Trickster Fiddles with Informatics: The Social Impact of Technological Marketing Schemes

Abstract

"Information is power if and only if you have the knowledge to know what it means, the will to use it, the ability to apply it, and access to a channel of communication" [1]. We see this in current fields of research as varied as Marketing, Philosophy, and Communications Studies, and in current issues about who owns and controls technology. But a character from a far older tradition helps explain many problems in society today with technology: Trickster, the mythical character who confuses fact with fiction, makes good use of Technoism, a term coined by Davis [2] in 1999 to denote suppressed skepticism and blind compliance with the chaotic and uncontrolled progression of technology in our lives that leads to a dangerous split between the "haves" and "have-nots" of the technology world. This paper will discuss the use of Technoism to give the public and users of technology a false sense of power and control over their lives when in fact they are being duped into a financially motivated campaign of consumer exploitation. The paper makes some recommendations for establishing a conscience in the use of technology