Pros and Cons of Media Sharing
I have to say there are definitely some memorable You Tube videos for me. Who can forget the Numa Numa kid or The End of the World? If I really need a giggle, those get me every time. But for every good item I have found on You Tube, there have to be at least 25 useless contributions, and that’s an optimistic estimate.
For keeping track of life, digital cameras, Picasa, SnapFish, and Flickr have made it easy to share new memories with people I haven’t seen since High School or stay in touch with family and friends thousands of miles away. Half of my time spent on Facebook is looking through photographs or video clips people have shared. I have had great joy looking through all those shared photos and images. It is literally a window into someone else’s life.
Unfortunately as the availability of technology has increased, rules of etiquette for how to use technology properly have not been outlined, and what appears all over the web and in pictures can often be in very poor taste. For example, almost all cell phones have cameras, and now many have video capabilities. It is now extremely easy to take a picture and send it to countless people before the other party even knows his/her picture has been taken. There are many ethical risks here. Concert performers, whose images and music are protected by copyright laws, are battling with this issue. Because of the pervasive use of cell phones, bits of a concert can be posted to the web before the concert even finishes. Many people do not think before posting indecent or compromising pictures to the web. Many people illegally download music or watch pirated movies before the “real thing” is released to theatres, like the Wolverine controversy.
Because it is so hard to keep up with new technology, it is becoming almost impossible to police what is put on the web. Employers may now Google search your name and who knows what they might find. Who knows who is out there taking a picture of you without you knowing it? I worry that there are no protections, and even though media sharing can be a wonderful tool, I fear in some ways we have opened Pandora’s box.
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Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely. This whole other world of the internet was thrown at us, without any code of ethics taught. Now we have the I.S.T.E. standards out there, but many teachers still don't know about them. Also they are incredibly vague and although ethics is one of them, there isn't too much guidance on how to approach the topic. Although it's getting better with more resources on the web about how to address and teach these concepts, it should have been one of the first things brought forward with the ability to use the internet.
I have heard that employers are actually googling both employees and future employees! I have attempted to be very careful on Facebook, no current students, no inappropriate language/pictures posted or they are dropped.
ReplyDeleteGreat points! The world of computers was thrown out there for all to use without a users manual attached! So much for that! Who is teaching the kids not to cyberbully each other or not to talk to strangers? Who is telling the kids to be careful, not to publish pictures of themselves, and to watch over their digital footprint? No matter what class you teach, it is an important discussion to have with your students. Hopefully you can incorporate it into a writing assignment or a journal some day. Just something to think about! Media sharing is fun, but can often have consequences if not used properly. I do agree. If there was some type of filter on youtube, I think our schools wouldn't be so down on using it. I think there is so much crazy stuff out there! There are days I am happy to have a filter in my school but I do know deep down inside, the filter is not teaching the kids to use judgment, self control, digital citizenship and all of those other great life lessons we need to be teaching them in this new web2.0 world!~
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