#climber101

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The eight-day guide to a better digital life

Your apps, search engines and social networks know hidden things about you that even your closest friends might not – here’s how to fix that.

What do our online habits reveal about us? (Maybe a lot!) Our apps, search engines and social networks know hidden things about us that even our closest friends might not. (Creeeeepy??) 

This article goes through the Data Detox and how you can explore and tidy up your digital life. You learn that Google is your “best friend” (or at least wants to be your BFFL); you learn that every time you ‘Like’ something on Facebook and Twitter, you’re letting third party companies know the pages you visit; alarge contributor to data bloating is the number of apps you have on your mobile in the first place (yup I have a lot! :/); and Facebook and Google have profiles set up based on who they think you are in order to sell you to advertisers!! (Really, it’s all about advertising and marketing these days!!) 

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As we become more and more aware that social media companies collect personal information from us and then make it available to marketers, we are thus becoming more concerned about our privacy and how platforms and marketers use our personal information. We are becoming anxious about the security of our data! 

*Data from the Pew Research Center (http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/03/27/americans-complicated-feelings-about-social-media-in-an-era-of-privacy-concerns/) 

[rhmsdm-blog]

On social media, privacy is no longer a personal choice

Data from the now-defunct social platform Friendster show that even people not on social media have predictable qualities.

“ ‘You are not in full control of your privacy.’ If your friend is on a social platform, so are you. And you don’t have a choice in the matter.”

This article reminded me Noble’s “The Power of Algorithms” where she states that we must agree not to have privacy. But yet it’s crazy that even if we don’t utilize a particular social media platform, social platforms can create shadow profiles of us based off of info from our friends who do use those platforms. Say what?! Basically, if we decide not to participate in a certain social network, that doesn’t mean that people won’t be able to find things about us on that network! 

[rhmsdm-blog]

Thanks Tumblr for taking our page down! We appreciate it....Your friendly reminder to not forget freedom of the press and speech! 

[rhmsdm-blog]

Very interesting site that explains the various forms and styles of selfies, and how selfies are utilized uniquely around the globe. According to a study with England, there are three main genres of selfies posted by schoolchildren: `classic’ selfies showing only an individual, ‘groupies’ showing friendship groups and ‘uglies’ showing individuals from an unattractive angle. But then in northern Chile, rather than selfies representing an individualistic performance, they are a way for people to visually display their connections to others. There’s even something called the ‘footie’! This genre of selfie depicts only a person's feet while sitting and watching TV. Pretty interesting! 

I think that selfies can be strong indicators of your culture and community. After all, they are social constructs. People take selfies for various reasons and how they take the selfie is based off of their own cultural and societal norms. 

[rhmsdm-blog]

Uber for friends...I honestly don’t know how I feel about an app where you can 'rent friends.’ It’s weird to think that companies are now thinking of commodifying friendship. Why does everything have to be commodified? I feel like then we are losing the authenticity and uniqueness of building personal relationships, for I’m sure Uber will be keeping track of our friends we have made through this app. And Uber will for sure be stocking up on more of our personal data. For to even begin with a friend app like this, you must disclose personal information so as to find a decent friend match. Once again, we see how our personal information is being used for commercializing properties. 

[rhmsdm-blog]

“Race...is...fundamentally shaping how we see and know as well as the technologies that underwrite or cement both vision and knowledge.” ~from McPherson’s The Intertwining of Race and UNIX

Do you think culture and race is multi-layered?