tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/digital-age-14367/articlesDigital age – The Conversation2023-12-06T15:53:38Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2180622023-12-06T15:53:38Z2023-12-06T15:53:38ZRural communities are being left behind because of poor digital infrastructure, research shows<p>In an era where businesses and households depend on the internet for everything from marketing to banking and shopping, the lack of adequate digital access can be a significant hurdle. And our recent research shows that many <a href="https://research.aber.ac.uk/en/publications/the-socio-economic-impact-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-on-ceredigion-">homes</a> and <a href="https://research.aber.ac.uk/en/publications/the-economic-impact-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-on-ceredigion-busine">businesses</a> in the UK are being left stranded in the digital age.</p>
<p>Our two studies focused on a rural county in Wales, Ceredigion, where the lack of reliable digital infrastructure worsened the impacts of the pandemic on families and businesses. Poor digital accessibility and connectivity exacerbated the stress levels of families who were already having to juggle home schooling and working from home. </p>
<p>Similarly, businesses had to struggle with issues around internet provision, availability of effective digital infrastructure and digital proficiency while working and running businesses from home. </p>
<p>Our research involved two online surveys. One focused on households and the other on businesses and the self-employed between April and June 2021. The survey questions were designed to address the challenges and opportunities brought about by the pandemic. </p>
<p>Some important themes emerged in the responses we received to both surveys. These were insufficient digital accessibility and connectivity, lack of digital skills and training opportunities and the cost of broadband and mobile access.</p>
<h2>Household experiences</h2>
<p>Our research showed that 12% of homes did not have enough digital equipment for their needs during the pandemic and 76% of these included children who were being home schooled. Schools and some workplaces provided equipment in some instances, but 18% of households had to borrow equipment. </p>
<p>Despite that ability to borrow, many homes found themselves juggling equipment between homeworking adults and children learning online. Many pupils relied on small mobile devices to access lessons, while others lacked access to equipment like printers.</p>
<p>These problems were compounded in rural and remote areas, where slow broadband speeds and a lack of reliable mobile signal were cited as the biggest issues. Other issues included the cost of broadband and mobile access, the lack of digital skills or training opportunities to improve digital skills, poor customer service from broadband providers and issues with connectivity.</p>
<h2>Business and self-employed experiences</h2>
<p>The pandemic brought similar challenges to businesses. The closure of non-essential firms during the pandemic led to a <a href="https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/e-commerce-in-the-time-of-covid-19-3a2b78e8/">surge</a> in e-commerce. Companies that could embrace online sales were able to continue operating despite lockdowns and restrictions. </p>
<p>But businesses that were slow to adopt e-commerce or lacked the necessary infrastructure struggled to adapt. In fact, our research found that 47% of businesses faced difficulties with digital access and connectivity during the pandemic. Some of the other issues faced by businesses included:</p>
<p>• a lack of reliable broadband or mobile (37%)</p>
<p>• slow broadband speed (29%)</p>
<p>• poor mobile signal (26%)</p>
<p>• lack of digital skills or access to training schemes (16%)</p>
<p>• the cost of access (13%)</p>
<p>People working from home in rural locations also had problems due to a lack of digital infrastructure, poor connectivity and a lack of digital skills. </p>
<h2>Bridging the gap</h2>
<p>In the future, an increased reliance on online work, education and public services, such as online health and welfare support, will further disadvantage those without adequate internet access. The digital divide is widening between those with higher incomes and those with lower incomes. </p>
<p>For example, households with higher incomes were <a href="https://www.scirp.org/reference/referencespapers?referenceid=3051117">more likely</a> to have had access to technology for home schooling and remote working during the pandemic, unlike those with lower incomes.</p>
<p>The gap in access to digital technology is often determined by location too. Remote and sparsely populated areas often lack adequate broadband and mobile signal coverage. Bridging this digital divide is crucial for economic growth, social inclusion and access to essential services. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-teachers-supported-children-and-parents-through-covid-19-school-closures-181380">How teachers supported children and parents through COVID-19 school closures</a>
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<p>To address the digital divide, the UK and devolved governments need to invest in digital infrastructure in rural areas to ensure that everywhere has at least a minimum quality coverage. Local authorities could introduce schemes that enable people to gain access to cost-effective computer devices and internet access.</p>
