Unplug Every Day
I was at Barnes and Noble earlier this week when I saw this cool book! “Unplug Every Day: 365 Ways to Log Off and Live Better”. The book has a different idea for you to pursue each day without the need of your phone or computer. It’s a really great resource for anyone who wants to find something else to do with their time. The guide/book only costs about $9 and is worth every penny! 🙂
-Ashe
Cyber Seniors is a documentary that chronicles the journey of a group of elderly citizens as they encounter and experiment with the world of the internet with help from their teenage mentors. The documentary takes a lighthearted approach to what happens when generation gaps are bridged and tries to show that getting “connected” isn’t dependent on age. The film premiered in Los Angeles on May 9th with several current ongoing and upcoming screenings nationwide. Below is the trailer to the film and the link to the Cyber Seniors website that provides the screening schedule, as well as more background information on the project and the persons involved.
http://cyberseniorsdocumentary.com
Vicky
wrote a letter? memorized a phone number? read a book?
If you have trouble remembering your last time or it’s been a while, maybe you should try out a Week with No Technology! I’m going to start my week today. The rules are pretty simple:
Thanks to The Table of Truth for creating this challenge! Let’s do it!
-Ashe
Currently one of the top trending topics across several social media platforms is the global campaign #bringbackourgirls. The campaign started after 276 schoolgirls were kidnapped from their village of Warabe in northeastern Nigeria, by a group called Boko Haram. The group is against western education and ideology, teachings they claim are taught to these girls at school. Boko Haram’s leader Abubaker Shekau warned that more attacks against schools and more abductions are planned and that the girls would be sold for marriage. As of now the girls have not been rescued, but the Nigerian government along with other governments are investigating the matter and working on negotiations to ensure the girls are released. Let’s continue the #bringbackourgirls campaign and provide our support so that these girls are returned safely and those responsible are brought to justice.
Vicky
This week Atlanta hosted Silverpop’s Client Conference titled Amplify;Â Silverpop is a digital marketing software company. This year’s keynote speaker was none other than Ariana Huffington, the creator of the Huffington Post. Ariana’s address was great! She talked about how today we take better care of your smartphones than ourselves. She also mentioned that we should consider digital detox’s in order to get away from our virtual lives. Ironically, I first heard about the conference on Twitter (#SPOP14) but I completely agree with Ariana’s statements!
I think this video by Portlandia’s stars does a good job of summing up the kind of overwhelming presence social media has on our lives.
-Ashe
In our previous posts we have talked about why it’s good to disconnect from social media and other cons of sharing our lives online. In this post I’m actually going to write about one of the things I think is great about social media and that’s the ability to get worldwide news and learn about events/disasters very quickly. I personally never watch the news nor do I read newspapers so I always learn about current events through Instagram or Tumblr. Social media has changed the way we find out about news, how we react to it, how we research it and question its validity, and it has increased the amount of news we are exposed to daily. A great example of this phenomena is Kony 2012, an online campaign that was started through a YouTube video to raise awareness on the conflict happening in Uganda. The video became the most viral video of all time with 3.7 million people pledging their support to stop the violence in Uganda. With this sudden raise in awareness people started to look into the matter and some still support this campaign, but others state that the video lacks validity. A quick search on YouTube for Kony 2012 yields videos supporting both sides of the argument with each side presenting compelling points.  Kony 2012 shows that social media can connect and inform the world and help make a positive change, but like everything else it should be taken with a grain of salt.
Vicky
This infographic was made by Georgia Tech’s GVU Center and does a really good job of showing us what we sign away when we agree to the Terms of Service on some popular sites. Click to enlarge!
Privacy Infographic
-Ashe
So on the last post Ashe talked about social media and the fact that a lot of privacy is lost or given up when using these apps. That is one thing I never really considered when I signed up for Instagram, Facebook, etc. because I thought, “People are going to see what I want them to see and I won’t ever post something stupid or embarrassing.” In reality we get so comfortable with social media and online sharing that we forget how much we are sharing and how the people we are sharing it with can also share it with others. One example, is the James Franco incident from a couple weeks ago where he was trying to meet up with an underage girl he had met through Instagram. Even though I’m sure he knew that it can happen, he must’ve never imagined that the girl would leak the texts. Nowadays when sharing posts, pics, texts, etc. with others you have to ask yourself “Will I be embarrassed if other people see this?” If the answer is yes, then be careful about sharing it because it might get retweeted, reposted or screenshotted no matter who you are.
Vicky
The first thing most people should understand when they open an account on social media platforms is that there is no such thing as privacy. Facebook tracks the sites you visit after logging out, Instagram shows you pictures friends of friends post and Twitter can GeoTag your tweets. While this lack of privacy doesn’t bother some people, it really creeped me out. I googled myself and my tweets showed up, and my Instagram posts showed up on Google Images. Even after I deleted my twitter, people’s posts about me or tags were still online. Suddenly I felt as though things I meant to only share with my friends became far too public; its a scary feeling. As eloquently stated by Dominic Riccitello, “we live in a world where anonymity is the key to keeping yourself”
-Ashe
This South Park clip made me laugh because although it’s over the top, it precisely captures how we all react when the internet is down.
-Vicky
Believe in Yourself(ie) 