WEEK SIX POST
Crook (2012) got me thinking. More and more, we see the concept of "digital native" coming up. While I still have a serious gripe with the WHAT of social media, I can see, better now, the value of the HOW of social media. I must admit that I loved to engage Destiny and the ACA on X and YouTube. I did learn a lot. However, these examples seem outliers to a data population devoted to lunacy and debauchery. But, if one seeks to find value in the new order, one can see that immersion is a good thing.
As we immerse ourselves in social media and all the concurrent advertisements for the new sawdust hamburger, garbage clothes, plastic food, etc. product that promises to fill your anxiety (it won`t), we at least have the potential to change our ontology to augmented beings living in an interconnected reality. Hail the Matrix.
I also enjoyed seeing the plastic fruit you are all eating (I live abroad. Haha). I recall the social media posts that exposed China (sorry if it is not inclusive) for doing the same ages ago. While social media connects the two instances, and globalization brings it to you, I wonder, since it was known to be in China, why has no one noticed the issue until now?
Were you scrolling? Perhaps, the ontology that social media is infecting is not of an augmented being, but augmented ignorance and passivity.
- Crook, C. (2012). The 'digital native' in context: Tensions associated with importing Web 2.0 practices into the school setting. Oxford Review of Education, 38(1), 63-80. doi:10.1080/03054985.2011.577946
Hi Saul, Like all innovation, social media has positive and negative consequences. It has expanded globalization and how quickly individuals can access information from others. Despite a produser posting an artifact in their native language, some platforms now offer translation services to increase knowledge despite this barrier. Yet, in an article I read this week, Tan (2023) identified that one consequence is decreasing attention spans, especially in generation alpha. Educators are expressing concern as Alpha Generation Learning Cause for Concern (2024), as a recent study revealed that 65% of of 4th graders cannot read proficiently and underperforming in reading. Thus, I believe that as educators, it is imperative to start teaching more on digital that focuses on "how to social media." Otherwise, if we do not innovate school setting, the problem of ignorance will continue.
ReplyDeleteHi Saul,
ReplyDeleteYou did make several points that are valid regarding the effects of social media on the lives of those who use it. As Candace noted, the consequences of social media will vary. As we experience more of the social media world, it is essential that we evaluate what type of information we take in.