Paper short abstract:

In this paper I reflect on the process of closely examining downloaded Facebook profile data in the context of a small collaborative group. As a group we explored numerous aspects of our profile data packets, and then used this data to generate a series of data visualizations and generative art.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper, I reflect on the process of closely examining downloaded Facebook profile data within a small collaborative group. Each group member downloaded their profile data, and over the course of an academic year, we explored numerous aspects of these data sets. This exploration included user-generated content, such as comments, updates, and direct messages; system logs, such as timestamped IP addresses and location data; and finally, more obscure files that reflect Facebook's interpretation of the user's "interests" and demographically-inspired classifications. We then used this data to generate a series of data visualizations and generative art.

While examining such files, one feels almost like an archaeologist surfacing hidden artifacts, both expected and unexpected, speculating on their function and meaning. In scrutinizing our individual profile data, we consistently encountered glitches or strange anomalies. The lack of documentation and general opacity is one of the defining qualities of the asymmetric relationship between the platform and its users. These files are both seemingly benign and a clear example of how human agency is documented, structured, and rendered 'legible' to power structures. However, this legibility primarily operates at the group and population levels. At the individual level, profile data can be deeply personal and ideographic. It also foregrounds the constructed nature of being a ‘user’ of a digital platform, and the limited and partial nature of digital representations.