This is the first of a series of collaborative resource building documents for NetNarr 2018. Contributors were asked to add to an open Google Doc any open article, blog post, video about the issues surrounding identity, privacy, surveillance, related to digital elements in our lives.
Contributors: @tiffsanto, @helterskelliter, @cogdog, @mcorbettwilson, @Justinsightfuls, @dogtrax, @JasmineDA18, @rissacandiloro, @BlaqueBeauty_30
Tracking
Tracking Data Traces | Me and My Shadow (Sinnwerkstatt, tactical technology collective)
https://myshadow.org/tracking-data-traces
This website provides how to and information on how you are tracked. It also discusses who is tracking you and why they do so. This site touches upon the small print and what we agree to when we go on any site. (@tiffsanto)
The Punk Rock Internet: How DIY Rebels Are Working to Replace the Tech Giants (John Harris, The Guardian)
This article examines and discusses some alternatives to using the Internet that are currently in-the-works. In exploring their complexity, both positive aspects–such as better privacy, security, and personal safety–and negative aspects–such as minimal intervention or even ability to intervene (due to the lack of centralization of information) even in the case of something like the proliferation of child pornography–are discussed. (@helterskelliter)
Identity
Re-Evaluating My Digital Self (Laura Pasquini, TechKNOWtools blog)
https://techknowtools.com/2017/12/20/my-digital-self/
The author questions her own use patterns of online tools and social media and offers a suggestion for a regular practice of auditing one’s position (@cogdog)
A Personal Cyberinfrastructure (Gardner Campbell, EDUCAUSE Review)
https://er.educause.edu/articles/2009/9/a-personal-cyberinfrastructure
Nearly a decade ago, the author and other learning technologists theorized education would not be changed by technology until each student acquired a “Domain of One’s Own” and become their own system administrators for their “own digital lives.” Of course, he also envisioned institutions where all faculty led by example and students had access to templates, pedagogical scaffolding and technical support. (@mcorbettwilson)
Technical Details
No boundaries for user identities: Web trackers exploit browser login managers (Gunes Acar, Freedom to Tinker)
https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2017/12/27/no-boundaries-for-user-identities-web-trackers-exploit-browser-login-managers/
While a very technical explanation, this sheds light on how the very tools we use to manage our online accounts (password managers) are suspect to hacking via malicious scripts hidden on sites that look like login ones. (@cogdog)
What apps next? Publishers and developers embrace ‘unprintable’ fiction (Richard Lea, The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/03/publishers-developers-digital-technology-unprintable-fiction-google-editions-play
A lovely article that talks about the inverse of putting printed books into a digital format; taking books that wouldn’t translate too well into text and giving it the same level narrative and visual qualities that people seek in printed books. (@Justinsightfuls)
How to Delete Your Online Existence, But Save All Your Data (David Nield, Gizmodo) https://fieldguide.gizmodo.com/how-to-delete-your-online-existence-but-save-your-data-1792820425
Some helpful advice for moving off social media but still keeping some of your “stuff” that you created, and the data that is you. Is it fool-proof? Unlikely. But it’s something. (@dogtrax)
The GIF as an increasingly important visual communication tool – Future Tense – ABC Radio National (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/futuretense/the-gif-as-an-increasingly-important-visual-communication-tool/9370424
An informative article on the importance of GIFs and how it is used as form of communication, as well as conveying all different types of meanings. It is explained that it makes modern communication easier and GIFs are often misunderstood. You can explore everything there is needed to know about GIFs. (@tiffsanto)
Social Impact of Digital Life
The 29 Stages Of A Twitterstorm In 2018 (Tom Phillips, BuzzFeed)
https://www.buzzfeed.com/tomphillips/twitterstorm-2018
A completely satirical (but if you read the comments you might guess some miss that it is satire) play of our a misunderstanding or poorly worded tweet can get twisted out of shape, and take a life on its own in Twitter. Supposedly an ad for a gendered pink t-shirt with sexist language on a product site gets vially retweeted, and ends up including harassment of another twitter account with a similar name, hate speech, posturing, and multiple attempts of apologies which inflame the situation even more. It feels real. (@cogdog)
Is Technology Addictive? (Audrey Watters)
http://audreywatters.com/2018/01/16/is-tech-addictive
