The Digital Revolution? #MediaLit15
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A session encouraging us to think about how/whether the digital age is truly revolutionary.
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The Digital Revolution? #MediaLit15
- 1. THE DIGITALTHE DIGITAL REVOLUTION?REVOLUTION? Dr Bex Lewis Research Fellow in Social Media & Online Learning, CODEC, Durham University Director, Digital Fingerprint @drbexl @digitalfprint #MediaLit15 Image Credit: Stockfresh http://www.slideshare.net/drbexl/the- digital-revolution-medialit15
- 2. Session Overview •Truly Revolutionary? •“We Have No Choice”? •“Old” Media Digitises? •Powerful Questions?
- 5. Event Publicity, 2010: “There is a revolution sweeping across the globe, driven by the massive growth of the internet and internet related technologies. Known as the Digital Revolution it is on par with other great global shifts such as the Agrarian Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. And it is completely changing the landscape of how we communicate, how we influence, how we relate. This isn’t simply about coming to grips with a new technology to assist us in our work, but requires of us a fundamental shift in our processes, our structures and approaches. If we don’t respond then as Eric Hoffer states, we will find ourselves, ‘beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.’”
- 9. ‘The Digital Revolution’ The Barbican, 2014 https://youtu.be/r5Hi72Dwo0E http://j.mp/digrevphotos
- 13. The ‘Internet of Things’
- 15. Martha Lane-Fox, 2015 The internet is the organising principle of our age, touching all our lives, every day. As the late activist Aaron Swartz put it, “It’s not OK not to understand the internet anymore”. http://www.doteveryone.org.uk/
- 16. “WE HAVE NO CHOICE”?
- 19. A moral panic may be defined as an episode, often triggered by alarming media stories and reinforced by reactive laws and public policy, of exaggerated or misdirected public concern, anxiety, fear, or anger over a perceived threat to social order. http://www.ashgate.com/pdf/SamplePages/Ashgate-Research-Companion-to-Moral-Panics-Intro.pdf Image Credit: Stockfresh
- 20. Right back to Socrates… This discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves…you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing. (Phaedrus, Benjamin Jowett trans.) http://bigthink.co Image Credit: Wikipedia
- 22. Technological determinism is a reductionist theory that presumes that a society's technology drives the development of its social structure and cultural values. Wikipedia
- 23. Core Ideas: • The development of technology itself follows a predictable, traceable, inevitable path largely beyond cultural or political influence, a continual journey of progress • Technology in turn has inherent "effects" on societies, rather than socially conditioned or produced by society, where it has organised itself to support and further develop a new technology
- 24. The Medium is the Message (McLuhan) "the printing press, the computer, and television are not therefore simply machines which convey information. They are metaphors through which we conceptualize reality in one way or another. They will classify the world for us, sequence it, frame it, enlarge it, reduce it, argue a case for what it is like. Through these media metaphors, we do not see the world as it is. We see it as our coding systems are. Such is the power of the form of information.” Neil Postman, Teaching as a Conserving Activity (1979), p. 39 Neil Postman
- 25. The electric technology is within the gates, and we are numb, deaf, blind, and mute about its encounter with the Gutenberg technology, on and through which the American way of life was formed... Our conventional response to all media, namely that it is how they are used that counts, is the numb stance of the technological idiot. For the "content" of a medium is like the juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind. Marshall McLuhan (again)
- 27. Pew Report, 2012 quoting Jeff Jarvis, Journalist “Before the press … information was passed mouth-to-ear, scribe-to-scribe; it was changed in the process; there was little sense of ownership and authorship. In the five-century-long Gutenberg era, text did set how we see our world: serially with a neat beginning and a defined end; permanent; authored. Now, we are passing out of this textual era and that may well affect how we look at our world. That may appear to change how we think. But it won't change our wires.”
- 28. Even though in practice, face-to-face communication can, of course, be angry, negligent, resistant, deceitful and inflexible, somehow it remains the ideal against which mediated communication is judged as flawed. Prof Sonia Livingstone, Children and the Internet: Great Expectations and Challenging Realities. 2009, p26
- 31. Distopo-Future?
