Social Media at work-too much regulation?

Something that we have talked about repeatedly in class is the dependency we have on social media and also perhaps its pervasiveness in our everyday lives. It seems that a new app, or channel of communication is created to bolster interactivity around the world, creating networks, relationships, friendships and connecting people with information in a heartbeat. It’s something we check first thing in the morning, while we are waiting at the bus stop or even at work. So how does this affect the work environment and does it require rigid regulation? Well, firstly, for some it is their job to monitor all channels of social media and respond to customer enquiry, but then you may have people sitting on Facebook all day so where can the line be drawn for both employer and employee? The issue stems from the notions of power, that our employers wield to keep employees in line, productive and moreover, producing positive content about their workplace. Reading some social media policies was quite shocking as there are vast disparities between the small business and the multi-national company, and even, as pointed out in class just non-existent. In the example of Smith and Fitzgerald the employer was found to have unfairly dismissed an employee based on the comments she made about the work industry on facebook. The main problem that social media poses, is that its flexibility, rapid consumption and instant presence have left companies behind, and so rather than come up with a detailed policy for example that of Cisco Social Media, companies may ban activity on social media within work hours, or even as far as not being able to discuss or share information about colleagues outside the workplace. On a micro and more identifiable level, social media at work has the private world and the public sphere intersect. So even though someone’s facebook page is private, once the comment has been made it enters a public domain whereby the content can be shared, reproduced and no longer is the property of the author and this is where the problem occurs. It is there for essential that upon employment you read your contract carefully before signing the dotted line, because although the social media is for private use it has consequences if seen to be used in the ‘wrong way’. However, some sort of compromise must be shown by both the employer and employee, rigid regulation, will create resistance and leniency may bring about unimaginable and uncontrollable discourse. For myself I just don’t engage with social media and kept my nose clean so far…

What good is the internet if we can’t use it?

Week after week, I am astonished at the consistent power play that riddles every innovation introduced to the world. The internet as I’ve been discussing is one such innovation that still serves those who are concerned with the bottom line but also perhaps aims to protect their own sense of security. An example that was discussed in depth was the stringent filtering of online content that is ongoing in China, primarily the lack of Western social media site Facebook. On the one hand, an outsider may view this resistance as harsh, for the people of China, however perhaps considering that once information in the form of words, pictures, music and other intelligible pieces are put up on the internet they can easily be accessed by anyone, most importantly even after removal or deletion. Resistance thereby meaning that intelligence does not leak from the everyday citizen inadvertently, protecting the country. I am not taking sides but love to play devil’s advocate at times, and seek both sides of the story before taking a particular stand. Therefore, it’s important to consider that filtering is contextual, and while China refuse facebook, in Western society filtering content especially in regards to those which pertain to criminal activity needs constant monitoring and regulation to ensure that criminal activity, is not being carried out in the online sphere. What I refer to mostly is child pornography, which needs to be monitored, filtered from the internet and have consequences for those who may access these types of websites. It is important because these sites have a direct impact on children, who are the most vulnerable members of society and need protection. The moral and or ethical issues, that surround the internet are vast and while these two examples demonstrate somewhat different examples of filtering, I think that it needs to be taken seriously, on a case by case basis and contextually so as to protect those who need it but also allow for individuals to express their freedoms through platforms that are most accessible to them.

Online Activism

 

This week’s topic about online activism and social change with particular attention paid to the “Arab Spring” brings about more issues than one. There are many political, economic, legal, environmental and socio-cultural issues that underpin this topic of online activism in the Middle- East and further online engagement and offline activism. For those who may not be aware of what I mean when I talk about the Arab Spring, I have attached a link to an example, but essentially it refers to the recent political protests that have sprung from the Middle-East, particular to countries such as Egypt. Contention surrounds this topic because of two main reasons, “citizens have less access to the internet” (Wolfsfeld, Segev & Sheafer 2013, p.124) and the internet is still re-creating a gender binary, whereby, women still have limited access to power in countries with limited access to the internet establishing hierarchies that constrain their voices within the patriarchal, political sphere. Despite this, I think that social media and online efforts to coordinate, raise awareness and execute an offline action or event that gives women a voice is a great alternative method to reach a vast audience and more importantly international attention so that change will come about. The key here though is that online efforts have to be matched with offline activity, it is not enough to like something on Facebook and feel as though you have contributed to the cause. Of course in the Middle-East, where there is power there is resistance (Foucault 1993) but there is also punishment, for behaviour that deviates from the norm. These types of punishments may vary between the East and the West and while “Western feminists view third world women as victims to be rescued by Western values and feminist motives” (Newsom & Lengel 2012, p.34), this is not necessarily the case as what freedoms women are fighting for are completely different between the geographic regions. Therefore, the form of empowerment that social media gives to women in the third world, to share their stories through channels such as youtube or facebook are important to enact social change and for Westerners to understand these narratives in a way that will prompt action but not third party intervention. Examples of women gaining access to and piece of the political pie is rising even in countries where women are often seen as the damsel in distress, which I believe has been heavily aided and facilitated through the online world and will continue to grow as long as the internet exists.

