978-1319102852 Chapter 2 Part 2

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content is working and what should be removed. More important, the information helps

companies target their advertising more efficiently (enabling them to charge more to

advertisers) and stylize sales pitches as users enter Internet “stores.” There are also growing

concerns that companies with such detailed information will sell it to other companies and

information services, raising important issues about Internet privacy.

By 2007, there was mounting public, congressional, and regulatory concern over online

privacy and the extreme data–collection practices of the four major search companies:

Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, and Ask.com. Google acquired DoubleClick, one of the first

successful online advertising companies and a major data collector, for $3.1 billion. Amid

FCC and consumer concerns, the four largest search engine companies responded with a

gesture of self-regulation, announcing they would tighten their privacy policies as follows:

• Microsoft: Make all data on search queries anonymous after eighteen months.

• Yahoo!: Make all data on search queries anonymous after thirteen months.

• Ask.com: Users can “opt out” of data collection by asking the firm not to retain their web

searches.

• Google: Make search-query data anonymous after eighteen to twenty-four months and

shorten the life span of cookies—small files attached to a user’s browser.

Almost all companies promise not to sell their consumer data, but what they do not

mention is that they sometimes rent such information. The list owner doesn’t sell the data to

an outside marketer, but it will send messages to people on its list on behalf of a third party.

Robert Ellis Smith, who publishes the Privacy Journal, says users should consider e-mail

as a postcard rather than a letter because it can be intercepted and read by virtually anyone

along its path over the Internet.

MEDIA LITERACY DISCUSSIONS AND EXERCISES

INFORMATIONTECHNOLOGIES THEN AND NOW

Describe the information technologies that your parents or their peers use at work. Describe the

information technologies that your grandparents used at work. Describe the information

technologies that your great-grandparents used at work. Contrast the pros and cons of these eras

in terms of the devices used and the quantity and quality of information received.

—Developed by Kim Lauffer, Towson University

ELECTRONIC MEDIA “FAST”

We cannot completely understand our relationship with media unless we also understand what

the absence of media means to us.

• Assign students to “disconnect” from all electronic media for twenty-four consecutive hours:

no computers, televisions, tablets, e-readers, iPods, radios, digital clocks or watches,

smartphones or landline phones, and so forth. (Any print media are fine.)

• Make sure that students inform their family, friends, professors, administrators, coaches, and

others about the assignment. They should choose a twenty-four-hour period that will not

undermine other courses, work, or activities. Let them know that they will need to avoid any

places where electronic media are present (possibly including areas of the cafeteria, common

lounges, gym, etc.). They will also probably need to negotiate with others to turn off

electronic media when they are around (e.g., during meals). Tell students that it is OK, and

even common, to make a second—or third—attempt at the assignment before successfully

“fasting” from electronic media for a full day.

• Students should take notes (using paper and pencil) on what happens when they are

“disconnected” (e.g., reactions, emotions, encounters, and incidents that occur during the

fast).

• After completing twenty-four hours free of electronic media, students should write

reflections (handwritten, typed, or even posted in a course blog or discussion forum) about

their experiences and about their online and offline social lives. See if they can identify

themes that emerge from their own experiences and their classmates’ reflections.

This exercise can also be adapted to follow the critical process: describe the media fast, analyze

patterns in one’s experience, interpret what these patterns mean (personally as well as for our

society and culture), evaluate our relationship with media, and finally engage and decide whether

to change any personal behaviors (and if so, which behaviors and how to change them).

SOCIAL MEDIA FRAUD

Review the Examining Ethics: Social Media Fraud and Elections feature. Describe the role of

social media in our society, both politically and socially. How might this have changed how

different groups of people view social media? Are some now more trusted than others? Given the

solutions for these issues in other countries, how can social media fraud like this be combatted in

America?

GOOGLE–SOFT?!

Microsoft tried to buy Google in 2003, but Google rejected the offer. (Microsoft quickly hired

top engineers and began to build its own search engine, “Longhorn,” which never lived up to its

potential. On June 3, 2009, Microsoft decided to try again with a new “decision” engine, Bing.

This site managed to capture its own market share within a few months of release thanks to a

large advertising effort by its parent company.)

Have students speculate on what such an acquisition would have meant for Microsoft, for

Google, and, most importantly, for users. Which products would we have, and which would we

not have? How might such an arrangement have been of even greater benefit to consumers? In

what ways would the imagined consolidation have undermined progress in digital media?

ONLINE PRIVACY

The following Critical Process exercise focuses on the issues of online privacy.

