VERSITET

ANJA BECHMANN1 & MADS DARØ KRISTENSEN2

1DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS RESEARCH GROUP 2REDIA DENMARK

AARHUS UNIVERSITY OCTOBER 21, 2014

UNI

ASK MY DATA WHEN DATA(BASES) MEET THROUGH ALGORITHMS

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ANJA BECHMANN, ASSOC. PROFESSOR & HEAD OF DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS RESEARCH GROUP, AARHUS UNIVERSITY MADS DARØ KRISTENSEN, PHD & PROGRAMMER AT REDIA IR15 CONFERENCE, DAEGU, SOUTH KOREA, OCTOBER 21, 2014 PANEL ON ALGORITHMS: INTERSECTION OF AGENCY, INFORMATION AND STRUCTURE

AARHUS UNIVERSITY

HEAD OF DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS RESEARCH GROUP, ASSOC. PROFESSOR ANJA BECHMANN

OCTOBER 21, 2014

“As the data we generate about ourselves continues to grow exponentially, brokers and aggregators are moving on from real-time profiling – they’re cross-linking data sets to predict our future behaviour. Decisions about what we see and buy and sign up for aren’t made by us any more; they were made long before. The aggregate of what’s been collected about us previously – which is near impossible for us to see in its entirety – defines us to companies we’ve never met.” - Madhumita Venkataramanan, My Identity for sale, Wired, November 2014, p. 105

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AARHUS UNIVERSITY

HEAD OF DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS RESEARCH GROUP, ASSOC. PROFESSOR ANJA BECHMANN

OCTOBER 21, 2014

DATA QUALITY

Claim: Algorithms are only powerful as filters for our everyday life if they have the RIGHT data to process

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AARHUS UNIVERSITY

HEAD OF DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS RESEARCH GROUP, ASSOC. PROFESSOR ANJA BECHMANN

OCTOBER 21, 2014

IDENTITY & DATA ESSENTIALISM -> IDEAL

CONSTRUCTIVISM -> REALITY

MULTI-VARIANT CONTRADICTORY DATA UNITS AND ALGORITHMIC WEIGHT

CONTEXT AWARENESS RELATIONAL AWARENESS

‘MOOD’ AWARENESS

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AARHUS UNIVERSITY

HEAD OF DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS RESEARCH GROUP, ASSOC. PROFESSOR ANJA BECHMANN

OCTOBER 21, 2014

PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATIONS

Claim: In order to present relevant library material on Facebook we need to look at

the posts in the user’s newsfeed

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AARHUS UNIVERSITY

HEAD OF DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS RESEARCH GROUP, ASSOC. PROFESSOR ANJA BECHMANN

OCTOBER 21, 2014

THE DESIGN OF THE ALGORITHM

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KEYwords - verb: Read, Hear , See , Do , Listening , Writing , Games , Experience , Learning , Thinking , Entertain , think, Mene, Faith , Knowledge , Live , Play , Say Enjoy , Eat, Drink , Sing , Love , Check , Count , develop , Inform, Sit, Lie , Stand , Walk , Run , Hang , Waiting , download , download , Bike , Run, Understand , Suggest , Recommend , Pray, Hedde , Mention Miss , Penetrate , Hate , Mangle , Do without , Use, lose , grasping , Ane , Dunning , Hive , Search , Manage, Google pulling Explorer, Jot , Desire , Ask , Learn , Give, Receive , item, Deliver , Maile , Display , Send , Talk , Talk , Laugh , Laugh, cry, Solitude , Comfort, Travel, Flying , Sailing, Hiking , Dragon Shout , scream , Hyle , Feel Brand smells Keywords – noun: Book , Library, Movies , Songs , CD, Album , Track Number , Magazine , Newspaper , Magazine , Magazine , weeklies , short story , novel, poem, Crime , Anthology , Cartoon , Comic , Graphic Novel , Blog , Post, Tweet , Documentary , Program, Download , Travel, File , PC, Computer, Tablet , iPad , iPhone , Smartphone, Mac , Mobile, Audio book , eBook , E-book , Telephone, television , TV , Cinema, DVD, Blu - ray , Bluray , Stream , Chapter , Section , Series , Article , Pattern , Pattern , Picture , History , Adventure , App (ALSO keywords – adjectives (not listed here).

