CiaraWe need a word for real-life enshittification caused by online culture. Like being unable to find an organisation’s info because they’ve Instagram but no website. Or panicked people being sent a videolink to download to their phone when they ring for an ambulance. Or being excluded from residents' association news if you're not on Facebook. Or having cash payment refused. Or staff in the business you’re physically standing in telling you to find the answer to your question on their website.
Lance, Enjoying Copious Pollen@CiaraNi This stuff drives me batty. Technology should make life easier, not less accessible for those who don't want to use FB/ IG or install unnecessary, data-slurping apps.
@analogfusion Me too. Technology is excluding so many people. Or rather, it's the companies and organisations who are doing the excluding, demanding that we use their technology their way.
@CiaraNi That's the crux of the matter right there: technology is increasingly deployed in ways that work against people.
I've long been a tech enthusiast, but I want to use the devices I buy for my own benefit rather than serving ongoing corporate agendas.
The maker of my operating system doesn't own my computer, and I should be able to control how the system is used, which features are enabled, etc.
@analogfusion Agreed, all of this! The expectation that we must download apps and accept constant updates and give away our data and fill our phones and computers, often for something simple and banal like buying a ticket or asking customer service a question.
@CiaraNi I don't know if you saw my posts from months ago, but I actually forfeited attending a concert I'd paid for because of this.
I forget the name of the ticketing agency, but in order to use your ticket, you have to download an app to present at the venue. They won't let you print a physical copy. I didn't realize that at the time.
The only other option is presenting the credit card used, but it has to be in your name (it was in my wife's).
I refuse to play their game.
@analogfusion That's a great example of this kind of thing.
Jill the PillThis is a good collection of these problems. Add the common situation where an uncurated search engine or map platform will give directions to facilities that no longer exist, particularly a problem when searching for electric car chargers on a low battery.
And fragility: when the credit card network or machine malfunctions, no-cash businesses just can’t function. Underfunded cities wasted millions on electronic parking meters and kiosks that couldn’t survive ice.
King Kaufman@jill_the_pill @CiaraNi @analogfusion
It's even more annoying when a business that does take cash WON'T function if their system is down. They refuse. Write down what people buy and enter it into the system later? Take cash? Nope.
@jill_the_pill Those are real problems. Even just seeing the card-swipe machines go offline for a short period in a supermarket - utter chaos. Everyone paralysed, staff and customers alike.
@analogfusion
@analogfusion
potpie@jill_the_pill @CiaraNi @analogfusion The school I work at has a Chromebook for every student. We're encouraged to make use of them and, overall, it's pretty good. But many classes have become quite dependent on them: online textbook, Google docs and other platforms for assignments, online everything all the time. Feels like putting all our eggs in one basket.
@potpie @jill_the_pill @CiaraNi I understand why schools use them, and it makes economic sense. Personally, I try to avoid being beholden to big data.
We support Microsoft's cloud services at work, so I have to use them there. On my personal machine, I have even OneDrive disabled.
@analogfusion 'Beholden' is a great word here, in this whole context. That's what we've allowed ourselves to be in too many situations.
@potpie Great point. I think about this whenever I see that a small local business or club solely communicates via one restrictive online platform - they're only on Facebook, or only on Instagram. If that product shuts down or substantially restricts its features, they're left standing on air.