- 33. DISCUSS All technologies offer AFFORDANCES, CONSTRAINTS and change SOCIAL PRACTICES e.g. •What has been made possible with the introduction of mobile phones? •How have mobile phones limited our activities? •How have our social practices/habits, etc. changed since mobile phones? Image Credit: The Worship Cloud
- 35. Broadcasting At its inception, first as a company, in 1922, the BBC broadcast only on radio. Twenty years later, a television channel was added. Today, it provides 8 distinct TV services, 10 national and dozens of local radio stations and operates in a world of hundreds of channels with thousands of content providers. It runs one of the most visited websites in the world; the BBC’s international news websites now record over 230 million page impressions a month. The BBC World Service continues to maintain its position as the world’s leading broadcaster, transmitting programmes in English and 42 other languages to 146 million listeners per week. Digital TV has reached more than two-thirds of homes, and by 2012 the whole country will be receiving television in this way. And for millions, the convergence of media is already a reality. A Public Service for All: the BBC in the digital age (2006) https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/272256/6763.pdf
- 36. http://www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/communications-society/programs-topic/digital-broadcasting-public-interest/broadcasting- Citizenship and Community The market, being by definition the mere aggregation of individual decisions, takes no account of community and of the complex relations between citizenship, culture, and community. In particular, the fragmentation of audiences that pure market-driven broadcasting may produce could undermine both communities and cultures by limiting our shared experiences.
- 37. The Price of Plurality (Report, 2008) This in itself may appear strange as the internet ushers in a world of choice and diversity such that the world of analogue television could never have imagined. Even so, as communities become more disconnected, the debate over what makes a shared culture amidst diversity of individual choice has become closely linked to the issue of how public values will be reflected in broadcasting in the future. As a result, plurality has become the meeting point for a number of arguments about the future of our broadcasting institutions – the BBC licence fee, the public status of Channel 4, and the PSB status of ITV and Five. http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/broadcast/reviews-investigations/psb-review/psbplurality.pdf
- 39. 24/7 News Culture • Local TV newsrooms moved into the 24/7 mindset thirty years ago, when videotape, microwave and satellite technology made it possible to broadcast live or just-recorded video reports anytime, and from just about any place. Technology changed the culture and the content of TV news. Reporters could now “go live” from a legislative debate or a police chase; they could alert communities to a dangerous chemical spill or break news of a fatal car crash even before the next-of-kin knew it had happened. • Overnight ratings and viewer research told stations which stories and coverage attracted viewers, and drove more “live, local and late-breaking” reports. a diet of accidents, fires and crime; of too many events and too few issues.Media critics at newspapers lamented the resulting TV news menu… http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/leadership-management/what-great-bosses-know/80865/247-culture-tips-from-the-best-and-worst-of-tv/
- 43. Potential Drivers • user desire/need for shared rather than isolated TV experiences • a sense of connection with others/community • social comparisons (validation) • curiosity in seeking out others’ views • getting more information • getting access to content at a convenient time and place • to influence/interact with content • sense of acknowledgement from others • interest in debate/discussion (social inclusion, fun, information). http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/technology-research/2014/Second_Screens_Final_report.pdf
- 46. http://elitedaily.com/music/how-one-generation-was-able-to-kill-the-music-industry/593411/ Music
- 48. Sure Fire Blockbusters? Those days are all but gone. It was while on the press tour for The Lone Ranger (budget: $200m+) that director Gore Verbinski lamented the fact that the current Hollywood system supports small movies (courtesy of studios' marquee labels, such as Sony Classics) and massive blockbusters. To warrant a wide release of anything in between - a film that isn't a comedy - is increasingly tricky. After all, to pay for distribution and sufficient marketing to a get a film noticed is a heavy burden for a studio. Marketing strategies thus tend to be big, broad and wide, or slow builders. And where are you supposed to position a mid-budget feature in the midst of that? http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/blockbusters/27405/10-big-problems-with-modern-day-blockbuster-cinema-needs-intro#ixzz34FaCgQbI
- 50. The Aesthetics of Cinema Does the digital era spell the death of cinema as we know it? Or is it merely heralding its rebirth? Are we witnessing the emergence of something entirely new? Cinema in the Digital Age examines the fate of cinema in this new era, paying special attention to the technologies that are reshaping film and their cultural impact. Examining Festen (1998), The Blair Witch Project (1999), Timecode (2000), Russian Ark (2002), The Ring (2002), among others, this volume explores how these films are haunted by their analogue past and suggests that their signature element are their deliberate imperfections, whether those take the form of blurry or pixilated images, shakey camera work, or other elements reminding viewers of the human hand guiding the camera. Weaving together a rich variety of sources, Cinema in the Digital Age provides a deeply humanistic look at the meaning of cinematic images in the era of digital perfection.
