Profs & Pints Richmond: Social Media to Social Reckoning
July 22 @ 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Profs and Pints Richmond presents: “Social Media to Social Reckoning,” a talk about how Big Tech social media platforms operate and affect our world, with Caddie Alford, leading digital rhetoric scholar, associate professor of rhetoric, and co-lead of the AI Futures Hub at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Learn what social media platforms attempt to get us to think and feel, and assess the impact that their algorithms are having on our social lives and democracy, with Caddie Alford, a scholar of persuasion vis-à-vis Big Tech’s power.
Applying the ancient art of rhetoric to social media platforms and what’s billed as “artificial intelligence,” she’ll offer insights on the beliefs held by AI company CEOs and on the changes that Elon Musk made to Twitter. She’ll discuss concepts like cyberlibertarianism, technofascism, and “data trauma,” and she’ll call attention to the relationship between how we talk about social media and how we use it. If you started out “surfing the web” but now find yourself “doomscrolling,” her talk will help you understand why.
Dr. Alford will shed light on the discrepancies between how Big Tech social media companies portray themselves and how they actually operate. No matter how much they characterize social media platforms as “ecosystems,” the platforms’ true purpose is harvesting our data for shareholder value.
We’ll look at how the story of AI is deeply intertwined with the story of the internet, and how the political agendas of Big Tech social media companies are actualized by the material realities of computing infrastructure, contingent labor, and other considerations.
We’ll close by discussing how social media users are pushing back at Big Tech and its justifications for its policies and agendas. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.)
About Profs & Pints:
Do you love to learn? Would you enjoy hearing scholars discuss fascinating topics in a setting where you can ask questions and be around people who share your interests? Profs and Pints is here for you!
Profs and Pints brings college faculty members into bars, cafés, company offices, and other off-campus venues to share their knowledge. They speak on subjects of broad interest, including local history, their region’s environment, emerging trends in business or politics, and the ideas and innovations transforming our society and culture. In addition, Profs and Pints instructors offer practical instruction that improves lives. They can teach skills such as how to write persuasively, plant a garden, tend to mind and body, or plan for retirement.
Profs and Pints offers you all of this without asking that
you apply for admission, pay steep tuition, or worry about
quizzes or grades. At most, you might need to buy a
modestly priced ticket to get in the door. Depending on
where the event is staged, you may be able to order tasty
beers, delicious meals, or hot espresso to go with all of
that knowledge you’ll take in.
You won’t earn college credits but you’ll leave knowing more.