 

MOO…C’s

No, not a cow but a Massive Open Online Course, a direction we are heading with our education and the way it is accessed, delivered and consumed. I am not the biggest advocate for technology nor the internet but this concept grabbed my attention and when discussing the idea in class two very clear sides were drawn for and against MOOC’s and for once I was FOR technology, despite constant hesitance to engage and be interactive online. There is considerable hype surrounding this concept as it is a relatively new and innovative way for people the world over to gain access to education and while there has been no cited “university that offers credit for courses that people complete certificates can be bought to confirm one’s understanding of the material” (The Chronicle of higher Education 2014). It is a great way for any type of student or citizen to engage with intellectual material from remote areas, the comfort of their own home or due to limited mobility to a physical university. So why am I for MOOC’s? Firstly, these online courses are more accessible to everyone and reduce the amount of stigma surrounding tertiary education that university students’ uphold, for example; only smart people can study at a university. On accessibility, as long as someone has internet they can access this knowledge and wealth of information from anywhere, so if they are at home looking after four children and want to learn about how to better read body language, to help her better manage her children, a MOOC can facilitate this. Adversity stems from the fact that these online courses are marked by computers or peers, which is impersonal and some students (based on discussion in class) suggest that some of these peers may not have the authority to be marking other people’s work, bias and lack of knowledge also come into play here. However, seeing as though these courses do not qualify as university credit I think that the informality of the course, gives an individual firsthand experience about tertiary education whilst also limiting the competitiveness and stress that encompass university education. An interesting article points out that some people are becoming addicted to MOOC’s not for the certificates but just on curiosity (Young 2013), but also because it is free and most students fear that these courses will not remain available for such easy access. As it does with everything, the bottom line will indicate its continued presence.

Technology and the body

The world online is seemingly a very different one to the one that I am used to. To think that technology is advancing exponentially is a scary concept and I find myself asking, what next? To the average person I probably seem anti-technology and anti-internet, I guess to a degree I am anti-internet but as for advances in technology that we use in our everyday lives, I think it’s great! In the areas of education and health I couldn’t be more thankful for, if it wasn’t for breakthroughs in medical research, prosthetics and reconstructions and replacements I wouldn’t be able to walk today. However,  where do we draw the line between technology and the body? I think that these technologies should be used for medical purposes and health reasons rather than aesthetic gain or instant gratification based on physical appearance. In the reading this week ‘The Technophillilc Body’ by David Thomas (2000) the idea of a cyborg culture and technological bodies are explored. In this science fiction world of ‘Low Teks’ and other cyborg technicities, bodies exist in their own culture making the distinction between human and cyborg identities. While, it is seemingly a completely different world, the very structure and way of life is similar to that of the human world. However, it is interesting to note that “in cyborg cultures, questions of technicity are constructed in relation to instrumentally defined hardware/software continua connected to the technological collectivisation of the human body” (2000, p.185). So cyborgs are physiologically different to humans however, are similar in that their physiology follows a similar structural anatomy that is enhanced by certain technologies. We are introduced to some of these different types in Gibson’s (1988) ‘Johnny Mnemonic’, another reading exploring cyber cultures. Whereas, ‘The Tecnophilic Body’ examines cultural cyborg identities, ‘Johnny Mnemonic’ is a character from one of Gibson’s sci-fi novels which gives an insight into understanding cyber technicity. What I like most about this reading is that the characters are identified quite simply by their physical attributes and level of technological functionality, capacity and capability, impartial to gender, race and sexuality which is a problematic issue within our society. While this was written over 20 years ago the characters such as ‘Dog’ and ‘Molly’ aptly named based on their features don’t seem like such a radical idea anymore, in fact, with the growth in alternative identities people are able to have cosmetic surgery to make themselves look like something else. For example; in the picture below you will see how this man has undergone cosmetic surgery to look like a cat. There are a plethora of examples that you can look at based on current trends for cosmetic surgery, gone are the days where a simple breast enlargement procedure or a nose reduction was the worst someone could do to their bodies. To check out some more pictures and information follow these links – http://www.examiner.com/article/people-surgically-changing-to-look-like-exotic-animals and http://www.cracked.com/article/225_the-7-most-pointlessly-horrifying-plastic-surgery-procedures/. While, I can admire these people in their quest to deviate from common social practices and gender identity roles, I don’t know whether this is going too far? Perhaps, the virtual world is a better place to experiment with an identity that would classify as other or even non-human?

