Although some people are very concerned with our current internet privacy laws which essentially allow for large profit-driven companies to mine, aggregate and keep our online data for their own purposes, for some reason I’m not too concerned. Don’t get me wrong, although I do wish that I could have more control over my own online data and I do believe that our laws should reflect that principle, I don’t see reason to panic.

I mean what’s the worst that can happen? Although I wish that nobody had anyway to find out that I once played ‘Farmville’, the chances of someone isolating and analyzing my data seems slim considering that there are now over a billion registered Facebook profiles. Similarly, although the idea of flying is terrifying to me, I still fly regularly because I understand that it statistically safe. One great example of a popular website with awful privacy settings is Facebook. Not only are the default privacy settings on Facebook appalling, they also amass all of your data – photo, friends list, location updates, etc – for their own purposes. To add insult to injury, although it’s possible to delete your own Facebook account, it’s impossible to erase the data they’ve collected from you. That however, doesn’t negate the fact that when you sign up for Facebook, you agree to their terms. The decision to join Facebook, like all life decisions, is a question of costs and benefits. Although Facebook has undoubtably revolutionized the way we communicate with others each other, I personally don’t buy the deterministic rhetoric that claims that joining Facebook isn’t a choice but instead an obligation for everyone who doesn’t want to be ostracized by main stream society. If enough people were concerned enough about their data to stop using Facebook, the companies would change in order to recapture market share.

Although I wish I could have more control over the privacy of my web presence, I understand that the only way that Facebook can operate is to use my data to sell advertising space; to me, the trade-off is worth it. Furthermore, even if someone did find all of my data, and they had a sinister motives (which again seems unlikely), I can’t think of any way that my data could be used to hurt me in any meaningful way. Although a full fledged digital assault of old conversations with friends and girlfriends, embarrassing ‘selfies’ and old emotionally charged Facebook statuses that were just song lyrics could possibly hurt anybody’s pride, or ruin a presidential campaign, the casualties would certainly be limited.

At the beginning of 2010, just as I was finishing the Ninth Grade, my school announced that they were going make the switch to being a laptop school. This meant that at the beginning of the next academic year, every student was going to be given a fully loaded Macbook. Given that I attended an elite all boys private school in Toronto, their move to keep up technologically with the New England prep schools, all who were making very similar transitions, wasn’t at all surprising. The political motivations behind their decision, however, seemed very inconsequential to me at the time. Because I was almost finished riding my three year old Mac into the ground, the thought of a new Macbook Pro almost sent me into spins. That having been said now that I’ve graduated, I don’t necessarily think that laptops are the best tool for preparing students for college.

While computers are extremely helpful for performing certain task, in my school, they were adopted as an educational tool so quickly and completely that they weren’t used appropriately or efficiently. Even most teachers were hesitant to accept computers into their classrooms in fear of having to face twenty glossy eyed students who were enthralled with their ‘notes’. Although laptops do allow students to access great amounts of material online, store thousands of pages of notes, and draft essays with ease, they aren’t great at preforming simple, necessary tasks.

For starters, because laptops require us to type opposed to write our notes, student miss out on the benefit of memorizing content through physically writing that content down. Furthermore, many word processing documents can’t compare to archaic combination of pen and paper in terms of allowing students to link ideas, mind map, or just jot down asides. Because paper is such a flexible medium, it works better in many situations where the physical limitations of computers are too inflexible to be useful.

Throughout high school, it seemed like everything we did was justified with the idea that it would help us in succeed in college and so when I arrived at Middlebury and three out of my four professors didn’t allow us to use laptops in class, I was shocked. Although I like writing my notes on paper, I think there is a major gap in the expectation of technology in education and the reality. Don’t get me wrong, I love my laptop and I think computers are wonderful but sometimes I think that by always trying to stay ahead of the game, we aren’t able to do what’s best for us now.

Today, in my Digital Media Literacy class, while discussing our media usage, some of my classmates claimed that they were addicted to social media. Whether they doing their homework, on a date, or trying to go to sleep, they claimed that they couldn’t stop checking their phone, their Facebook newsfeed, or even their twitter stream. Although, I didn’t agree with many of my classmate’s points, what I found more frustrating was the amount of times some of them used the word ‘like’ while trying describing their effort to get on the “IRL” wagon.

Although I’m definitely guilty of over and misusing the word ‘like’ – especially when I’m nervous – the word has become so ubiquitous in the conversations of most teenagers that it’s almost just faded into the background like a subconscious tick. Like, our nose looking past our eyes, we’ve become so unaware how much we use the word to fill space that it’s simply become routine. Ironically, this is how I think much of our generation used social media: as a space filler. Whether it’s a conversation coming to a natural lull, having just ordered dinner on a date, or switching from one page of homework to another, with so many social platforms so readily available, it’s almost become routine to check your phone to fill space. That having been said, like saying ‘like’, flicking your hair, or using any of our generation’s other catchy yet regrettable ticks, it’s become so ingrained in our culture that we’re unaware of it. Although, I do believe that it’s possible to be addicted to new media, I think that for most people, the road to rehab as simple making conscious choices. Whether that’s consciously trying to smooth out your sentences or purposely turning off your phone, like everyone knows, knowing you have a problem is the first step to recovery.

-Sebastian

Welcome to my Digital Media Literacy Class Blog!

My name is Sebastian Colville-Reeves, I’m from Toronto Canada, and I’m a freshman at Middlebury College. In this blog, I’m going to discuss new media and how it relates to my own life experiences and society as a whole, but first, a little more about me. I love sports, music and spending time with my friends and family. You’ll often find me out, playing a pick up game of ultimate or walking across campus listening to  music on my iPhone. I also to play guitar and I love using Facebook to share tabs and new music with my friends.

Whether I’m writing about my own Facebook addiction, new internet privacy laws, or how a meme could represent a large scale change in the way we communicate ideas, I hope that you enjoy my blog and can join in on the discussion!

Until next time,

Sebastian