different ages have different audiences, so this could play into why they post what they do. Maybe the younger generation posts more to look cool, and maybe the older generation does not post as much, because they are consumed with more important things, such as work or school. I want to illustrate a clear picture about why there is this split through asking questions about purpose of usage, why they post, and why they post what they post. In summary, I want to uncover what kind of identity they are forming for themselves based on their Instagram activity, and how what they post and like shows others who they are in the social media world

"Beauty is Truth: Multi-sensory input and the challenge of designing aesthetically pleasing digital resources."

Certain problems in the design of digital systems for use in cultural heritage and the humanities have proved to be unexpectedly difficult to solve. For example, Why is it difficult to locate ourselves and understand the extent and shape of digital information resources? Why is digital serendipity still so unusual? Why do users persist in making notes on paper rather than using digital annotation systems? Why do we like to visit and work in a library, and browse open stacks, even though we could access digital information remotely? Why do we still love printed books, but feel little affection for digital e-readers? Why are vinyl records so popular? Why is the experience of visiting a museum still relatively unaffected by digital interaction? The article argues that the reasons these problems persist may be due to the very complex relationship between physical and digital information and information resources. I will discuss the importance of spatial orientation, memory, pleasure, and multi-sensory input, especially touch, in making sense of, and connections between physical and digital information. I will also argue that, in this context, we have much to learn from the designers of early printed books and libraries, such as the Priory Library and that of John Cosin, a seventeenth-century bishop of Durham, which is part of the collections of Durham University library

Addressing Popular Concerns Regarding COVID-19 Vaccination with Natural Language Argumentation Dialogues

Chatbots have the potential of being used as dialogical argumentation systems for behaviour change applications. They thereby offer a cost-effective and scalable alternative to in-person consultations with health professionals that users could engage in from the comfort of their own home. During events like the global COVID-19 pandemic, it is even more important than usual that people are well informed and make conscious decisions that benefit themselves. Getting a COVID-19 vaccine is a prime example of a behaviour that benefits the individual, as well as society as a whole. In this paper, we present a chatbot that engages in dialogues with users who do not want to get vaccinated, with the goal to persuade them to change their stance and get a vaccine. The chatbot is equipped with a small repository of arguments that it uses to counter user arguments on why the user is reluctant to get a vaccine. We evaluate our chatbot in a study with participants

Privacy as Product Safety

Online social media confound many of our familiar expectaitons about privacy. Contrary to popular myth, users of social software like Facebook do care about privacy, deserve it, and have trouble securing it for themselves. Moreover, traditional database-focused privacy regulations on the Fair Information Practices model, while often worthwhile, fail to engage with the distinctively social aspects of these online services. Instead, online privacy law should take inspiration from a perhaps surprising quarter: product-safety law. A web site that directs users\u27 personal information in ways they don\u27t expect is a defectively designed product, and many concepts from products liability law could usefully be applied to the structurally similar problem of privacy in social software. After setting the scene with a discussion of how people use Facebook and why standard assumptions about privacy and privacy law fail, this essay examines the parallel between physically safe products and privacy-safe social software. It illustrates the value of the product-safety approach by considering another ripped-from-the-headlines example: Google Buzz

Beyond Filter Bubbles and Echo Chambers: The Integrative Potential of the Internet

Are online audiences today fragmented into echo chambers or filter bubbles? Do users only see what digital platforms (like search engines or social media) let them see? And if so, what are the consequences for the cohesion of a society? Concerns like these abound in recent years. They attest to widely held assumptions about a negative influence of digital media or even the Internet in general on society. Empirical studies on these phenomena are, however, not as unequivocal. To understand why results from previous research are so far inconclusive, this study investigates the role of the Internet for social integration from a more general point of view. The integrative potential of the Internet is assessed to compare it with other media and ultimately better understand to what degree and due to which factors the Internet may or may not help bring society together. Using survey data, clickstream data on actual usage of websites, and data on content structures, the present work investigates how user behavior and structural features of the Internet determine its positive or negative effects on social integration. The results reveal that the Internet in general is not as bad as popular accounts of digital fragmentation may suggest. How much integrative potential can be realized via online offerings, however, depends on numerous factors on the side of the users as well as content and platform providers

The potential of Data-Driven Virtual Assistants to enhance Customer Experience in the Telecommunications Industry

