Project #5 Anti-Surveillance Tool

Description

Move your cursor around to discover the hidden message.

My idea for this project is inspired by the overexposure of our personal data on social media nowadays. Our personal information or data is constantly gathered and analyzed by people or companies without our consent. Anything we search or browse on social media can be a source of data analyzed by companies. Every advertisement popping up on our social media page is carefully chosen for us to fit our preferences using algorithm. My intention is to embed the message that we are constantly being watched while using any social media. The recipient would be anyone who uses social media on a daily basis.

Design Process

I tried using the preload function for the first time to load the images of the ads I prepared on the phone screen, and I incorporated second() to achieve the scrolling effect as if we are actually scrolling through the social media page on a phone. I used for Loop to draw the glitch effect on the background. Originally I only wanted the glitch effect when the hidden message is discovered, but then I like how it looked in the background, so I kept it. When the message is shown, the glitch extends to the screen. I also incorporated user-defined functions mostly when drawing the frame of the phone and using the for Loop function because I was calling the same functions over and over again. It saved me a lot of space.

Reflection

As a heavy social media user, I wanted to create something that relates the paradox of our reliance on social media and the overexposure of personal data while using them because this is something that has always bothered me. I’m very reliant on social media and I don’t think I can ever quit using them, but at the same time I don’t feel comfortable being watched and analyzed. I think we should be mindful of what we share on social media because we are constantly under surveillance. It took me a while to figure out the right visual strategy I wanted to adopt. There were a lot of iterations, and I’m quite happy with the final result. I especially like how the scrolling of social media ads is interrupted by glitch when the hidden message is discovered. I think the glitch effect really ties in with the phone screen.