NDM: What's wrong with the internet?

1) Summarise the article in 50 words.

The article is focused on privacy and how this can be breached given the advances in new technology. An example of this would be In Philadelphia where schools gave students to laptops and enabled teachers to spy on them via the webcams. The privacy breech is also related to the another life sphere, when people are constantly looking at you in your bedroom. Data mining, is completely legal and is why large companies are able to stay a free product.

2) Are you worried about companies tracking your online movement?

I'm not worried about people tracking my movements to a certain extent as it enable me to use apps such as maps with ease however I am concerned about certain apps where requiring my location isn't particularly necessary as it won't effect the app and how I use it. However, , terrorists have been caught and arrested in the UK because they were communicating through social media so the Internet Providers were able to see the suspicious messages being sent. Therefore, I think this will and should bother everyone because their privacy is being eroded and it could cause problems in society. Also, if people have nothing to hide, then surveillance won't be a bother as they aren't being watched (by Government specifically).Therefore, I believe its a consequence with the amount of technology is in society and it won't stop people from purchasing the latest phones, televisions or consoles. A threat to this would be hackers as this would make it easier for them to get access of the cameras in devices and steal personal information and gain access to places online they shouldn't (identity theft).

3)  Are the problems with the internet (such as concerns over data and privacy) a price worth paying for all the benefits we gain from life online?

In my opinion, I think to an extent it is important for certain companies to have your personal data if it benefits the customer in catering for their needs. However, I think taking into consideration that if this information is available to those who people 'want' to have their personal this means it is easily available to those who may use others data for i.e fraud, identity theft. I think it is a price worth paying as many banks and such use more secure things to get information or for the customer to make sure they are talking to the bank themselves ad not importers. 

4) Should governments be able to spy on our activity online? Where would you draw the line - social media? Private messaging conversations? Our phone photos and contacts?

Depending on  how the information is used I do think that this is a small price to pay but there are some extents particularly when information is sold to a third party whom may or may not have completely said what they are going to do with the information they have been sold. I believe that this issue is overlooked because most companies value making a profit over everything else.

5) Read this Guardian news story from last week on Harvard withdrawing offers due to offensive memes on Facebook. In your opinion, were Harvard right to rescind those offers?

For me, I have seen other countless of times where people have posted or tweeted racist, ignorant or offensive things on social media such as Instagram, Twitter or Tumblr and people have tagged them with their name, address, work number or manager's number for people to complain about what they post. This can show how easy it is for others to get a hold of your information as their are a lot of sites which deal with gaining people's addresses or numbers and be able to complain to schools or bosses. 
On Harvard,I do thin it was good choice in taking away those offers as the jokes were very explicit and very questioning of those students mindset and to take away their application is a good punishment for what they did wrong. 
This also brings to question how easy it is for this information to be looked at if the group chat was 'private' and goes to show that your own personal details are open for a lot to see.

Year 12 - Introduction to NDM: reading and blog task

1) Read the first two articles. Write one paragraph on each summing up the key aspects

The first article is talking about the way that young people are using social media and how they balance it out.The article also consists of explaining how popular culture is taught more in schools rather than vital or social issues and the effects of the media. There is also ways that the media is used differently both at home and in school and the common differences between the two ways that they are used. Social media is a big part of peoples life's in today's society and this is mainly with the younger generation and how people socialise through social networking.
Certain problems arose with the researchers received before even carrying out the study as the two key principles that researchers have to address are: will do research harm anybody? And do the people being researched consent to being involved? The researchers assumed that they would change issues that may increase; however when in fact carrying out the study most of what has been said in the media was not revealed, such as the issues of online abuse.

The second article is about the new Periscope app that was recently released earlier this year. Periscope is an app that was purchased by Twitter and there are concerns about the safety of peoples privacy on Periscope. There are also things that are really positive about this such as being able to teach students in a class about another country or culture and being able to contact someone who have give this insight and information straight away because they are easy to access due to the use of Periscope.

2) Now read the A2 A* essay. Why do you think it was so successful? 

 I believe the A2 essay was successful as it instantly creates a media debate which is not biased. It states one advantage and counter argues it with a disadvantage in clear detail about Spotify, with the addition of their opinion. It includes a lot of media theories which help exaggerate and back her point alongside the use of media terminology which is applied appropriately.

3) Finally, answer this question in a well developed paragraph on your blog: How has digital media changed your life in the last 5 years (for positive or negative)?

The media has changed over the past 5 years in a positive way by introducing more advance technology so that its easier to access things on online. This has had an impact on everyone's life as they are able to spend less time looking for the things that they need. Although, this can be a disadvantage as they would be spending more time as it is time consuming, it has also had an impact on things such as TV, print media and radio as more people are online and not consuming media as much in those ways anymore causing a significant decline.