CAP Conference Reflection

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Melissa Lee

Today I attended the CAP Conference to watch my colleagues, and other students from all the CAP streams, showcase some of the work they’ve accomplished throughout the year. To clarify what the CAP Conference is, according to the CAP Arts Program UBC Website, it is basically annually hosted by the CAP program to “celebrate [CAP] students’ pursuit and production of knowledge in the various research streams“. I’ve never attended such an event before and I can conclude that it was very enjoyable, as it led me to feel appreciation for the kinds of work my colleagues have been doing, and at the same time gave me exposure to very critical topics.

One work I found interesting was Colin’s presentation on his research paper, “Critical Analysis of English as a ‘Global’ Language, With an Emphasis on Post-Secondary Institutions” from the Race and Globalization Panel. Briefly, Colin is intrigued by how the English language has become ‘globalized’, how it’s become the dominant one, and why it’s become one that everybody seems to strive to learn. He emphasizes on university schools, noting his encounter with UBC’s president, Stephen Troope’s statement that UBC is ranked 22nd best university in the world,, finding a commonality between the top ranked universities: they are all taught in English. I agree with him when he said that this system is all very common sense (non-English speakers want to learn English), however we never really ask ourselves “why” this is so, why it is a desire and need to learn English. I found his analysis on an education book he encountered which encourages people to learn English in order to “get an education” and ultimately “be successful” spoke to this reflection he brings up really well. His presentation invoked me to think that, if we all just step back, we can realize we are all participating in this globalization process.  His presentation made me think about the universities around the world that do not have the English language in their heritage, such as the University of Hong Kong. The website that I have linked is hosted by the Hong Kong Higher Education, a gate to education in Hong Kong, and its page states “you’ll be happy to know that  all of them use English as medium of instruction for most of their courses”. So why should we be happy? Is this a good thing? Colin analyzes that English has become the language of “success” (meaning, being literate in English gives you access to education, attention, and others) throughout history, and because of globalization we are perpetuating this standard. His presentation invoked me to look up some other English-taught universities, and I came upon this article, which gives an example of how English is a global language. It talks about how English has been popularly used as a medium for most of the courses being taught. In this scenario, “success” is not higher education, but, as reported, “to attract students in a market where demographic decline is making it harder to fill seats”, however this posed a problem when there were numerous reports of suicides committed by the local students, who could not handle the stress of learning in another language. Moving on to thinking geographically, this situation seems to state an obvious cry for the local, that globalization can harm the local in this aspect.

Overall, many of the topics at the conference exposed me to critical ways of thinking about certain topics. Colin’s is just one example that I was particularly intrigued by. I want to end off by saying I am proud to be a part of the CAP Program and appreciate its attention it has paid to me, as a first year student learning how to transition from amateur high school to university. I’m also very thankful for the levels of thinking and types of perspectives it has given me that I can take on throughout the rest of my university career, and even life. By choosing the Global Citizens stream, it has opened my mind effectively to be aware, think, analyze and, in some ways, act globally as well. I have been recommending graduates from my own local high school that are applying to Arts to look into this program!

New perspectives…

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Importance of Rhetoric upon Marginalized Groups

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Melissa Lee

Jessica Marie attempts to break the social and cultural stigmas of the language and attitudes towards “people with disabilities” (not “disabled people”) with a visual, public approach through Youtube media.

This week in my ASTU class, we have been studying memoirs of marginalized groups, particularly people with disabilities, in terms of representation and roles of hegemonic society in reinforcing stigmas upon the group. This is crucial to study because, as critical readers, we must be conscious of the societal and systematic reinforcement of identities made for others, especially for groups that are already marginalized and do not have much power and authority to construct their own. The reinforcement becomes problematic when negative stigmas are placed upon those groups, which as a result further marginalize them, as Couser indicates in his article, Self-Representation in Disability Memoir, arguing with the roles and effects of hegemonic publication of disability narratives upon the disabled group in society.

