HeyJaredIRRATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
Interaction designer explaining how interface patterns and algorithms intersect with our social systems to shape political and cultural discourse. Exploring platform mechanics and how to build better. Glasgow 🏴 🏳️⚧️ 🇵🇸
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 6
- Latest publication
- Sep 3, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 13, 2026
Latest issues
the log is replacing social media (opens the original)
Read excerpt
“Profile” means a face seen from one angle, where you can’t see both eyes. The word implies an inherent partiality, yet designers of social media platforms worldwide expect it to be the total, current, and consistent account of a person. This creates enormous pressure to be coherent—hence the rise of personal branding.Every other week, another service appears that requires a profile. Describe yourself in 40 characters. For something that frames how we experience almost the whole internet, it’s b
Your Phone Can’t Read Your Mind (opens the original)
Read excerpt
Shoshanna Zuboff’s The Age of Surveillance Capitalism has defined leftist anti-Big Tech activism for nearly a decade. Despite being an avid reader, 700 pages always felt a little intimidating. So, last week I decided to watch a lecture Zuboff gave to see what drew everyone to her argument. I was alarmed, to say the least. The “evidence” Zuboff uses is almost entirely from inside Big Tech — internal reports, investor decks, and sales pitches.This isn’t an essay t
Smart Meters are a Conspiracy Theory (opens the original)
Read excerpt
Before you begin: Substack is violating EU and UK law through its AI detection, and it is not accurate. I have turned it off out of principle; you can DM me for images of the scribbled-on-paper version of this essay if you are that determined to go on a witch hunt for anyone who eve
NOTICE (opens the original)
Read excerpt
The IRRATIONAL TECHNOLOGY blog is part of a wider educational initiative and consultancy aimed at helping people and organisations understand the digital world, from a critical design perspective and an autonomy-based approach.If you like what you read, and you’d like some help with a design or comms challenge that is similar to what you’ve read on here, check out the IRRATIONAL TECHNOLOGY website and drop me a line at lou@irrational-technology.studioI’
The Interface Goes Public (opens the original)
Read excerpt
The IRRATIONAL TECHNOLOGY blog is part of a wider educational initiative and consultancy aimed at helping people and organisations understand the digital world, from a critical design perspective and an autonomy-based approach.If you like what you read, and you’d like some help with a design or comms challenge that is similar to what you’ve read on here, check out the IRRATIONAL TECHNOLOGY website and drop me a line at lou@irrational-technology.studioEvery sc
Publishing over time
Last 90 days. Choose a month to open its work.
Recurring subjects
Named in the text we hold. One piece can cover several.
Audience
No verified audience measurement yet.
About this data
Counts cover the work we have indexed. Tone needs enough text and a confident classification. Excerpts and episode notes are not full articles or transcripts.
Identity or attribution wrong? Suggest a correction.