Category Archives: Social Media

Sherry Turkle: Connected, but alone?

Posted on March 27, 2013 by macca

As we expect more from technology, do we expect less from each other? Sherry Turkle studies how our devices and online personas are redefining human connection and communication – and asks us to think deeply about the new kinds of … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Computing, Data, Education, Family and Friends, Media, People, Resilience, Social Media, Sustainability, Telecommunications, The web | Comments Off

Gen X & Y: Suffering a Narcissism Epidemic?

Posted on November 4, 2012 by macca

Poor attention span. Lack of concentration. Poor writing skills and dysfunctional spelling. You’ll find these problems – and many more – amongst the kids of Gen X & Y, and that curious planet populated by the “digital natives”. Digital technology … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Comprehension, Computing, Data, Education, Media, Politics, Science, Social Media, Telecommunications, The web | Comments Off

The Julian Assange Show: Noam Chomsky and Tariq Ali

Posted on October 23, 2012 by macca

Julian Assange interviews both Noam Chomsky and Tariq Ali on his short-lived TV Show on Russia Today. Mac laptop journalism from our embassy-bound wayward son; faked fairly badly in sections of the video. My favourite quotes are from Chomsky, commenting … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, Data, Inequality, Media, Politics, Social Media, USA | Comments Off

Spammers flaunt their criminality on ABC TV

Posted on September 21, 2012 by macca

This is a very strange piece from Ticky Fullerton on the ABC’s The Business program. It’s been illegal in Australia to send unsolicited commercial electronic messages to consumers since 2004, yet here are a bunch of people admitting to it, … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Computing, Data, Government, Humour, Media, Politics, Social Media, SPAM, The web | Comments Off

Web 3.0 – Good or Evil

Posted on August 19, 2012 by macca

Authors Andrew Keen (#digitalvertigo – how today’s online social revolution is dividing, diminishing, and disorienting us) and Nick Harkaway (The Blind Giant: Being Human in a Digital World) debate whether the Internet and social media are positive or negative forces … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Computing, Data, Education, Media, Politics, Social Media, USA | Comments Off

Education: More computers = less literacy

Posted on August 6, 2012 by macca

Michael Callanan, a high school teacher from Brisbane, discusses whether computers in schools have a beneficial effect on academic achievement. He finds that as computer saturation levels in the Australian Education system have risen, literacy and numeracy scores amongst students … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Computing, Data, Education, Media, Science, Social Media, The web | Comments Off

If you put it online, make sure you want it known!

Posted on March 2, 2012 by macca

If you put information online, remember that one day it may come back to bite you. Or it may put you in a database somewhere as part of a certain “group”. This is especially true of Facebook, where as we … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Social Media, The web | Comments Off

Facebook: so uv got 5,000 friends!

Posted on November 15, 2011 by macca

Sam Roberts (Senior Psychology Lecturer, University of Chester, UK) has studied Facebook users and says there is no strong evidence that using Facebook leads to larger social networks or more emotionally intense relationships with network members. While Facebook fulfils the … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Computing, Media, Social Media, The web | Comments Off