For
my research paper, I looked at the rise of crowdfunding and how it’s more than
a tool to raise money but that creates conversation.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Monday, April 27, 2015
Blog Essay
For
my final paper, I looked at how social media is encouraging people to be
environmentalists.
Event Report: Digital Humanitarians
I attended the Digital
Humanitarians event at New America, which focused on Patrick Meier’s new
book about how to make sense of “big data” during disasters. The book is a
collection of stories, but Meier focused on the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, which
is what started the digital humanitarian movement.
Meier was a graduate
student at Tufts University when the earthquake struck. His wife and friends were
in Haiti at the time, so he began using tweets and other posts on social media
that included geographic locations to search for them. Working with a group of
other students, Meier brought together a full-fledged citizen science disaster
response team, none of whom had any experience with this type of data
collection.
The team monitored various social feeds, mapping and
validating information received. They published their map online, and at the
time, only half of Port au Prince was available on Google Maps, making it very
difficult to georeference messages. The Director of FEMA retweeted it saying it
was the most up-to-date and comprehensive map available. They received an email
from the Marine Corps saying that they used the map “every second of every day”
and it saved hundreds of lives. By crowdsourcing the information, they were
able to make it available to the disaster relief teams in real time, instead of
several days or weeks after the disaster.
Next, the team set up a texting line for Haitians in
need, since between 60 and 70 percent of Haitians had mobile phones at the
time. They used Facebook to recruit people who spoke the Haitian Creole
language to translate the texts. As texts came in, volunteers on social media
would categorize the severity of damage for that location—either requests for
help, infrastructure damage, or population displacement. This made it easier to
track exactly what type of assistance was needed and where.
Later, Meier created a “wordle” image using all of
the words from the texts, and surprisingly, the words please and thank you were
some of the most commonly used. Meier explained that this was really powerful
to him—that even in the state of despair, humanity still exists.
Meier went on to explain how the Digital
Humanitarian movement has improved since the earthquake in Haiti. They now have
an artificial intelligence system that can tag up to 2 million photos and
tweets per hour. They have a Verily platform that helps to verify the accuracy
of images. They use social media to ask yes or no questions about
pictures—like, was this photo taken in Haiti?—to end the mindless retweeting
and spreading of rumors, and get people to use their critical thinking skills
to do something good.
I thought this event was especially relevant to our
class. It helped to address the struggle with clicktivism, as the digital
humanitarian effort is a way that people can make a real difference with the
click of a button, instead of simply feeling accomplished for clicking.
Additionally, Meier noted that previously, if you had mentioned crowdsourcing
at the UN, you looked like an idiot. The UN has come a long way, and they even
suggested crowdsourcing during a typhoon.
I highly recommend watching the webinar from this
event, and definitely suggest reading the book. Meier was a captivating
speaker, and the story is incredible. It’s especially refreshing to hear about
how mindless clicks online can be turned into useful information for people
working on the ground in the aftermath of a disaster. During the discussion,
Meier was asked why he thought so many people responded in these situations,
and his answer was that people want to help, but you need to provide them with
a simple, ethical way to do so.
Website: http://www.digital-humanitarians.com
View the webinar of the event: https://www.newamerica.org/international-security/digital-humanitarians/
Separating Lives: Professional or Social Media Aliases
Many blog posts or informational articles
weigh the pros and cons of using an alias and why you might want one. The rest
of the conversation happens in the comments. The majority of comment threads
are quite reasonable and usually expand on some aspects of the pros and cons in
the articles or give a personal anecdote about an awkward situation
involving an alias of their own or someone else’s.
The main reason for using an alias is to
separate your personal life from your professional life or your online persona
from your offline one. Some cite privacy, others reputation or
credibility as reasons for using one. Authors have long been known to use
pen names, or alternate author names, for themselves. Some authors have
multiple pseudonyms so they can write in a range of genres without losing or
confusing their publics. An author who wrote poetry and fantasy might use their
real name for poetry and something like Raul Bloodworth for fantasy
books. Potential college students are now changing their identities online
until they have been definitively accepted to their chosen university.
Using a professional alias can prevent bosses or
colleagues from seeing those embarrassing photos of you or a status update
that you’re not particularly proud of. It can give you some privacy from the
online world. True privacy is becoming more scarce every day. It
also puts a barrier between potential stalkers and you, making it difficult to
track you down. Online, you can create multiple aliases tailored to your
specific interests. It makes being involved in both the local opera chat
rooms and online massive multiplayer gaming community a little easier to
separate. However, those that are against using an alias often promote
using strict privacy settings for online profiles.
There are negative factors to take into account
when making the decision to use an alias or not. Using a bad or very fake
pseudonym can reflect negatively on you. Your alias may give people an
impression of you that is false. Revealing your real name to someone or having
others accidentally slip online can be awkward. It can cast a shadow of
dishonesty around you. The decision of whether to use an alias or not is
yours.
Facebook and Google have been known to push a
“real names” policy. But there may be concrete reasons, outside of separating a
personal and professional life, for using an alias. It helps former victims of
crimes or threats, those with security-related jobs, and those with
a volatile family history protect themselves.
However, the pros of using an alias may
eventually outweigh the cons and even become a necessity when online. During
the course of the semester, we discussed surveillance and privacy abilities and
concerns. Online shopping has become an incredibly smooth process because
companies, particularly those like Amazon, track buyer’s habits and make
predictions for future purchases. Metadata and content records are also
associated with your online persona. Hypothetically, the more intrusive
surveillance becomes, the more beneficial a separate online persona may
be. There may not be a completely exhaustive method to separate your offline
persona from your online one, but by fragmenting your identity across
platforms, tracking you as one single person becomes harder.
