Social Media and Surveillance - MM52

This article is about social media and surveillance and it introduces ideas about government surveillance and converging life spheres such as family, friends and school. According to Edward Snowden's revelations, the American and British government are seeking total surveillance of the Internet. They are doing so by embedding tags into gadgets, clothes or under one's skin. These can be transmitted wirelessly and connect instantly with satellite systems that record your digital footprint. The article also talks about data mining. Many people trust companies to behave in ethical manners however, this trust can be misplaced.


Yes I am bothered about tracking because I feel that it is an invasion of one's privacy. In today's society, people are exposing their personal information and details without knowing which is deceiving and shouldn't be allowed as people aren't aware of it. I feel that one's private and social life are not two separate things which I see as a problem as people cannot escape from the harsh reality of the online world as it is a part of their private life.


To some extent it is a small price to pay because it makes online searches more personal for the user. It also personalises people's social media pages such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat by using advertisement which are personalised to this specific user. This is done so that one's experience online is more efficient. On the other hand, some would say that it is a large price to pay because it gathers personal information which some people find to be unethical as the person may not have given full consent to this due to information being collected by Google and the individual not realising. This could combine both private and social life together which is not good as your social life will consume most of your private life.

—Task (individual) - Estimate:

—How much you have spent on books this year

Steven Gerrard autobiography

—How many books you have read this year?

1

—How many web pages you have read this year?

20

—How many Facebook profiles you have read this year?

15

—How much TV you watch each day?

2 hours

—How long you’re online for each day?

8 hours

—How many hours of music you listen to each day?

2 hours

—How long you’re on your mobile phone every day?

22 hours

—Compare the class’ media consumption with those in America. Suggest reasons for similarities/differences

I believe that there are many differences as well as similarities of the classes media consumption in America and us. One difference is that they read more books than us, this could be the case as they are university students and we are sixth form students so there attitude towards books will be more different than ours. Another difference is the difference in time. this is the case as this video was made in 2007 and now we are in 2016 so there has been a development of technology. This indicates our views towards the internet will be more dependent. One similarity is that the amount of time we spend listening to music.

• Living and learning article

This article spoke about two researchers going into a school to analyse and look at how a group of year 9 students interacted and used digital media to enhance their education at home and school. It also looked at them developing relationships through social media websites. They had to make sure what they were doing was "ethical" and that it didn't evade peoples privacy but as it turned out they saw that the year 9's accepted them into their social group and grew more fond of them then parents or teachers as the researchers had an un-judgemental view of what they did online. They also looked at the impact students using social media had on the ability of teachers to freely post what they wanted.

• Periscope article

In the article is talks about things that are wrong with it and how it is a burden to society but it also talks about the potential benefits to be had from it. Periscope has a large problem with peoples privacy and users continue to breach copy right infringements, but worst of all it can humiliate people with bullying being spurred on my online viewers

• Essay

The essay gave great examples of what Spotify is used for and how it encourages user interactivity. It also mentioned the type of audiences that may use the service. There was also a strong use of theory which was added in and worked well with the essay and didn't disturb the fluency of it.

• How has digital media changed your life in the past 5 years?

5 years ago i hadn't heard of Instagram, twitter, Myspace, LinkedIn or snapchat. 5 years ago was my first interaction with social media and i first signed up for a Facebook account. This was when it was extremely popular among young people and near enough everyone and i remember this is also when cyber bullying became much more prominent online, this shaped the way people used the media. Also 5 years ago i wouldn't have been surprised to see a newspaper or two in my house everyday but now i only see them in shops and supermarkets. The change on the print industry in the last 5 years has been monumental and now i find myself; instead of reading a newspaper, viewing the stories online through an app. The content hasn't really changed, just the way we view it.