The internet makes it very easy to tailor the information we get to conform to a preconceived world view. Our current paradigm of personalization on the internet tends to show us the most viewed, most clicked links - or what we want to see based on what we've seen already. How can we make spaces on the internet that challenge these narrowing trends? Culture Sh0ck takes on this challenge by inverting certain norms and creating an intimate narrative space accessed by lottery, rooted in anonymity, and structured around creative limitation.

Background
Research_



Google, Facebook (Websites, irritation)



Herbert Marcuse - "One-Dimensional Man" (Book)



Lasch, Christopher - "The Culture of Narcissism" (Book)



Adorno, Theodor - "W. Minima Moralia" (Book)



Foucault, Michel - "Discipline and Punish" (Book)



Zuckerman, Ethan - "Homophily, Serendipity, Xenophilia"
Wahrman, Lily (Untitled Essay)



Intelligence Squared U.S. - "When it comes to politics, the Internet is closing our minds" (Podcast)










Implementation
Culture Sh0ck is a webspace built using Ruby, Javascript, and Heroku.







Visitors are invited to either submit a narrative about a place they've been through five pieces of media, or travel the world by lottery and explore the submissions of others.