I must admit that the idea of Data Colonialism frightens me. Every action I take online becomes a datapoint for corporations to sell without oversight or regulation. If we don’t participate in social media, we can avoid giving up our information, but we deny ourselves the opportunity to connect with our peers, colleagues, and friends. Corporations and organizations hold the keys to our social system. We must pay to play. Nothing is free.
The idea of intertextuality is a concept that involves dialogue with data. With intertextuality, one text influences another text, therefore everything is derivative. Institutions can use data to influence other data points, but data
is incapable of participating in an intertextual dialogue because it’s only information. A reliance on data-driven decisions eliminates self or humanity from the equation. Data cannot ponder questions nor offer any thoughtful
solutions. Institutions collect, organize, and categorize data without dialogue.
“Thus, data relations enact a new form of data colonialism, normalizing the exploitation of human beings through data, just as historic colonialism appropriated territory and resources and ruled subjects for profit”, (Couldry & Mejias, 2019, p. 336).
If we refer to historical colonialism when natives were presented with absolute options (do this or die), and data colonialism (agree to these TOS or remain excluded from our community), then how could institutions participate in intertextual dialogue on such an unlevel playing field? Whether it’s historical or data colonialism, institutions take our natural resources without oversight or government regulations. Can the oppressor dialogue with the oppressed?
Algorithms or bots can interact with humans online but only within the parameters of their programming. For example, Amazon knows what I like to purchase through them but does not have the full picture of me. The bots make suggestions on what I might like based on previous actions. Without dialogue, Amazon will never learn my
creative likes and dislikes, my dreams, my goals, or my vision. Therefore, if Amazon relies only on data, then they are missing opportunities to fully engage with me and other stakeholders. Data won’t give feedback on a software release, just information on how their audience interacted with previous iterations. Dialogue-driven data analysis could present an opportunity for dialogue in the future.
I’m reminded of the character Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the early seasons, Data acted as a repository of information. The characters interacted with him but could never participate in a question/answer dialogue with Data unless it was based on facts. In the later seasons, Data started asking questions about life, death, parenthood, etc. He sought his creator for answers about his own existence. At that point, Data started growing and could participate in a true dialogue.
L2:
Demonstrate the ability to assess complex organizational environments and achieve communicative goals.
L4: Apply communication-centered scholarship to strengthen communication effectiveness.
D1: Iteratively develop inter-professional leadership competencies.
D2: Utilize communication to embrace complexity and difference.
Keywords: data colonialism, intertextuality, algorithms, dialogue, communication
