Polls

  • SET 20_AS_solid

    Are we too reliant on technology?

    Dec 16, 2014 10:06am | by jesse

    We shape our tools, and in exchange our tools shape us. This interaction that exists between our tools and how we use them creates a broader culture of technology that drives us to constantly find better and smarter tools. Carnegie Mellon University Professor Jessica Hammer describes this as a larger responsibility: “I think we have […]

  • HOME_SPLIT

    Who are you online?

    Dec 1, 2014 7:51am | by jesse

    There is a powerful promise to the notion that you can be anyone that you want to be. This may explain part of the appeal of online environments, the opportunity to construct a new identity or a new side of our self that has been neglected, untapped, or ignored. Whether it’s in the creation of […]

  • vint-cerf-avatar-secrets

    Should everyone on the web be identified?

    Nov 24, 2014 8:53am | by jesse

    One of the great ongoing battles of the Internet in our era is over the ability to become anonymous. For many this has been a founding virtue of the network of networks, and for others it has been a dangerous myth that never really existed. Ironically it makes sense that our perception of the way […]

  • Set 22_LAD_solid

    How much do you share?

    Nov 19, 2014 8:59am | by jesse

    The rise of social media has been both rapid and euphoric. While we remain critical of its side effects and by-products, such as the erosion of our privacy, we are, as a society, seduced into the Facebook fold and the Twitter flock because it appeals to fundamental instincts of love, friendship, and community. Dr. Sue […]

  • Nathan-Jurgenson-Avatar-Secrets

    Can the Internet predict your behaviour?

    Nov 12, 2014 9:14am | by jesse

    The rapid rate of technological change makes it difficult for us as individuals, or for us as a society to keep up. Although the concept of “keeping up” is really just a metaphor for our relationship with time, how much we feel we have, and whether we feel ahead, with, or behind the times. Similarly […]

  • Sue-Johnson-Avatar-Secrets

    What can we learn from the failure of Samaritans Radar?

    Nov 10, 2014 7:48pm | by jesse

    The UK based charity Samaritans recently released an app designed to address issues related to depression and suicide. Called Samaritans Radar it seeks to turn your social net into a safety net by using an algorithm to spot when friends are in need of help. Could it play a role in fostering greater social support […]

  • Set7_#3_AS_solid

    Do you take responsibility for your technology?

    Nov 5, 2014 7:22am | by jesse

      Does technology alter your behavior? Is technology changing us? Is technology eroding our social values? Do we make our tools? Or do our tools make us? This debate around agency and technological determinism has raged for the past few decades and continues to divide scholars, hackers, and activists who wish to harness the empowering […]

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    Big Data and Twitter Flight

    Oct 31, 2014 12:41pm | by jesse

    Do we really know what Twitter is? Sure on the surface we see it’s about little bits less than 140 characters that describe events in the news or mundane thoughts spoken out loud. Yet the real value of Twitter is in the data as a whole, the big data. The metaview that predictive analytics and […]

  • Set5_AS_solid

    Is technology making us lonely?

    Oct 26, 2014 7:05am | by jesse

    The human mind seeks out stories to help explain our emotions and behaviors, but sometimes we focus on false causes when the reason lies elsewhere. Technology is an easy target due to its ubiquity in our lives, and for those who cannot appreciate or understand emerging environments its easy to dismiss their potential by focusing […]

  • John-Hagel-Avatar-Secrets

    Do you feel empowered by the Internet?

    Oct 22, 2014 9:11am | by jesse

    There is a paradox to our relationship with the internet when it comes to empowerment and agency. Does it empower us or does it enslave us? Perhaps it depends who you ask. Celebrated filmmaker and one of the “women shaping the 21st century” Tiffany Shlain phrases the answer as more of a challenge: “you’re creating […]