Its creator, 27-year-old Brendan O'Connor calls it "CreepyDOL" (because it is certainly creepy). You could also call it Personal PI, since anyone with a portable, very hide-able little device like this would hardly need to hire a private investigator. In fact, this spying device written up in the New York Times indicates not only that the private-eye business is on the wane, but also that we have … [Read more...] about State of privacy illustrated (by a tech-literate law student)
Ethics & Etiquette
Facebook adding accountability to controversial content
As Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg put it at the "All Things Digital" conference this week, "Put your name on your sexism" – if you're going to engage in behavior or sharing that's offensive to others on your page, your name's going to be on that page now. Sandberg was responding to a reporter's question about Facebook's announcement the previous day that it would be working with women's rights … [Read more...] about Facebook adding accountability to controversial content
For progressive parenting: Great book
It takes a team of strong firefighters to manage and direct a fire hose with all the pressurized water coming through it. That's a good metaphor for today's media, which seems to come at us at that level of pressure but less regulated than ever because produced by literally anybody; it's user-driven, and for teens the most interesting (and challenging) parts are self- and peer-driven. So, more and … [Read more...] about For progressive parenting: Great book
So we’re all becoming cyborgs, Dr. Turkle?
"We want to customize our lives…," "It is as though we have all put ourselves on cable news…," "We seem willing to dispense with [other] people altogether…." All these dire, dour, disrespectful pronouncements about this undifferentiated mass called "we" from highly respected psychologist Sherry Turkle at MIT in the New York Times. Where is her acknowledgment that the way we use all the devices, … [Read more...] about So we’re all becoming cyborgs, Dr. Turkle?
Assume disinhibition’s forever, about everybody?
"Letting people remain anonymous while engaging in fundamentally public behavior encourages them to behave badly." That's according to Farhad Manjoo in "Troll, Reveal Thyself" at Slate.com. Really?! Not everyone, certainly. We know about online disinhibition (but see "Net use may be making us nicer: Studies"). And the establishment of social media's social norms is nothing if not a work in … [Read more...] about Assume disinhibition’s forever, about everybody?