AARHUS UNIVERSITY

HEAD OF DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS RESEARCH GROUP, ASSOC. PROFESSOR ANJA BECHMANN

OCTOBER 21, 2014

ALGORITHMIC WEIGHT

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weight = 10 FOR EACH result in search result set DO   FOR EACH subject in record DO     IF subject in user's chosen categories THEN       weight = weight * 1.5     END     IF subject in user's like table THEN       weight = weight * UserLikeWeighingFunction(subject user likes value)     END   END END

Personaliszation - category and topics ( library database): Category : Biographies Keywords: biographies, travelogues , biographical novels , memoirs , childhood memories Category : Novels Keywords : fiction , fiction Category : Mystery and suspense Keywords: crime , exciting books , criminal Category: Fantasy Keywords: fantasy , adventure stories Category : Home & Garden Keywords: gardens , houses, home decorating, DIY books Category : Food and Drink Keywords: cook books , baking , food, beer , wine Category : Personal Development Keywords: mental health, self-development , mental training , mindfulness , spirituality, meditation Category : History & Society Keywords: history, politics Category : Health Keywords : exercise, running, cycling , fitness Category : Family & Leisure Keywords: family , parenting , child psychology , play , outdoor activities , reading aloud , parents Category : Art Keywords: art , artists, visual works of art, photographs Category : Crafts Keywords: crochet, knitting, sewing, embroidery , patchwork Category : Movies - Possibly . item number 77.7 ? Category : Music Keywords: rock, pop, vocal , jazz , country, folk , world music

AARHUS UNIVERSITY

HEAD OF DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS RESEARCH GROUP, ASSOC. PROFESSOR ANJA BECHMANN

OCTOBER 21, 2014

RECOMMENDATION RESULT

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AARHUS UNIVERSITY

HEAD OF DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS RESEARCH GROUP, ASSOC. PROFESSOR ANJA BECHMANN

OCTOBER 21, 2014

LEARNING PREFERENCES

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UserLikeWeighingFunction: IF x >= 0 THEN     MIN(2, 1 + log10(x/3+1)); ELSE     MAX(0, 1 - log10(abs(x/3)+1)); END x in the previous function is positive if the user has pressed like and negative in the opposite case.

AARHUS UNIVERSITY

HEAD OF DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS RESEARCH GROUP, ASSOC. PROFESSOR ANJA BECHMANN

OCTOBER 21, 2014

PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATIONS

Data sources

Weight of data source results

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AARHUS UNIVERSITY

HEAD OF DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS RESEARCH GROUP, ASSOC. PROFESSOR ANJA BECHMANN

OCTOBER 21, 2014

POOR DATA QUALITY/WRONG DATA

FINDINGS IN QUALITATIVE INTERVIEWS FALSE Claim: In order to present relevant library material on Facebook we need to

look at the posts in the user’s newsfeed

Not optimal weight of data sources: we need more inputs e.g. relational status, post priority (ideally related to library use), more weight on interests

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AARHUS UNIVERSITY

HEAD OF DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS RESEARCH GROUP, ASSOC. PROFESSOR ANJA BECHMANN

OCTOBER 21, 2014

ALGORITHMIC RESULTS ARE LIKE SCHRODINGER’S CAT

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AARHUS UNIVERSITY

HEAD OF DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS RESEARCH GROUP, ASSOC. PROFESSOR ANJA BECHMANN

OCTOBER 21, 2014

REFERENCES ›  Bechmann, A. (2015, in press). Managing the Interoperable Self in (eds. Bechmann, A. & Lomborg, S.) The Ubiquitous Internet:

User and Industry Perspectives, New York: Routledge: 54-73 ›  Bechmann, A. (2013). Non-informed consent cultures: privacy policies and app contracts on Facebook, Journal of Media

Business Studies, 11 (1): 21-38. ›  Bechmann, A. (2013) Internet Profiling: The economy of data intraoperability of Facebook and Google, Mediekultur: journal

of media and communication research, 55: 72-91. ›  Bucher, T. (2012) Want to be on top: Algorithmic power and the threat of invisibility on Facebook, New media and society, 14

(7): 1164-1180. ›  Cheney-Lippold, J. (2011). A new algorithmic identity, Theory, Culture & Society 28(6): 164-181. ›  Graham, S. (2005). Software-Sorted Geographies, Progress in Human Geography 29(5): 1-19. ›  Gillespie, T. (2014). The relevance of algorithms in Media Technologies (ed. Gillespie, T., Bockowski, P. & Foot, K.), MIT Press.   ›  Hammersley, M. & Atkinson, P. (1995). Principles in Practice, New York: Routledge. ›  Introna, L. D. (2011). The Enframing of Code: Agency, Originality and the Plagiarist, Theory Culture Society, 28 (113): 113-141. ›  Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory, Oxford: Oxford University Press. ›  Lyon, D. (2003). Surveillance as social sorting: Privacy, risk and digital discrimination, New York: Routledge. ›  Mackenzie, A. & Vurdubakis, T. (2011) Codes and Codings in Crisis: Signification, Performativity and Excess, Theory Culture

Society, 28 (3): 3-23. ›  McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding media: Extensions of Man, New York: McGraw-Hill. ›  Turow, J. (2012). The Daily You: How the New Advertising Industry Is Defining Your Identity and Your Worth, New Haven, CT:

Yale University Press. ›   

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