- 51. Publishing …with 15 percent to 25 percent of book sales shifting to digital format by 2015 the book industry is heading into wholly new territory… Whatever the sector, the emergence of new reading devices suggests an interesting evolution in writing itself. Creating long-term value will not come from simply reformatting print content into digital words. Rather, the greatest opportunity lies in experimenting with such new formats as nonlinear, hybrid, interactive and social content, electronic modes that add motion, sound and direct reader interactions through technologies we will discuss below http://www.bain.co.uk/bainweb/PDFs/cms/Public/BB_Publishing_in_the_digital_era.pdf
- 52. What is the future for publishers? Polly Courtney (Self-published) 1. Fragmented readership – few books/sell big = doesn’t work 2. Risk-averse: publishers looking for sure-fire hits 3. Uses eBook sales data to adapt price re: demand 4. 3/1self-published/ published – who is undertaking quality control? Richard Charkin (Bloomsbury) 1. Slim, but ever-present chance of success = exciting 2. Shift in kind of risk taken: more books being published than ever before. 3. Agreed, but thought the product itself being devalued. 4. Even positive review in New York Sunday Times = 200 sales. Word of mouth = key. http://www.bytethebook.com/news/report-charkin-courtney
- 53. Discuss • What is your ‘lived experience’ of how ‘traditional’ media has changed? • Any other media you want to mention? • Are there consistent themes? • Which of those aspects could be seen to be negative? • What do you see that is positive/offering new opportunities? • How does this knowledge affect your ministry role?
- 54. POWERFUL QUESTIONS? Authority, Power, Privacy
- 55. “The fluidity and transience of online environments poses challenges to traditional authority structures, roles, and tools. The result has been that the internet is framed both as a threat to certain established roles and hierarchies and as a tool of empowerment by others.” – Heidi Campbell 2012
- 57. The One Show, February 2015
- 59. Our Data… http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2015/05/09/the-revolution-will-be-digitized/
- 61. Digital Divide?
- 63. Changing Values?
Editor's Notes
- 1 hour 40 mins session. Bex Lewis, Project Manage BB, seeking to encourage “bigger Bible conversations, online & offline”, background history mass comms, now seeking to engage digital theology… etc… Much of our life now composed of 1s & 0s … whether we like it or not…
- Qualman – just over 3 mins (business focused, but worth thinking about…) – is what we’re doing ‘marketing’ … http://youtu.be/zxpa4dNVd3c
- So, why is it important to get to grips with the digital?
- What does revolution mean for you? Transformational, unstoppable, winners/losers, changes things? Disruptive technology? Overthrow – can it still be so even if gradual (maybe talking about conversion here!) http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/french/liberty.jpg
- Always fascinated by the idea of ‘revolution’ … in many ways this particular dictionary saw itself as ‘revolutionary’ – it was removing many of the constraints of design that had been created by the need to get a lot of detail in a small amount of space – one definition, thin paper, can’t see the word in use, etc… Is this revolutionary, or is this building on what’s already there? As a historian fascinated by continuity and change … used to run a module on ‘great men in history’ – and that’s how we like to classify many things – the final product, rather than the stages that are on the journey – but definitely wouldn’t argue that thing move fast .. (challenge notion of digital native)…
- 1:02 minutes – large an artistic exhibition (some which has huge ££ behind them) which looked to see where we’d come from (starting with Pong in 1972) and also where the boundaries are being pushed… helps us look at the other half of the phrase – what is digital? “Digital technology originated as a means of conveying information electronically, using computers the size of automobiles. It has evolved into a force for expression and engagement on a level and scale beyond anything we might have dared imagine. As the pace of change continues to accelerate, the ‘digital’ has embedded itself within almost every aspect of contemporary life, reaching the remotest corners of the earth at an ever-increasing pace. Digital technology also now plays a major role in changing the world itself, with massive effects on society both positive and negative.” (Foreword to book accompanying the exhibition)
- A term you may see a lot of is ‘disruptive technology’ … as it says here… What drives change? Not just the invention of new technology – needs promotion, take-up use, a purpose, etc… not always that which was as expected – e.g. text messaging was a surprising side-use of new technology… What about Hollywood, visual effects – what else might have been drivers for change in which we sought technological solutions? Importance of CONTINUITY and CHANGE – is it just about numbers that contributes to REVOLUTION? http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Disruptive_technology_WikiWorld.png
