Monday, March 9, 2015

Online Filters

Beware Online Filter Bubbles by Eli Pariser emphasizes how the internet has become customized to its users. This means it has become increasingly convenient for users to use the internet. Pariser thinks it is a major problem that the internet is catering to the individuals needs as opposed to bringing forward the things everyone needs to know such as current events and the news. Pariser is explaining how the Internet isn'y necessarily allowing us to connect to one another, but rather it is creating limited news. He is preaching that search engines should allow the searchers to be aware of all of the filtering. 

In comparison, Mind Control & the Internet by Sue Halpern explains how search engines use algorithms to provide what comes up when we search. The filters include popularity and user preference. Just like Pariser, Halpern insinuates that it is unfair for Google, or any search engine to do this filtering for us. It also follows any Google users online activities to provide more accurate search filtering. Halpern explains how the internet has become a place where there is absolutely no privacy.  


In contrast,  Clive Thompson's article Clive Thompson on High-Bandwidth Buddies explains how individuals are ignorant about what is going on in the world, and only read news having to do with things that relate to them. Thompson suggests that this may be beneficial in the job industry. This is very different from what Parsier and Halpern, because they don't see any benefits from the search filtering. But otherwise, Thompson agrees with them believes that just "befriending" / looking at things that are similar to what is comfortable for you just means that you'll never be able to leave your comfort zone, or leave ignorance.

How Obama Really Did It by David Talbot

How Obama Really Did It by David Talbot is all about how the Obama campaign reached out to the younger generations by using modern technology, allowing them to easily support his run. In order to expose himself to the online community he has to promote himself using pop culture. He used connections with celebrities, social networking, and Youtube videos. 


This campaign method was a new way to run for president. Free advertising was able to manipulate the online generation to support Obama. He reached out to a community that never existed before, the online community. He even went as far as to text message potential voters. This was very tactical due to the fact that most people are always holding their phones and constantly checking text messages. It could be argued MyBO campaign is the main reason Obama had the support of the younger generation. This doesn't mean that it was the main reason that he was eventually victorious, but he was successful in creating a new way to campaign through the digital world.

Monday, March 2, 2015

Growing up Online

There were many issues raised in the PBS Documentary "Growing Up Online". Most of the warnings were directed towards parents, and how they should teach their children the dangers of social networking and online relationships. They discuss how teens are able create an entire secret identity online, and in some cases would be outraged if their parents even knew about it. Parents should be aware of what their children are posting and who is able to see their posts. Most of the time, the children are not even aware of who they are exposing themselves to when they are posting online.

The stories shared in the documentary are different cases of teens trying to escape their own reality and enter their own world online. They are afraid to interact, or "be themselves" around the people they know, so they are forced to find and make friendships online with people that can relate to them. This can be dangerous, and even fatal in some cases. It is risky business to befriend strangers, and even more so, to do so by posting intimate details about their lives. This leads to cyber-bullying, and even physical bullying. In conclusion, parents should definitely be aware and should constantly be asking their children what they are doing online. They might even consider going as far as following all of their children's blogs, profiles...etc.