Model Answer for Section #2 questions/ Media & Society Course

Question #1 –
1. Explain in your own words how algorithms work?
Simply put, this is when our behavior is monitored and watched in order
to give us, through algorithms, an engineered feedback (advertisements
for example) which is suitable with our behavior, and the way we use
new technologies (such as smartphones).
Question #2 –
2. What is meant by: “Statistics are reliable, but only as idiot
demons”?
Although statistics can give an account of our behavior (how many times
we have visited a website for example) but sometimes they lead to
matching two behaviors which are not logical (the kind of food you like,
and your dislike for a candidate who has appeared in a pink frame).
3. What is the difference between the “old-fashioned” advertising
and modern advertising? Do you agree that it has become a “direct
manipulation of people”?
The "old-fashioned" advertising was fleeting whereas the new one is
lasting, and some critics call it "massive spying."
Personal opinion: Agree or not agree on whether or not the new
advertising can be described as being a "direct manipulation."
4. After watching the Ted Talk Video ("Is Social Media Hurting
Your Mental Health?") (till minute 2:14), explain what the
"Phantom Vibration Syndrome" is?
This syndrome is all about the perception that one's mobile phone is
vibrating or ringing when it is not ringing.
5. Do you agree with commentators who say that we have been
trapped in a cage which goes everywhere with us? (Justify your
answer by using examples from your own experience, or/ and
observations).

Personal opinion.