Proxy Culture
"Proxy culture" is a modern term that refers to the reliance on documented experiences (signifiers) in place of first-hand experiences (the signified). Proxy culture has roots in the intersection of philosophy and technology and may manifest in many ways, including through the use of Yelp business reviews, Amazon product reviews, and Google Maps to understand businesses, services, products, and more.[1]
Contents
History
Proxy culture was first coined by Luciano Floridi in his paper called "A Proxy Culture"[1] in 2015 to describe phenomena where people are increasingly more likely to depend on the infosphere.
Luciano Floridi
Luciano Floridi is a Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Information at the University of Oxford. He has several recognitions and awards for his work relating to information ethics.[2]
Definition and Etymology
Proxy by itself is primarily defined as "the agency, function, or office of a deputy who acts as a substitute for another."[3] The first known use of the term with in the 15th century and has some roots in Latin.
According to Floridi in his aforementioned paper, the concept and idea of a proxy is different but similar. The concept is rooted religiously, while the idea is political.
Today, a proxy itself is mostly related to technology instead. The purely technical term is related to systems where different signals and requests are used, such as a website interacting with the internet.[1] Proxy culture looks at the human component and how they interact with signifiers to better understand the signified.
Degenerate Proxies
Proxies are epistemologically separate from degenerate proxies because the interactions with a proxy is similar to interacting with the signified. Degenerate proxies fulfill some definitions of a full proxy, but are missing some parts. These degenerate proxies can be categorized in three forms: icons, indexes, and symbols. They are not full proxies because they are merely a standby.[1]
Icons
Icons resemble in appearance to what they represent. For example, a photograph of a dog is an icon for a dog. This is not a full proxy because what happens to the photograph of the dog doesn't directly effect the dog.
Indexes
Indexes are correlational, meaning a given index is often associated with what they represent. An example of this is how dark clouds are an index for rain because those often follow.
Symbols
Symbols represent a category they're typically associated with. A drop of water is a symbol for liquids, for example.
Ethics
Monopolies
Credibility
Advantages
Reviewers are often anonymous. This allows participants to be anonymized and more comfortable--their words stand on their own, rather than being attached to their gender, race, and income-level. It may also facilitate more vulnerability and honesty since participants can worry less about repercussions,[4]
Pitfalls
Competitors may often sabotage others in order to gain an upper hand. For example, Amazon sellers have been reported for leaving falsified negative reviews on products that compete with their own. This not only damages a competitors reputation, but makes themselves look better.
On the other hand, a person may post falsified positive reviews on products whose success benefits them.
Moderation
To combat an influx of malicious attacks at open-source knowledge bases, bots using machine learning and artificial intelligence have been developed to monitor or remove questionable content. More convincing but still questionable proxies may pass a bot, but still need to bypass a human moderator to become published.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Floridi, Luciano. “A Proxy Culture.” SpringerLink, Springer Netherlands, 21 Oct. 2015, link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13347-015-0209-8.
- ↑ Oxford Internet Institute. “Professor Luciano Floridi — Oxford Internet Institute”, https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/luciano-floridi/.
- ↑ “Proxy.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proxy.
- ↑ De Laat, Paul B. "Trusting virtual trust." Ethics and Information technology 7.3 (2005): 167-180.
