HACKER Q&A
📣 nilsbrev

What's the name of this concept related to surveillance


I am looking for the name of a concept that explains how an individual who knows they are being monitored and controlled behaves differently on the internet. I believe the word "cold" is part of the concept's name and I discovered it through a well-designed web page that featured an infographic of an iceberg.

  👤 michaelteter Accepted Answer ✓
I pasted your question verbatim into ChatGPT-4.

" The concept you may be thinking of is the "chilling effect." It refers to the phenomenon where individuals are less likely to engage in certain behaviors, such as expressing themselves or accessing certain information, due to the fear of surveillance or other forms of monitoring. The term "chilling effect" is often used in the context of government surveillance or censorship, but it can also apply to other types of monitoring and control, such as corporate surveillance or online harassment. The reference to the iceberg in the infographic may have been used to illustrate the idea that only a small portion of the chilling effect is visible on the surface, while the majority of its impact remains hidden beneath the surface. "

👤 ZeroGravitas
"Chilling effect" is a general term that seems about right, though isn't internet or censorship specific.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilling_effect

Another related term is "the panopticon", a prison designed so that you always felt like you were being watched.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon

👤 lachenmayer
https://www.socialcooling.com/
👤 _Microft
It seems tangentially related to "self-censorship" if that helps with your search?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-censorship

👤 jjgreen
That's usually "the Hawthorne effect" (which predates the internet), I don't know of a cold-related phrase for this though ...
👤 throwaway8451
Has anyone asked ChatGPT already? Using ChatGPT to find the correct search terms for vaguely described concepts seems very powerful. Knowing the correct terms makes or breaks web searches in my experience.
👤 nilsbrev
I was actually looking for that particular website : https://www.socialcooling.com/ not the name of the concept itself but "lachenmayer" has somehow read my mind.

Hacker News is better than chatGPT, it gives you what you're looking for without asking the right question (properly).

See https://xyproblem.info/ for details about how I messed up with my request.

👤 mikequinlan
Chilling effect?

https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/chilling-effect-overv...

👤 fd111
As exhibited in?: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosedive_(Black_Mirror)

;-)

👤 hprotagonist
panopticon?

(it’s also a great metal album)

👤 howduzitwork
It's also a form of behavioural modification.