Here at Sauder, UBC, most of my course readings are online articles. Out of five courses only one has a required book. In my home university it is quite the opposite, hence I began reflecting about the differences in reading from a computer/iPad compared to reading a paperback.

When looking around I found that I am not the only one interested in the comparison. Maia Szalavitz has written the article Do E-Books Make It Harder To Remember What You Just Read?*. Here she takes up different researches and findings regarding this particular subject. What I found as most interesting is that when we are reading from a computer more repetition is needed to inform the same kind of information, and when reading books we seem to grasp the material at a deeper level. This has partly to do with the lesser amount of associations and landmarks at a digital document compared to a paperback. This is important since it is easier to recollect memory that is based on various associations. Printed text in books or documents is easier to navigate through since it has a physical reference point, which an e-book and electronic document don’t have.

What also caught my attention is researches on that the grade of memory from an e-text is dependent on the size of the screen; small screens e.g. mobile phones makes it harder to remember than reading of e.g. a big computer screen. Regarding the reading-speed Jakob Nielsen has made a study in 2010 comparing the iPad and the Kindle with books. This led to the result that the iPad measured being about 6% slower than a printed book and the Kindle around 10% slower than print. After presenting the results they follow up by saying that due to a fairly high variability in the data it is hard to determine which device offers the fastest reading speed and that the only possible conclusion is that iPad still hasn’t beaten the printed book*.

I find the combination of lack in reading-speed and decreased memory highly interesting since it is something probably many people may experience now in the rise of new electronic solutions to books and documents. Of course there are many arguments for reading on an iPad or Kindle that one can weigh against the reading speed and memory, but it is important to keep in mind when investing in a Kindle or reading an important document from an iPad.

The fact that you most likely will be reading this post on either an iPad or smaller computer screen makes me question my whole idea of writing a post about this. I guess you just have to repeat it a couple of times!

* http://healthland.time.com/2012/03/14/do-e-books-impair-memory/

* http://www.useit.com/alertbox/ipad-kindle-reading.html

One may think that the vast increase in watching movies, series and TV-programs online on either a tablet or a computer would have decreased the amount of hours spent in front of a television, but a recent report from E-marketer proves that the figure is remaining the same, with a slight increase in some cases. For me this fact is surprising since I almost started to see the end of traditional TV-watching. As the article describes reasons for an increase for respondents under 50 years old was because of their possibility in further multitasking while watching TV. The most popular activity (34%) is, not surprisingly, posting comments on Twitter, Facebook or a blog about the TV-show being watched*. Other activities are looking up advertised products or visiting shows’ websites.

When reading the report, and remembering this summer when my mom used three different digital devices to be able to watch all the Olympic disciplines at the same time, it makes sense. Instead of taking out each other, it looks like TV-time is increasing hand in hand with using tablet and tablet TV. Nonetheless even though the degree of traditional TV-watching is staying the same, the traditional TV-experience is changing because of today’s multitasking. It is more seldom now for a family to gather in the living room and watch a TV-show together. Instead they are all on their phones or tablets and the TV-show is received less attention.

* http://www.emarketer.com/(S(t1dbt545e1mlujiknbqcinbo))/Article.aspx?R=1009405

Why do people in general ignore online privacy policies? Is it because of laziness, complicated texts, or is it because people are not aware of their function? If the privacy policies were around two pages and easy to understand I would call it laziness, but we all know that is not the case. I believe the major problem lies in the complexity in finding the terms that interests you as a user, and knowledge of how you can change your privacy settings.

I have specifically two sites where I feel a bit worried of giving away too much of my privacy, namely Google and Facebook. When it comes to Google I feel less aware of the privacy policies. Since I am a frequent user of Google’s products as for example Google translate and Google docs, and recently changed to Gmail, I should know more than I do.

In March this year Google introduced a new privacy policy that collect information from all of its services (gmail, youtube, google+ ec.), with the purpose of better tailor search queries based on the users interest. This has created a lot of discussion, especially towards the fact that the users don’t have a possibility of opting out. Meaning that if you don’t want Google to have a detailed description of you by combining information from all platforms, your only option is to stop using all of Google’s products. Google’s reason – it would be too difficult*. I am not an opponent to Google, I am very thankful for many of the services they are offering, I just use the company as an example. The thing that worries me is if information as e.g. Google possess comes in the wrong hands, because of money or illegal reasons. Bottom line is, for the websites you visit often, make an effort in reading the privacy policies so you know what you are signing up for. There are alternatives out there, yes, even for Google.

*http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/09/opinion/ghitis-google-privacy/index.html

I have never been so exposed and dependent on social medias since I started my exchange term here at UBC in Vancouver. Everything from the total amount of groups I am part of on Facebook, to the frequency I check my Swedish friends’ pictures on Instagram has increased vastly. There are heaps of social medias out there but so far I’ve only joined the two mentioned, and it has always been with a touch of reluctance; e.g. I have never posted a status update and rarely press “like”. The reason, well I guess it’s a combination of feeling no need in doing so, together with my astonishment/repugnance of people who post the most questionable status updates.

Social media has no doubt increased the social experiences both online and offline, and it has many advantages that I find very useful. I love the fact that you can keep contact with friends in distant places and how easily you can arrange activities, but I find some of the social impacts that come with it worrying. What I found as most interesting is the rise of comparisons that I believe has emerged through the usage of social medias such as Facebook. In my circle of friends, having around 500 friends is seen as normal, and I know many that have many more than that. This makes the information you’re exposed to daily massive. This massive flow of information has increased the possibility to compare oneself with others, and since the personal information posted tend to be positive and sometimes even perceived as bragging, you are more likely to feel less of yourself and become anxious. Being in my early twenties, constantly thinking of my choice of path, I occasionally feel that Facebook contributes to an even more puzzled mind. I often end up comparing with other achievements and choices, even though I try to remind myself not to. Of course it can also be motivating, but unfortunately I believe it more often has a negative effect. Comparisons lie in our nature but we are not used to comparing ourselves with so many “successful” people that comes as an effect of e.g. unilateral Facebook.