Ruminations on our relationship with technology
“…technology education, something quite different from instruction in using computers to process information …”
– Neil Postman, The End of Education, p 43.
Professional topics look at something we often take for granted. We couldn’t perform our jobs without technology. Since technologies impact how we work and interact, workplaces can benefit not just from technology training (knowing how to use technology). They also can benefit from technology education (understanding how media and machines influence the way we work and communicate).
Given all the ways technologies influence our lives, many professionals have asked: What technology works best for what purpose? In other words (as educator Neil Postman asked), for what problem is the technology a solution? Professions that can help shed light on this question include technical communication, user experience, and business technology. To explore ideas in these professional topics, select any of articles below.
Personal privacy and data protection regulations for social media Summary: An ongoing problem with several social media platforms is that they’re designed to monitor and manipulate what people can see or experience online. That’s because the goal is to keep users on these sites for as long as possible—namely, by commodifying their attention, collecting their … Read more
Why indefinite online censorship won’t save social media from hate speech Summary: Is online censorship inevitable on social media? Going forward, social media companies will probably need to moderate some content online to prevent dangerous speech. However, trying to moderate other kinds of online speech, such as hate speech, will likely remain an endless game … Read more
Moderating content to prevent dangerous speech online Summary: Inevitably, social media reform will have to include some content moderation, or screening and removing harmful material online. At the same time, figuring out what content social media companies should moderate is a complex question. Still, there’s at least one clear answer: dangerous speech. Dangerous speech refers … Read more
Instrumentarianism and social media Summary: Instrumentarianism refers to Big Tech’s power to monitor and manipulate what you can and can’t see online. For instance, social media sites may use this power to commodify people’s attention and private data. The goal is to keep users on their sites for as long as possible, often through click-bait … Read more
Why are electronic messages prone to misinterpretation? When it comes to business technology, emails and other electronic messages (texts, IMs, chats, etc.) are certainly popular. They often feel efficient to write and straightforward to read. But they can create problems, especially in work settings: namely, the problem of misinterpretation. Perhaps it’s because we don’t sense … Read more
How much social presence does your technology communicate? In Part I of this article, we explored a common dilemma among professionals who work from home. What information technology should I use to communicate with my coworkers? For example, take two of the most common types of information and communications technologies (ICTs) used in work settings … Read more
Deciding what information and communications technology to use at work Over the years, electronic communication has become the norm, both in our private and professional lives. Thanks to innovations in information and communications technology (ICT), we now have everything from online messaging services (such as emails and instant messages) to audio-video conferencing applications (like conference … Read more
Why social media incentivize online outrage culture It’s no secret—during election years in particular—that online outrage culture dominates plenty of social media. That’s especially true whenever politics come up. According to Pew Research, social media users in the U.S. are now more likely to describe political discourse as “stressful and frustrating” on sites such as … Read more
The Cambridge Analytica data scandal Many of us first heard about the Cambridge Analytica data scandal shortly after the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. At that time, we learned that Cambridge Analytica, a consulting firm, acquired personal data from tens of millions of Facebook users before selling it all to political campaigns, without users’ clear consent. … Read more