Published in 2011
240 pages
Nora Young is the host and creator of Spark, a show about technology and culture that airs nationally on CBC Radio. She was the founding host of Definitely Not the Opera, where she first began writing and broadcasting about technologically mediated change. She is fascinated with the intersection of technology and culture, and in particular how technology shapes the way we see ourselves, and each other. She lives in Toronto.
What is this book about?
The host of CBC Radio’s Spark explores the very real impact of the virtual information we generate about ourselves — on our own lives, our communities, and our government.
We generate enormous amounts of online data about our habits: where we go, what we do, and how we feel. Some of that is stuff we choose to report; some of it is the offhand data trails we leave behind. The Virtual Self looks at the debates and challenges around virtual data-sharing — from Facebook status updates to Google Navigator — and its potential for building more responsive communities and governments. Nora argues that if we wrestle now with issues like privacy and data control, we can harness the power of that data.
The host of CBC Radio’s Spark, Nora Young has fascinating information at her disposal, unique insights into the intersection of the virtual and real worlds, and a wonderful voice for making all of these clear to a general audience. Accessible and entertaining, The Virtual Self takes that personal, psychological reality of everything from email to status updates and teases out the increasingly bigger impacts on the real world around us of the virtual information we all generate.
