# Wiki Tutorial ## ["Agnotology and Epistemological Fragmentation"](https://points.datasociety.net/agnotology-and-epistemological-fragmentation-56aa3c509c6b) by Danah Boyd ### What is Epistemology? - A term that describes how we know what we know - Epistemological fragmentation means that our souces of knowledge come from different places, which results in conflicts of understanding ### What is Agnotology? - The strategic manufacturing of ignorance - "A tool of oppression by the powerful" - Can easily be done using modern technology and social media ### Examples of Agnotology at Work 1. [PragerU](https://www.youtube.com/c/prageruniversity/featured) - a conservative organization that is committed to debunking "leftist ideas" <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hiVQ8vrGA_8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> <br><br/> 2. This poster from *Russia Today* that intentionally plants seeds of doubt into the viewer's mind: ![image alt](https://miro.medium.com/max/825/1*n1E8IGiwiOGqOBHdIVWV3Q.jpeg) ### The Problem - Misinformation and conspiracies are easier to access than scientific material - The scientific information that is available is undermined - Media manipulators are very good at messing with structure, such as optimizing search engines ### My Personal Take I think that social media algorithms largely aid in the spread of misinformation. With the way social media platforms are structured, most people only see what they want to see. This means that each person's feed will be full of people who agree with them, even when they are wrong. This issue has been a hot topic in the news recently with Facebook being accused of being partially responsible for US Capitol insurrection.
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Reading Responses (Set 2)

Online Advertising 03/15/21 Since the emergence of the digital era, there has been a massive increase in online advertising, with the objectives of building brand awareness, creating demand, satisfying demand, and driving direct response and sales. Types of display adverts include banners/interstitial banners displayed on a website or between pages on a website, pop ups/pop-unders, floating adverts that appear in a layer over the content, wallpaper adverts, and map adverts. There are also different payment methods such as cost per click, cost per acquisition, flat rate/sponsorships, etc.; some of which benefit the advertiser more and some of which benefit the publisher more. To get their ads online, an advertiser can directly contact a premium media provider, go through an advertising network or advertising exchange, try social media and/or mobile advertising, or use an ad server. One key differentiator and advantage of advertising is its ability to drive instant sales and conversions. An advert viewer can become a buyer with just a few simple clicks. Another key factor is tracking. Ad servers, which store advertisements and serve them to web pages, are able to track users’ activity or IP addresses using cookies. Thi way, ad servers can target consumers based on things such as their location, network or browser type, connection type, demographic data, and behavior. Tracking can also provide information about how many impressions an advert has, how many times it has been successful in sending visitors to the advertised site, and other information. While tracking can allow advertisers to send more targeted ads, it also toes the fine line of privacy invasion. In addition, consumers now have methods to hinder online advertisers, such as turning off third-party cookies and using AdBlock. Online Dating 03/23/21 Online dating is often seen as the downfall of modern romance. But Michael Rosenfeld, a sociologist at Stanford who has been studying online dating for years, insists that this is far from the truth. In his Washington Post interview with Roberto A. Ferdman, Rosenfeld states that people who meet their partners online are not more likely to break up, and actually progress to marriage faster than couples who meet offline. In fact, many of the issues people have with online dating (e.g., judging potential partners based on a few pictures) aren’t a result of the technology, but human nature (we judge people based on their appearance in-person too). And sure, there are sites that cater to hookups (e.g., Tinder), but there are also sites that cater to people looking for long-term relationships (e.g., Matched). Additionally, many people’s day-to-day life offers a limited dating pool, and online dating helps with expanding the options of potential partners. This is especially true for middle-aged individuals as well as the LGBT+ community.

4/9/2021
Privacy

My Privacy Footprint Identity Google Search: The first results that come up are my LinkedIn profile and my Her Campus at Northeastern author profile. I'm not surprised at how easy it is to find me on the Web because virtually no one has the same name as me. Spokeo: Googling my name returned no results, but inputting my phone number and email address did. Google I reviewed my Google privacy and decided to change all of my search history settings to automatically delete after three months. I also turned off ad personalization. I used to have it on because I figured ads would be less annoying if they were relevant to me, but after thinking it over I realized that I don't look at ads either way. Social Networks

4/2/2021
Home Page - Jovanne Li

Class Syllabus Web Assignments Wiki tutorial Web search and evaluation Filter and label your email Adblocking Privacy footprint

4/2/2021
Ad Blocking

Windscribe Used on Sparknotes With Ad Block Without Ad Block Targeted Advertising Considered Harmful Although online advertising has increased within the last decade, so has the number of people who use an ad blocker. The increase in ad blocking rates correlate especially with the increase in targeted online ads. In fact, online advertising is the least trusted form of advertising. Advertising can be a form of signaling, or "an action that sends a credible message to a potential counterparty" (Marti 2017). What makes it credible is the fact that advertisers are willing to spend large amounts of money to demonstrate how their product is high quality. Advertising also helps combat information asymmetry, where buyers have less information about a product than sellers do. However, when an advertising medium gets too noisy, it becomes difficult to distinguish high-quality sellers from low-quality sellers. This breaks down its credibility.

3/19/2021
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