speech: improvements

speech.md

@@ -53,9 +53,9 @@ any. Nonetheless, I feel like I have something to contribute to the
 discussion - even if only as living proof that one can exist without
 having an Instagram profile.
 
-But you can also take it from Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the
-web, who diagnosed the web with 3 main ailments back in 2019, 30 years
-after the invention of the web.
+But since you now know that I am biased you can also take it from
+Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the web, who diagnosed the web with 3
+main ailments back in 2019, 30 years after the invention of the web.
 
 ... see content on slides ...
 
@@ -73,13 +73,15 @@ the beginning of September the US Department of Justice started
 seizing domains which were used by russian government sponsored actors
 to imitate Western news outlets. Those websites were filled with AI
 generated narratives to russia's benefit and Social Media platforms
-were then used to spread those tales.
+were then used to spread those tales, targeted specifically towards
+people who might be receptive to them.
 
 On a sidenote since LLMs are also a topic at this conference: This is
 their prime use case. Generating bullshit at scale.
 
-Operation Doppelganger shows, how Social Media are tools in the hands
-of enemies of the open society. How did we become vulnerable to them?
+Operation Doppelganger illustrates, how Social Media are tools in the
+hands of enemies of the open society. How did we become vulnerable to
+them?
 
 A big part of the answer to this question lies in the phenomenon of
 Surveillance Capitalism as analyzed and described so accurately by
@@ -89,10 +91,10 @@ Capitalism". I seriously cannot recommend this book enough.
 How does Surveillance Capitalism work in a nutshell?
 
 Before the dotcom bubble burst and venture capital (VC) money was
-sustaining money burning tech companies, the users' interactions with
-a web service were used to improve said service. When VCs wanted to
-see returns on their investments in the early 2000s, tech executives
-had to look for new revenue streams. And at Google they found them: by
+sustaining cash burning tech companies, the users' interactions with a
+web service were used to improve said service. When VCs wanted to see
+returns on their investments in the early 2000s, tech executives had
+to look for new revenue streams. And at Google they found them: by
 diverting some of the gathered behavioral surplus and using it as
 input material for predictions about our future behavior which are
 then sold at massive profit.
@@ -131,15 +133,14 @@ explains why:
 
 ... see presentation ...
 
-By the time regulators in the EU regulated surveillance capitalists,
-they could afford not to adhere to the rules. Why? Because they have
-grown monstrously rich and powerful. They have captured the regulators
-by somewhat of a stick-and-carrot policy: In case of adversarial
-politics, their proprietary algorithms they have undue and obscure
-influence over election results. In case of good behavior, lucrative
-consultant positions can be created. In the EU, most surveillance
-capitalist are domiciled in Ireland - and the local Data Protection
-Authority does not deserve its name.
+We can only speculate on why regulators have been so lenient with
+surveillance capitalists. It probably had something to do with the
+fact that surveillance capitalists have grown monstrously rich and
+powerful in the meantime: Just think of the fact that Social Media
+giant can influence election outcomes with their algorithms. Or
+lucrative post-political career prospects at surveillance
+capitalists. Or just the belief that economic growth is good no matter
+what.
 
 And if the power dynamics on a societal level are bad, they are worse
 on an individual level. With extreme foresight Aldous Huxley has seen
@@ -176,7 +177,8 @@ Social Media. The level of reduction depends on your preferences. It
 can very well be 0, but does not have to be. Observe how it affects
 your life.
 
-Secondly, there is a better way to use the current Social Media.
+Secondly, there is a better way to use the currently commonly used
+surveillance capitalist Social Media.
 
 The POSSE approach allows you to stay in control of your
 content. POSSE stands for Publish on Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere and
@@ -186,14 +188,14 @@ describes
 
 This is what it looks like in practice: This is a screenshot from the
 FSFE's official Mastodon account (if you don't know what Mastodon is,
-don't worry, I'll get there in a second). As you can see toot contains
-a short summary of what a blog post published on the fsfe.org domain
-is about and the URL pointing to it.
+don't worry, I'll get there in a second). As you can see toot (think
+tweet) contains a short summary of what a blog post published on the
+fsfe.org domain is about and the URL pointing to it.
 
-Since you're a technical audience: You either know how to register a
-domain and use a static site generator. For what it is worth, you
-might even have written one in one of your classes. Even if not, you
-could figure it out in no time. In short, start a blog. Apart from
+Since you're a technical audience: You probably know how to use a
+static site generator. For what it is worth, you might even have
+written one in one of your classes. Even if not, you could figure it
+out in no time. In short, get a domain and start a blog. Apart from
 putting you back in control, it will give you the freedom of
 expression you've always hoped for. For your non-techie friends,
 ethical blog hosting sites abound.
@@ -218,7 +220,7 @@ decentralised. This image shows you the difference between
 centralised, federated and distributed network modes. Facebook,
 Instagram, TikTok, etc. are representatives of centralised
 networks. Email, on the other hand, is federated as users on different
-mail servers can interact. Fully distributed systemts, allow
+mail servers can interact. Fully distributed systems, allow
 participants to communicate directly with each other, think of
 torrents for example.
 
@@ -250,7 +252,8 @@ chronological feed the best? For some maybe yes, for others not. But
 nonetheless: the Fediverse is infinitely better than the surveillance
 capitalist alternatives.
 
-But onwards to the hardest but most important thing to do: reform.
+But onwards to the hardest but also most important thing to do:
+reform.
 
 Better Social Media will only come to bear if we overcome a collective
 action problem. I will quote Tim Berners-Lee once more:
@@ -270,13 +273,13 @@ better Social Media possible:
 
 ... see slides ...
 
-I want to highlight the last point. As software engineers, we tend to
-look at a problem and think how can we use tech to solve it. But many
-societal problems are not technological in nature. Take poverty as an
-example. Technology is a tool which will always be embedded in a
-specific social context. Please always reflect on the social
-conditions of the tech you are building and avoid one-dimensional
-technosolutionism.
+I want to end by highlighting the last point. As software engineers,
+we tend to look at a problem and think how can we use tech to solve
+it. But many societal problems are not technological in nature. Take
+poverty as an example. Technology is a tool which will always be
+embedded in a specific social context. Please always reflect on the
+social conditions of the tech you are building and avoid
+one-dimensional technosolutionism.
 
 I'll leave with you another fitting xkcd comic and thank you for your
 attention!