After reading Couser’s article, I realized how powerful language can be in shaping how we perceive the narrated groups (their identities), and how people who can relate to those groups perceive themselves, discovering, and more importantly, also taking up self-identities made for them. For example, with the use of “gothic rhetoric” (Couser 34), disabilities are deemed as horrifying, physically unappealing, or merely undesirable. With these constant attitudes, and with the constant reception and absorption of them by the audience (readers), the ideas start to become reality for both the marginalized and non-marginalized people (society as a whole). Stereotypes or identities institutionally and culturally forge (click here to see an individual attempting to break these stereotypes of ‘people with disabilities’ through this video clip), and perspectives get taken up and used in daily lives. People have become so numb to these conceptions that stereotypes like, taken from the Youtube video, “retarded” or “insane”, get thrown around in daily language, and the words seem to lose meaning, becoming easy weapons of further marginalization or stigmatization. Jessica clearly indicates the use of language in her video and the harmful effects of the language upon the definition of disabled people, or as she restates, “people with disabilities”. I found her video particularly effective in raising awareness of the unconscious misuse of language with her use of cue cards. My point is, as Couser ultimately also makes, is that rhetoric plays a large role in shaping or representing social identities of the marginalized.

If people start to be conscious of the effects of the language they’re using, so simple as word choice, and collectively change their use of it, society may be able to gradually remove and demolish the current deeply embedded stigmas and stereotypes of the marginalized, and perhaps even potentially remove marginalization itself.

“A Spread the Word PSA created by youth” in attempt to end the “r-word” in society.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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TRC Testimonies: “Empathic Witnessing”

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Melissa Lee

lolAs my ASTU class enters into the next unit of “‘Vulnerable Subjects’ and Testimonies”, we got the chance to revisit the TRC by dropping by UBC’s Museum of Anthropology to bear witness to mostly textual and visual testimonial expression, compared to last term’s artistic testimonial expression at the Belkin Gallery. These contrasting experiences represent, what Whitlock mentions in her article, different types of testimonies that function to stir public discourse about the issues in various, outreaching ways, rather than sticking with just the traditional oral testimonies that may be easily forgotten with time. As Whitlock argues, the mere acknowledgement of the issues is not enough to complete testimony, but requires a specific public response of “empathic witnessing” (77), powerfully stirring human emotion upon individuals to truly feel the reality and importance of the issues. This witnessing, and more importantly, mass witnessing (created by the welcoming opening of such public exhibitions) would create the lasting effects of recognition, and is essential to potentially achieve “social justice and equality” of the community, the ultimate goal of testimonies.

With the exhibits I bore witness to, I personally felt the victims’ voices pressing upon me, screaming at me to listen to them. It was the contrast between the simplicity and peaceful set-up of the museums’ rooms and the uncensored, violent, energetic artworks and imagery of words to me that seemed to successfully attract recognition. This violence within the silence effectively disturbed my conscious state, and I realize now that I have fulfilled Whitlock’s theory of empathic witnessing (77) As a result, these experiences weren’t just something I learned to later forget, however they stuck with me and have opened my eyes about such human rights abuse and dying culture the community has lived through.

As the TRC Mandate (1998) stated, it is not only the sincere “acknowledgement of the injustices and harms experienced by Aboriginal people” but also the community’s step for “continued healing” and “[paving] [of] the way for reconciliation” that is the overall aim of testimonies through the the context of the TRC.

Testimonies do not only have to apply to dying cultures, but can apply to everyday communities that have suffered, or even continue to suffer, injustices of human rights around the world (ex. the right to protect, the right to basic needs). The importance to recognize these injustices stands within our role as global citizens, and as Martin Luther King Jr stated in fighting for Black-American justice and equality:

Whitlock, Gillian. “Narrative Threshold.” Soft Weapons: Autobiography in Transit. Chicago:          U of Chicago P, 2007. 77.

 

 

 

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“Faking It” is Still Well Alive

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Melissa Lee

Ever since my ASTU class started to look into the theme of “faking it” from Fred Wah’s Diamond Grill, I found the psychology behind the mechanism quite intriguing. In Fred Wah’s case, we learn that he follows a front-stage “performance” or an “act” (what my colleagues call it) to fake his outward racial ethnicity in order to fit in with the white people, by masking the Chinese quarter of his true racial identity and attempting to take full potential of his remaining white-ness. Fred’s personal experience happens in a time where race/ethnicity/cultural identity critically, and heavily, defined an individual’s status, role, and agency (power) in society. We learn that his motive for initiating the actor mentality is to find maximum preference, or social acceptance, and privilege of power by representing himself as a full-blooded white, and to avoid being a victim of Chinese racism. Thus, he finds himself faking his own ethnicity; hiding his true cultural lifestyles and celebrations, disgracing his own heritage, and distancing away from Chinese associations in public.

