My sister is currently writing an essay for her MA about the
gendering of technology. I know sounds
supremely intelligent doesn't she? Well,
she is. She always has been… Bitch,
hogging all the good genes in our family.
Anyway, she’s always been the smarter one of the two of us. She has gone off to study for no grander
reason at this point than that – study.
And what a fine reason it is too!
If anyone ever reads this, I’m sure a decent proportion of them won’t
get it or care, but still, I’m proud of her.
My blog salutes you dear sister.
She’s also my biggest “fan” so I guess she deserves a mention. ;)
Anyway, this essay of hers.
It might sound droll – not everyone can, or should be fascinated by the
sociology of science and technology.
Everyone has their own niches and mental-wanderings. That’s the way we are; as the saying goes, it wouldn't do for us to all be the same.
And that is true. We are all
different and unique.
I got to thinking about her essay title though. That didn't really tickle me mentally. Whilst I was cuddled up on the sofa, looking
for Dexter on Netflix though, I
noticed a freak incident had occurred; my tablet, iPhone and laptop were all
next to me. That doesn't occur often,
let alone that they all are in use on the same evening. The thought passed and I began to flick
through the sub-categories, hunting down my favourite psycho killer (as you do)
Now, because I was downstairs on the Xbox, which isn't mine,
the Netflix account had made recommendations for its user. Sat there flicking through, I spotted Dexter in the recommendations. What has all that got to do with my
techno-seat on the sofa?
I looked at the other items it recommended for the Xbox’s
intended user. They were based off
previous viewing choices and thing their friends had liked. How does it know that? Its connected to Facebook. From there, the pile of technology took on a
very different shape. It started to look
like me… Metaphorically. I wasn't tripping.
One of my friends, Kay and I had shared a module in English
– Creative Writing. I was reminded of a
short piece she had written from the point of view of a phone in a girl’s
handbag; how well it knew her; the places it had been; the things it had seen
and heard; and how it knew her better than anyone, living or dead.
And what does all that have to do with my sister’s essay
question? To me, the interesting
question isn't about the “gendering” of technology and excluding users based on
stereotypes (I’m paraphrasing and probably very inaccurately. It is not my field of study, so please don’t shoot!). The interesting question is the one of
identity.
I’m sure most of us would agree that our identity is in
constantly changing and evolving. It’s
influenced by external factors; our experiences. One of the most prevalent of external factors
these days is the Media; it is everywhere we look and available to us, now
through smart phones and tablets, constantly.
Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, LoveFilm, MySpace, BBC News, IMDB, 4OD, and
that’s just from a quick scroll through my phone. We are constantly being bombarded with adverts
whenever we log on to anything. Facebook
advertising games or “likes” from our friends; script examining our likes and
dislikes, height, weight and sexual orientation to make better fitting
advertisements for us. And then you log
on to Netflix and realise your sister is being recommended one of your personal
favourite shows, probably on account of the fact she’s been watching Lie To Me. We log on to check our bank balance, we
log on to voice our deepest thoughts and bug-bears. We even use it to rant about things on
occasion… It’s actually an interesting thought
to consider how well your phone really knows you… Thank the bearded dude in the
sky that mine cannot talk independently or I would be in deep shit!
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