Big Data Business Plan
Tue, Mar 17
In this session, we're going to talk about the modern Internet business: a venture that seeks to collect as much data as possible about its users, which it then monetizes. Data from users goes into new products, personalizes existing products, is sold to other companies, and, most importantly, is key to the success of targeted advertising.
We have three main in-class learning goals. By the end of lecture today you will:
- Understand how companies making money from big data rely on a staggeringly large surveillance apparatus that rivals, if not exceeds, the capabilities of government intelligence services.
- Weigh the costs and benefits of the aforementioned surveillance apparatus, knowing that we get better products from it at some cost to personal privacy.
- Consider the ethics of advertising and ad-blocking software.
The slides for today's lecture.
Read This:
Matthew Johnston, writing for Investopedia, asks How Google (Alphabet) Makes Money and How Meta Generates Revenue
Shoshana Zuboff of Harvard Business School, writing in the NYT, coins the term "Surveillance Capitalism" and explains it in You are the Object of a Secret Extraction Operation
Do This:
Writing Reflection 06
See the instructions posted on the assignment's page.
This writing reflection is due on 3/24 at 5pm.
This Week's Dialogue Group Meeting
Find at least one hour to meet with your group to discuss the prompt of the week: What does your set of chosen virtues look like in the context of social media? This is the conceptual inquiry piece of your design pattern creation process.
Once you have completed the readings, fill out the following quiz. If you can't see the form below, try this direct link.