Though racial differences have been increasingly accepted in many societies today, there stills seems to be an ongoing notion of “faking it” for many other purposes (fulfilling movie roles, winning political votes in a certain community, glamourization of a culture to increase popularity, faking an accent to seem more “posh” etc.). I am shocked at a particular motive, sparked by society’s growing emphasis on, and effects of influence from, popular culture and lifestyle, which seem to pressure, consciously or not, individuals to fake a certain race or culture in order to self-identify themselves uniquely.

Jersey Shore cast stars not even Italian, yet display Italian-American subculture values and norms…

A greatly controversial example I partially witnessed on TV is Jersey Shore, an American-based reality TV show created to entertainingly show the world what a certain Italian-American lifestyle and subculture is like, in the state of New Jersey (greatly criticized for displaying negative, non-representative stereotypes of Italian-Americans). However only one cast member is full Italian, the rest are only half, or not Italian at all. Though the cast members finally admit they are not truly Italian, they still publicly and willingly submit, and assimilate, into living under the particular subculture (taking names of ‘guido’/’guidette’, taking part of negative stereotypes, to represent the entire culture, of fake tans, gelled hair, heavy makeup, false eyelashes, false nails, pierced ears, gangster jewelry and apparel, etc.). This contrasts Fred Wah’s performance of “faking it”, as the members do not even contain a single drop of a certain race they are trying to “become”, and seem to act so, not to counteract racism, but to gain fame and likeness of their status. The cast, only one of whom is truly full Italian, do so by broadcasting on national television their perspective of Italian-American, Jersey Shore-based way of life. The extent that they have gone to, obviously pretending to be a race that they’re not, just to be gossiped about, bewilders me.

Generally, reality TV shows are not so “reality”, significantly including many aspects of “faking it” (scripted? behind the scenes? contracts? certain desired portrayals?)

Ultimately, “faking it” is still being taken up in society, which continues to disgrace, negatively portray, or disadvantage certain ethnicities depending on the situation. Nonetheless, the widely known expression, “fake it ’til you make it”, best describes my point that taking part of an ethnic culture has certain goals that will, in various ways, ”succeed” an individual in achieving something within society.

 

 

 

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Online Personal Archives (Facebook)……and the “Creepiness” of the Timeline!

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Melissa Lee

 

The Facebook Archive

Simply put, archives are accumulated collections of historical records and are original records themselves, unlike books or magazines that have been published and/or copied several times.  Archives can come in many different forms such as: historical documents, computer files, photographs, diary entries, videos, materials, etc. In his article, “Of Things Said and Unsaid: Power, Archival Silences, and Power in Silence”, Rodney Carter introduces that with the existence of archives, “individuals may visit archives in order to hear stories” from the past. This means that as archives are accessible, they are meant to be looked back on or to refer to for information from passed times, whenever needed.

Instead of looking at the manual storage of archives (ex. traditional archive libraries, one’s drawer, etc.), I want to taste the online archive, specifically on the social network site of Facebook. Apart from its popular use of allowing others to connect with friends, I find what is more astounding is that Facebook can work as a mass archive, allowing mass storage and documenting of everything that happens in a user’s “life” online and offline. “Everything” includes what the user individually posts or what the user’s friends tag-post or share with him/her: photos, comments, wall posts, videos, notes, messages, profile picture changes, status updates, etc. Facebook is very promising and specific in capturing and organizing every activity made by a user. The system’s efficiency and attention to detail can be useful at times, such as when exact date and time of a post are noted, or when how many and who specifically has seen a post so far by a constant update with time.

The specific information given is useful for present/future reference.

We can see Facebook receives inputs and builds a personal archive for the user, not only for convenience, but most importantly for the ability or optioin to look back and refer to later on. Features such as the “Activity Log” and “Timeline” especially allow Facebook the foundational capability to literally organize one’s lifetime.

Timeline

The unique “Timeline” feature allows a user to explore their past on Facebook, keeping everything, since the time he or she has signed up for an account, stored and available for access. With such an ability, one is able to track a specific post made in the second week of March in 2004, and they can point to the exact time of the day when the post was made. Thus, a Facebook account seems to overall work as a large archive, which contains multiple, smaller archives within it, giving access to collections of records from the past.

This online “archival-ry” can be witnessed and accessed freely in other places such as blogs, Youtube videos, or digital images. In the online place, it seems like archives are limitless and not difficult to be accessed and controlled.

