6PM on Thursday 15 February 2024

Livestreamed from Quarry Whitehouse Auditorium

This event is offered in collaboration with Living Freedom.

"Instead of pointing the finger at technology, I argue that the problem is you, and me, and all of us living in this digital hall of mirrors. We don’t have a shrinking sense of who we are because of personalising technology. We have personalising technology because of our shrinking sense of who we are. The problem is not technology, but our own obsession with how others see us, and our insatiable need to be reassured that we are the person we want others to see."

[An extract from Technology is Not the Problem by Timandra Harkness (forthcoming, Harper Collins).]

With digital culture and myriad forms of social media, we can now share more information and opinions more widely than ever before. Unlike the era of mass media, today every individual has a personalised news channel that shapes what they want to see next. But many worry that while our facility to develop a shared worldview or even shared reality has diminished. New identity-driven forms of polarisation, online harms and fake news have fuelled fears that the very technologies that transformed communications are responsible for our descent into echo chambers, toxic filter bubbles or attention traps.

But to what extent is new technology really the problem? After all, just over a decade ago, social media was celebrated for its power to share ideas and drive political change in the Arab Spring. In this talk followed by open discussion, Timandra Harkness explores both the new digital technologies and the new identity-driven forms of culture and politics, and asks: how did we get here, why does it matter and where do we go from here?

The panel will be chaired by Roger Mosey, the master of Selwyn College. We will be inviting questions from audiences both online and in-person.

Timandra Harkness is a journalist, writer and broadcaster. She is the author of Technology is Not the Problem (forthcoming, Harper Collins). Timandra is a regular on BBC Radio, writing and presenting BBC Radio 4’s FutureProofing and other series including How To Disagree, Steelmanning and Political School.

Booking

Livestream

You can watch the livestream on our YouTube channel here.

Location and timing details

The event takes place at the Quarry Whitehouse Auditorium, Selwyn College, Grange Road, CB3 9DQ. It is pictured below, as seen from above from Grange Road.

The Quarry Whitehouse Auditorium is located on the corner of West Road and Grange Road and can be accessed via the gate to Ann’s Court on Grange Road. The Auditorium will be signposted —  but the Selwyn College Porters, located in the Lodge by the main entrance, will be more than happy to help direct you if you have trouble finding the auditorium.

Doors will open at 5:45pm. Please be seated by 5:55pm as the event will start promptly at 6:00pm. We expect to finish by 7:00pm at the latest. 

If you are arriving by bike, you may lock your bicycles on the railings by the Quarry Whitehouse Auditorium.

Please note that photographs will be taken during this event and the audience may be visible at certain points on the livestream.

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