A Culture of Connectivity

This may sound kind of “sappy” but I feel that our ability to freely watch a webcast like this, given by experts in any field, is such a privilege.  That being said, I had mixed emotions about the topics discussed in this webcast. Professor Singer pointed out at the beginning of the webcast that “the world is changing around us and we just can’t keep up.” While it is here to stay, it seems that social media exacerbates this “problem”.  If we don’t want social media to overtake our lives, we must not only learn how to “embrace” it, we must also learn how to “manage” it.  

John Palfrey described the use of blogging in an academic setting, where students can actually follow the conversations of the faculty outside of the classroom. The ability to have this ongoing access to the faculty outside of the classroom is great, enhancing levels of participation. However, does this use of social media result in too much added pressure on the students?

While I don’t necessarily agree with all of her analogies between Facebook interactions and “face-to-face” interactions, Dr. Boyd raised several points that I found interesting:

• she points out that blogging can increase level of communication and participation in academic settings; 
• she acknowledges that adept use of the various technologies and media does not necessarily indicate media literacy or appropriate use of copyrights;
• she describes the content of social media sites as a “living thing” undergoing an evolution;
• she cautions college admissions and business hiring managers against judging applicants strictly by their Facebook pages, explaining that this may be only part of who they really are, or simply a fabricated personality. 

As we strive to keep up with the ever-changing technology, I think we need to be careful not to let technology overtake out lives. There is still a need for personal interaction beyond the dimension of social media. It was interesting to watch and listen to the panelists as they relayed their experiences and gave their opinions on this topic.