Advertising, Optimization, and the Goopification of Self-Care
A book talk from Lee Mcguigan, a podcast from Tressie McMillan Cottom, and many upcoming CITAP events!
Selling the American People | Book Talk
On September 7th, CITAP hosted a book talk from Lee McGuigan, an assistant professor in the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media and CITAP affiliate. His book “Selling the American People: Advertising, Optimization, and the Origins of Adtech” addresses the questions, “Where did adtech come from?” and “How did data-driven marketing come to mediate the daily encounters of people, products, and public spheres?”
In this talk, Lee discussed the dreams and designs to optimize advertising, and an archaeology of affordances as a result of that optimization. Lee established that modern day adtech is not the root of the problem, but rather an outgrowth of a deeper issue.
“Looking back further shows us the adtech as we think about it today is not the root of the problem, but an important outgrowth of the deeper issue of organizing the mediation of private and public life around the twin goals of accelerating the circulation of commodities, and turning any moment of attention or sociality into an investment opportunity.”
Lee continued to delve into the fascinating world of advertising technology. We explored how it's not just about mind control, nor is it merely fantasy. Instead, the discussion shed light on the nuances, failures, and the pivotal role of power dynamics in this realm. A key takeaway was clear: technology, efficiency, and management are the battlegrounds where political struggles occur.
Looking ahead, the talk reminded us of the urgent need for change. If we desire media institutions and technologies designed for democracy, justice, and sustainability, then we must make other plans—and we must do so quickly.
Watch the entire talk here:
Real self-care
Tressie McMillan Cottom spoke with Pooja Lakshmi, a psychiatrist and author of “Real Self-Care: A Transformative Program for Redefining Wellness (Crystals, Cleanses, and Bubble Baths Not Included)” on The Ezra Klein Show last week. Tressie & Pooja discussed how Pooja defines real self-care and practical tools for implementing boundaries, practicing self-compassion, aligning your values, and exercising power.
Tressie spoke about self-care in the way that it is widely understood:
“I don't like the cult of personality of self-care. I think the sort of goopification of self-care and wellness as a personality-driven, influencer-driven cultural phenomenon really distracts us from the fact that there is a lot of real, urgent, structural pain and experience that intersects with a lot of inequality… In some cases, I think it can make that inequality worse by saying, ‘If these things don't work for you, it is your fault.’”
Pooja discusses the thesis of the book, re-defining self-care:
“Instead of thinking of self-care as taking 15 minutes out of your day to meditate or go for a walk, we need to be thinking about self-care as something that is threaded through every single decision you make in your life: the small decisions and the big decisions. It’s actually something to embody, rather than a task to check off your list… When you deconstruct these choices, the framework that I'm suggesting is that there's these four pillars of boundaries, compassion, values, and power.
When you deconstruct that, and you decide to make choices in your life based on your own values, not society's values and not culture’s values, that's deeply subversive. This builds on the work of Audre Lorde, bell hooks, and other black queer thinkers. That's not an accident at all that those were the folks who put this work into our cultural conversation. Especially for women of color, marginalized groups, black women, or anybody who is, because of their identities, on the outside: this version of self care (I almost want to use the word violent) is self-preservation.”
Listen to the entire episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, in your browser, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Publications & Appearances
“What I worry about is that the lessons we learned from other technologies aren’t going to be integrated into the way AI is developed,” Alice Marwick spoke with Popular Science about the dangers of AI in the upcoming 2024 presidential election.
We are hiring!
We are seeking an Executive Director to join us and provide innovative and visionary leadership. Read the full description here and share the posting!
We are seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate to join us and work with Dr. Francesca Tripodi and the Search Prompt Integrity & Learning Lab (SPILL). Read the full description here and share the posting!
Coming Soon
September
🚨Today! September 26, 9am EST (2pm to 4pm UK time) at The Democracy Forum (Virtual): Impact of the Internet on Democracy: Positive Tool or Polarising Force? with Shannon McGregor.
🚨Today! September 26, 4pm at Mellon Foundation (Virtual): Reading, Power, and Freedom: A Virtual Discussion with Elizabeth Alexander, Emily Drabinski, and Tressie McMillan Cottom.
October
October 4th: UNC’s 14th Annual First Amendment Day, hosted by the Center for Media Law & Policy, will have events from 10:00am to 9:15pm.
October 4th, 10am: Francesca Tripodi will introduce the “Banned Books Reading” event.
October 4th, 3:30pm: Daniel Kreiss, Shannon McGregor, and Deen Freelon will be on a panel, “Elections, Expression, and Platforms”, moderated by Alice Marwick.
October 10 at CITAP: A workshop, “Empowering Junior Academics in Tech Policy: D.C. Policy Culture Unveiled”, will be hosted in the CITAP offices by Data and Society, co-organized by Dr. Melinda Sebastian (Data & Society), Prof. Evaglia Tavoulareas (Georgetown University), and Heesoo Jang (UNC Chapel Hill).
Learn more about the workshop here and apply via this link.
October 16 at CITAP: Misinformation and Marginalization Symposium.
How does misinformation circulate in marginalized communities, and what misinformation narratives are shared about marginalized groups?
Featuring a keynote from Dr. Sarah Banet-Weiser and panels on misinformation and gender & sexuality; diasporic communities; and algorithmic amplification, race, and religion. Free registration required to join in person or virtually!
October 18 at AoIR: Alice Marwick, Yvonne Eadon, and Rachel Kuo are among the co-organizers of an AoIR preconference on future of conspiracy.
October 20 at AoIR: CITAP, CDCS, and IDDP are co-hosting a networking Happy Hour on Friday at 6pm. RSVP for the event here!
October 22 at the Annenberg Public Policy Center: The Post-API Conference.
November
November 1 at CITAP: CITAP is hosting a book club! We will be reading “White Evangelical Racism” by Anthea Butler. Email citap@unc.edu for more information.
November 10 at CITAP: Symposium on Religion, Media, and Public Life.
Confirmed panelists include Whitney Phillips, Samuel Perry, Eden Consenstein, Xavier Pickett, Erika Gault, LeRhonda Manigault-Bryant, and Heidi Campbell, with additional participants to be named in the weeks to come. Register to join in person or virtually!