Making it Personal: Algorithmic Personalization, Identity, and Everyday Life

273 Pages·2021·10.529 MB·English

by  Tanya Kant

Making It Personal

Making It Personal
Algorithmic Personalization, Identity,
and Everyday Life
TANYA KANT
1
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Kant, Tanya (Lecturer in media and cultural studies), author.
Title: Making it personal : algorithmic personalization, identity, and
everyday life / Tanya Kant.
Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2020] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019033684 (print) | LCCN 2019033685 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780190905088 (hbk) | ISBN 9780190905095 (pbk) |
ISBN 9780190905118 (epub) | ISBN 9780190905125 (online) | ISBN 9780190905101 (epdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Human-computer interaction.
Classification: LCC QA76.9.H85 K36 2020 (print) | LCC QA76.9.H85 (ebook) |
DDC 004.01/9—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019033684
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019033685
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Paperback printed by Marquis, Canada
Hardback printed by Bridgeport National Bindery, Inc., United States of America
CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES IX
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS XI
1:  Introduction: Making it Personal 1
Beyond Privacy: Algorithmic Anticipation 8
Personalization, Political Economy, and the Everyday 15
Bridging the Gap: Getting at Lived Experience 17
Book Structure and Overarching Themes 22
2:  The Drive to Personalize 28
Current Practices of Personalization 30
A History of the Anticipated User 39
From Unique to “Dividual”: Making Sense of
the Data- Tracked Self 48
User versus System: The Struggle for Autonomy 51
3:  Me, Myself, and the Algorithm 58
Identities: Inner, Agential, Performative 59
The Early Net and Online Identity 66
The Ideal User 68
Profiles and Performativity 70
The Authentic Self? 74
The Anticipated User versus the User Herself 78
Algorithmic Imagination and the Algorithmic Imaginary 82
4:  Hiding Your “Scuzzy Bits” 88
“Control”: Tracker Blocking as a Tool for Autonomy 93
“Knowledge”: Ghostery Use as Uneasy Insight 94
vi Contents
Questioning the Power of “Power Users” 97
Resistance: Giving Data Trackers an “Up Yours” 102
Privacy versus Personalization: The Disconnect between Invasion and
Convenience 105
Personalization as a Threat to the Self 111
Conclusion: Dividuated Data- Tracked Subjects 119
5:  Autoposting the Self into Existence 121
Who Do You Think You Are? Identity Performance on Facebook 128
Apps as Actors: Algorithmic Self- Expression 131
Regulating the Self through Spotify 136
“You Have One Identity?” Algorithmic Context Collapse 142
App Disclosure and Sexually Suggestive Content 144
Wanted Autoposting? 147
Algorithmic Capital: Autoposting as “Chavvy” 148
Conclusion: Personalizing Personhood 155
6:  Validating the Self through Google 158
“Cool,” “Impressive,” “Smart,” but “Useful”? Finding Function in
Prediction 163
Self- Blame: The Trust That Google Will Provide 168
Privacy: The Trust That Google Will Protect 172
The Data- for- Services Exchange: The Trust That Google Is
Worth It 175
A Failed Exchange: An Experiment in Data- for- Services 177
“I’ve Got So Many Interests!”: The Trust That Google
“Knows” You 180
Epistemic Trust: The Faith That Google Can Personalize 185
Personalization versus the “Ideal User”: Google’s Normative
Framework 189
Participants as Media Studies Scholars: Legitimizing Trust in
Google 193
Conclusion: “I’ll Use Google, Just Because It’s There Now” 196
Contents vii
Conclusion: Removing the “Personal” from Personalization 200
From “Personalized Search” to “Search”: Discursive Erasure 204
Struggles for Autonomy 207
Making the Self: Regimes of Anticipation? 210
From Understanding to Coping: Data Providers as Algorithmic
Tacticians 213
APPENDIX 217
NOTES 221
BIBLIOGRAPHY 227
INDEX 247

LIST OF FIGURES
5.1. Examples of autoposting. 124
6.1. Giovanni’s screenshot of the local weather. 164
6.2. Tariq’s (incorrectly) inferred “commute” from “home” to
“work” (he both lives and “works” on campus). 165
6.3. Laura’s “local weather” and “places nearby” cards. 166
6.4 and 6.5. Heena’s “what to watch” recommendations. 173
6.6. Tariq’s currency converter card, displayed at the top of
the screen. 178