Weeks 5-8 Blog

Weeks 5-8 Reflection Blog The discussion topics and reading assignments for weeks five through eight were comprised of several interesting topics including freedom of speech in relation to privacy, hackivism and the social activist group Anonymous, whistleblowing and a debate on whether or not the a social revolution exists or is pending. The readings provided informed perspectives on these topics, however for me, I thought the discussions along with some of the additional links provided the more interesting points for weeks five through eight. For this review segment, beginning in week 5, the reading assignment on freedom v privacy and security brought forth an interesting question posed by Charles Ess in the text: should we as a society be more paranoid in regards to our privacy and how it relates to the growing popularity of the Internet? This was the basis for a great discussion board as classmates weighed in. I personally felt that the answer to this question was: yes. We should be more protective and even paranoid in a sense when it comes to our information being shared via the Web. Along with Ess, Tavani brought up the interesting point that people should protect sensitive information that is shared over the Internet in the same manner as how they would any other sensitive information such as medical or credit history. Week 6 covered hackivism and the idea of internet vigilantism. As a class, we debated the activities of Anonymous and whether or not their actions should be considered the work of an activist group or criminal activity from a vandalistic or even terroristic group. I feel that groups like Anon are in fact social activist groups and in making that statement, it is definitely my belief the activities of this group and other subsequent groups like this will serve the purpose of bringing issues to light that need to be addressed. Issues such as child exploitation on the Web, which are not challenged or protested as intensely as some would desire. The following week dealt with the topic of freedom of information, freedom of speech and whistle-blowing. Specifically, what, if anything, should be censored when it comes to the Web; also how should these sites be monitored if there were censorship activities present. It is my belief that we should attempt to censor the internet in the same way we handle graphic or unwanted content, in the form of having those who wish to consume ‘controversial’ content pay for it, allowing for those who sign up for these sites to be subject to any activities that may be deemed illegal. The final week, week 8 handled the topic of social revolutions any supposed role that the Internet might possibly play in fueling these activities in today’s technological age. The assigned readings explored the validity of claims that popular social sites such as Twitter or Facebook assisted in recent protest activities in the Middle East. After several accounts supporting the notion that Twitter had finally arrived, meaning, taken on some level of importance and becoming more than just a site to send what amounts to mass text messages. All in all, the readings for this ‘quarter’ of the Spring 2012 semester were informative. I enjoyed discussing all of these topics, each of which carried enough weight to maintain interest and spur a decent amount of discussion on each of the topics.