Lecture 7: Human-computer processes on social media

Question 1

meaning intentional info sharing

Answer 1

• everything necessary to access a platform
• everything we intentionally share
• example: names, passwords, credit card numbers

Question 2

meaning un-intentional info sharing

Answer 2

• everything that is a by-product of online interactions
• mostly behavioral data (which can be crossed with other data)
• example: navigation-data, GPS-data, other point data

Question 3

Risks and benefits of intentional info sharing

Answer 3

risks:
- stalking, identity theft, blackmailing, surveillance

benefits:
- relationships construction, ease of use, access to services, self-presentation, passing time

Question 4

meaning personalization

Answer 4

• providers of content are able to track users’ online activity and therefore offer a completely personal experience
• ads are based on pages users visit, previous purchases, etc.
• based on users voluntarily or involuntarily share.
• Advantage of providing more convenient services, but cost of exposing users to some privacy risks.

Question 5

why is personalization risky?

Answer 5

1. s.m. include highly personal info
2. personalization extends to a person’s network (friends 2 might receive info on cancer if friend 1 searched for them)
3. releasing info within the social network might compromise the privacy of users, plus all of their friends privacy

Question 6

How to reduce risks

Answer 6

1. promote pseudonymous personalization (great for privacy, difficult voor transactions)
2. client-side personalization (great security, but still able to acces their data (computer instead of centrally))
3. encryption of suers’ data (great because identification more difficult, but no strong incentive to perform)
4. users controls and feedback (gives users more control, but need to be educated)
5. privacy-preserving location tracking ( gives users more control, but need to be educated)

Question 7

definition serendipity

Answer 7

the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for
or
the occurrence and development of event by chance in a happy or beneficial way
or
finding or discovering something valuable while looking for something else

Question 8

serendipity + what we know about networks

Answer 8

1. friend recommendation
   - bonding in social capital
   - close friends having similar tastes
   - trust makes this more valuable
2. acquaintance recommendation
   - bridging in social capital
   - less trust, but perhaps newer and more surprising discovery
3. expert recommendation
   - no social capital
   - but reputation
   - if they like X, and I like them, then I will like X (but not very surpising)
4. Spotify, Netflix or other platform
   - no social capital
   - but algorithm build around your preferences
   - very likely to suggest music you like (But not very surprising)

Question 9

What can help achieving serendipity?

Answer 9

1. high trust, especially towards peers in a network can make users more open to recommendations
2. a low feeling of privacy-related risks can make users more willing to experiment

Question 10

definition creativity

Answer 10

the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality

or
characterized by the ability to perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden patterns, to make connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena and to generate solution

Question 11

conditions for creativity

Answer 11

1. motivation: a problem to solve
2. selectivity: applying attention to one subject (not all)
3. receptivity: being open to messages and inspiration
4. having the skills/knowledge to find a solution

Question 12

benefits of boredom

Answer 12

boredom has been associated with creative thinking, because in the state of non-busyness we are more likely to let our minds wander

• smartphones have decreased substantially the times we have to get bored