Nextdoor and Coronavirus – 4/4:
 
The response to COVID-19 has varied significantly between countries, but, nearly across the board, the virus’ spread has ushered in an era of increased governmental surveillance. This has taken the form of international and national travel restrictions, bans on social gatherings, and shelter-in-place orders. Although these forms of surveillance have impacted me to an extent, they still feel fairly abstract. I’ve felt that my decision to socially distance comes from a sense of moral responsibility, not legal requirement, and, as such, haven’t viewed these laws as a force that impacts my day-to-day life. What I’ve found much more striking, in my limited personal experience, is the heightened interpersonal surveillance that has resulted from this pandemic. Whenever I leave my house, whether to get groceries or just to take a walk, I have the persistent feeling that I’m being watched. I imagine my neighbors glaring disapprovingly through their windows, thinking I’m another young person who isn’t taking this situation seriously. I’ve found myself hyper-aware of people moving to distance themselves from me while walking on the sidewalk. And I can’t help but think that they’re judging me based on a preconception about teenager’s lack of caution vis-a-vis Coronavirus. Although I can rationally tell myself that this probably isn’t the case, it still feels as if it's true. This contributes to a sense of unease about being in public which has been entirely new for me.

My mom told me about some Coronavirus-related posts on Nextdoor which seem to indicate a recent increase in interpersonal surveillance. One concerned user writes that in “every single park” she sees “at least 3 groups of teenagers sharing bongs, giant sodas, passing sandwiches back-and-forth, whispering, etc.” She goes on to urge parents to reign in their children. Groups of teenagers taking bites out of a communal sandwich in a park at night seems like odd behavior, even while not in the midst of a global crisis, so I can’t help but think that this observation is exaggerated. Another post reads “Just saw 4 teenage girls walk by at 45 and Woodward. Please keep your children in check and at home.” Although I understand the sentiment behind these kinds of posts, it comes across as disturbing that neighbors are so closely scrutinizing these individual’s behavior. While the first post feels slightly more justified – assuming that the author’s story is at all grounded in reality – the second strikes me as creepy. Do your neighbors need to know the exact location, complete with street and cross-street, of these teenagers? Although I recognize that this situation calls for extreme precautions, I am unnerved by the knowledge that one of these neighborhood vigilantes could write an angry internet post about me based on any perceived misstep. In some ways, this pandemic has caused local communities to come together, but in others, it has created a sense of suspicion and mistrust which serves to further separate us. 

Hong Kong Wristbands – 10/4:

Following an uptick in coronavirus cases due to international travel, Hong Kong recently implemented a policy that requires people to wear “tracker” bracelets for a two-week period after arriving in the city. This may be a topic many are familiar with, as it has been covered by many popular news outlets, but it is such a perfect example of surveillance practices that I thought it would be worth discussing. 

Each bracelet is outfitted with a unique QR code. This code is scanned with a companion app which theoretically allows the government to track the location of these high-risk individuals. Using a combination of Bluetooth, wifi, and location signals, the app sends automated alerts to users who venture too far from their house. It also routinely prompts them to take pictures of their wristband to ensure they haven’t taken it off. However, this system has rarely worked as intended, and many users have been unable to register their wrist band on the app. Even so, these bracelets have still been used as a tool of surveillance. A New York Times article on Hong Kong’s bracelet policy indicates that some Hong Kong residents have resorted to social media as a platform for shaming those who violate their quarantine. People have shared images of bracelet-wearers in public in an attempt to curtail their behavior, which has created an environment of omnipresent surveillance.

This topic relates to the more personal observations I shared in my previous post, as it illustrates how the coronavirus has heightened the atmosphere of constant surveillance between everyday people. In the New York Times article, an Oxford Philosophy professor brings up the constant tension between individual liberties and public health in relation to the coronavirus. I find this to be a difficult issue because, although I understand that extreme measures are needed to quell the virus, I’ve begun to worry that the surveillance practices put into effect to stop its spread will continue even after this situation has been resolved. Significant events such as the world wars or 9/11 have always brought about similarly significant changes in policy, and I wonder how the coronavirus will impact laws moving forward. And, even if this event does not shift policy, it may have persisting ramifications on our attitudes and behaviors as a society.

Conspiracy Theories: 4/24

Over the past decade, the internet has propelled countless conspiracy theories from relative obscurity to widespread prominence. It seems that nearly every major political event, from the moon landing to 9/11, has been met with a conspiracy theory, and the rise of coronavirus is no exception. Internet theories have argued that the virus is a product of 5G cell towers, is a government-produced bio-weapon, was created by Bill Gates, and more. One alternative medicine advocate, Kelly Brogan, indicated that people are dying as a result of fear about coronavirus, not the virus itself. Given the spread of misinformation regarding COVID-19, I’ve been thinking a lot about conspiracy theories: How does the internet function to promote conspiracy theories? Does the rise of these theories indicate some sort of structural flaw with the internet? And why are people attracted to these theories in the first place?

In thinking about conspiracy theories, I’ve come to question my own beliefs. And I’ve realized that few of the facts I believe to be unequivocally true come from my own process of logic and deduction, but rather from experts who I choose to trust. I would consider myself to be fairly scientifically illiterate, so, although I believe that the big bang happened, my best justification for that belief is that people who know more about that kind of thing think it did. Since no one person can specialize in every field, we all have to defer to experts in some aspects of our understanding of the world. Of course, it would be beneficial for everyone to have a basic level of understanding about a wide range of disciplines, but this is a difficult outcome to achieve. I think the more critical deficiency which gives rise to conspiracy theories is that many people cannot adequately differentiate credible sources from uncredible ones. The internet only compounded this issue, because it presented people with an unprecedented amount of information without equipping them to properly interpret it. Another characteristic of the internet that, as a result of some of the surveillance practices we’ve discussed in this class – data collection, targeted search results, etc – members of fringe ideological groups will tend to find information that supports their preconceived beliefs. They’ll find information which seems to corroborate their suspicions, and people who believe the same things they do. And, upon discovering this niche community, they may become more confident in their beliefs, or even be comforted by the false sense that their beliefs aren’t actually that uncommon after all. 

This week, a student I went to high school went on a rant on his Instagram story where he posted links in support of a number of conspiracy theories related to 9/11 and the “deep state.” I’ve previously been very dismissive of people who believe in conspiracy theories, so I was surprised when someone I know, with a fairly privileged background and good education, voiced his support for these theories. This instance, along with the conspiracy theories about coronavirus listed above, lead me to think more about how attractive conspiracy theories can be, and how “normal” people can easily become enchanted by them. It can be rewarding to feel like you’re in on a secret that not many people know. And it’s easier to make sense of the world when you boil down complex relationships into simple causations.