Our day to day is becoming increasingly technological. We use more devices, manage more aspects of our life online, check whatsapp dozens of times a day, etc. We have even started talking to our phones in search of information and answers to make our lives easier. This is why we keep hearing words like Virtual Assistants or Artificial intelligence, which have become familiar through Siri, Cortana or Google Assistant. We do not hesitate to ask them for information about the weather, routes, reminders, etc. However, when it comes to interacting with organisations and service providers, users still tend to do so through traditional channels, such as phone calls or visiting shops, which quite often result in a poor customer experience and low customer satisfaction. This usually happens because it has become difficult for both customers and firms to access and filter information in this overwhelming era of Data Growth, the core challenge of Big Data. Consequently, how could large organisations implement new technologies to improve customer experience and utilise Big Data? This paper explores the benefits and needs of applying Data-Driven Virtual Assistants and Artificial Intelligence principles to enhance customer experience when managing Telecommunications services, as well as what such applications would imply compared to existing models. It identifies the perceived benefits from both users and the Telecoms organisations that implement a Data Driven Virtual Assistant

Protecting Privacy after Death

As more and more Americans use social media to share personal information, privacy issues become critical to the discussion about control over user accounts after their death. Although internet service providers—like Facebook—have policies governing the terms and conditions of a user’s account, these policies usually do not fully protect a deceased person’s right to privacy. There are two primary theories offered as a means for protecting a deceased person’s online privacy. The first is rooted in contract law, while the second is rooted in property law. The contract theory relies on analyzing terms of service agreements that users accept to determine the scope of their posthumous privacy rights, while the property theory evaluates whether a deceased user’s digital assets may be treated similarly to “real property” after death. These measures, however, do not sufficiently protect a deceased person’s right to privacy. This Comment explains why courts should extend tort law to a deceased person’s right of privacy to protect his digital assets and argues that such an extension of tort law is justified because both U.S. statutory law and common law already recognize retention of posthumous rights

User gratifications in social media usage : the case of TikTok

Social media has become an integral part of modern society, transforming the way people communicate, obtain information, and form communities. With platforms like Facebook and Instagram boasting millions of active users, social media has revolutionized universal connectivity and information sharing. Despite its undeniable impact, understanding users' motivations for using social media platforms is crucial, especially given the emergence of TikTok, the latest and most popular social network. The uses and gratifications theory explains why people use media and what they hope to gain from it. Individuals use media to fulfil specific needs or desires, such as entertainment and information acquisition, and actively seek out content that meets their specific motivations. Media channel selection is determined by situational and individual factors. The present study uses the uses and gratifications theory to investigate TikTok users' reasons for social media usage, as there is insufficient research on how users perceive its value despite its unique content approach. Using a quantitative analysis, this study delves into TikTok users' motivations, offering a glimpse into the platform's distinguishing features and paving the way for further research on social media's influence. The study found that social, entertainment, and informative gratifications significantly influence TikTok usage frequency, with varying preferences between Generation Z and Generation Y users. Findings inform social media marketers and creators on engaging TikTok users with tailored content and designing effective strategies for user retention by understanding their motivations and gratifications.As mídias sociais revolucionaram a forma como as pessoas se comunicam, obtêm informações e formam comunidades na sociedade moderna, com plataformas como o Facebook e Instagram com milhões de usuários ativos. O surgimento do TikTok destaca a importância de entender as motivações dos usuários para usar essas plataformas. A teoria dos usos e gratificações explica por que as pessoas usam a mídia e o que esperam ganhar com isso. Os indivíduos usam a mídia para atender a necessidades ou desejos específicos, como entretenimento e aquisição de informações, e procuram conteúdo que atenda às suas motivações específicas. A seleção do canal de mídia é determinada por fatores situacionais e individuais. O presente estudo usa a teoria dos usos e gratificações para investigar as razões dos usuários do TikTok para o uso de mídias sociais, pois há pesquisas insuficientes sobre como os usuários percebem seu valor apesar de sua abordagem de conteúdo única. Usando uma análise quantitativa, este estudo investiga as motivações de usuários do TikTok, oferecendo um vislumbre das características distintivas da plataforma e abrindo caminho para novas pesquisas sobre a influência das mídias sociais. O estudo descobriu que gratificações sociais, de entretenimento e informativas influenciam significativamente a frequência de uso do TikTok, com preferências variadas entre os usuários da Geração Z e da Geração Y. As descobertas informam os profissionais de marketing e criadores de mídia social sobre como envolver os usuários do TikTok com conteúdo personalizado e projetar estratégias eficazes para retenção de usuários, entendendo suas motivações e gratificações

The Relevance of Academic Libraries in the Twenty-First Century

The biggest challenge facing the library profession in the twenty-first century is staying relevant to its users. It is often stated that the Internet and Google have changed librarianship. This challenge, while significant, does not mean that libraries will go away. It is causing us to re-evaluate what we do, how we do it, and what role libraries have in the academy and in our culture at large. This column addresses some of the ways in which academic libraries can stay relevant throughout the twenty-first century