In the BBC interview with Danah and Aleks, they discuss how technology has changed so much and the methods we use to communicate. Aleks refers to back when kids used to communicate with friends from school and neighboring kids just by interacting publicly like going to the mall. The way teenagers choose to communicate now is mainly through text messaging and social media sites in which they know more than just friends locally but from other places as well. Baym discusses her views on how there is a difference in technology between people that did not grow up with certain features (2010). One thing that I liked about the BBC interview was how she described adults using social media sites for personal and it following them for the rest of their lives. It can show a trail of what a person did and gives an insight to who they are when potential careers and political runnings are at stake. But why should teachers and administrators have to live in a life secrecy when they are not in the classrooms? I feel that teachers have lives and are just as social as the next person and what they choose to do after school hours is pretty much their business. The social views of others should not matter if that person does their job and does not interrupt their careers with outside personal activities.
12 thoughts on “Blog 13”
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It is often hard for teachers to get that privacy. A lot of the times you hear teachers refer to their students as their children. When you have such a close relationship, it is often hard to keep the lines drawn. The internet also adds to the difficulty since everything is readily available and accessible.
I agree that keeping a diary/journal is so easy and permanent. When I was going through my teenage years all I had was my paper diary and if I was nervous someone would find my thoughts I would rip that page out and throw it away. I think people are okay with more self disclosure primarily because of technology. I find it interesting when someone posts’ a thought on line then delete’s it, the truth is it is still stored somewhere in cyberspace.
As a teenager I had the same thing like a diary and it created new hiding spots all the time so no one would find it. Now that teenagers feel more open and free to express themselves online, this sort of becomes their diary but publicly. even though posts can be deleted they can still be brought up by someone who really knows how to track things online. Thats the thing that really frightens me with posts and thoughts online.
My kids grow up using computers and cell phones at school, so this became the normal for them. I grow up with the habit to go to the mall with my friends for shophing, watching a movie, eat, or just walk around. Every weekend I ask my kids to go to the mall but for them it sounds so boring thing to do, they even make me feel so old and boring. They actually prefer to stay home get online to watch funny YouTubes or play games, or Skype with their grandmother and cousins. This is the way of living for our kids that we have to accept it and get involve with it.
I grew up with the same habits of going to the mall and movies with friends so when I see my sisters and her friends always texting and using facebook for a lot of communication it is a different atmosphere. If I ask my sisters to go hang out at a restaurant or walk around the mall they feel it is lame. I guess different generation different types of communications.
I am taking the research methods course, and today I was talking with a classmate about how our social media presence can cause people to lose respect for us. We were talking specifically about coworkers and bosses, but I can definitely see that if teachers post inappropriate pictures or immature statuses that parents and students can see, that will cause people to treat them disrespectfully. It really can change the course of their lives.
Like you stated, Aleks and Danah seemed to be genuinely concerned about how today’s kids are revealing a lot about themselves over the web. The duo said exposure on the internet was the best potential way to seem trustworthy. Some teens even use their web-pages as reference-sections for jobs. It should go without saying that this has a fair amount of negative risks. One comment or picture is all it takes to not get the job.
Yes I feel that the risk of exposing a cerain picture or status could really ruin a persons reputatiuon. We all make stupid mistakes as teenagers and never realize what the consequences could be until it happens. I think employers should not base a candidates criteria on what they did as a teenager because it was irrelevant. Now if the adult is still doing childish and inappropriate types of behavior then it should be liable.
I think you bring up a very interesting point when it comes to teachers. Professions such as theirs do, indeed, make it difficult for some to express themselves freely through these media. That’s not to say they would even be posting explicit or overly controversial content, but they might even often feel they can’t express their political and religious beliefs.
Exactlt and as I recall teachers have rights to express their beliefs outside the workplace. This makes it unfair for those who do feel the need to voice opinions because of what their profession is. Its not just teachers but other public professionals as well. What someone does in their spare time not during work hours or around peers should not determine their character or ability to perform at work.
I agree with you that teachers shouldn’t have to give up their social lives just because they are teachers and deal with students. I think a good rule of thumb is for the teachers not to add their students to any of their social media pages. That way their students will not have a way of knowing what their personal lives are like unless they directly ask their teahcer.
Yes I have seen where students are friends with their teachers on facebook and twitter and I think there should be a line drawn in that particular case. There is nothing a student and teacher should have to discuss online after hours that should not be discussed in the professional student to teacher enviornment. Thats the only stipulation that I think should be enforced.