Algorithms and Counter-Culture
Algorithms are everywhere. People are increasingly aware of this and a counter-culture to mess with them is growing.
Anders was looking forward to the day in the city, he had meetings booked, lunch with a friend. He pulled on his ball cap, which had a special subtle design on it that would confuse cameras in stores with an anti-algorithm for retail surveillance of his shopping habits. His coat and the same thing, including a small device that would block the signals from iBeacons analyzing his movement through a store. He used an IP spoofing tool and a VPN on his mobile.
There is a growing movement seeking to subvert the algorithms. Not yet a subculture or mainstream movement. But a growing grassroots movement that is coming to understand the influence algorithms are having across so many aspects of our lives. Some social media platforms are aware of this, often changing their algorithms to counter these actions. It creates an intense feedback loop. One where pressure is mounting throughout the systems.
Anti-algorithm behaviour has been around for a very long time, but is becoming larger as time goes by, more commonplace. Where once it was largely relegated to hackers, good and bad, and those more technically knowledgable, it is slipping into the general…