1. Description. Interview a sample of people about their online privacy. In what ways has their

privacy been violated through their Internet use? Do they regularly have to divulge personal

information to gain access to certain websites? Do they enter contests, play games, download

files, or register on sites that require them to enter their e–mail address or disclose specific

interests? What types of websites try to gather the most personal information from them?

Have they noticed Internet advertising that targets their personal tastes? Do they contend

with increasing amounts of spam e-mail? What is their biggest complaint about being online?

Does it have anything to do with privacy?

2. Analysis. What sorts of patterns emerge from your interviews? Is online privacy consistently

violated in particular ways? Are there certain strategies for maintaining privacy on the

Internet? Do these work pretty well? Do the interviewees generally seem to be concerned or

unconcerned about their online privacy? Have your questions made them consider their

online privacy for the first time?

3. Interpretation. What do these patterns mean? Are current marketing practices merely

inconvenient, or is there something more insidious going on? Do Internet privacy invasions

undercut the usefulness of the medium?

4. Evaluation. Are data mining, spam, and other invasions of privacy tolerable “costs” for the

benefits of the Internet? What should be the standards of privacy for the Internet? How

should they be enforced?

5. Engagement. Learn about and take action against privacy infringements. Visit the Center for

Democracy and Technology (www.cdt.org/privacy) and GetNetWise (www.getnetwise.org)

to learn how to prevent and/or delete unwanted cookies, spyware, spam, and online fraud as

well as how to report violations to the FTC. Share your knowledge with your peers.

THE INTERNET AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES

In general, the textbook focuses on technology in this chapter but doesn’t really flesh out many

of the larger social questions that are raised by the Internet. It is easy to get students talking

about the Internet; it generates both heavy use and lots of opinions.

Generating discussion: Here are discussion generators to supplement those listed under

“Questioning the Media” in the textbook):

• Have students consider the issues of social class and accessibility in regard to the Internet. Is

society too often assuming that “everyone” has easy access to the Internet? Have them read

through “Access: The Fight to Prevent a Digital Divide.”

• If the Internet didn’t exist, what would you miss the most about it: information, opportunity

for interaction, services?

• Discuss e-mail as a medium. When do you use it? Do you have problems with spamming?

Has e-mail changed your phone or interpersonal communication habits? When do you feel

obligated to respond to someone? When is it a burden? When is it a convenience? What can

you say over e–mail that you wouldn’t say in person? Where’s the dividing line? What sort of

e-mail etiquette are you aware of, especially when addressing your instructors?

Group activities: The Internet has such a broad impact that it may be useful to narrow the focus

by splitting students into groups and assigning each group a category of issues to discuss. Ask

them to think about the ways in which the Internet has affected these areas and its potential for

generating new developments in the future. Then have each group report back to the class and

generate discussion from there.

Political: Internet voting in the future: What are the drawbacks and/or benefits?

Campaigning: Who would be the audiences here (attention to social class)? Discuss the

Internet as a space for alternative political groups. Ask about hate groups campaigning: Is it

fair or not? How to regulate campaigning: Should the government step in? If so, when or

where? Also consider the Internet on a global level.

Education: How does the Internet help or hurt academia in terms of research capabilities and

plagiarism? What is the place of the Internet in the classroom (e.g., Blackboard)? What do

students like or dislike about it? Also discuss anticheating initiatives such as Turnitin and

iThenticate.

Medical: Consider the idea of self–care and self-diagnosis over the Internet. What about

medical consulting online with doctors or ordering prescription drugs? What role does the

Internet play in self–research on alternative treatments, medical conditions (particularly

useful for anything with a social stigma, e.g., HIV/AIDS), and support groups? Where or

how can the Internet be dangerous for people’s health? How do we know what’s a valid site

or advice, and so on? Investigate WebMD: Who sponsors this company’s information?

Interpersonal (this subject dovetails with the e-mail question above): Are virtual

relationships or communities somehow less real or legitimate in our society? Why or why

not? Internet dating and personal ads: How have they changed social interaction? How is

“tweeting” at friends different than chatting on the phone or in person? Get students thinking

about the physical qualities of communication, such as voice and nonverbal communication

(or body language). Has the Internet made us all homebodies? This question should probably

be saved for last, as people often like to talk about this element the most.

TRACKING RECENTS DEVELOPMENTS ABOUT THE INTERNET: A SEMESTER–

LONG CRITICAL PROCESS EXERCISE AND PAPER

In this exercise students discover the most recent developments in the industry, and they become

familiar with industry trade sources. The paper they produce is due in sections, which

correspond with the steps in the Critical Process.

1. Description. Read industry trade sources to get a sense of the main issues affecting the cable

industry. Look at the websites of industry trade associations and professional societies.