<p>Expanding digital literacy and empowering businesses in rural areas is also crucial. Enhancing digital skills training would better prepare future generations for the digital world. </p>
<p>Additionally, businesses in rural areas require tailored support, such as funding for digital infrastructure upgrades, training opportunities and guidance on consumer privacy and protection, to enable their digital growth and sustainability.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218062/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aloysius Igboekwu currently volunteers for a Childcare charity as a Trustee. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maria Plotnikova and Sarah Lindop do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research reveals the digital divide that was exposed by the COVID pandemic.Aloysius Igboekwu, Senior Lecturer in Finance, Aberystwyth UniversityMaria Plotnikova, Lecturer in Economics, Aberystwyth UniversitySarah Lindop, Senior Lecturer in Finance, Aberystwyth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2002482023-02-27T16:57:21Z2023-02-27T16:57:21ZChatGPT and cheating: 5 ways to change how students are graded<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511716/original/file-20230222-14-ufch1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C65%2C5472%2C3112&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Teachers and university professors have relied heavily on 'one and done' essay assignments for decades. Requiring students to submit drafts of their work is one needed shift.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Universities and schools have entered a new phase in how they need to address academic integrity as our society navigates a <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/opinion/2020/03/04/letter-to-toronto-how-profound-innovations-are-making-our-city-a-leader-in-the-digital-age.html">second era of digital technologies</a>, which include publicly available generative artificial intelligence (AI) like ChatGPT.
Such platforms allow students to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/chatgpt-student-benefits-1.6731105">generate novel text for written assignments</a>. </p>
<p>While many worry these advanced AI technologies are ushering in a <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10031827">new age of plagiarism and cheating</a>, these technologies also introduce opportunities for educators to rethink assessment practices and engage students in deeper and more meaningful learning that can promote critical thinking skills. </p>
<p>We believe the emergence of ChatGPT creates an opportunity for schools and post-secondary institutions to reform traditional approaches to assessing students that rely heavily on testing and written tasks focused on students’ recall, remembering and basic synthesis of content. </p>
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<img alt="Hands seen on a keyboard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511720/original/file-20230222-26-7qud13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511720/original/file-20230222-26-7qud13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511720/original/file-20230222-26-7qud13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511720/original/file-20230222-26-7qud13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511720/original/file-20230222-26-7qud13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511720/original/file-20230222-26-7qud13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511720/original/file-20230222-26-7qud13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Schools and post-secondary institutions should revisit testing and written assignments.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>Cheating and ChatGPT</h2>
<p>Estimates of cheating <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83255-1_4">vary widely across national contexts and sectors</a>. </p>
<p>Sarah Elaine Eaton, an expert who studies academic integrity, cautions cheating <a href="https://theconversation.com/cheating-may-be-under-reported-across-canadas-universities-and-colleges-129292">may be under-reported</a>: she has estimated that at Canadian universities, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-university-students-cheating-exams/">70,000 students</a> buy cheating services every year.</p>
<p>How the recent launch of ChatGPT by OpenAI will impact cheating in both compulsory and higher education settings is unknown, but how this evolves may depend on whether or not institutions retain or reform traditional assessment practices.</p>
<h2>Evading plagiarism detection software?</h2>
<p>The ability of popular plagiarism detection tools to identify cheating using ChatGPT to generate assignments remains a challenge. </p>
<p><a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2302.04335">A recent study</a>, not yet peer reviewed, found that 50 essays generated using ChatGPT produced sophisticated texts that were able to evade the traditional plagiarism check software. </p>
<p>Given that ChatGPT reached <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/chatgpt-sets-record-fastest-growing-user-base-analyst-note-2023-02-01/">an estimated 100 million monthly active users</a> in January, just two months after its launch, it is understandable why some have argued AI applications such as ChatGPT will spur <a href="https://repositorio.grial.eu/handle/grial/2838">enormous changes</a> in contemporary schooling.</p>
