Week 6: We started Chapter 2, "Does Personal Privacy Have Limits?"
The two readings look at the issue of online privacy, but from different points of view. David Plotz makes the point that we only care about privacy when it's our *own* privacy at stake. Jack Shafer, meanwhile, feels like when we are online, our privacy is being invaded to such a degree that it's like "Big Brother" run amok. He even goes so far to say, "you're paying with your privacy." Is the Internet (social media, Candy Crush, etc) worth the price of your privacy? Who is the real "Big Brother"...What do you think?
As for me, I can't get to the place where I don't care about what people find out about me online. This could be due to generational differences, and the way I grew up, but it is also that part of me that feels protective of my personal information and private life. I still post on various social media sites (twitter, facebook, tumblr, G+ Pinterest and Blogger, thank you very much!), but I think before I post.
I THINK, therefore I BLOG...
Got Thoughts? Have something to say? Want to find an audience and connect? Well then, blogging is the way to go.
This is the English 100 1pm class blog landing page, called "Campus Connections." All the class blogs will be linked here. I hope you will each take the time to not only share your individual perspectives on our class readings and issues in contemporary culture via your own blog posts, but also to read and comment on your classmates' blogs.
Whether you are an experienced writer, seasoned blogger, or completely new to this idea, you will find that blogging let's you think critically about the topics we're discussing. It may be a less formal writing mode, but it is no less powerful. Why? Blogging allows you to write in an authentic voice, to get your message out quickly, and to join the critical conversation. Just as the New York Times blogger Nick Bilton did when responding to Charlene deGuzman's video, and Matt Bors did, when responding to the Time Magazine "Millennials/Me Generation" cover.
And just in case you are wondering if there is any legitimacy to blogging, here is a recent article called, "Blogs vs. Term Papers," where various college professor-types argue the merits of doing away with "term papers" entirely, and replacing them instead with blogs. So you see, once again, our class is part of the critical conversation.
Your perspective is just as valid as any other critic or scholar. So, go ahead and share your ideas. Write that first post. Or, as Michael Jordan would say, "take the shots." Welcome to blogging. Now...start writing!