(Links to websites of some industry trade sources are given in the Classroom Media Sources

below.) Take notes on topics that have multiple stories or mentions in the current year. What

recent issues or developments in the industry have received a lot of recent attention,

discussion, or commentary in industry sources? (Focus only on information from the current

year—and only from trade sources.) Write a one-page synopsis of the information you found

about current topics in the industry. Cite your sources properly.

2. Analysis. Look for one development or pattern that has received significant attention on trade

sites and from trade journalists in the current year. Choose one specific trend, and write one

or two pages with details about the information you found about that trend. Continue to track

news about your topic as the semester progresses. Cite sources properly.

3. Interpretation. What does the trend mean for the state of the industry? Is it evolving? How?

What does it tell you about media in general at the current time? What might it say about our

culture or our society? Can your information help us interpret the role of the industry in our

lives? Write up your interpretation in a five-page paper. (The first page should be a synopsis

of the trend, with proper citations.) You might not have to provide information from your

sources for the next four pages because this section is your interpretation of the trend. (Save

any ideas you have about whether the trend is “good” or “bad” for the Evaluation step of the

Critical Process.)

4. Evaluation. Is the trend “good” or “bad?” For the industry? society? culture? democracy? us?

What do you think might happen in the future?

5. Engagement. Are there any actions you can take (related to your trend and the industry)?

Possibilities include posting your views on social media, creating a petition, contacting

people in the industry to see what they think of your interpretation and evaluation, or going

to an industry event if any are held nearby. (This step need not be required if students are not

motivated to take action.)

Note: This exercise works well if each step of the Critical Process is due two weeks after the

prior step is due. Limiting students to only trade sources and only information from the current

year helps keep them on track. Your institution’s librarians should be able to provide students

with information on how to access industry trade sources.

CLASSROOM MEDIA RESOURCES

LAUNCHPAD FOR MEDIA & CULTURE:

launchpadworks.com

Net Neutrality (2009, 2:35 minutes). In this video, experts discuss net neutrality and privatization

of the Internet. This video features Jonathan Adelstein, Amy Goodman, and Robin Sloan.

User–Generated Content (2009, 3:34 minutes). Editors, producers, and advertisers—David Gale,

Jeff Goodby, Robin Sloan, and Matt York—discuss the variety of user-generated content and

how it can contribute to the democratization of media.

VIDEOS/DVDS/CDS

The Fight to Save Net Neutrality, Explained (June 13, 2018, 4:48 minutes). A VOX video on the

implications of the FCC’s controversial repeal of the 2015 Net Neutrality Act. The repeal

became official June 11, 2018. Available at https://www.vox.com/2017/12/14/16774148/net-

neutrality–repeal–explained.

How Online Abuse of Women Has Spiraled Out of Control (October 2016, 16:11 minutes).

TedWomen2016 talk by Ashley Judd. Available at

https://www.ted.com/talks/ashley_judd_how_online_abuse_of_women_has_spiraled_out_of_con

trol.

The Internet: Behind the Web (2000, 50 minutes). This documentary from the History Channel

ventures back to 1969 when ARPAnet, the precursor to today’s World Wide Web, first went

online. Includes Ray Tomlinson, the man who wrote the software for the first e-mail program, as

well as Vint Cerf and Robert Kahn, who developed the TCP/IP protocols that make the modern

Internet possible. Distributed by the A&E store, 800-933-6249; also on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDucuVi5FrI.

Is Social Media Hurting Your Mental Health? (June 22, 2017 14:44 minutes). A Tedx Talk about

the effects of social media over time. Available at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czg_9C7gw0o.

The Roots of “Anonymous,” the Infamous Hacking Community (September 3, 2014, 6:57

minutes). A PBS NewsHour segment on the origins of “Anonymous.” Available at

http://www.pbs.org/video/2365318419.

Your Phone is Trying to Control Your Life. (January 30, 2017). Former Google employee Tristan

Harris felt something needed to be done to combat tech designers’‘ relentless efforts to influence

our behavior. PBS NewsHour special correspondent Cat Wise talks to Harris as part of a

collaboration with tThe Atlantic. Available at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MacJ4p0vITM.

WEB SITES

Common Sense Media: http://www.commonsensemedia.org

Computerworld: http://www.computerworld.com

Information Week: http://www.informationweek.com

The Internet Archive: http://www.archive.org

The Internet Association (trade association): https://internetassociation.org

Internet World Stats: http://www.internetworldstats.com

Nielsen: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/reports.html

Pew Research Internet Project: http://www.pewinternet.com

The Scout Report, the Internet’s longest-running weekly publication: https://scout.wisc.edu

Slashdot: https://slashdot.org