Sources:
Blog Essay: How Well Does Your iPhone Know You?
Privacy and surveillance have been a hot topic in this class as we discuss locational privacy as well as the Right to be Forgotten. With cell phones becoming so closely interwoven into our daily lives, one wonders if it is a gift or a curse that we have access to such technology. While the concern of privacy and the potential breach of our personal data is alarming, companies continue release new technology on devices we use on a daily basis that tracks our actions without our knowledge. An example of this technology exists in Apple’s iOS 8, and their upgraded advertising platform iAd.
Recently my boss texted me and asked if she should “limit ad tracking” on her iPhone. Confused as to what she was talking about, I had her send me a screenshot of what she was seeing. Sure enough, there was a setting under “Privacy” on the iPhone that allows you to limit ad tracking, although it defaults to “No” on every phone, without users knowing that it exists.
Whether or not this capability is new, it is frightening that it may have existed for years without being brought up by anyone. I do not consider myself to be the most technology savvy person, but I have had an iPhone, iPad and Macbook for the last few years - without realizing the extent to which iAd operates.
To quote Apple, this ad tracking feature in iOS 8 is intended, “to give you the best advertising experience, iAd provides ads based on your interests.” (Opt Out of Interest-Based Ads from iAd, 2015). And while that does not sound completely horrible, further research brings up some red flags.
Apple has struggled with its ad business, and this ad tracking feature in iAd is a way to remedy this situation. Apple's iAd advertising platform in iOS 8 has made it easier for ad agencies to target ads based on user in-app browsing behaviors. An example of iAd in use is when a visitor uses the iPhone app of their favorite retailer to add a pair of shoes to their shopping cart, but ultimately decide not to buy it. In this scenario, if the retailer uses iAd they can retarget the user with an ad for that exact pair of shoes through any app on their Apple devices. When the user clicks the advertisement, they will be directed back to their abandoned checkout page, with the shoes automatically waiting in their online shopping cart.
iAds exist in the form of banners, full-screen interstitials, and audio ads between songs on iTunes Radio. Companies like Facebook, Google, Twitter and now Apple are looking for ways to replace cookies with other personal identifiers for ad-related purposes, and iAd is Apple’s way around them.
So what can you do to protect yourself? Apple’s ad tracking feature exists on computers, iPhones, iPads, the iPod touch, and Apple TV. Location-based ads can be turned off on iPhones, iPads, and the iPod touch. Apple does allow users to turn this tracking off, as well as erase all previous information if they desire. But first the user has to find this feature to turn it off! (See here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202074)
Limiting ad tracking leads to two expected results. One, individuals see the same number of ads as before, but they are less relevant because they do not take interests into account. Two, individuals might see ads related to the content in an application or ads based on other non-personal information.
When my boss and I got into further into whether or not to limit ad tracking on her phone, I was initially okay with ad tracking. But now as I go back and investigate this feature, my decision starts to change. While I do share a lot of information via the internet, this small step is one in the right direction to finding ways to limit the personal information that goes out into the public sphere.
___________
Opt Out of Interest-Based Ads from iAd. (2015, February 4). Retrieved April 25, 2015, from https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202074
Paint Your Nails for Bruce: Just Another Slacktivist Effort?
http://www.buzzfeed.com/bradesposito/paint-your-nails-for-bruce
I've spent a lot of time looking at examples of slacktivism in social media over the course of this semester, and thought this was an interesting new one starting to pop up. In the wake of Bruce Jenner's interview with Diane Sawyer this past weekend, where he revealed that he was in the process of transitioning to a woman, people began "painting their nails for Bruce Jenner" and posting pictures on social media. The 'movement' was started by a Sydney-based (male) radio host in an effort to show solidarity with Bruce and the transgender community as a whole - and will likely face criticism, just like many other similar slacktivist efforts.
I've spent a lot of time looking at examples of slacktivism in social media over the course of this semester, and thought this was an interesting new one starting to pop up. In the wake of Bruce Jenner's interview with Diane Sawyer this past weekend, where he revealed that he was in the process of transitioning to a woman, people began "painting their nails for Bruce Jenner" and posting pictures on social media. The 'movement' was started by a Sydney-based (male) radio host in an effort to show solidarity with Bruce and the transgender community as a whole - and will likely face criticism, just like many other similar slacktivist efforts.
Nepal earthquake and social media
Social Media Becomes a Lifeline in the Nepal Earthquake Aftermath
"More importantly several groups have been established to use social media and crowd sourcing information to account for so far missing people. Google launched a Person Finder for people to file missing person reports. But many are using social media platforms as well, including this facebook page, where people from Nepal or foreigners who have friends, relatives currently in Nepal are posting information but also request to account for people they currently cannot reach"
https://globalvoicesonline.org/2015/04/26/global-social-media-lifeline-in-nepal-earthquake-aftermath/
Facebook and Google help find Nepal earthquake survivors
"Facebook has rolled out its recently introduced Safety Check feature to tell you if contacts in the area are okay -- survivors only have to report in to ease your mind."
http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/25/nepal-earthquake-internet-efforts/
How they got it wrong with Nepal earthquake posts on social media
"The ripples of the 7.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Nepal were also felt in the virtual world, where some were left red-faced thanks to their insensitive promos and embarrassing posts on social media."
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/not-getting-it-right-how-insensitive-posts-on-nepal-quake-were-booed-on-social-media/article1-1341186.aspx
Nepal earthquake: Photos emerge of people taking selfies in front of damaged landmarks
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/nepal-earthquake-photos-emerge-of-people-taking-selfies-in-front-of-damaged-landmarks-10206491.html
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