See Starring in my own movie by Tammy Swofford. I wish that more of my students understood the gravity of what they are doing in the various social media. As mentioned in the conclusion of the linked essay:There is no way to reverse the effects of what you have pumped and pushed into the digital space. Digital is forever.Read it all HERE.
I am appalled by the stuff I see people post on Facebook and it's not just the kids. How about adults announcing to world their vacation plans. Hello burglars.
ReplyDeleteOr how about showing pics of all their guns? Holy crap! How stupid is that???
Do they really believe no one can find them because they don't have their address posted?
Or let's run down our place of employment or our boss. Good move, dope.
The other thing that is really alarming is the "selfie." It goes like this: girls (and now I'm seeing more boys doing this) posting provocative photos of themselves which is the cue for all the friends to pile on and tell them how beautiful they are. Welcome the upcoming generation which will redefine narcissist and not in a good way.
Or the pregnant unmarried 15 year old baring her belly and everyone tells her she looks really "cute." Uh - no! Not cute.
When I was teaching religious ed to 7th - 12th graders, I would have classes on internet safety and demonstrate how fast I could find out someone's address even when no so-called personal info was provided on Facebook and I am by no means a computer wizard. I made the parents attend, too.
I could go on and on, but I won't. You're welcome...
I find selfies appalling -- some of them in particular. "Look at me, me, me!" Sheesh.
DeleteI have seen some outrageous and alarming photos on Facebook. Do these people think that the Lord cannot see what they're posting?
I have, so far, avoided having a Smart Phone. I see how addictive these devices are. Yes, they have their place. But people don't know how to restrict these devices to their proper place. Students as young a 8 years of age cannot part from their Smart Phones even to eat Thanksgiving dinner!
I'm not big on Facebook. I prefer the anonymity of the Internet. We polyhedrons have to stick together.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you there! However, I'm not sure that we are really anonymous.
Delete' Internet access has a narcotic-like effect on our sense of importance in this world. "
ReplyDeleteWith the social media, one doesn't have to wait for their fifteen minutes of fame to come.
Fame? Maybe. In some cases, notoriety!
DeleteBlow up your TV throw away your paper
ReplyDeleteGo to the country, build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches
Try an find Jesus on your own
--- John Prine
Written before the outbreak of (anti)social media but the point is there.
You can't live life too well online.
The only reason I got "involved" online: a car accident in 2005 confined me to home and to a life of zero physical activity. Otherwise, I'd never have opened a blog.
DeleteIt's easy to become so involved online so as not to have a life!
Good bit of verse, BTW.
Worth a read
ReplyDeleteA good read. Thanks.
DeleteI heard this morning that there is a pill now we can take to remember passwords. The mark of the beast is now here.
ReplyDeleteBrave new world!
DeleteDucky-That's the reason I quit blogging, too addictive. Now I spend an hour or less online, per day. I now have a life! And I like it, also, by being a CNA, I can actually DO SOMETHING that truly changes anothers life. In a positive way.
ReplyDeletetmw
I don't spend nearly as much time online as I used to. Now I have time to read fiction again, and I've been revisiting some old favorites as well as reading new fiction (or fiction new to me).
ReplyDeleteI must say that something exciting happened yesterday on my Facebook page. A student whom I hadn't seen or heard from since 1994 found me on FB. He was one of those students about whose future I had worried so much. Well, now he's a successful financial adviser and has a lovely family -- 3 sons and a beautiful wife.
Social networking and other digital tools have their uses. And I so use the web to keep in contact with my present students so that I can answer homework questions, clarify assignments, etc. It's such a relief that the telephone doesn't ring like mad every evening with students' desperate calls.
But one must use caution so that digital devices don't become one's life. Such devices are so very alluring!