“Seeing Ourselves Through Technology” Ch. 3 Notes

Summary: Overall reading Chapter 3 I thought that everything that goes on in our life is being put out in the internet for people to find. The article talks about on Facebook if we put our age over 40 that ads for wrinkle cream will show up. If we go to jail and get a mugshot that mugshot might show up on the internet or in the newspaper for someone to see. These days nothing is private. “You don’t even have to be online to have your data tracked.” (Rettberg, 82) You could be in a store and buy something and it will show up on your account saying what store you were at and the store number and companies can track you that way as well. There is just always ways to find people and I feel Chapter 3’s main points had something that was tied into being tracked.

Analysis: The author talks about a reason we enjoy taking selfies is because we get to pick the angle we take it at, how we want the lighting, when our smile is perfect, how we want our hair to be, etc. Rather than being in a mugshot where they take it without you picking how you want the photo to look like. A Photo Booth can also do that as well when you are in a Photo Booth the picture is being taken repeatedly and you can’t control when  it is being taken. The article states “A nude photograph taken consensually during a love affair may be used for revenge after a breakup or for blackmail if it falls into the wrong hands.” (Rettberg, 81) Photographs can be used against us. Sending the wrong photo to someone could maybe put you in a bad situation or if you are in a crime scene they may have footage of you but it doesn’t look like what was actually happening but that is the only proof they have. We worry to much about how we look. Instead of going into the mirror and looking at ourselves we use our phones. We try to get a good angle and use a snap filter instead of just looking in the mirror.

Main Ideas: One main idea that popped out to me is that we are now being followed and tracked. Companies are offering discounts on health insurance for people who agree to wear a Fitbit and have trackers in there car for 30 days. It can be an advantage to know where someone is if they went missing you would be able to find them in just a couple minutes. In todays society there is a lot of sex trafficking going on and kid-napping that being tracked would be good to the Police Department or any type of Law Enforcements. It also can seem creepy having someone know where you are all the time but there are a lot of pros to it as well.