<h2>Policy responses to AI and ChatGPT</h2>
<p>Not surprisingly, there are opposing views on how to respond to ChatGPT and other AI language models. </p>
<p>Some argue educators should embrace AI as a valuable technological tool, provided <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4334162">applications are cited correctly</a>. </p>
<p>Others believe <a href="https://aaee.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/AAEE2019_Annual_Conference_paper_180.pdf">more resources and training</a> are required so educators are better able to catch instances of cheating. </p>
<p>Still others, such as New York City’s Department of Education, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2023/01/30/chatgpt-going-banned-teachers-sound-alarm-new-ai-tech/11069593002">have resorted to blocking AI applications such as ChatGPT from devices and networks</a>.</p>
<h2>Forward-thinking assessment</h2>
<p>The figure below depicts three critical elements of a forward-thinking assessment system. Although each element could be elaborated, our focus is in offering educators a series of strategies that will allow them to maintain academic standards and promote authentic learning and assessment in the face of current and future AI applications.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three circles are seen overlapping in the middle; the circles say AI, student assessment and academic integrity." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510970/original/file-20230219-4224-9widvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510970/original/file-20230219-4224-9widvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510970/original/file-20230219-4224-9widvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510970/original/file-20230219-4224-9widvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510970/original/file-20230219-4224-9widvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510970/original/file-20230219-4224-9widvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/510970/original/file-20230219-4224-9widvf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Institutions and educators must examine the intersection of AI, academic integrity and how we assess students.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Louis Volante)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Teachers and university professors have relied heavily on “one and done” essay assignments for decades. Essentially, a student is assigned or asked to pick a generic essay topic from a list and submit their final assignment on a specific date. </p>
<p>Such assignments are particularly susceptible to new AI applications, as well as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83255-1_9">contract cheating</a> — whereby a student buys a completed essay. Educators now need to rethink such assignments. Here are some strategies.</p>
<p><strong>1. Consider ways to incorporate AI in valid assessment.</strong></p>
<p>It’s not useful or practical for institutions to outright ban AI and applications like ChatGPT. </p>
<p>AI has already been incorporated into some <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-using-ai-tools-like-chatgpt-in-my-mba-innovation-course-is-expected-and-not-cheating-198957">university classrooms</a>. We believe AI technologies must be selectively integrated so that students are able to reflect on appropriate uses and connect their reflections to learning competencies. </p>
<p>For example, Paul Fyfe, an English professor <a href="https://news.dasa.ncsu.edu/professor-paul-fyfe-brings-a-humanistic-approach-to-data/">who teaches about how humans interact with data</a> describes a “pedagogical experiment” in which <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-022-01397-z">he required students to take content from text-generating AI software and weave this content</a> into their final essay.</p>
<p>Students were then asked to confront the availability of AI as a writing tool and reflect on the ethical use and evaluation of language modes.</p>
<p><strong>2. Engage students in setting learning goals.</strong></p>
<p>Ensuring students understand how they will be graded is key to any good assessment system. </p>
<p>Inviting students to collaboratively establish learning goals and criteria for the task, with consideration for the role of AI software, would help students to evaluate and judge appropriate contexts in which AI can work as a learning tool. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/unlike-with-academics-and-reporters-you-cant-check-when-chatgpts-telling-the-truth-198463">Unlike with academics and reporters, you can't check when ChatGPT's telling the truth</a>
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<p><strong>3. Require students to submit drafts for feedback.</strong></p>
<p>Although students should still complete essay assignments, research into academic integrity policy in response to generative AI suggests students should be required to <a href="https://edarxiv.org/mrz8h?trk=public_post_main-feed-card_reshare-text">submit drafts of their work for review</a> and feedback. Apart from helping to detect plagiarism, this <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/emip.12382">kind of “formative assessment” practice is positive for guiding student learning</a>.</p>
