Month: August 2019

Safety, Privacy, Security Thoughts

As you think about your own use of social networking and media tools and platforms, what are your thoughts about the issues of safety, security, and privacy?

In 2001, the Patriot Act was born out of the events of September 11th. The government openly said to the public that they were monitoring computers and telephones to find terrorist activity.

I remember the debate well between people back almost two decades ago. One side would say “We have a right to freedom! I don’t want some stranger peaking into my private life.” The opposing view would counter with “It’s for our own protection. They could be stopping thousands of terrorists attacks before they ever occur.”

Memes about government surveillance are still incredibly popular online today.

It’s funny that 18 years later, we are still discussing this issue. Only this time, it revolves around the social media platforms we use everyday.

In my opinion, as soon as you log onto the internet you are forfeiting your right to privacy. Your favorite search engine is building a profile on your search habits. Your go-to shopping website is keeping track of your purchases, updating what they advertise to you, and selling your information to other websites. Even insurance providers purchase your online data from companies to confirm or deny claims.

I have always grown up with some form of the internet for as long as I can remember. It wasn’t great when I was a kid, not like it is now. Ask Jeeves was still the premier search engine for school projects.

I’d imagine that my views on privacy are quite different than those who didn’t have internet growing up. In my mind, if I have to get an x-ray and take off my shoes at the airport, why should my online experience be any different? How about those pages of user agreements no one ever reads? Or the permissions granted to applications you use on Facebook? Privacy is not obtainable if you want to be “plugged-in” to society. That’s the world I was raised in.

What are your concerns?

My concern is not exactly about privacy. It’s more about how our online data is used to manipulate us. Facebook used targeted ads during the last presidential election to spread hate-filled messages and misinformation. Social media determines your political views and makes sure that what you are presented matches what you believe. Social media tricks kids into spending their parent’s money on micro-transactions.

At some point, the data being collected stops helping us. It started innocently enough. Targeted shopping advertisements, helpful automated search queries, and news articles that you might find interesting.

However, when social media begins to impact society as a whole in negative ways, that’s when I start getting concerned. Social media often seems to bring out the worst in people. There is no filter online. The ignorance and hate flows through message boards and comments. People spout hate speech, festering like a sore. Pretty soon, it spurs others to act out against other groups.

Churches get shot up. Gay night clubs get shot up. Schools get shot up.

I firmly believe that social media is one of the top catalysts for domestic terrorism. Security is not what these platforms aim for. Sensationalism makes money. Safety does not.

What are your ideas for addressing them in ways that still allow you to take advantage of the value of social networking and media?

Personally, I am very weary of which platforms to utilize. I do not subscribe to a lot of sites. I am not a part of Twitter. I post occasionally on Facebook to advertise my shows, but I never engage in the community. During vacations, I post pictures to Instagram to store my photos and to let people know where I am and that I am safe.

That’s it.

My solution to my concerns has been to minimize my time in these social media communities. I use them when I need something specifically. I don’t use them to kill time or to follow strangers. I never use social media for news anymore. To get my news, I listen to NPR and go on to the BBC website for articles.

Often, I will use a VPN and clear my cookies to help keep my data collection to a minimum. If you haven’t tried this, I’d recommend it. You’ll notice a difference in your online experience. Ads will be different. News headlines will be more varied on Facebook. Most importantly, your data will be encrypted and protected from hackers.

Reflecting on “How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day” TED Talk

Please watch to this TED Talk from Tristan Harris in 2017. Feel free to participate in the associated sharing/conversation via Vialogues. Select a quote/excerpt from the presentation that stands out to you. Create a new blog post or add to your existing page here on our WordPress site. In this post/page be sure to reference other readings/viewings and your own experience. End your post/page with an invitation for others to share their own thoughts and ideas — create the potential for conversation.

Connecting with Connectivism

Connectivism has a core proposition — knowledge is not acquired.

As you know from our readings/viewings this week, connectivism is a learning theory advocated by George Siemens (and others) that emphasizes the importance and role of networks and connections; and learning, therefore, involves  the ability to construct and navigate those connections and networks, and apply the results of forming networks and making connections to enhancing understanding, addressing problems of practice, and pursuing unrealized opportunities. So for a quick recap, recall that the principles of connectivism are:

  • Learning is a network phenomenon, influenced and assisted by socialization and technology.
  • Connectivism externalizes knowledge, with knowledge residing in a distributed manner across a network.
  • Learning is a process of connecting information sources, and nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning.
  • Capacity to know more is more important than what is currently known. (Or, as George Siemens articulates so well: “The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe. Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today.”)
  • The ability to see connections and patterns between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill.
  • The networked act of learning exists on two levels:
    • Internally as neural networks, and
    • Externally as the networks we actively form.
  • We externalize ourselves in order to know and be known. As we externalize, we distribute our knowledge across a network.

As a new blog post or page here on our WordPress site, please share your views on one of the following four questions related to the readings from the first few weeks of the course. I’m asking you to select one of the following prompts to expound on, contributing to our shared understanding of connectivism and how it applies to our work in this course and beyond:

Prompt A. Connectivism has a core proposition — knowledge is not acquired. What does that mean? If knowledge is not acquired, then what instead?

Prompt B. What is your response to the following quote from George Siemens? “Technology is altering (rewiring) our brains. The tools we use define and shape our thinking.” In what ways do you agree with this quote, and in what ways do you not agree with it? How does social media and social networking play into this?

Prompt C. What do you want to share about connectivism? Create your own prompt.

Note: We will be taking what we contribute here regarding connectivism and accomplish two additional tasks: (a) I will be inviting you to turn this conversation into a blog post for your base camp, and (b) I will be inviting you to use your new understanding of connectivism to correct and enhance the Connectivism page in Wikiversity.

