Bachelor of Media Communication Inaugural Lecture “Information Overload” by Professor Mark Andrejevi
DATE Tuesday 27 Feb
TIME 5:00pm – 08:00pm
VENUE Monash University, Room H116, Building H, Caulfield Campus
RSVP: http://events.arts.monash.edu/informationoverload
http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/events/events/bachelor-of-media-communication-inaugural-lecture-information-overload-by-professor-mark-andrejevic/
In the Internet era, sorting, mapping, and curation are the new forms of scarcity in the media realm. Information is copious, which means that control over the ability to make sense of it becomes a source of power and control. Logistical media, such as search engines and social media platforms, become central to the ability to make information useful and accessible. Because of the welter of information sources and outlets, the organizational and curatorial functions of these platforms come to rely increasingly on automated systems. This lecture traces a critique of data-driven curation systems, in the sense of exploring their potentials and identifying their limits — including concerns about bias and an increasing reliance on pervasive forms of monitoring, targeting, and social sorting. It considers possible responses to the increasingly urgent concerns raised by automated media, exploring what it might take to ensure they operate in accord with democratic commitments and values.
PRESENTER:
Mark Andrejevic is an international research leader in the area of digital media and is the author of three widely cited monographs and more than 60 peer reviewed academic articles and book chapters. His research interests encompass digital media, surveillance and data mining in the digital era. He is particularly interested in social forms of sorting and automated decision making associated with the online economy. His ground breaking book, Infoglut (Routledge 2013), received the prestigious 2014 Nancy Baym Award from the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR). He is currently Professor and Chair in the Department of Media Studies at Pomona College in California and Associate Director of Culture, Media, Economy, a research unit at the School of Media Film and Journalism at Monash University, led by Professor Justin O’Connor. Mark joins Monash’s Faculty of Arts on a full time basis in June 2018.