<p>Feedback can be offered by the teacher or by students themselves. Peer- and self-feedback can serve to critically evaluate work in progress (or work generated by AI software). </p>
<p><strong>4. Grade subcomponents of the task.</strong></p>
<p>Students could receive a grade for each subcomponent — including their involvement in feedback processes. They would also be evaluated in relation to how well they incorporated and attended to the specific feedback provided. </p>
<p>The assignment becomes bigger than a final essay, it becomes a product of learning, where students’ ideas are evaluated from development to final submission. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Students seen sitting with a teacher." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511717/original/file-20230222-21-mo6jbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511717/original/file-20230222-21-mo6jbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511717/original/file-20230222-21-mo6jbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511717/original/file-20230222-21-mo6jbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511717/original/file-20230222-21-mo6jbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511717/original/file-20230222-21-mo6jbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511717/original/file-20230222-21-mo6jbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Engaging students in establishing learning goals is part of creating meaningful assessment practices.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p><strong>5. Move to more authentic assessments or include performance elements.</strong></p>
<p>Good assessment practice involves an educator observing student learning across multiple contexts. </p>
<p>For example, educators can invite students to present their work, discuss an essay in a conference format or share a video articulation or an artistic representation. The aim here is to encourage students to share their learning through an alternative format. An important question to ask is whether or not you need the essay component at all? Is there a more authentic way to effectively assess student learning? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A educator seen in a library with students." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511713/original/file-20230222-14-61sitj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511713/original/file-20230222-14-61sitj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511713/original/file-20230222-14-61sitj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511713/original/file-20230222-14-61sitj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511713/original/file-20230222-14-61sitj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511713/original/file-20230222-14-61sitj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511713/original/file-20230222-14-61sitj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Encouraging students to present their work is a way educators can observe student learning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Kampus Production)</span></span>
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<p>Authentic assessments are those that relate content to context. When students are asked to do this, they must apply knowledge in more practical settings, often making AI tools less helpful. </p>
<p>For help in rethinking assessment practices towards more authentic and alternative approaches, educators can consider taking the free course, <a href="https://queens-aeg.ca/transforming-assessment/">Transforming Assessment: Strategies for Higher Education</a>.</p>
<h2>Improve benefits for students</h2>
<p>Collectively, these suggestions may be more time-consuming, particularly in larger undergraduate classes. </p>
<p>But they do provide greater learning and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/emip.12382">synergy between forms of assessment</a> that benefit students: formative assessment to guide teaching and learning, and “summative assessment,” primarily used for grading and evaluation purposes. </p>
<p>AI is here and here to stay, and we must embrace it as part of our learning environment. Incorporating AI into how we assess student learning will yield more reliable assessment processes and valid and valued assessment outcomes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200248/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louis Volante receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Don A. Klinger receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher DeLuca does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Educators need to carefully consider ChatGPT and issues of academic integrity to move toward an assessment system that leverages AI tools.Louis Volante, Professor of Education Governance and Policy Analysis, Brock UniversityChristopher DeLuca, Associate Dean, School of Graduate Studies & Professor, Faculty of Education, Queen's University, OntarioDon A. Klinger, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Te Wānanga Toi Tangata Division of Education; Professor of Measurement, Assessment and Evaluation, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1982472023-02-14T13:41:41Z2023-02-14T13:41:41ZWhat is Mondiacult? 