CLEVER CREATIVES like Borja Lopez Montes teach me things I will always remember. Today, Borja revived my memory of scary bees when he brought Black Mirror into the classroom as part of a presentation about "tracking".
Although it's easy to find people upset about being tracked, I reckon most people are happy getting targeted by useful advertisements as long as they know they have the right to be forgotten in this era of surveillance capitalism.
Borja emphasizes that while he knows game designers need to track in order to improve levels of performance for people who buy their games, he also appreciates the importance of being able to remain anonymous. Damage has been done to people because of tracking preferences and intruding on private habits. At the same time, good tracking assists people who want the health benefits of their Fitbits and the work efficiencies manifested by software that manages the amount of screen time you use.
I plan to continue diving into the concept of tracking by using my Netflix Watchlist to complete all six seasons of Black Mirror. If you're interested in tracking, you'll love the bees in Black Mirror.
[Bernie Goldbach teaches creative media for business on the Clonmel Digital Campus for the Limerick Institute of Technology. Borja Lopez Montes develops games and 3D art.]
