Digital Shadows
What are the second-order effects of information spread patterns?
This can be loosely defined as the hidden mechanisms that transform how information moves and changes people's beliefs.
I think I first came across it through my Twitter/X feed, where a user was revealing how information flows are anything but random.
For the most part, major digital platforms curate entire world views and not just content.
Thanks to the above mentioned encounter, I've recently been tinkering with digital behavioural tracking and I'm both intrigued and unsettled by what I've uncovered.
Intrigued because I previously didn't imagine (not even remotely) that collective belief systems could be so malleable or susceptible to a myriad of micro-interventions that can gradually cascade into fundamental social transformations.
A good example could be the way political polarization has been accelerated in recent years by personalized news feeds and targeted content algorithms.
This has been something that I've observed with growing alarm, at least, at a glance.
When you really think about it, a huge aspect of what we now call "public opinion" in the digital realm is basically just a consequence of invisible computer system interactions.
Modern Marketing Stories
Buy this product. Solve this problem. Marketing was quite straightforward until it also evolved into intimate narratives.
Nowadays, I find myself moved more to buy a sneaker as an act of rebellion or freedom than just a cool pair of shoes to wear.
Personal mythologies definitely have their place in modern consumer culture, such as symbols of aspiration.
A problem arises when I can't fully wrap my mind on who is guiding this narrative of an evolving identity.
Minimalist today, vintage bohemian tomorrow, and techno-futurist the day after yesterday.
After a few years, algorithmic suggestions have subtly reshaped one's entire self-perception numerous times over, almost without conscious recognition.
There's this saying that he who controls the narrative controls perception.
With regards to identity formation, especially for still malleable demographics like teens and young adults like myself, it isn't that far-fetched to see how deeply these algorithmic systems can embed themselves into our sense of self.
The same forces that curate our shopping experiences are also shaping our self-perception and by extension quietly reconstructing how we understand ourselves.
It's fair to say that it's only a matter of time before our digital persona are perceived as much more definitive than our physical realities.
That's of course, if it hasn't happened already. As some critical theorists like to say, we are becoming our own simulacra, representations that have no original.
My perception of social media platforms have changed a bit, again. Now I view each post as merely a data point in a complex algorithm and the product (i.e., users) are consuming narratives while actively manufacturing them at the same time.
The logic is basically one of recursive self-creation, i.e the boundary between creator and created is increasingly blurred.
For example, if my career becomes less about what I've done and more about the story I'm telling about myself, how/what metrics actually define professional success in this narrative-driven landscape?
Also, as a side note, I can ask myself: are my choices truly my own, or are they gentle nudges from invisible system architects?
It could be both. But my ordinary mind under the sway of this invisible system may tell me that freedom is just another carefully curated illusion.
Thanks for reading!! Share your thoughts below on the comments.