Algorithm & Computerized Culture - Esen Deniz Sayıklı (180423007)

Algorithms are designed to solve specific problems or achieve a specific goal. According to Peter's (2016) the logical series of steps for organizing and acting on a body of data to quickly achieve the desired outcome. Algorithms vary from one's lifestyles, cultural values, to social life in society. Algorithmic culture is reshaping everyday culture. In other words, it was founded on the construction of capitalist models. One of the worrying issues in algorithmic culture is privacy regarding the collection and use of data, not to mention surveillance… For example, Amazon, one of the companies whose applications everyone uses today. As a result of big data logic and large-scale calculations, companies with large algorithms such as Amazon collect, analyze and use data belonging to users. As we know, Alexa, the smart assistant designed by Amazon, has a lot of hardware, but there are some violations with this smart home system. In Peter Hartcher's article, he mentions the issue of eavesdropping by digital assistants, a breach of trust. Even though Amazon later said that there was no such violation, a question lingers in mind. When big companies have so many algorithms, what do they do with them? Exactly, these big companies see users as data, so more users, more data, more money. Also, "Former Amazon chief scientist Andreas Weigend once said "data" is "the new oil." This situation is associated with using the data of the person and making money from the person rather than serving the person, politics, namely capitalism, and this situation is very worrying. Considering this and many other examples, we can say that algorithms are no longer used for problem-solving, but as a power.