- So, what kind of things are disruptive, and can you see how these are already changing our world? When does the balance start to tip (as BBC Click said a few weeks ago – the 3D printer is something we all know about now, but most of us only know about a few odd plastic things, but they were demonstrating experiments with new ‘fabrics’ that will allow e.g. the skull to be rebuilt… (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05tr0md) https://thumbnails-visually.netdna-ssl.com/mckinsey-global-institute-12-disruptive-technologies_5277d72d35513_w1500.png
- Another use I’ve seen 3D tech used for = personalisation (which we’re getting increasingly used to) for dolls with disabilities …
- Or e.g. “The Internet of Things” – the NEST heater that learns when to efficiently heat your house, fridge that orders milk before you’re out, oven then turns on with food ready etc… basically lots of devices are connected digitally – and with the invention of the super-cheap Raspberry Pi people are using them to monitor/activate all kinds of things… http://theconnectivist-img.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Unknown.png
- If you want to hear about more of this kind of thing, check out this conference that CODEC has been to over last 4-5 years – can watch this years talks (aside from Pixar) as recordings – some mind-blowing, some interesting, some inspiring, some weird…
- You’ll see that we’ve talk about larger than ‘the internet’, but the internet is the level at which most of us are connected … hear this call from Martha Lane-Fox in the Dimbleby Lecture (Science Museum) earlier this year … Just because we’re not active on the internet doesn’t mean we’re not on there – what would you find if you Googled yourself (bearing in mind that Google is more personalised these days)? So, we’ve left the question of ‘revolution’ open …
- (Technological determinism & affordances) Historian – continuity and change … the only certainty is change.. 9.15 9.35
- Let’s see a couple of images that have circulated recently…
- People feel out of control, that things are moving too fast for them – the end is nigh and there’s nothing you can do about it … Newspapers headlines don’t help this … panic – trolls are taking over, everything’s changed, we’re out of control, we can’t manage everything that’s going on… We talk about, e.g. losing body contact/whites of eyes – but did you have that on the telephone – we’re all learning how to live in this world, but it’s not an unachievable goal… and the more that we focus on the negative/being defensive, the less we are looking out for the opportunities… As a historian = continuity and change are staples of time immemorial…
- Socrates – worried that writing would move away from memory (how much is hysterical hype? Does it matter – makes the point we need here…)
- 2:46
- Note that this is the understanding that most people will have of this – few will go beyond it – and it’s used as an establishing definition in a number of other books dealing with the subject … (Pete asked yesterday who uses Wikipedia any more…) Wikipedia = not inherently bad, but need to use it with criticality – as with all other sites.. The term is believed to have been coined by Thorstein Veblen (1857–1929), an American sociologist. – Karl Marx was a huge supporter of the idea…
- Strict adherents to technological determinism do not believe the influence of technology differs based on how much a technology is or can be used. Instead of considering technology as part of a larger spectrum of human activity, technological determinism sees technology as the basis for all human activity… compare that to the book ‘Sex, Bombs and Burgers’ which claims that the largest number of technological developments in the last century of so have all been pushed by the sex industry, the military, or fast foods… when Tim & I talked = he also mentioned religion, but that’s probably going further back … as we saw with printing… Think of e.g. the VHS/Betamax … the Betamax = commonly believed to be the better technology, but clever marketing/economic discounts by Sony meant that VHS won the battle of the formats…
- McLuhan’s famous mantra ‘the medium is the message’ pithily captures his thesis that the historical points at which a new medium (such as print or electronic) is adopted corresponds with significant shifts in both culture and distribution of power. Media revolution takes place when a new medium sweeps away the previous one but the content does not substantially change or is not more potent or significant than before. Hence the medium is more powerful as a force on perception and culture than the content. http://designerlythinking.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/what-would-marshall-mcluhan-make-of-twitter/ the technology SHAPES the way that we interact with things – it encourages us to develop particular activities – e.g. radio only requires audio, but TV requires audio-visual… and we start to use those more developed senses in other areas of our lives…
- Makes things possible, but doesn’t make them inevitable… or does it?
