From left: Leo Shaw, Jenny Zhang, David A. Banks
LIVE ONLINE EVENT
Theorizing the Web Presents: Street Smarts
This week’s edition of Theorizing the Web Presents investigates the role of data in transforming how we relate to the economy and cities. In "I Agree: What Lies Beyond Terms and Conditions," software developer and writer Jenny Zhang takes the discussion around data privacy and refocuses it from individual to collective rights. By drawing parallels between data governance and other movements in pursuit of public goods, such as environmental protection and public health, Zhang broadens the scope of our imagination in how to loosen the grip of datafication on our lives. Then strategist Leo Shaw presents "Meet Me in the Ball Pit: Pop-up Experiences and Algorithmic Urbanism," showing us how the social camera has the power to bend the urban environment to its will. From the Museum of Ice Cream to Meow Wolf, the field of so-called "experiential" design offers a window into the transformation of the built environment by the social web. This episode is moderated by David A. Banks.
Jenny Zhang, "I Agree: What Lies Beyond Terms and Conditions"
Jenny Zhang (@phirephoenix) is a software developer and writer interested in tech policy, digital rights, the attention economy, media studies, and social justice. When not working as a staff engineer at Mozilla, she reads a lot of speculative fiction, drinks too much coffee, and doomscrolls.
Leo Shaw, "Meet Me in the Ball Pit: Pop-up Experiences and Algorithmic Urbanism"
Leo Shaw (@warshawshaw) is a strategist and editorial worker interested in the politics of urbanism. He works at the architecture and design studio Snøhetta and is part of the team at Are.na, a member-supported platform for connecting ideas.
Moderator Bio:
David A. Banks (@da_banks) is a visiting assistant professor of geography & planning at the University at Albany, SUNY. He regularly contributes to Real Life under his Building to Code column where he writes about how we live among cities and each other. He is an editor for Cyborgology and a co-host of the Ironweeds podcast.
