UNIT 6: SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE INTERNET
My name‿ is‿ Emma. I do about‿ eightyeigh-dy percent‿ of my shopping‿ online,│ an(d) the accusation that this‿ is laziness misses what has genuinely changed,│ which‿ is that convenience has been‿ exchanged for‿ an‿ opaque loss‿ of control‿ over‿ information‿ about me.
The convenience‿ is‿ undeniable‿ an(d) the distribution‿ infrastructure‿ in my country is‿ excellent,│ so a refun(d) now takes two days. The difficulty is that the same consumer│ who can return‿ a pair‿ of boots‿ instantly is profiled by every click. My feed‿ is personalised to a degree I find‿ unsettling,│ an(d) the marketplace model makes‿ it‿ almost‿ impossible to establish│ who is‿ actually selling. A counterfeit produc(t) can be listed by a third partypar-dy on‿ a platform that disclaims responsibility an(d) retains‿ its reputation│ when the seller vanishes.
What concerns me more than counterfeits‿ is concentration. Two or three companies now set commercial terms for millions‿ of small businesses,│ and‿ a business that controls delivery controls price,│ which means‿ it can commoditise‿ everybody else's product│ while differentiating‿ its‿ own service. I keep‿ a written list│ before‿ I shop,│ because‿ otherwise half my basket‿ is‿ impulse. Data protection‿ is the negotiation‿ of the coming decade,│ and‿ I would prefer‿ it not to be conducted privately between the parties│ who benefit from the arrangement.