Smartphone Orchestra: The Social Sorting Experiment
by Robin de Hoon - During Night University 2019, visitors had the opportunity to participate in ‘The Social Sorting Experiment’. In this interactive experiment, in which theater, gaming, and music come together, the participants can experience the manipulative power of digital platforms first-hand. I decided to have a go myself.
Experiment
The experiment was set up as follows. Everyone of us was given a place on a life-sized game board. First there were four short introduction rounds between participants.
Then we had to use our phones to answer questions related to the participants that we had been introduced to. This involved questions like: ‘Who earns the most?’ ‘Who had the best handshake?’ ‘Who had the nicest ears?’
Based on the answers, rankings were made from the least earning to the most earning participant, from the worst to the best handshake, and from the ugliest to the prettiest ears.
During this experiment, it became painfully clear to me that it is possible, based on just four introduction rounds, to make a data profile of the entire room showing who, for example, has the highest income. Thus we experienced first-hand what conclusions can be drawn based on the data trails that we had created during the experiment, let alone what is possible using the data trails that we created daily online. I observed that this was a pretty confrontational experience for many participants.
Take Jerome (30), one of those participating in the experiment. “It was a fun experiment with an interesting subject that triggered you to think about what you do with your own data. The fact that companies and organizations can find out a lot about you based on so few data forces you to be critical of your own online activities. You are always being watched.”
Digital profile
That is exactly the effect envisaged by the developers of Smartphone Orchestra: The Social Sorting Experiment: making people aware of the manipulative side of the social media.
By swiping and scrolling, liking and sharing, we all create digital trail on social media. When these data are combined with insights in the field of data science and psychology, a very detailed digital profile emerges. Recent events have shown that this method is not only used to personalize our online experience, but also to persuade and manipulate us.
Critical thinking
The question here is what we can do about it. Quit all online activities? I asked Vincent Wiegerinck, project manager of the Tilburg Education Profile, how Tilburg University students are prepared with respect to this issue. “It is important that people get to know themselves well enough to prevent them from being manipulated by others. This is something we are also trying to instill here at the university based on knowledge, skills, and character: education at Tilburg University does not only consist of transferring sound academic knowledge and training in skills, but also of exercising critical thinking and self-reflection.”
I was already more or less aware of the manipulative side of the social media, but I did not know that it was possible to create a digital profile with so little information. It would go too far for me to say that, as a result, I will be more selective in my online activities in the future. However, now that I know that information may be used to manipulate me based on my digital profile, I will be more critical about information presented to me on the social media.
Finally, as for me, the experiment was indeed successful because I got to know myself a little better: I tied with Jerome for the best handshake in the room!