Digital data perpetuates unhealthy stereotypes
Digital data is great for perpetuating stereotypes. Here’s why. We tend to write algorithms to produce results that match our biases. When we didn’t have data right at our fingertips, it took much longer for news to spread. Someone had to pick up a book or read a magazine, then head out to gossip.
Information had a much longer life-cycle.
Now, digital data affords us the luxury of drive-through news, with the same heartburn of fast-food burgers. The challenge with having lightning speed access to information, is that our craving for sensationalism is insatiable. Those in the business of data work fastidiously to overcome our desensitization to current events. This creates a conundrum.
Data bias, another form of greed
Do we bend our data points to tell a spicier story?
Will major news outlets let their numbers suffer? Will they refuse to shape their data to the far right or far left, in the name of “fair” news? Many would agree, no.
Instead, logic gets painted into the corner. Instant fuel is added to the fire with tweets and posts and live newscasts, 24/7. In the age of digital data, stereotypes easily continue to burn our bridges to peace and global prosperity.
Of course, there’s always the question, which comes first, the data or the egg. Does data reinforce current reality or does data slowly shape an alter-reality that’s based on pre-programmed agendas of greed?
Today, digital data can reinforce stereotypes according to the cycle of data digestion, that now includes a constant feedback loop with the evolution of search engines and artificial intelligence. Trendy ideas organically spread like wildfire. As an example, generalizations such as the “Millennial Generation” are leveraged to write emotive pieces that perpetuate a community identity, whether positive or negatively characterized.
For better or worse, these ideas sway us toward believing we are who they say we are.
Are you who the data says you are?
So, whether a millennial, gen-x or otherwise, how would you characterize your relationship to data? Do you think twice about digital stereotyping? Do you stop to consider whether you’re playing into the stereotype or whether the stereotype is playing you? I’ve often had those moments where I think something in my video feed is a miraculous God-send, when in reality, it’s a feedback loop. That loop reinforces, rather than challenges my beliefs about how life should be, where I want life to take me, and how I should approach the challenges at hand.
Maybe it’s time to stop doing the data drive-through. As an experiment, feed your algorithm something different for a few days and observe how that changes the data that gets thrown back at you. Mess with the search engine’s mind. Show Google who’s boss. Intentionally shape your online persona outside of your predicted next clicks. I’m convinced this will demonstrate the power of data we often ignore as well as challenge the stereotypes we blindly adopt.
LoveLifeLinks.com believes you’re more than a stereotype.
Remember, you can feel love anywhere. Anytime. All the time.