A bit of my opinion…

Rachel King and I both seem to have the same thought: “Taking a look down memory lane with Facebook’s new Timeline feature might be full of surprises, both pleasant and unsettling at times.” What she means is that the experience of flipping back can be greatly “nostalgic” or “horrifying”, in ways that make one think “what was I thinking?” The fact that the timeline is accessible to friends as well makes me more nervous, knowing they can see things that I do not wish to be in the “spotlight” today!!

How was everyone else’s experience with the timeline?

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The Power of Music in Raising Awareness

Posted on November 24, 2013 by Melissa Lee

In my last three recent posts, I made an implication on how powerful media can be in globally spreading messages to raise awareness of issues. Here I want to focus on the particular media of music, because I think it is quite a powerful tool, by bringing different minds altogether to the same page. I think it’s powerful because well, we all love music and music stimulates pleasure in the brain, however I do not want to go deep into the structure and science of music, but rather go into its vital use of spreading a message.

Black Eyed Peas’ album art, Where Is The Love?

I think I remember clearly the first song I heard that opened my eyes about the world was Black Eyed Peas’ song, launched in 2003, Where Is The Love? which became the “longest-serving British #1 in five years and the best selling record of 2003 in the UK“. It also won Record Of The Year in the 2004 Grammy Awards in the US. I think the main reason for the mass, global attention and praise towards the song lies within the lyrical messages of the song. To give you a brief background if you are not aware (or have not even heard of the song in the first place!), the song is inspired by the 2003 Iraq War, and the rappers take turns to express and vent about what they feel is “wrong about the world,” and questions when the good thing about humanity comes in (hence the title). The song emphasizes on the wrongness, then speaks the truth, such as saying that nations are making the wrong decisions but because they are in it for the money: “Makin’ wrong decisions, only visions of them dividends“…

Here is the chorus:

‘People killin’, people dyin’
Children hurt and you hear them cryin’
Can you practice what you preach
and would you turn the other cheek?
Father, father, father help us
Need some guidance from above
‘Cause people got me, got me questionin’
Where is the love?‘

The artists bring attention to the madness in humanity and the desperate need for guidance to better the world. This message has touched many hearts, especially those who are suffering in different parts of the world who are unknown and whose attention may not have been brought up in the mass media. As well, the “?” symbol that appears in their album cover and their music video became incredibly universal, and is an extremely powerful tool in spreading awareness.

“Where Is The Love?” by a blogger, Dray (Blogspot)

Black Eyed Peas Where Is The Love live concert in Manila, Philippines (CheonsaDiana’s WordPress blog)

Speaking of music videos, they are a powerful tool themselves as well, able to create a film of art, conveying necessary messages of a song. I encourage you to watch the music video, it is indeed an emotional one, and is still one of my favourites because of how influential it is.

Overall, we should all be considering music as not just entertainment and that it brings the world together, but most importantly as a brilliantly effective vehicle to pass information of issues going on in the world. Imagine if we all realize this, especially the artists who have top power in the music industry (e.g. celebrities). Do you think we can change the world?

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Anonymity on the Web: A Double-Edged Sword

Posted on November 17, 2013 by Melissa Lee

The creation of the Internet has undoubtedly given millions of opportunities (to name a few: access music/videos, access news, access help, retrieve answers, communication, etc.), but one I’d really like to draw your attention on is the basic ability to be an anonymous identity. It is not hard to become another person, or perhaps multiple persons, on the Web. Basically any site or even online game where you can create an account (nearly almost all interactive sites) easily enables you to become another character.

This is super exciting, isn’t it? The chance to be someone you’ve always dreamed, or to be a better representation of yourself? You can be whatever or whoever you want, something we can’t achieve in reality. I’ve experienced and lived the joy of this myself when I was young and naive, playing an online video game called Maplestory (don’t judge me). The game allowed me to liberally create my own character (choice of eye colour, hair colour, facial features, and clothing). It was adorable, I loved it! But anyways, I’m getting too off topic…

Anonymity not only allows you to fulfill your fantasy of being a certain person, but it also enables you to speak freely without self-exposure. Take PostSecret, as an advanced example, where the site invites people everywhere to send their confessions in the form of postcards, and gets posted as anonymous. There are also comments posted by nameless people that are a sharing of opinion on certain topics (such as on a news article online). The liberation of being able to speak freely without self-exposure is a great opportunity to contribute to matters, because it makes one a neutral voice as everybody else.

However, many times people take this as an advantage, and we see this evidently almost every day (active Internet users like I). “Cyberbullying” (ex. Amanda Todd’s case raised massive awareness; happened in 2012 and is still being talked about today) is widespread across the Web, bullying and offending others with no restrictions as anonymous faces. This has led people as young as 12 to develop intense depression and anxiety to points of suicide.