- Wonder how this works with other philosopher’s notion of a ‘worldview’ … and part of the reason CODEC exists, is we can challenge the idea that we are helpless in the arms of technology =- we have a worldview of faith = how does that challenge the notion that we are helpless… do we not make choices about when we press ‘send’!
- Also possible to be quite ‘optimistic’ about what the future holds – the digital not the panacea for everything, but amazed at how much this forecasts what is coming – in a smaller form! How much does it tell us about life in the 1960s though?! (3 mins)
- Similarly today’s crop of techno-distopian futures tell us more about our concerns today (esp these more YA books), but e.g. Minority Report teams visited futurelabs to find out what was in the pipeline, which is why so much of it looks familiar today…. Anyway – that’s more Pete’s area at the end of the week, but what I’m interested in is the idea of whether they seem to offer a choice, or whether the technology is the be all and end all .. Usually resistance, right? Always a question about who it’s revolutionary for – the individual, or the society?
- People do like to stick to what they know .. How do we think around that? http://circainnovate.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/quote-henry-ford.png
- Livingstone - P27 “…the specific affordances and constraints of specific media may be shaped by a distinctive logic whose character is established historically and culturally through the development not only of practices and technologies but also of institutions of power and whose sphere of influence extends far beyond the specific mode of communication they control.” Print culture has particular associations – e.g. with institutions of learning, etc which mediates experiences of education/work Edward Gibson – psychologist - according to his theory, perception of the environment inevitably leads to some course of action. Affordances, or clues in the environment that indicate possibilities for action, are perceived in a direct, immediate way with no sensory processing. Examples include: buttons for pushing, knobs for turning, handles for pulling, levers for sliding, etc. Physical constraints, logical constraints (based on argument), but also cultural constraints (e.g. the ‘save’ icon looking like a floppy disk, although they haven’t been used for years… http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/affordances_and.html No fixed answers = to think about! Think also e.g. about how other factors (culture, economics, politics – may have limited what the TECHNOLOGY made possible) … Just 2 mins to discuss, then feed in briefly! E.g. thinking we make more flexible plans, cancel more … what happens when your battery runs out? Do you feel lost/relieved, etc.? You could ask this question (and futurists do) about e.g. driverless cars, etc.
- (Broadcasting, newspapers, music, cinema, publishing) – notion challenge idea of ‘new media’ – what does that define … every media has been ‘new’ at some point… 9.35 9.55
- BBC = biggest broadcasting organization for radio & TV – first created in early 20th century … how is it adapting, changing, etc.. Vision of entertain, educate, & inform still underlying it, etc… does that still seem to hold centrally … Big questions about whether BBC should be thrown out into ‘market’ http://www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/communications-society/programs-topic/digital-broadcasting-public-interest/broadcasting-
- Aspen Institute in US – emphasising the ‘dangers’ of fragmentation of what we see … so many channels, and the BBC is seen as somewhere that this is held together!
- Choice, Diversity and Broadcasting Institutions in the Digital Age (power structures similar to offline … still need to challenge that…, and remember also that Jacquie said yesterday that BBC created a sense of what it was to be British (as a British historian, I think there were other things beforehand that called people to war, etc. but for another day!) …
- On the other hand, are complaints about what is covered, how quickly, in what depth, from what angle – are these new complaints? The importance of 24/7 media changing the pressure for the kind of content that is covered. Be thinking about whether a good argument?
- Has this changed what we focus on … (that joke – slightly beautiful people telling us about news stories we read about 7 hours ago on the internet…) … and newspapers (this was 2007) – started to talk about how they needed to deal with ‘feeding the beast’…
- Grwoth of ‘second screen’ – I stopped TV for a while, now quite often watch live to participate in live convos… also allows conversation to continue asynchronously – this report somewhere has a graph re which require synchronous & which asynchronous!
- Are we seeing more interactivity? Are we all getting more of a chance to engage in the conversation? Is anyone listening to us? This conversation is merely layered upon a pre-existing format, with some threading in but…
- This programme built to ENCOURAGE people to participate … and is built into the show’s format… (advertising revenue!)
- It is worth noting first that many such drivers predate second screen; many relate directly to the social nature of media consumption.
