In this Media Literacy Education, George Siemens, give you some new information about new media, and technologies and how these directly impact your daily lives.

Here, the summary:

• Privacy
• Social Media Toolkit
• The iPad: Content lives to see another day
• Foursquare and newspapers
• Social Media and the Grammys
• Web Research for Beginners

Privacy

Image Credit: D’Arcy Norman

The Economist’s article on Privacy 2.0 (Woo hoo! Someone has come up with the brilliant idea of adding “2.0″ to privacy! This is terrific. I wouldn’t be surprised if the 2.0 meme spread to enterprise, the web, learning, etc. What revolutionary times), argues that privacy could stop the spread of social networks. Silly Economist.

Privacy is a transactional entity – like money. When we think we derive value from the exchange, we’ll make the transaction. When we think we’re getting ripped off, we’ll stop. Right now, free tools and opportunities to connect with others is a transaction most people are willing to make.

Enter Twitter, Foursquare, and Blippy…and it looks like we are just at the beginning stages of privacy obliteration.

Social Media Toolkit

About five years ago, if you wanted to get attention for consulting or speaking engagements, frequent use of “web 2.0″ was required. Today, you can get the same mileage from “social media”. In fact, add “social” to anything and you’ll get attention.

But language is like that – we sacrifice precision in order to achieve general or shared understanding. A term captures a broad phenomenon and makes it accessible to others.

Saying web 2.0 is easier than saying “the means by which we alter the existing mindset in computing from centralized broadcast services subject to hierarchical authority structures to open, distributed, read/write methods that permit end-point users to contribute to and even direct conversations and content through social and technological networks”. I guess social media is a similar term.

So, if you’re comfortable with inexact language, the social media toolkit is a good place to start.

The iPad: Content lives to see another day

The real story of Apple’s iPad is not the device itself. Rather, the long-term impact is that many of the information structures of the physical world – books and newspapers – now have a place in the digital world, as well as a revenue model online.

Apple possesses the mystical ability to charge for content. For example, many people who would balk at paying for $10 software for their desktop/laptop had no problem paying hundreds of dollars for iPhone apps (I’m looking at myself here – which does cause a bit of eye strain).

Similarly, books, newspapers, and information online will now fall under the control of Apple. Think of this for a second. Apple, if the uptake of the iPad is as significant as many expect, becomes the central node through which content (books, newspapers, movies, music) flows for many people who a) don’t know or care what a torrent is and b) who like their devices nicely integrated and easy to use.

And I thought we should be wary of Google’s ambitions…

Foursquare and newspapers

I signed up for Twitter in November 2006 (I think). And did nothing with it for a fairly long time. Alan “so cool that I’m coming to a conference near you soon” Levine posted his Twitter life cycle, capturing perfectly my experience with the service. From “this is dumb” to “I can’t stop” in no time at all. Lately I’ve taken to Foursquare (my account is here – you will notice that I am mayor of many coffee shops). When I first heard about the service, I concluded it was largely a waste – a means to extract information, helping to fulfill Bentham’s Panopticon vision.

Since then, I’ve determined that Pavlov and Skinner would be proud of how well the designers integrated behaviourist feedback and intermittent reward to draw users in.

Foursquare is a simple service that lets you share where you are with your network. You get points for checkins and badges after you’ve visited a certain number of places.

But that is hardly the real impact. I’m comfortable stating that foursquare will be as big as twitter…but with greater potential impact. Why? Foursquare blends virtual and physical worlds – combining social networks and offering new geography-based connections. Twitter doesn’t have a revenue model yet.

Foursquare does – once people identify where they are, what their interests are, sales and marketing services as a step away. And it’s starting already: newspapers are using the service.

Have a look at Metro – an interesting blend of news, marketing, and community. Something quite significant is emerging here. Watch Foursquare. But stay out of my coffee shops. I need my mayoral badges.

Social Media and the Grammys

Social media is changing the Grammys: “Social media introduces an entire paradigm shift into how the Academy can both connect with music lovers and with how its message is consumed and presented.”

Hardly a surprise. Any field that is concerned with a) information creation and sharing and/or b) connecting people to each other or your organization, is ripe for change. This transition is obvious in news, education, and media. Managing the fragmentation of voices is challenging – organizations are accustomed to controlling a message. This is the basis of Bernays view of marketing and PR. Once everyone has a voice, however, control needs to give way to interaction.

Web Research for Beginners

I may have mentioned this before…a former colleague at University of Manitoba hosted an online conference on Web Research for Beginners earlier this year. The conference recordings are now available. Great topic blend: selecting technologies, recruiting research participants, internal & external validity, etc.

Article written by George Siemens for elearnspace

Source: January 31th, 2010 George Siemens newsletter eLearning Resources and News.

About The Author

George Siemens is a theorist on learning in a digitally-based society. He is the author of the article Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age and the book Knowing Knowledge - an exploration of the impact of the changed context and characteristics of knowledge.