The author questions wither addiction language is appropriate to describe our relationships to technology and asks if the designers of technology are buying into BF Skinner’s idea that there is no free will (The author disagrees, so do I). (@cogdog)
Post Truth: Why Facts Don’t Matter Anymore (Derek Muller aka Veritasium, Youtube)
A discussion style lecture that explores the increasing relationship between “truth” or facts and social media algorithms. Essentially, the question being asked here is why is it more difficult than ever to agree on what’s factual or true when it has never been easier to look it up and check? (Spoiler: there is no answer) (@helterskelliter)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvk2PQNcg8w
The Positive Impact of Social Networking Sites on Society (By Dave Parrack)
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/positive-impact-social-networking-sites-society-opinion/
This post looks at how social media has influenced connection between people, and a new method to staying in touch. It is hard in such a busy society to always reach someone, but now there are small ways in which you can reach a person every day which strengths connection between humans. I felt it was an interesting and well written piece and offered a lot of great insight on the importance of the social side to life. Keeping connection with the outside world increases positivity for people on a day by day basis. (@JasmineDA18)
A New Challenger to Twitter’s Walled Garden: Mastodon (Georgia Young, Free Software Foundation)
https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/a-new-challenger-to-twitters-walled-garden-mastodon
Mastodon is federated, which is difficult to describe. Simply put: no company owns the data or the network or the connections. It is all dispersed. Mastodon is small but lively, with folks fed up with Twitter and Facebook and other spaces that seek to monetize our data and our privacy and our connections. Will Mastodon survive? Hopefully. (@dogtrax)
Impact of Digital Media on Individual, Organizations and Society (no author listed, World Economic Forum)
http://reports.weforum.org/human-implications-of-digital-media-2016/section-3-impact-of-digital-media-on-individuals-organizations-and-society/
The author explains that, for all of the positive effects of digital media, there are significant negative effects as well. Digital media can harm mental and behavioral development, and even metal and physical health. Digital media makes it so that society is always connected, which the author terms “hyperconnectivity.” They claim that this constant contact has the potential to negatively impact patterns of interaction. I find this to be fairty unsurprising. (@rissacandiloro)
Positive Aspects
Your Life, Personalized (Sachin Monga, medium.com)
https://medium.com/@sachinmonga/your-life-personalized-6174b2a20f31
The author asserts that a future of “personalized identity management” meaning authentication via mobile technology devices, is “inevitable”. The privacy issues are dismissed in one paragraph. One might suspect the author works for a company that will benefit from this future (@cogdog)
Apple And Walmart Inject New Life Into Sleepy E-Book Market (Bill Rosenblatt, Forbes.com)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billrosenblatt/2018/01/28/apple-and-walmart-inject-new-life-into-sleepy-e-book-market/#52f8c02b499c
As someone who loves both technology and written works, it’s partially an annoyance to see how hard it is for the two to get along so well, especially in the area of e-books. Apple doesn’t have the most thriving book industry, but then again so does no one else, really. It’s beacause of this that I am glad to see them taking steps in the right direction regardless. (@Justinsightfuls)
Digital media is having ‘largely positive’ effects on professional lives (Sara Bean, WorkplaceInsight.net
http://workplaceinsight.net/20941-2/
The author begins by noting the common complaints about technology in the workplace: namely, that it contributes to worker distraction and lower worker productivity. That being said, it also helps workers to connect in new ways, and digital technology has opened up new opportunities to get work done. (@rissacandiloro)
Privacy and Surveillance: (ACULA)
https://www.aclu.org/issues/national-security/privacy-and-surveillance
This article talks about how privacy is a growing threat in our society. Our biggest government agencies along with state and city officials intrude on private communications via a wide database targeting innocent people. The government collects this information and look for suspicious behavior; if they find something suspicious they’ll put you on a certain watchlist. It’s relevant because it relates to the Do Not Track video that we discussed in class. (@BlaqueBeauty_30).
This was collaborative assignment for the 2018 Networked Narratives course http://netnarr.arganee.world taught at Kean University by Alan Levine
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