Continuing from the previous essay, “The story of Moshzilla“, I must disclose that some of its content was shamelessly lifted from a CNET feature titled “When ‘digital bullying’ goes too far“.
The article focused largely on the false sense of security and indeed the anonymity that internet users (children, specifically) think relieves them from having to assume any form of social responsibility and respect for others in the real world. It goes on to say that…
For many kids, a cell phone is nothing short of an appendage.
“Mobile phones are among a child’s most precious possessions,” Carr (head of the children’s technology unit for NCH, formerly known as the National Children’s Home) said. “This is their space, something they control. When something goes wrong with the mobile phone, they feel especially vulnerable.”
It’s a potential flip side of the digital lifestyle: Children who make themselves accessible to parents and friends via phone, game console or other always-on gadgets also open themselves up to unwanted communication. What’s more, the time-honored humiliation of being taunted in front of others can now live on in perpetuity on cell phones and Web sites.
“There’s no sanctuary anymore,” Carr said. “It’s more pernicious and more insidious than it was in the olden days.”
More pernicious is also the apparent lack of privacy that the always-on, password-protected and online lifestyle of the post-Y2K generation brings with it. Yes, I did say “apparent”, not the “absolute” lack of privacy.
Consider the fact that the previous essay mentioned what kind of camera Alex Stram used. It revealed when those pictures were taken and where those pictures were taken. What it didn’t mention was that the Moshzilla girl was born on the 18th of November 1987.
Why is this known? EXIF data. Blog posts. Google. Little Sammy’s own MySpace page.
It took longer to write these blog posts than it did to research most of its content (and that’s another topic entirely) — which begs the question: How much does Google know about us? Why does Google know so much about us? Consider also that Google is but one of many search engines out there, each spidering the web, hopefully honouring no-follow metadata, and collecting obscene volumes of data. And that data does, of course, include information about ourselves… you and me and your neighbour’s dog.
But how much of it can you actually trust?
If you do a [insert favourite search engine] search on current media darling Sarah Palin, you’re bound to find sponsored articles or products listed above a Wikipedia article which, in all likelihood, even appears above her official, sanctioned site or home page, along with oft-cited and supposedly-reputable news gatherers and traditional media outlets.
Who will you believe? Her own site, the one she may or may not have contributed actual words to?
Certainly, depending on what kind of info you’re looking for — but surely no dirty laundry that a vice-presidential candidate would willingly want to be known!
So where would you go then to look for skeletons in her closet? Blogs, newspapers, interviews of those who (claim to) know her?
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