The title of this post originates from a phrase my grandfather used to say. In other words, think before you speak – or on the Internet, before you type.
As I’ve said before, I am very interested in observing how new media is used across education – especially amidst the local UNSW population. Twitter in particular is being increasingly adopted by both staff and students alike, and we are now beginning to see some wonderful networks evolve and grow.
So in order to track what’s being discussed I have subscribed to the RSS results of a Twitter search for the term ‘UNSW.’ Anytime someone mentions UNSW in a tweet, it shows up in my feed reader.
An unexpected by-product of this has been the opportunity to observe discussions and opinions that are being shared publicly about UNSW-related topics – not all of which are positive. At this stage I do not actively respond to most tweets from students, barring those that are asking for assistance. This is largely due to the notion of the Creepy Treehouse, and a concern that students will feel as though their personal space is being encroached upon. I want people to feel comfortable exploring and experimenting with the possibilities of new media without thinking someone is watching over their shoulder.
This may or may not be a realistic concern – I just don’t want people thinking they’re being spied on. I see new media as a flat landscape where everyone is equal – staff or student, Vice Chancellor or causal employee. I just worry that not everyone sees things in the same light.
All that said, there have been times that comments coming through the search results are very suprising.
Just today someone posted their glee for the uni’s wireless network because it facilitated the download of illegal material. I was absolutely stunned. The post was publicly visible and tied back to the individual’s first and last name.
If this person proves to be a student of the uni, their admission could have significant implications for their academic career – if not legal ones as well. Yet it was expressed in a very off-the-cuff and matter-of-fact manner. This indicates to me that the individual didn’t have the slightest clue that people outside their immediate Twitter network would ever see the statement, nor the potential consequences if they did.
Yet with the structure of the internet being what it is, that simple statement has now been indexed, stored and replicated across countless sites and servers by now – so even deleting it won’t make it disappear. Once you say something on the web there’s no going back.
By saying all this I’m not trying to cause paranoia; just to encourage the use of common sense in what you say online, because you never know who is listening.
That’s an interesting point you make about the flat structure of new media still being affected by real hierarchies. It seems the be the unsolved sticking point of it with many stories of how something said online to a perceived audience of peers was picked up by someone with power such as a boss, parent or school teacher.
Quite right – in fact there was another example this week in which someone who had just been offered a job at Cisco publicly Tweeted:
“Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.”
Someone who happens to be a “Cisco channel partner advocate” caught wind of the statement, contacted the hiring manager and the candidate promptly lost the job.
More on that here: How Not to Get a Job Via Twitter
Hi Mike!
I’m bewildered by the vast amount of possibilities that RSS allows and by the coincidence of your post with what I was pondering today at Skype.
A nice rounded way to end my day: Think first! Advised to me at the beginning and the end of my day.
CU Maru
Hi Maru! Long time no see, how have things been?
Yes, RSS is a truly amazing thing. Especially once you get your head around the possibilities and realise it’s not just about feed readers but also extends to re-use, mashups and other crazy innovative uses.
Great to hear from you. Take care!
Thanks for you reply and interest Mike!
Happy to connect with you as usual. I guess I won’t be getting around RSS possibilities soon, techie issues (even cables) don’t come easy to me, LOL Some people have a natural inclination towards it while my steps are sound though slow and hard to come by regarding that area.
Sorry for my absence, I got indeed busy moderating EVO09 sessions and then I stumbled with incredible PC problems; I’m still not out of the bushes, I’m restoring files and I’m being held back by simple things like getting my mic to work again. LOL
BaeL Project will celebrate its 1st anniversary the next 24 of March, to get the donated computers to Mexico has proven more difficult than expected, the focus this year is to learn to moderate online to create a practical training course which hopefully will be used in Mexico, Morocco and Argentina by 2010.
Your post and the insightful comments posted make me realize that to have set a BaeL code of Conduct was not a bad idea. Kids became aware that they would have readers of different countries. However, I have had to delete phone numbers and addresses posted by teenagers in the comments area of our Ning.
As you and Sara mention, now I go about twitter and what I post online (even in closed sites like YH groups) with a “what consequences” antenna tuned up. Months ago I got a hard tug when I saw that some of my email messages were used as examples about differences in the use of the Spanish language among countries. On the one hand I felt happy to be of service for a project to get a degree on Linguistics; on the other hand I felt utterly exposed with no one to blame but myself. As silly as it sounds, I tend to forget that email is not private either. Great grandfather’s advice: Everything you type will remain there and may get showed in places you’d never thought about.
Have fun! Regards to your family.
Besos. Maru
My daughter and I are starting to become of this issue. I have been a Twitter mate of @erikapearson for about a year. Erika is a university lecturer. We chat & we get to hear about each other’s personal lives as well as professional lives. My daughter has just joined a class that Erika is teaching. And she is becoming aware that there is there a link between her teacher & her mother, & that she has to be careful about what she says because she knows she is being ‘watched’. And I am conscious now that I have to be careful about what I say about her. So ramifications across the board.
Wow that would be a weird experience! I’m a ways off from having to face anything similar with my kids though I suspect.
That said though I’m working in the same department with many of the same people as my wife used to (we worked together there for awhile as well). So despite the fact she left the industry and the uni quite some time ago there hasn’t been a sense of closure for her I think.
I’ve learned over time to to leave work at work and not talk about it at home so much.
Very good point. I am also looking and observing this kind of thing daily. People shoot and then think, it has to be the other way around for everyones interest. Cool heads make good decisions. As for that student they should have known better.
I have to admit there have been a few memorable examples when I haven’t followed my own advice and fired off something from the hip without considering the ramifications. Fortunately they weren’t anything that was particularly traumatic or had long term implications.
Still it can be a very unpleasant experience when you realise “I really shouldn’t have said that.”
Hi Mike!
I am a real newbie to twitter, so it’s all still rather alien to me. Yet, I have come across the problem with young people’s (talking about the age group 15-19 here) apparent unawareness of the possible consequences of their online interactions in social networks. Actually, totally amazed at how oblivious they are to the openness of online networks and forums! We have used Ning platforms in some of our international school projects, and although there shouldn’t be anything unclear about teachers being present, or anyone being able to read and look at all the content published there – it still often comes as a surprise to students when we teachers have to remind them of certain realities – most recently, for example, about the ethics against publishing racist comments or fascist insignia on these sites!
I am going to use the title of your post to guide new students to online publishing
Literacies and Digital Natives {seesmic_video:{“url_thumbnail”:{“value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/Vb2fIjn1qS_th1.jpg”}”title”:{“value”:”Literacies and Digital Natives ”}”videoUri”:{“value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/mMNFHCHpLT”}}}
Hi Mike,
I’ve started playing with the term “social media latchkey kids” to describe youth who are left on their own to interact online without necessarily understanding the full ramifications of their digital media use (although I know this goes beyond young people). Perhaps the term also suggests that adults/educators/facilitators/etc. have a responsibility to fully understand and model social media use themselves in order to mentor well. The more everyone understands how this all works, I’d hope the less we’ll be dealing with the silliness of restricting and locking down digital access…
Cheers,
Carmen
Pingback: Think thrice before one acts - under Connectivism « Suifaijohnmak’s Weblog
Pingback: Blogging Journey : Now that you have begun….. « The Last Ship