The digital web has an unbreakable contract with our minds. Crossing the threshold to complete loss of control. The probability of evading this is hitting its lowest mark ever.
The TikTok ad awakening us from a scrolling spell. Closing Instagram out of boredom and unconsciously reopening it again. The Twitter algorithm feeding us ups and downs. Core-core videos telling this generation, “There’s more to life; get up and get going.”. No wonder most users are unable to see the bigger picture. The funny thing is, as much as these problems are undeniably problematic, the root is often overlooked.
“The digital web was once a place we escaped from reality, but now reality is a place we go to escape online.”
The truth is, I’m terrified. Not only because the usage of platforms is unavoidable, but these large corporations are taking advantage of that exact thing. But it’s our fault, isn’t it? We are the ones ignorantly opening the gates as the web takes over every aspect of our real lives.
Experience
This story doesn’t have anything to do with digital writing spaces, but I do think it’s an important example to demonstrate where carelessness can lead. My coworker recently got scammed through Instagram. She fell for one of those “send me money and I’ll double it” scams. Now, I don’t know exactly what she did, but somehow, this scammer got complete control of her account and is copying her idiolect to scam other people.
Her lack of understanding of the ques of the digital web is exactly what these two articles stress so much.
Thoughts After the Readings
Lindsey C. Kim emphasizes this in “Understanding and Maintaining Your Privacy When Writing with Digital Spaces“. Most issues users of the digital web come across are because of their lack of understanding. How can we be safe if we don’t know? You would think a generation raised on technology. Just because we help our grandparents get to their contact list doesn’t make us masters of the web.
In the “Messy and Chaotic Learning” speech by Martha Fay Burtis, readers learn history. ledge to hang before we fall into the dangers of carelessness. Further in, she explains that if we take the time to learn the terminology, we have a choice about whether or not we want to be seen. The existence of agency. And that’s something I hadn’t considered as a choice on the digital web.
In the first class of the semester, Professor Friend brought up a significant point. Or at least, this is what I interpreted. I realized we use platforms like Instagram or Tumblr as a showcase of our lives. To some degree, we have control over how we are perceived. Ranging from our closest circle to complete strangers. Yet we are devestatingly wrong. These platforms are promoting themselves as an outlet for creativity, but their underpinnings show a complete lack of any meaningful authority over our portrayal.
But we’ll fix it. Or at least I hope so.
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