Program or Be Programmed Ch 6-10 Response

The idea of having an online identity is something I've thought about a lot. Like the author, when I first started using social media I only used my real name and was relatively careless about what I put online or whether my profile was public. However as time has gone on I have become less inclined to use social media at all, due in part to stories we hear in the news about people losing their jobs due to posts on their social media. I've never tried to be offensive or objectionable online but oftentimes people don't realize that their posts might be misconstrued to mean something they didn't originally intend. The biggest factor for me was thinking about how potential employers could easily find my name online and possibly find a reason to not hire me. Because of all this I have taken steps in the past to 'preen' my social media presence as well as remove my full name from much of it.

I also completely agree with the author's sentiment that anonymity online or elsewhere can often bring out the worst in people. I think we see too often - it seems like every week at this point - someone online being the target of an internet hate mob. A lot of the time these stem from an individual posting an offensive or inflammatory remark, often a joke that goes too far. No doubt, people have a right to point out to someone that their joke hurt them in some way, however I think these situations oftentimes result in massive influxes of harassment towards someone that would not occur in person. I believe we really need to examine ourselves and our reactions to these sort of things and determine if we are really acting in good faith, or just jumping on board with the mob.

Comments

  1. paetynnSeptember 16, 2018 at 8:12 PM

    I agree with you on the statements regarding your internet hate mob presence in correlation with anonymity. People form hate "groups" all the time for literally no reason. I see it on twitter every day. Recently I've seen it a lot for hate towards musical artists like Ariana Grande and Russ. People shoot hateful comments at them daily, but in person would probably ask for a photo to post on their Instagram. Someone might not have any reason for hating at all, but if everyone else it, so should they, right?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Taylor BiermanSeptember 16, 2018 at 11:32 PM

    I think you made a really important point about how people's social media accounts could potentially cause issues when looking for a job. Some people post carelessly, which usually can get them into trouble both online (with backlash from other people online) and offline (with future employers). I think it is also fair to say that many people who spread negative comments or hate on others are not actually feeling that way towards the targeted person/people. A lot of them do it because of the sort of mob mentality you mentioned. At least with what I have seen online, many people who just jump right into spreading negative comments/rumors/etc. do so anonymously, or at least using a username that isn't their own real one. If people became more conscious of how their words online can affect others' and even their own lives, I think it would be a step in the right direction for everyone.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Vanessa A.September 17, 2018 at 11:17 AM

    Carson you have made a lot of valid points in your post. When I was a teenager and just being introduced to myspace (that was cool back in the day, yes, I know I am dating myself right now). The idea of social media and expressing my identity was so knew and exciting for me I never gave it a second thought that nothing online is private, until I got older and started to become more conscientious about the things I post. I did learn a valuable lesson when I was younger do not post everything that comes to your mind, Not everyone needs to know your life story.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownSeptember 21, 2018 at 10:36 PM

    I have also seen first hand where people have lost their job for posting something that some might find offensive and unfortunately it is a price some have to pay when having an online identity. However, having an online identity forces accountability and responsibility on all of us regarding the things we post and say. This is important because the things we say online not only affect us online, but also in the real world as well.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Curtis WebbSeptember 23, 2018 at 3:16 PM

    Completely agree with your Internet hate mob comment. Also I am commenting on this post as I hope this is the current weeks post that is due...the class is entirely all over the place with blog posts.

    The Internet hate mob is why I never post things to public forum usually..just read some comments on Youtube. I will be hard pressed to allow my kids to do use their real IDs online as well - it just doesn't seem safe.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rush 212-232 Response

Interactive art is something that I find very unique, because it is something that has only emerged as a medium very recently. Other new mediums like digital illustration, 3D modeling, or even film, are based on another medium from the past, painting, sculpting, or acting. Interactive art also goes hand in hand with performance based art, in that both are usually experienced through first hand involvement, rather than viewing a product once it’s complete, like a painting or sculpture. Interactive art allows users to experience the art on a very personal level, and in a way, create their own experience based on the way they choose to interact with the piece. One of the works that I found really interesting was Fantastic Prayers, in which users can click to reveal a seemingly endless collection of media. I found that this work was basically a representation of the internet itself, in which people might find themselves on a completely different sight than they had originally intended.
Read more

From the Origins of Interactive Art Response

The idea of “cyborg art” was absolutely fascinating to me and brings up many questions about today’s society and the way it is headed. With our continued reliance on technology, it makes you wonder how long it will be until we start to foray into making ourselves cyborgs of sorts. I recently saw an article about Neil Harbisson, a man born with colorblindness that surgically implanted an electronic eye in his head that allows him to ‘hear’ colors. I thought this was incredible, and after watching shows like Black Mirror that speculate on this subject, I wouldn’t be surprised if we start using cybernetic implants for medical or just everyday purposes. I also wonder how people might react to this and the questions it raises about ethics and humanity. If you were able to safely get an implant in your eye that allowed you to use it as some kind augmented reality lens, would you? I was also surprised by the influence that performance art and happenings were able to have on future int
Read more

Code of Best Practices Response

This document was something I was really interested in reading as I went into it, copyright and fair use conversations are becoming more and more prevalent in our society, yet often the exact rules of what constitutes copyright infringement don’t always seem to be clear. Something I didn’t think about that was brought up in the document was about how nonprofessional video can be much more easily distributed nowadays, and as such there is more of a chance for these amateur videos to possibly have an affect on established businesses, making knowing these laws even more important. What I was surprised to read was that fair use does not necessarily have an explicit letter of law, but rather it is flexible and able to be changed to apply to different circumstances. I can definitely see how this is a good attribute, as art in particular is a very broad field, so applying one set law to regulate it would be very difficult. However, I also think it’s possible that this kind of system could l
Read more