This week I learned about datafication by watching Valaries talk with Dr. Bonnie Stewart from the University of Windsor. I have heard of datafication before but wouldn’t have been able to explain what it’s all about. Dr. Bonnie explains datafication as a process where human life and behavior is converted into data. One of the main things Dr. Bonnie talks about that caught my attention is the distinction between knowing how to use a tool and actually understanding the why behind it. She explains a skill as knowing how to use an app, but actually knowing how the app is extracting data is digital literacy. We are often taught skills to use digital tools, but we lack the literacy to see how the tools are taking our personal information. As someone who runs multiple instagram accounts as my job and works in video editing, I found this part interesting. I have the skills to navigate the platforms but when it comes to understanding how the platform is extracting data, I’m not very familiar. 

This also made me think about the common feeling our phones are listening to us. I often find that when I am talking about something with my friends, I’ll see related reels on my instagram within a few days. Dr. Stewart explained we are always leaving digital traces that our phones use, through every click a pattern is created and then is used to sell things back to us. It’s not just a coincidence but it’s real, and a result of a system that is designed to take our data.