The newspaper article discusses the problems associated with the use of social networking sites, mainly Facebook. The article makes the statement that teenagers may need to change their names in the future due to the information that they have shared in the past. By doing so teenagers can create a positive image for themselves so their future career applications look bright.
The privacy of information has been tested with sites such as Facebook and MySpace. There appears to be more and more information that is being released than in the past. The most obvious reason for this is due to the participatory culture that social sites rely on (Dezuanni, 2010a) leading to an increase in the availability of information. By making this information available, sites push the boundaries of the privacy policy ensuring that authorities will step in to curb this process.
Teens need to be wary of information that they provide to organisations that are internet based as not all people have the same ethics (James et al, 2008). Clearly banks, universities and schools require this information to create unique identifiers for these people but sites that are free should not have privilege to this data. When teens place information up on social networking sites they give up control over how the information is used (Dezuanni, 2010c). Not only should teens be made aware of this through school and community groups but they should start to use fake names.
The article also mentions the use of face recognition technology. Companies can use this in the future to check up on possible employees. If the photos portray the potential employee in a bad position then there could be detrimental effect on the employment situation. The precariousness of the situation must be understood by teenagers. This is an ethical and legal ramification for people who use social sites and educational institutions should examine this issue with students (Dezuanni, 2010b). Teenagers must emphasize control over this to ensure that face recognition will not be a problem.
The article does appear to be trying to cause a stir as articles such as James et al (2008) and Boyd (2008) are convinced that teenagers are gigirally literate. That said, neither article has examined face recognition technology with social networking sites. Thus the issues raised may be valid. Teenagers need to understand how the media works and effectively engage in this participatory culture without becoming a victim of it.
References
Dezuanni, M. (2010a). CLN647 Youth, Popular Culture and Texts: Week 1 [Lecture Notes]. Retrieved July 22, 2010 from http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_64558_1%26url%3D
Dezuanni, M. (2010b). CLN647 Youth, Popular Culture and Texts: Week 3 [Lecture Notes]. Retrieved August 2, 2010 from http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_64558_1%26url%3D
Dezuanni, M. (2010c). CLN647 Youth, Popular Culture and Texts: Week 9 [Lecture Notes]. Retrieved September 25, 2010 from http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_64558_1%26url%3D
Dudley-Nicholson, J. (2010). Google ignites debate about privacy. Retrieved August 30, 2010 from http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/technology/google-ignites-debate-about-privacy/story-e6frep1o-1225907943228
James, C., Davis, K., Flores, A., Francis, J.M., Pettingill, L., Rundle, M., & Gardner, H. (2008). Young People, Ethics, and the New Digital Media: A Synthesis from the Good Play Project. GoodWork Project Report Series, 54, 1-62. Retrieved August 5, 2010, from
http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/contentWrapper.jsp?attachment=true&navItem=content&content_id=_3235259_1&displayName=Reading+4+-+Young+People%2C+Ethics+and+the+New+Digital+Media&course_id=_64558_1&href=/%40%40/2705D7B1EBCA39391F7AA5DE241D750D/courses/1/CLN647_10se2/content/_3235259_1/GoodWorkPaper54.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment