Don’t panic! It’s only new media
Nancy Baym’s chapter provides us several ways of examining technologies and technology use. She introduces us to the discourse of technological determinism, which posits users as acted upon by technology, seemingly powerless to counter its negative affects. She also describes its polar opposite, in which technologies and technology use are constructed and determined by social factors. Along the way, she mentions the issue of “moral panics,” which is particularly relevant to our examination of young people and new media. We often see parents, educators, and policy makers responding to dystopian visions of technology adoption, worst-case scenarios in which children are the victims of technology, or are preyed upon by those who employ technology for devious purposes.
As part of our conversation on Monday, I’d like to address both the unintended uses and unintended affects of technology with young people. Can you think of an example of this? I’ll get the ball rolling with this example from my research in children’s virtual worlds:
I asked my students last year to spend time in one of three virtual environments designed for children: Club Penguin, EcoBuddies, or BarbieGirls. Most people were totally intrigued by the chat systems. These sites all use a moderated chat structure that either limits users to pre-selected words and phrases, or edits messages among users with a dictionary of restricted language. Students remarked that the dictionaries are too primitive to allow users to hold intelligible conversations, or the dialogue appears exceedingly vapid and generic. Kids, however, have figured out a ways to get around this. YouTube was full of CP hacks and cheats for getting around the swearing and self-identification rules. Disney appears to have cracked down on this, but kids seem to find a way. This highlights the tension between child safety (keeping kids away from online behavior like swearing or grooming by pedophiles) and online communication rights.
What are your reactions? Any examples of similar unintended uses/affects that you wish to share?
I really enjoyed Baym’s article mainly because I think she shows clearly the different reactions about the same topic.
I have a lot of troubles to get used to technology (this is funny because in the Spanish Department, where I worked in Chile, I was the “geek” and the only thing that I hardly manage was Word). But even though I know that when I relate with new media I am the one who is managing it, I have to recognize that social environment influence in my decisions towards new technology. So I have to agree with the third position of social shaping.
As a teacher I have listened to a lot of this moral panics and dystopian perspectives of technology but I think that the one thing that you can do with this fear (or some attitudes like “you can’t have cellphone, you wouldn’t play in the computer, …) is create children that do not know how to related with other kids of the same age. In this sense I think is more useful to learn how to manage new media.
The only example that have came to my mind was when I was teaching a class (about how to do a Power Point in 8º grade) in the computer laboratory of my school and my pendrive (where I actually had the class) wasn’t working. So, I tried to look my email because there was a backup of my class but I realize that gmail was blocked in the computers. In that moment one of my students came close and said: Ahhh yes is blocked! but don’t worry you can enter from this place… Was in this moment when I realize that my students enter from different places or ways to the banned sites. So, they don’t know who to do a power point presentation but they can manage to enter to YouTube, Facebook and Hotmail even if it is banned in school.
magdalena
29 Jan 11 at 1:38 pm