Instructions for each group:

• Assign a notetaker
• Assign someone to share out to the larger group at the end
• Answer the “General Reflection” questions (5 minutes)
• Answer your group’s assigned questions (10 minutes)

1. Joan is Awful

Everyone: General Reflections

1. What was most memorable / relatable about the episode?
2. How have advances in computation, data collection, and networking (via the Internet) made this world possible?
3. In what ways do you think this fictional world already exists in real life? Who is most impacted?

Group 1: Identity

When Joan is Awful airs on Streamberry, an exaggerated version of Joan’s identity of “Source Joan” is put on display for all to see (and judge).

1. What aspects of identity control feel like longstanding social dynamics rather than new technological ones (e.g., public shaming, reductive portrayals of people, etc.)?
2. What new forms of power or control are introduced by platforms, algorithms, and AI?
3. How might increased visibility and data collection both empower and constrain people at the same time?
4. Can you identify examples where technology has helped marginalized groups challenge stereotypes or dominant narratives?

Group 2: Privacy

1. How does Streamberry capture and reproduce Joan’s life, and what technologies and social practices make this kind of surveillance possible? (Think about data collection, consent, platforms, and automation.)
2. What choices does Joan actually have? Why can’t she meaningfully opt out or stop the show, and what does the lawyer’s response reveal about how power, consent, and liability work in this system?
3. How does Joan’s situation connect to the real world? What data about your life is being collected, who benefits from it, what harms can result, and what (if any) protections exist in the U.S. or elsewhere?

Group 3: Creative & Skilled Work

1. How are Selma Hayek’s concerns over Streamberry similar to and different from Joan’s?
2. In minute 42 of the episode, Selma tells Joan: “They have taken 100 years of cinema and diminished it to an app. I’m going to go and take that computer and rip the cables out of it…”
3. How do Selma’s concerns relate to the concerns of other artists, videographers, actors, musicians, etc., given recent advances in generative AI?
4. Is it possible to unmake generative AI and “go back” to a time where this wasn’t possible? Is “ripping out the cables” a viable solution?
5. Before Big Data, Generative AI, and the Internet, there were other technological disruptions that affected other kinds of creative work:
6. What is the origin of the term “Luddite” (Google it or ask ChatGPT)? What did the Luddites do? Were they successful?
7. There’s a phrase that’s been “in the air” this year that says, ChatGPT, DALL-E, and other tools “get you to good enough faster” (not necessarily “good” – but “good enough”). What are the pros and cons of a “good enough faster” kind of world?

Group 4: “Engagement”

Consider the following interaction in minute 47:00 of the episode:

Streamberry CEO: “Our goal is to create unique, tailored content to each individual in our database. All 800 million of them. The most relatable content imaginable.”

Journalist: But why awful? Why is it all so negative?

Streamberry CEO: “No, that’s a great question, Fatima. We did try more affirmative content in our test…but we found that our subjects didn’t buy it. It didn’t jive with their neurotic view of themselves. When we focused on their more weak or selfish or craven moments…and put them in a state of mesmerized horror – which really drives engagement – they literally can’t look away.”

1. Why are media companies so concerned with “engagement” – how does it help them? Be as specific as you can.
2. How has engagement with media changed with the evolution of the Internet? Is this a good thing? A bad thing? Both?
3. Do you agree with the Streamberry CEO that the most engaging, relatable content is negative?
4. “Personalization” is a term that typically has a positive spin. What are the pros and cons of having content delivered to you that is “personalized.” What does “personal” mean to a platform?

2. Readings

Groups 1-2: Net Neutrality (after federal court struck down FCC rules)

NPR’s All Things Considered (January 6, 2025): What may be next after a federal court struck down the FCC’s net neutrality rules

1. How does removing the FCC’s authority over the internet change who controls access, pricing, and quality of online services? Do you think the FAA analogy works here?
2. Who is most likely to be affected by the loss of net neutrality protections, and in what ways? Consider consumers, small businesses, startups, and large platforms. How might their experiences differ?
3. If the internet is “essential infrastructure” like water or electricity, what kind of oversight should exist — and at what level (federal vs. state)?

Groups 3-4: Meta Fact-Checking Shift (Zuckerberg & Trump)

NPR’s All Things Considered (January 7, 2025): Meta says it will end fact checking as Silicon Valley prepares for Trump

1. What reasons did Meta’s CEO give for ending traditional third-party fact-checking, and what are potential benefits and risks of this change?
2. How might Meta’s move away from professional fact-checking toward alternatives like crowd-sourced “Community Notes” impact misinformation and public trust?
3. In what ways could political pressure or relationships between tech leaders and government officials influence a company’s content moderation policies?
4. What responsibilities, if any, should social media companies have in balancing free expression with preventing harmful or false content?
5. How do changes in Meta’s fact-checking practices intersect with broader concerns about disinformation, elections, and civic engagement?