Safety, security, & privacy

What are your thoughts about the issues of safety, security, and privacy? What are your concerns? What are your ideas for addressing them in ways that still allow you to take advantage of the value of social networking and media?

Before we begin our more formal exploration of digital cultures and social networking/media in education, we need to address issues and concerns related to safety, security, and privacy. Let’s start with some context and framing:

  • danah boyd, past and present views:

As you think about your own use of social networking and media tools and platforms, what are your thoughts about the issues of safety, security, and privacy? What are your concerns? What are your ideas for addressing them in ways that still allow you to take advantage of the value of social networking and media?

Although you are welcome to add a comment below, I recommend you start a new blog post*. [I provide a brief how-to walk through on our activity page in Canvas. If you are looking for more, please see resources I recommend via my Joni’s Ideas & Resources page on this site.]

*Remember, you are now authors of this site, so you may add pages, blog posts, etc. I recommend starting a new blog post so you may begin working with the features and functionality of blogging with WordPress. At this point you should have received an automatically generated email from the WordPress site with your username and password; if you haven’t received an email, please check your Junk/Spam folder, but if it’s not there message me and I will reset your password and sent it to you manually.:-)

Learning experiences with social networking & media

How has social networking and media supported your personal and/or professional learning?

Person Sitting on Rock Near Water
Accessing PLN resources from any location…

As we explore our use of social networking and media for learning, I would like us to share how we have used social networking and media to support our personal and professional learning — in other words, the role of social networking and media in our personal and/or professional learning networks (abbreviated as PLN). For example, my youngest daughter Raeghan has used YouTube to teach herself several gymnastics skills that she then perfected with her teachers/coaches during face-to-face classes. She has done the same in support of her piano, voice, and tap dancing learning needs and interests. Although I don’t expect this level of detail, I want to share a significant way in which social networking and media have supported my learning.

In fall of 2014 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. [Note: I’m fine, please don’t be concerned.] What I quickly discovered was in the in-person world, people don’t like talking about cancer…it is a very private matter. But, I needed to talk about it. Social networking was a critical part of my inquiry into what was happening to me. I was able to connect with social-networking groups devoted to breast cancer: treatment, surgical options, recovery, communicating with children, finding doctors, and so on. Without social networking (and the internet as a whole), I would have been lost. Social media sites such as YouTube also provided me with the video diaries of women facing breast cancer, and with videos of surgical procedures so I’d know what was involved. My surgeons also had workshop presentations available for me to view via YouTube. Finally, when I was ready to make my diagnosis and associated plans public, social networking made that possible for me to efficiently achieve. And, wow, was I glad I did. Suddenly I was receiving well-wishes from people that really lifted my spirits, and receiving stories about others’ cancer process. Going public via my social networks not only helped me with my process, but seemed to help friends and family with their own experiences of cancer — past and present.

At the same time I received my cancer diagnosis, a friend was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. When I went into the hospital for a bilateral mastectomy, my friend went into the hospital to continue with a series of treatments to try to slow the very aggressive cancer. During this time, although her family had medical insurance, they were facing quite a lot of expenses associated with the cancer and treatment. So, they turned to social networking, in particular a site called YouCaring. There are many sites like this one emerging, and it is a positive way to use social networking to help (although, I’m sure there are times when these sites are misused); it’s an example of how social networking can be effectively used for fundraising — on a grand scale, and on a local and more personal scale. After setting up their fundraiser on YouCaring, the family then used their other social networks (such as Facebook) to get the word out to family and friends. They raised over $25,000 to help with the costs.

Later that spring, my friend died. The funds raised helped her family focus on their grief instead of the medical bills. Social networking did this…and made it possible for her friends and family to help — to contribute and support — in a meaningful way.

This is just one example of how social networking and media has supported my learning, and been a critical aspect of my personal learning network — YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. all playing important roles in my breast cancer PLN because they connected me with people and information to support me on a new learning journey. What about you? How has social networking and media supported your personal and/or professional learning? How is social networking and media incorporated into your PLN, if it is?

Five problems with social media: A response

How would you counter others’ concerns given your own lessons learned about using social networking and media?

Above is a great TED Talk from Paul Miller. In this TED Talk he shares his lessons learned as a result of disconnecting from the Internet for a year; see his The Verge article as well. I was reminded of this TED Talk when a friend started a 30-Day Writing Challenge on Facebook, and the first writing prompt was: 5 problems with social media. 

With permission, here are a couple of responses posted:

Response A:

Social Media is a scary thing. We’ve allowed out innermost thoughts and feelings to bleed out like we all have Turrets syndrome. The universality of it is wonderful, but also causes more stressed from around the world. It destroys relationships, and creates triggers. Worst of all, we’re all addicted to it.

Response B:

–It has pulled our focus away from daily living, from enjoying the small details of life when your quiet with your thoughts and being mindful.
–It wastes precious time and energy.
–It has artificially made what other people think and vague social acceptance too important.
–It causes grief and anxiety then we compare the lives of our social acquaintances to our own life.
–It does not begin to represent the whole picture of a persons life. It only represents a small controlled, socially acceptable glimpse.

Problems associated with social media, such as isolation and grief.

What is your reaction to these perceived problems? How do you think Paul Miller would respond given his lessons learned? How would you counter these problems given your own lessons learned about using social networking and media?

Although you are welcome to add a comment below, I recommend you start a new blog post or add a new page under the Our Individual Pages menu of our site*.

*Remember, you are now editors of this site, so you may add pages, blog posts, etc. I recommend starting a new blog post so you may begin working with the features and functionality of blogging and pages in WordPress. 🙂