- Go from 0.37 to 2:28
- Allows niche news sources…
- Interesting range of sources… Rogers arguments that continues to adapt, evolve and in fact better than before – and in fact major companies are still in control – (similar arguments about e.g. the economy – necessity if the mother of invention). Classically you’ll hear that ££ comes from the shows, rather than the material itself, but there are huge opportunities for subversion (and confusion as to
- Questions of piracy (easier to record, but what about more substantive content), etc… sure-fire blockbusters… QUOTE “Cinema was, and still is, about the creative process, where storytellers have ideas and see stories in their heads, where actors give life to characters, and together they take the audience on a journey.” That was cinema then (first days), and that is cinema now… what HAS changed is that e.g. used to have to hire in thousands of horses to create a wild west chase – can now do it with a digital engineer…
- Not convinced 3D has even taken off yet either – it’s been around since the 1880s – not seen one yet that I’ve thought was worth it for adding to the storyline … and this is my biggest problem!
- Again, it’s possible to get a perfect digital copy, and if you see a number of e.g. Shrek films – they will say that technically it was possible, but it didn’t give them the feel that they wanted, and so the latest tech was rejected for a particular look… Note the quote we had re surefire blockbusters noted that too many films are making use of technology for technology’s sake (they mentioned Man of Steel – spoiling the narrative structure of the story. (http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/blockbusters/27405/10-big-problems-with-modern-day-blockbuster-cinema-needs-intro#ixzz34FaabN4R). He also mentions that the digital film-making process itself means that things are being pushed through much faster, without time to think about things… which believes means quality of films suffers.
- In the same report, 41% people hadn’t gone for e-readers because they weren’t prepared to abandon ‘the paper experience’… (Pete’s done research in his time on the future of the book, etc…) think about what this means e.g. for those reading the Bible etc – tools such as YouVersion – does the question have to be either/or – how far do we deal with “what is”?
- People being offered book contracts without any idea of title, knowing that it will sell… content almost immaterial..
- Economic underlying all of this…
- Importance of failure?
- Who do you listen to, online? Question applies in areas such as education (e.g. MOOCs), religion (which are the official sites?), medicine (what is good advice?)… Can people, like in education, cherry pick the bits of religion that they come across online – is this a new question for the digital, or a different way in to an age old question?
- Do the power relationships that already exist offline simply translate online? If you’re already known offline….
- … you know, if you’re featured on primetime TV – it can have a considerable impact on your digital presence (and your book sales!)
- With a little less ‘choice’ … more likely to be overheard, recorded, etc. but etiquette is remarkably resilient and it’s not a free for alll .
- Larry Smarr quantifies 150 parameters in his body – from the obvious such as heartbeat, to e.g. bacteria in his intestines – intention of ‘optimising’ his body and living longer… (note Benjamin Franklin 200+ years ago noting 13 personal virtues to develop his moral character – contemporary culture = more concerned with the body than the morals?) Most don’t go this far, but the latest iPhone has a ‘health tracker’ built in – if (ha!) this data is collected – in aggregate – can lead to e.g. decisions on healthcare needs, redirection of pathways, groups of disease, etc. although are queries about whether this makes us ‘narcissists’, how accurate the data is, who owns/has access to it, used in legal cases, dangers of surveillance… BIG QUESTIONS – privacy bartered for our own ‘security’ and ease of use of technology…
- And when we stop living … “Dr Coulton said: “In today’s digital age, when we die we often leave behind a digital legacy. Relatives are no longer only considering what to do with books, tea sets, vases and toolboxes but they are also thinking about online social remnants such as digital photos, videos, status updates and emails.” I know that those of you who’ve done a module on death & dying have looked at implications of some of this on e.g. funerals, mourning, etc..
- Questions of affordability, learning, infrastructure, etc. does the gap widen? There’s a qualitative difference between someone who gets 1 hour on a computer, and someone who gets ongoing access on a newly updated machine … but - do we give up? Digital literacy an important part of this – e.g. see kids who know how to shut down their privacy, and to use peer-to-peer platforms such as Snapchat and WhatsApp rather than more public platforms have benefits… http://blog.nclr.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Digital-Divide.jpg
- Now, I’m going to leave that there, as I suspect that this is some of where Marika is going in her session later today…
- Remember also that the digital changes the value that we attach to things that were possibly once meaningful – e.g. a handwritten letter is now highly valued as many of us only get bills through the door, and much online material has become shorter, faster, to the point, etc… So much to think about right?! So with that…
- So ... More discussions… who’s going to kick us off?