Profiling

Contextual or Behavioral? page

In our digital society the configuration of communication is changing.

Unprecedented forms of communication relying on the active role of algorithms are being tested, and the media landscape of society is transforming. In the following pages Elena Esposito explores these recent developments, with reference to the concept of Virtual Contingency introduced in chapter 1.

The concept indicates the ability of algorithms to exploit the behavior and unpredictability of users to learn and act on communication in complex and appropriate ways. Algorithms, which are not, and must not be, intelligent, use big data to feed on the intelligence of users and to learn to act as smart and engaging communication partners—and also to address individual communications to each of us. In digital communication, Elena Esposito argues, virtual contingency produces an unprecedented interweaving between activities of users and generalized references, yielding innovative configurations.

⇒ Forms of Digital Communication page

⇒ Contextual Profiling

⇒ Behavioral Profiling