Young people, social media and the ethics gap

Young people, social media and the ethics gap

by | Feb 21, 2016 | Digital, social media | 0 comments

“Adults ruined Facebook. Don’t do the same with Instagram. And don’t you DARE go anywhere near Snapchat!” This was the anguished cry of my teenager during a treasured moment of increasingly elusive mother/daughter conversation. Her plea reflects a wider shift in online teenager behaviour away from more public social networks towards more private ones such as Snapchat. As Facebook becomes more domesticated amongst adults, it appears that teenagers are heading to their own more private and separate spaces. The very idea that I might set up a Snapchat account was enough to fill my teenager with abject horror. So back to our conversation. I was secretly keen to check out ideas considered in Disconnected – Youth, New Media and the Ethics Gap (Carrie James, 2014) which I have just finished reading. The author considers how young people address ethical issues and moral dilemmas relating to privacy, property and participation online. Based on numerous interviews with young people aged 10 to 25 she found positive examples of highly ethical behaviour that evinced a ‘play nice’ mindset and which respected the privacy of others. However, she also found thoughtless, dismissive and occasionally callous behaviours towards others. Not surprisingly for young people who are still developing their sense of identity, attitudes were often highly individualistic and tended to focus predominantly on consequences of antisocial behaviour for the self rather than for others: Self-centred stances are not surprising given that egocentrism often characterises the adolescent and emerging adult phases of development. However, the dominance of egocentric thinking is problematic online, given the deeply social nature of the Internet and the qualities and opportunities...
“My profile works as a sort of filter” #TheProfileProject #7

“My profile works as a sort of filter” #TheProfileProject #7

by | Feb 16, 2016 | #TheProfileProject | 0 comments

@gopaldass AKA Abhay Adhikari tells the story behind his choice of Twitter profile pictures: “At the moment, my Twitter profile picture is of me cycling into the horizon, without a care in the world!  My account is a personal and professional space and my profile picture reflects this. It also serves as a personal reminder that I shouldn’t take myself too seriously and that I should take time to reflect on what others say. So much of social media is reactionary. “My picture changes quite often. Say, every couple of weeks. Every now and then I upload a profile picture that may indicate what I do for a living and where I live. For the most part, my profile picture is a reflection of how I am feeling and whether I want to actively connect with people at that point in time. By not giving it all away, I think my profile works as a sort of filter – engaging people who are curious, open minded and open to a chat. So far this approach as worked as I have met a lot of interesting people (in real life) via social media and this has allowed me to launch Digital Identity projects from Stockholm to Delhi!” You can find out more about #TheProfileProject here and connect on Twitter...
What does new power mean for the NHS?

What does new power mean for the NHS?

by | Feb 7, 2016 | activism, Digital, NHS stuff, social media | 0 comments

What do shifting societal trends towards a sharing economy mean for the NHS? Understanding New Power (Heimans & Timms, December 2014) sets out a framework to conceptualise shifts in power which are enabled by digital technologies in contemporary society: Old power works like a currency. It is held by few. Once gained, it is jealously guarded, and the powerful have a substantial store of it to spend. It is closed, inaccessible, and leader-driven. It downloads, and it captures. New power operates differently, like a current. It is made by many. It is open, participatory, and peer-driven. It uploads, and it distributes. Like water or electricity, it’s most forceful when it surges. The goal with new power is not to hoard it but to channel it.   The authors conceptualise a participation scale from consumption to co-owning, from old power models exemplified by Britannica to new power models such as Wikipedia. You can find out more about their framework in a fascinating Ted Talk given by Heiman here: Despite this being a contemporary framework, informed and enabled by digital technologies, it resonates with Shirley Arnstein’s Ladder of Participation which was published all the way back in 1969 and remains common currency in the field of NHS patient participation. Arnstein conceptualised an eight rung ladder of participation in decision making from manipulation and tokenism at the bottom to citizen control at the top. Heiman and Timm’s framework is like Arstein’s ladder, with the rocket fuel of technology as an enabler of new power possibilities for those of us who have access to the digital tools and literacy to take advantage of them.  ...