Mar
12
Tool Kit Reflection # 4: Social Software
Posted by: mcs1 | March 12, 2012 | Leave a Comment
It really is quite amazing how limited your rights are when you use any of these social media sites (SecondLife, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook). In many cases it feels mostly like the companies are protecting themselves instead of trying to rob or steal good ideas from people. But in some cases, the ability to sell the information or further benefit the company seems somewhat disturbing and certainly worth questioning in any educational context.
As for who owns the content posted on most of the sites I looked at do specify that users maintain ownership, however, they seem to reserve the right to be able to take that content and utilize it or build on it in any way they see fit. And while this legalese sounds a little sketchy and even intimidating, I don’t suspect these businesses would stay in favor with the public long if there were ongoing issues related to stealing or pilfering the ideas and intellectual property of their users. However, I also do not suspect that most users have really taken any time (or even care) to see if and how the material and information they’ve posted on these sites is used. If I had more time I would really like to explore any ongoing or precedent-setting lawsuits/legal cases in this area. It would be interesting to see any extreme examples of misuse on the part of the companies.
In terms of deciding which sites to use with students, it definitely depends on the setting and age groups. In some cases the terms of service prohibit students of a certain age from accessing the material, and rightfully so! However, this seems a pretty thin veil and the terms of service also seemed to do whatever they can to limit the particular companies from any liability. However, students are likely to engage with these tools or ones like them at some point in their lives so I think it’s a good idea to expose them to as early as possible and take advantage of the opportunities of having this exposure occur in an educational setting. Even in the case of those sites where mature content can be accessed I think it’s likely worth discussing that with younger students. With older students, there is obviously less of an issue.
In my opinion we have pretty much given away our privacy in general in the 21st-century. There used to be a time when I was very concerned about giving out personal information, or about giving away good ideas, but frankly I think like most of the public, I’ve become worn down and have simply given up trying to protect my own rights. I can’t imagine how many crazy things I’ve agreed to by simply clicking on the ‘I agree’ to terms of service buttons. However, the fact is that the privacy interests of members represented in the sites is poor at best.