privacy concerns become part of media scholarship

Our colleagues in media studies are doing a good job of investigating and reporting on the invasive nature of the net. People involved in critical media studies point our or remind us that the web is a structure that in many ways manages us. While some of us are still comforted by the illusion that webtalk is free and unregulated -- even that the web is a place for democratic cross-talk, those in media studies talk about the history and current developments that indicate the commodification of the internet and of us as users.

In the next few posts we'll reflect on some of the findings and theories that are circulating and important to consider. Magazines like "Wired" and web enthusiasts from the tech industry may have controlled the conversation for too long.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What have we learned about blogging, Facebook, and Cambridge Analytica

Image
Concerns have been raised this past week by experts  about the amount of information being collected and dispersed by a few giant internet companies  after widespread reports  that U. K. - based Cambridge Analytica used data from more than 50 million Facebook accounts to influence the 2016 USA presidential election.   Folks are also starting to wonder how secure their personal information is on social media networks. News reports  claim that it increasingly depends on where people live and access the web on the planet. Keeping ones privacy online is no longer - and may never have been -  easy, if at all possible.  While there are articles that provide users with advice and guidelines on how to use the internet in ways that protect the personal privacy of users , many people still give away personal information about themselves and often about their children through their blogs and online posts.  At this time of being se...
Read more

I Believe Introductions are in Order : Claire

My name is Claire Renic and I’m a second year WGS/rhetoric student at the University of Winnipeg, with plans to continue my higher education in women’s studies, with a focus on sexology. Being born in the nineties means I am a child of the internet; my generation has grown up connected, and this sense of connection shows no sign of slowing down. My relationship with social media and screen is one of the longest term relationships I have to date. For as long as I can remember I’ve been interested in screen, which resulted in both parents implementing restrictions on the amount of “screen time” both my sister and I took in daily. In all honesty, I can probably count on one hand how many days those rules were abided by… but the battle over screen went on for years. When my sister and I first got cell phones, they had to be turned off and put downstairs for the night.... again, you can imagine how long that lasted.  Some of the earliest memories I have of sc...
Read more

moving to the question of privacy and online practices

Image
https://www.playmeo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/0111_group-compass-walk_div-1024x902.png What's the right word to describe voluntarily surrendering personal and private information that could be used about or against one? The rather old fashioned word wiretapping continues to be used against 3rd party interventions -- when 3rd parties tap into phone or internet conversations to gain privileged information. Donald Trump has raised the specter of wiretapping as something done to him although his allegations are often unfounded,  floundering and meeting with denial. Would a word like "open line" best describe the willingness of ordinary citizens to expose their private conversations and information to the online world listening in.  Online users who are interested have learned that privacy settings offer limited protection of one's privacy. I might find my picture advertising a product that I have not endorsed or given permission to be used in this manner. Y...
Read more