Cyberbullying is just one serious issue of people taking anonymity on the Internet as an advantage to expressively and ruthlessly hurt others, but we must also be cautious of “online predators”. Check out this article “Man with Fake Facebook Account Lures and Kills Teen Girl“, where a man behind a fake facebook profile lured and kidnapped a girl local to his area; the girl died from being tightly duct-taped while riding the man’s pick-up truck. The article raised a critical question about social media, “Is social media too easy to use for negative purposes? (…) there are privacy settings for these accounts, but could there be something more to help protect users, especially ones so young?” The article suggests that by simply being part of a social network community, people are exposing themselves to potential danger. Many people do not appear to be who they truly are.

It’s especially scary to know that a similar situation happened to someone I knew from high school. Thankfully one of her friends was able to prove that the person whom she was making close contact with was a fraud, saving her from meeting him. Is there a way to getting out of this? Is it possible to have “stricter ways to verify one’s identity?”

I conclude that the cons of being anonymous on the Internet outweigh the pros, as they do lead to serious life-threatening concerns.

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Spread the words! “Speak out, act up”

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Melissa Lee

“Russian’s brutal treatment of sexual minorities is nothing new. For me, growing up gay in Russia felt like I had a terminal disease.” – Wes Hurley

I recently found a website called “Out“, an online magazine news website, and ran into an article found under the category of News and Opinion, “Stranger in my Homeland: Growing Up Gay in Russia“. The article is an autobiographical post by Wes Hurley, a gay man born in Russia, who not only talks about his hardships growing up in a land where he felt like a “stranger”, discriminated and excluded, but reveals the Russian oppression on human rights.

Upon the rise of communism, public funds were robbed by municipal and regional administrations, public properties were stolen, there were increases of water shortages and electrical breakouts, thus leading the state into a crisis. Considering the increased tension and violence, along with the long-existing anti-gay laws, Hurley felt fearful for what would happen to him if his sexuality becomes leaked out to the public. There were already lots of bullying and violence in his school, and he even lost a couple of his “brothers” since they started to socialize with the girls.

Hurley goes on reminding us that the West, specifically Americans, take valued things for granted, such as freedom, equality, and justice, when in Russia, “there has never been such a thing as equality of human rights”. He cries out, “please, don’t compare the United States’ problems to what’s happening around the world. You have not the faintest idea. You are lucky, lucky, lucky to live here.” Hurley speaks directly to Western societies that their problems cannot compare to what’s happening, not only in Russia, but around the world, and begs us to remember that. He makes a clear message that such important issues surrounding human rights should not be neglected, that we are all part of a global force to fight for the rights (what the West have and majority countries do not) to be achieved all around the world.

“Don’t stop talking about gays in Russia. Don’t stop thinking about gays in Russia. Talk to your friends, write about it, tweet about it, Facebook-post about it. If you have Russian friends, bring it up to them. Absolutely call your senators and the State Department and tell them you are concerned about the situation in Russia and something needs to be done. ”                                                             – Wes Hurley

This is happening! Even though anti-gay laws have been around so long, there has been increasing support and public awareness about this oppression against equality and freedom in Russia. People are talking in a million ways. Hurley’s article post is a great example of this demonstration. He has even been invited to share his article to be posted on Seattle Gay News, a Western paper!

“Gay rights activists beaten by anti-gay protesters during an authorized gay rights rally in St.Petersburg, Russia” June 29th, 2013

Also, many Western celebrities have taken stand for gay rights, such as Lady Gaga, Madonna, and Kristen Bell use their power of popularity to spread this issue. Twitter has exploded, celebrities are taking a stand, gay parades are taken part around the world –even in Russia, where gay rights activists bravely participate even though they are beaten by anti-gay protesters.

The media is the dominate tool in starting these human rights campaigns, and we, especially the West who have freer voices and capabilities, are its users. Step by step, we can raise awareness and significantly, globally stretch the achievement of human rights. This article has opened my eyes, that even though the West has greatly achieved human rights of equality and justice, we should not be content with only that, but assure that all parts of the world get to experience this freedom as well. This is our responsibility as global citizens.

Western celebrities publicly participate and support gay rights for Russia.

“russia gay” twitter results

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War’s Traumatic Effects: Child Development?

