“Medium design works on the histories of things that do not happen. In an inversion of declarative histories that chart discrete events or transgressions of law, a focus on disposition enhances the ability to detect and adjust latent temperaments in organizations. Organizations have inherent capacities to include, exclude, nurture, or harm, even in the absence of an event or declaration. This violence does not happen, because it is ever-present as a latent property or an ongoing series of actions.”

“Latent violence in organizations of all sorts may be difficult to see, especially when it is decoupled from the organization's advertised message. Facebook originally presented itself as a smart and fun-loving platform to connect broad networks of people. By providing this service for free, the platform reflected an early characterization of the internet as a democratizing force that made the world more information-rich through exchange. Able to tailor their communications, families and specialized groups could make those connections even more meaningful or instrumental for organizing everything from support groups to political activism.

But in the campaign to be dominant and capture as much market share as possible, Facebook and other platforms introduced a consequential binary. The "like/dislike" and "friend/ unfriend" filters—not just a reflection of social inclusion or exclusion—allow the company to sell data about trends and preferences. Likes can be used to exaggerate the differences between groups and sharpen the weapons of discord and hate between them, as they were in the 2016 election interference mentioned earlier. But, remarkably, debates about the situation continually return to conundrums over free speech rather than targeting the monetizing binary that artificially exaggerates that speech.”

“Fresh forms of vulnerability appear at the intersection of climate change and inequality. Those without sufficient capital to hold on to their property are typically subject to loss and attrition or regarded as blight that threatens the value of investment capital. They end up on the wrong end of the bull-dozer. Now, in the face of climate change, wealth again has the capacity to purchase safety through relocation, elevated structures, or elaborate fireproofing.

But in this interplay, those who might be victims of climate gentrification can instead leverage that wealth to their benefit.”