In our previous class, Jesse Miller talked to us about digital literacy and privacy around social media. This involved an interesting yet daunting conversation about how social media platforms conduct business with companies for marketing and advertising purposes. They do this through the use of data found in photos, and other information recorded by devices. The app SnapChat even saves photos that users do not send. These facts would be alarming to many, but are hidden in lengthy terms of service and brushed over with complicated language. The part of this conversation which shocked me the most is when Jesse said that if you have a Samsung phone and tv, the devices will talk to each other, and know if you are paying attention to what is on the tv or not. As well, they can monitor your online activity and mold ads and commercials to your taste. To be honest, this is slightly unsettling for me, so I’m glad that I don’t have a Samsung phone.

It is interesting to me that time limits on technology determined to be appropriate for children by researchers continue to change as culture shifts. This reveals this number to be flexible and dependent on different factors. As well, the ever-increasing amount of screen time that is deemed acceptable implies that children are not negatively affected by technology to the extent stated previously. As Jesse said, it is about the quality of purpose rather than the quantity of use. I appreciated his statements regarding social media content and how it can affect job placements, because I am aware of this, but others may not be. I did not know, however, that lawyers can access private archives from social media if there is a legal case, or warrant to search someone’s history or communications. 

Presently, anything can be recorded and people need to be conscious about their actions on and offline. While this conversation can be scary, I aim to live in a way that I have fun, but I don’t have a reason to hide anything. Rather than being fearful of living life, I think we should all be conscious of our humanity, and do our best. I think our society is starting to accept this more as the standard since it is harder to feign perfection when anyone has the ability to publicly call you out (purposefully or inadvertently). This class gave me the opportunity to think critically about my online activity, and I really appreciate Jesse’s insight.