Posted on November 9, 2013 by Melissa Lee

Trauma is a powerfully distressful and disturbing experience in many ways, however the trauma of, for example, watching a horror movie would only traumatize you for a day (or a couple…) and cannot compare to the trauma of seeing and literally living through violence as a young child.

I recently read an article, “Witnesses to war: The shattered lives of Zaatari’s children“, which raises the issue of Syrian children who have witnessed violence within their country and carries with them trauma. These children have witnessed “deaths, explosions, shelling, shooting”, things that children should not normally see, or worse, adapt to see. Since they have lived through so much violence, their psychological growth or development is a concern, as worried by a Syrian teacher and mother who fled to the Zaatari refugee camp: “It is difficult to deal with the children because they are difficult psychologically.” The following photo shows a young girl who drew her family home back in Syria being “shelled by a government tank”, where her windows were blanketed by her mother who feared her children would run to the balcony and get shot:

 Her calm and gentle manner with that thin smile is haunting, as we wonder how the violence she’s witnessed collided with her innocence, and how the trauma will affect her future development as she grows older. A young child is still developing, still learning, still aspiring to find their likes and dislikes, still has so much ahead. The teacher also mentions that these young children might continue to be traumatized as they will be exposed to several “triggers” throughout their lives: “If they see violence, like someone hitting someone, it is a trigger,” and would bring them back terrifying memories.

Another excellent example of “triggers” is from a scene I watched from the documentary film on the Lost Boys of Sudan, “God Grew Tired Of Us” (watch the trailer here) where one of the boys mentioned that they would wake up with fear in the middle of the night when they heard a plane or a helicopter pass. Coming from their country experiencing the Sudanese civil war when they were children, the sound of a plane gives an immediate rush of adrenaline, expecting bombings to drop at any minute.

Not only are Syrian children suffering from the effects of trauma, but there are also thousands of other children experiencing the trauma of war or have experienced it. My mother as a child suffered from the violence of the Vietnam War, but luckily found peace moving to Canada and was able to recover and find joy in life again. It is hard to imagine what traumatized children must go through, as most of us here in Canada grew up with much peace, stability and support.

 

 

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Censorships and Filter Bubbles, and How to Break Free of Them

Posted on November 9, 2013 by Melissa Lee

I honestly don’t know what I would do without Google, I’ve become so dependant on it that it is frightening to imagine about its non-existence. We’ve all heard of the expressions, “Google it” or “Look it up on Google”, and it shows that we’ve grown dependant on it, running to it when we need solutions to our minor or major problems, or when we need quick and easy information. I mean it truly is convenient, as implied in this picture below:

 

Eli Pariser‘s talk about the algorithmic systematization of Google and Facebook emphasizes the point that the supposedly useful tool is actually dangerous, in that it limits our perspective of knowledge reception (by filtering out information in order to customize search results to appear more desirable, based upon what the sites have collected from the user) . It shocked me to learn about this, as I, with many others I’m sure, have used these engines, Google especially, from the start of when I learned about their existence.

Learning about this algorithmic system, I understand that Google is trying to do a good job on helping out their millions of users from all around the world even though this idea is not truly healthy for us. We can talk about short term and long term effects. Sure it makes us temporarily happy to get the results we were looking for in the first page, however, if we look at the broader, long-term picture, we may be, unknowingly, missing out much more significant information (they may be filtered into much later pages rather than the first). As Pariser states, Google not only functions to give us “what we want to see, but limits us to what we need to see”, which may be significant world events or important facts. This is critically problematic in that it limits our ability to act as a global citizen. To be a global citizen, we willingly commit to engage in the important issues that circulate around the world everyday and try to help. But if we miss out the first step in learning about these issues, how will we ever know about them let alone make action of them?

This Youtube video on “Internet Censorship and the Filter Bubble” further exemplifies my point (I encourage you to watch it as it is only 3 minutes long!). Not only do search engines limit certain things to appear on our page, but also the entire Internet realm, as it states “the Internet is hiding things from you”. This is a warning that we cannot put too much dependency or trust on the Internet. However, the video suggests that in order to break free of this “filter bubble”, we need to “change our surfing habits”. It is suggested to do the following:

  1. Try the search engine “DuckDuckGo“, as it does not have a “filter bubble” so everyone would receive the same results.
  2. Instead of using Facebook, switch over to Twitter as there is zero censorship and all updates will appear on your news-feed.
  3. Switch from Google Chrome to Google Incognito Mode, as it does not store history or cookies, so Google will have a harder time to track your engine use.
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