Pixie dust of technology

Back in the day, the Obama campaign got good press for its efforts to employ technology and then-new social media platforms to organize a large political base. Part of the effort was Dipayan Ghosh, who served in the Obama White House. Like others, Ghosh is having second - or deeper thoughts - on the subject. In a report on "#DigitalDeceit" he and a coauthor ruminate on the Internet giant's (Google's and Facebook's) alignment with advertising motivations - and the resultant penchant for misinformation. Comment: Technology always exists within the a larger context, and will eventually be subsumed thereto. What it will do is cast a haze of pixie dust over ethos, established mores, institutional memory. The haze gradually recedes. -- Jack Vaughan