We need a balance between: Privacy, Security, and Anonymity

     Anonymity in cyberspace is a major concern for the global community. One side feels that people should have enough conviction in their beliefs to state them without hiding behind anonymity and the other side feels that it is vital for the protection of freedom of speech. 

     Even though I know free speech is essential to our autonomy and to a democratic society, I think the problem emerges because there are people who don’t speak responsibly. This brings really devastating consequences, because words can harm grievously and for long time. 

     We can not use our freedom of speech and the possibility to have anonymity in certain spaces to destroy reputations or to invade people’s privacy. There are circumstances under which anonymity is necessary, those situations are and should be limited. An example is when secret information is being revealed or someone is risking something in order to disclose matters of public interest. 

     In general, I think people should be responsible for what they say. The Internet is a powerful medium and anonymity can be both a blessing and a curse. As a journalism student I think there is a reason why journalists are strongly discouraged from quoting anonymous sources. WHY? Because it prevents accountability! 

    We need balance between privacy, security and anonymity. Don’t you think? 

Web 2.0: The beginning of the Information Revolution

     Even if there are some people who believe the Internet oversimplifies, I think it creates a very complex environment. The web and more exactly the hyperlinks which matches content can transform and create new information. The evolution of the Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 created very significant social changes. Web 2.0 is not just a way of describing changes on the Internet. It is a way of describing changes in the users behavior. 

     If we look at the information revolution we can observe massive changes taking place around the world. One of the most noticeable are the local initiatives of individual information activists. One of the most recent examples is what happened in Egypt. The protests were planned through Facebook, Twitter and they gathered and used information on the web in different ways. 

     When I watched the video “The Machine is Us/ing Us” all of these started to make more sense to me. I realized that WE are de WEB. It is all about social networks, blogs, the global sharing of information and knowledge that we create. So from this perspective we could say that the Internet reflects what the users want it to be. 

Don’t you think?

With this in mind I remember a popular metaphor that describes the search of information as an attempt to drink water from a fire hose: the problem before was too little information, and now it is too much. Everybody is constantly tagging, blogging, linking, networking… transforming and adding new information. 

How do you think is the best way to manage this information overload?  

Maybe We Just Need : NEW LITERACIES (W9)

     As I have said before there’s always this idea of the Good, the BAD and the ugly about new media. There’s always two sides for every story, right? When I read Nicholas Carr Article ” Is Google Making Us Stupid” and some of the responses to it, I started thinking which side of the argument I would defend. But I was stuck in a conondrum, because I feel both have really strong arguments.

    It is true (at least I experience that too) what Carr says about the new generation of multitaskers. Sometimes focus and concentration is hard to get. We always want to divide our attention… First we have to check our email… Then facebook… Then maybe twitter, blogs or any other source to get news… Then we have to do homework… Then check again because in seconds you can miss A LOT! Information on the Internet moves just too fast.

     But in the other hand I also think the Internet is a great tool! It impulses us to interact, test, compare, relate content and actually reach analytical conclusions. A new IDC survey finds that the Internet users spend almost twice as much time online as they do watching TV.  As a journalism student I think it is amazing how people is now more connected to news than ever before. I remember people were always saying: ” People don’t read anymore”. Well… That’s changing again. The Internet includes audio, video, still photography and the printed word in a single page. You can find everything you need on the Internet!

     Both of the arguments could be right. That’s why I think there is no perfect answer for this question. It is all a matter of choice and of getting new literacies to use the Internet in positive rather than negative ways.  Here I found some interesting ones:

- Screen Literacy (Involving learning new graphics and aymbols)
-Navigation Literacy
-Connectivity and Context Literacy
-Skepticism
-The Value of Contemplative Time
-Ethical Literacy

Do you feel the same? Or what side would you agree with?

A deep look at Minority Report (W7)

     Steven Spielberg’s movie “Minority Report” creates a really interesting view of dystopian and utopian relationships with technology. The role of technology is questioned when important ethical issues arise and it creates a dilemma regarding the appropriate use and regulations of new technologies, in this specific case neurotechnology.  

     When I watched the movie, immediately I related it with Danah Boyd’s analysis of monetization and technology. Through history scholars have discovered that technologies tend to reinforce the existing distribution of power and privilege and most of the times excessive power leads to corruption. In the case of this film the system was created for the benefit of the community, supporting the priorities of most people. But behind this intention individual interests were also taking place, generating corruption in the pre-crime system. 