The cut and paste society

Culture is all around us it is the very thing that makes the world different, yet the same. By that I mean culture has a number of identifiers that resonate within society that we ourselves accept, reject, practice, produce and reproduce throughout our everyday lives. Some examples are very simple and quite obvious such as what we wear, how we carry ourselves and the things we value and believe in.  The very fact that we have to dress a certain way in different contexts such as work or to an expensive restaurant, is an expectation that we must adhere to otherwise we are ‘weird’, not ‘normal’ or basically won’t get the job or be able to eat at that restaurant. The structure, the boundaries and the freedoms we experience are seemingly enforced by someone else but then reinforced by our own silences and acceptance of the way things are. However, with the introduction of the digital world and a multitude of online platforms, maybe there is still hope for us to create our own identities and further, our own futures. Instead of having people see us the way they do through their own eyes; the online world allows us to portray ourselves to the world the way we want to be seen. Perhaps as one of the weekly readings in class the “The Google Generation” (2008) suggests we are part of the google generation, young people who differ from any other young person at our age because of our relationship, dependence and use of the internet. Is this necessarily a bad thing? Many would argue, including myself, that it is, I was devastated when our Year 8 history teacher told me that I was no longer allowed to submit hand written assignments. Ok so hand-writing a 3000 word essay is not fun and sometimes I do thank computers for their support but what was most shocking to me was that no-one went to the library to borrow books anymore, they just typed into google a synopsis of the information they needed and their assignment was complete. This trend is not the only trend that I have noticed and in the reading it mentions how we are no longer passive consumers of information. We are the producers, the audience, the critics and experts respectively, on gathering information about what we need. Many issues arise from this article, such as the idea of authority; and the role it plays in the online world, who has it, is it different to that of the offline world and furthermore, has this the online world changed us for better or worse. The article identifies two dichotomous trends in support of the shift into a digital age and conversely, highlighting the impact it is having on society. Firstly, young users are more competent with technology, and as discussed in class it seems that even children under the age of five are grasping technological concepts and technologies and utilising them with relative ease, for example, we were discussing how some children when interviewed from private schools get tested based upon their ability to navigate technology. While many people, including me are in disbelief about this, I think it is a good thing that we are integrating technology into learning and while some students may not go on to be experts in the field, they will surely have a fundamental and foundational understanding about how to engage and participate in the world around them in a meaningful and sophisticated way by utilising technology as a common platform. Conversely, a commonly noted theme not only in the reading “The Google Generation” but in Dorner’s (1993) “When Readers become end users” is that as a people we are losing our interpersonal skills in an offline context. Dorner notes a sense of insincerity and lack of relationship between writer and reader. This is similarly noted in the google generation whereby Rowlands et.al suggests young people’s time conscious nature whereby a delay in information or communication directly results in a zero tolerance type of attitude. It feels like the world is turning faster and while technology has improved immensely and has opened a variety of doors to the world, it’s almost as if it has closed the most important door, our front doors, where we usually greet our friends, invite them in for a cup of tea and ask them about their lives, laugh and relish in each other’s company.  While the online world gives us access to each other across borders, seas and creates a community through a simple medium of communication it also creates boundaries between people, in their own homes, families and lives. For example, when waiting in the doctor’s surgery the other day, not one person out of at least 30 looked up at me as I walked in, nor did they acknowledge my existence. Rather, they were preoccupied with their smart phones, avoiding that seemingly scary interaction that is communicating with a fellow human face to face. Even those who looked worse for wear and probably were very ill, could still manage to like a photo or ask their friends what they thought was wrong with them, rather than wait for the expert opinion of the doctor. I guess what I have learnt within the last two weeks is that the very nature of the way we interact with each other has changed dramatically and whether these changes are problematic to the way we live every day is for each person to decide. For me I will continue to resist the power to conform to the trends of my peers by creating an account online where I am more preoccupied with knowing more about everyone else’s life than living my own.