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The “Generational Discourse” Discourse

Posting from the 8th International Computer Ethics / Philosophical Enquiry (CEPE) conference in Corfu, Greece.

Today’s sessions have been an enlightening experience, particularly Fran Grodzinsky and Herman Tavani’s “Can the ‘Contextual Integrity’ model of privacy be applied to personal blogs in the blogosphere?” talk (which I had been looking forward to all week). While I took a lot away from the presentation and discussion, I left feeling a bit like a boxer thrown in the ring with one hand tied behind his back.

Underlying the entire talk (and explicitly driving a decent chunk of the discussion) was the loathsome “generational discourse” in its worst form: “Young people today don’t care about privacy.” Given the brief time allotted for discussion, I did not get a chance to engage the idea directly and was mostly reduced to venting my frustrations on Twitter. Now, however, I’d like to take a brief moment to push back with more than 140 characters. Consider this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance:”

Do not think the youth has no force, because he cannot speak to you and me. Hark! in the next room his voice is sufficiently clear and emphatic. It seems he knows how to speak to his contemporaries. Bashful or bold, then, he will know how to make us seniors very unnecessary.

That being said, I – as a young person online – would like to speak directly to the established minds in the fields of computer and information ethics, in whose presence I have been much humbled this weekend:

Understand that this “generational discourse” is not ours – it is wholly yours. In that sense, there is no generational discourse. There is no discourse between the generations of digital immigrants and digital natives on issues of privacy and context online. It is nothing more than a one-sided belief circulated among older academics that undermines critical discussion of the changing relationship between all people (not just young people) and increasingly pervasive information technologies. Do not assume we don’t care. Do not assume, as Emerson put it, that we have no force. Bashful or bold, let’s kill this “generational discourse” and replace it with a genuine discourse between the generations – one that assures open and dynamic discussion of the value of privacy in today’s information society.

Dan “I don’t play gotcha” Kleinman

Dan Kleinman, the man behind the curtain in Ginny Maziarka’s Oz in the West Bend Library book challenge (update and info), does not (according to his SafeLibraries blog) “play gotcha.” As he astutely notes, “…nobody is a computer and is expected to remember everything they ever said.” This is certainly a fair and diplomatic assertion.

The politics of “gotcha” journalism or “gotcha” blogging are indeed crude and ineffective. They strip statements of the context that is vital for their understanding. Too often they don’t acheive ther intended goal, which is to expose hypocrisy. Rather, they twist and coerce statements into a black or white mold that is tailor-made to fit this polarized argument or that polarized argument.

On this note, I’m not sure Dan Kleinman understands what he is saying when he claims he does not “play gotcha.”

how to react poorly. always.

I get it. I’d be upset to. I’d be trying my hardest to keep people from walking away from me. Any business should feel threatened when its customers move away from them and profits drop. But… the music industry can’t seem to not look idiotic. Ever.

Take the latest, for example. BI Norwegian School of Management completed a study that said consumers that pirate music buy more. The obvious hits like teenagers smoking because their parents tell them not to. (Those that like music buy more of it.)

UWM School of Information Studies Statement of Support for the West Bend Library

Proud to be a UWM-SOIS student today:

UW-M School of Information Studies Statement of Support for the West Bend Library
April 14, 2009

In recent weeks, two citizens of West Bend, Wisconsin have petitioned the West Bend Community Memorial Library to remove gay-themed books from a section designated “Young Adults,” arguing the books should be reclassified and placed in a restricted area requiring parental approval prior to being released to a minor. They further demand that the books be labeled with a warning about their content, arguing that they are obscene and pornographic.

The books in question include:

• “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky (MTV Books, a division of Simon & Schuster)
• “The Geography Club” by Brent Hartinger (HarperTeen, a division of HarperCollins)
• “Deal With It! a whole new approach to your body, brain and life as a gURL” by Esther Drill (Pocket, a division of Simon & Schuster)

The books are from major publishers, sold in general bookstores, and are available in public and high school libraries throughout the state.

Throughout the history of the American public library, special interest groups have attempted to exert a disproportionate degree of influence on the development of a community wide resource.  Whatever the intentions of any of these groups, the public library is required to maintain a standard of intellectual integrity within a sometimes-volatile situation.

The public library was developed to be the anchor of free inquiry in our democracy.  We believe that mission is still relevant today.  Over 15,000 public library branches throughout the United States maintain access to quality materials collected and arranged according to national standards developed by thoughtful and committed information professionals.  The administration and staff of the West Bend Community Library are among those professionals and public scholars dedicated to principles of open access, inclusive collections, and community service. The education of these professionals is rigorous and expansive, demanding sophisticated skills in assessment, development and leadership; it ensures their preparedness to take the lead in developing and delivering information resources to their communities.

We, the faculty and teaching academic staff at the School of Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, along with the SOIS Graduate Student Organization, commend the West Bend Community Memorial Library Board of Trustees, administration, and staff for their support of the principle of intellectual freedom in the face of pressure to abandon their professional and communal commitments.

[via, full PDF here]

diverted streams

There’s quite a bit of discussion (not here yet) of “data portability” (DP). DP involves a user creating and controlling specific data, able to move it from place to place with ease. The idea is novel and forward-thinking.

Also, there’s what @alisamleo has labeled, a “paradigm of streams.” Basically, the web is becoming less place, more conduit as more people use third-party clients or sites to retrieve information that interests them (RSS, TweetDeck, etc).

To Catch a Misconception—Online Sexual Predation

From Ars Techinca (which, sadly, looks to have been hit hard with layoffs recently): A newly released report demonstrates that online sexual predation doesn’t look like what everyone thinks it looks like.

The most pronounced change the study found was in the profile of the adult offenders. The proportion of younger adult offenders, aged 18-25, rose from 23 percent to 40 percent of arrests in cases with actual underage victims, and from 7 percent to 34 percent in undercover police stings. In the former type of case, the authors note, the increase in the absolute number of arrests of young-adult offenders appears to account for the entire increase in that category—no other age group saw similar growth. At the same time, while 40 percent of offenders in 2000 possessed child pornography, only 21 percent did in 2006.

…[The] overarching finding is that neither the Internet nor social networking sites pose unusual dangers for minors. As has always been the case, the underaged are most likely to be the victims of sex crimes perpetrated by acquaintances and family members, even if such cases are seldom featured on To Catch a Predator.

Misadventures in Social Marketing: Universal Music Group and Me

Yesterday was an exciting day! I slept late, grabbed some coffee from my local co-op, and moseyed on into work. Waiting for me in my office was the copy of Adobe Creative Suite 4: Design Standard I had ordered for my MacBook. (!) I settle in at my desk, fire up said MacBook, launch Firefox, check Gmail, check campus email, check Twitter, check Tumblr, and…wait…what?

And that’s where our story begins…

dear God, 01101101*

These days you can practically do anything on the interweb. Be it grocery shopping, being an annoying friend or finding time between rounds of WOW to find someone to do your dishes, it’s all easier online.

Which brings me to this… (::shudder::)

Apologies

I’ve been messing around with the various themes today, and I am terribly indecisive. We will be going though some changes over the next month or so. Thanks in advance for your understanding!