     The film reflects a dystopic vision of how technologies influence human interactions, creating awareness of ideologies to which we are exposed as technology advances. Spielberg goes beyond the social and personal levels; he expands the concept into a political warning. 

Technology’s Physical Impact on Landscapes

     I have always thought that one of the most incredible things about technology is it’s capacity to connect people. BUT I realized that I was not aware of the many ways in which it disconnects us from things happening in our surroundings. Have you ever thought about how people make the products you buy and use every single day? Think about all the commodities you have, by this I mean: Laptops, cellphones, jewelry, TV… Anything you can think of. Most of those exist because of mining. 

     When I watched Edward Burtynsky talk on “Manufactured Landscapes”, I remembered about this big issue going on in my country: Colombia, because of people’s decisions about technology and the environment. The central polemic emerges because of acid mine drainage and the pollution of water supplies. More importantly, there’s also the destruction of water-producing ecosystems. The mining industry affects the sources and availability of water in an era of climate change. Some people (I guess the ones that are informed) are starting to worry about this big problem.  Their message: It is really important that the industry starts weighting the enormous water consumption and the impact on Colombian landscapes. 

     Starting to inform people, I think it’s a good start. As Burtynsky said, we become disconnected with the consequences of technology on our surroundings and we need someone to reconnect us with it. It is not hard to think of why we are so disconnected, as a journalism student I can say that sometimes information is not as free as we think it is. Corporations, shareholders, monetization is always behind the scenes! 

     We really need to think about this transformation in our landscapes caused by technology and try to do something about it. If we follow Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs we could say that to be in the top we are leaving behind the bottom. Humanity is creating commodities, innovations, creativity, recognition, status… but risking and putting in danger basic needs like: WATER!

Does that makes sense?

SE HABLA ESPAÑOL: Mineria contaminante a cielo abierto en Colombia

When your footprints are being tracked, you are careful where to step

     When I read the article “Library Of Congress Will Save Tweets” I was surprised. I started to ask questions… Is it possible to collect a flood of 55 million messages per day? For how long are they going to do this? What is the purpose behind it? Well… The answer is simple Tweets are becoming part of history. 

     I started to get a better understanding of this when I found Jonathan Harris, a great artist and computer scientist who makes online art that captures the world’s expression and gives us a glimpse of the soul of the Internet. We just have to look at his work named “We Feel Fine”, to understand the amount of digital information that is just there, on the Internet and how people can use it to find out different things. 

     I think it is very interesting and could be very useful in many areas. But we have to be careful on what we post on blogs, Twitter and other spaces on the Internet and keep on mind privacy. There is an invisible audience out there that we can not forget.

     I just wanted to share this with all of you… Because when your footprints are being tracked, you  are careful where to step! Now that you know this, try to think before you post something because everyone is able to see and use the content with different purposes. 

Facebook: Privacy Issues

     I have just begun to realize the importance of becoming conscious media users. As days go by I start to think more about how the Internet and different technologies are shaping our brain and the way we interact with everything around us. I have also started to realize we can’t believe on everything we find on the Internet, we have to think analytically. We need to debate everything and trust less in what they are showing us every single day of our lives. As technologies advance, they create ideologies that seem to be ahistorical and timeless. Changes in technology sometimes are too fast to follow, maybe the “Baby boomers” and “X” generations might still ask how did all this technologies suddenly seem to be everywhere at once? But for new generations it is now hard to imagine life without TV, cellphones or the Internet. Technology has been there always and not just to the privilege few, but to everyone. 

     As we talked in my New media and Technology class, diverse new technologies have always generated utopian hopes: “New technology will bring universal wealth, enhanced freedom, revitalized politics,satisfying community, and personal fulfillment.” But sometimes we have to make a pause and think if this ideologies to which we are being exposed are as good or bad as they seem. I think some technologies are dominating our lives and undermining our critical thinking. We still have the ability to make final decisions, but a lot of our decisions are informed by data provided by this technologies. Again the question is: Program or be Programmed?

      In today’s media-saturated world this is very important to take into account. We just have to look at FACEBOOK. Many facebook users or I might say consumers, are worried about privacy. Even though many people think they can control what people see by changing privacy settings, most people don’t know who’s getting access to their data and for what purpose. Even if not all consumers are aware of it, the Web and specially this Social media (where we put a lot of information about ourselves), presents a rich and powerful tool for advertising. 

If you want to see more about this look at the video I posted:

Facebook: Privacy and Advertising