6 take-aways from the world’s biggest cultural policy gathering<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508369/original/file-20230206-21-8bineg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">hadynyah/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Culture’s status in global society got a major boost in 2022 when it was recommended to become its own sustainable development goal. This happened at the Unesco World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development – called <a href="https://www.unesco.org/en/mondiacult2022?TSPD_101_R0=080713870fab2000a09e1f590eee9236224b49b65b35b132c616cc394977b0a02ac2e62027c474a20861e610e0143000765baf2107ff32468755177504b7b9a252592c01e65570cbe751e36ef19eb1605e90d2f17ad9e80a512b2762ca6cb961">Mondiacult</a>. The world’s most important cultural policy gathering took place in Mexico City 40 years after its first edition in the same city. The 2022 meeting gathered 2,600 participants including 135 government ministers, 83 non-governmental organisations, 32 intergovernmental organisations and nine UN agencies. </p>
<p>Mondiacult is important because it’s a decision-making meeting that helps shape the world’s cultural policies and especially the relationship between culture and development. What was clear is that there is a shift in this relationship. Culture does not only contribute to sustainable development but is one of development’s components. </p>
<p>Culture aids <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals">sustainable development goals</a> in areas like health, education and environment. For example, local customs and traditional knowledge are relevant in promoting health programmes. Local and traditional products are useful for sustainable production. Indigenous knowledge helps develop environmental practices to fight climate change. </p>
<p><a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals">Sustainable development goals</a> – like clean water and quality education – are the United Nations (UN) blueprint for a better future for all. At Mondiacult, culture was raised to the status of being its own sustainable development goal. A careful reading of the <a href="https://www.unesco.org/sites/default/files/medias/fichiers/2022/10/6.MONDIACULT_EN_DRAFT%20FINAL%20DECLARATION_FINAL_1.pdf">final declaration</a> offers several reasons why:</p>
<h2>1. Culture can fight climate change</h2>
<p>Culture can contribute to the reduction of climate change’s negative impact. Ecological organisations and other stakeholders are now interested in discovering the usefulness of cultural practices and other local know-how to preserve the environment. Ancient communities faced climate crises and developed their own resilient practices rooted in cultural heritage. That is why concepts like indigenous knowledge systems have emerged. </p>
<h2>2. Digital must be ethical</h2>
<p>The transition from analogue to digital has become an important aspect in the production, distribution and consumption of cultural and creative goods and services. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the value of digital and online spaces. Augmented reality, for example, enables exploring museum collections from a phone or computer. Virtual reality enables the visiting of historical monuments. Blockchain technology and artificial intelligence have grown hugely, but bring new ethical concerns. Which is why Unesco has adopted a set of <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000380455_fre.locale=fr">recommendations</a> on the ethics of artificial intelligence.</p>
<h2>3. Cultural diversity matters</h2>
<p>Our world is made of many different cultures. Acknowledging and accepting this cultural diversity is an ethical imperative, in Mondiacult 2022’s view. For the cultural ministers gathered in Mexico City, cultural diversity is the “founding principle of all of Unesco’s cultural conventions, recommendations and declarations. It cannot be separated from respect for human dignity and all fundamental human rights.” </p>
<h2>4. Cultural objects must be returned</h2>
<p>Another “ethical imperative” is the return of cultural assets to countries that they were looted from. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/benin-bronzes-what-is-the-significance-of-their-repatriation-to-nigeria-171444">Benin bronzes</a> case is a good example – ancient cultural objects stolen from Nigeria by colonial forces who are now slowly returning them. This restitution is crucial because it is supposed to “promote the right of peoples and communities to enjoy their cultural heritage … to strengthen social cohesion and the intergenerational transmission of cultural heritage”. It would be morally unfair to deny restitution, according to Mondiacult 2022. </p>
<h2>5. Culture is a global public good</h2>
<p>Culture is “our most powerful global public good”, <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000382082_eng">wrote</a> Unesco official Ernesto Ottone:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Today, more than ever, we need to find meaning, we need universality, we need culture in all its diversity. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Culture is reaffirmed as the “existential foundation” of humanity in this period of multiple crises on the planet. Now that a high-level meeting like Mondiacult has affirmed that culture is a public good, it must be preserved in the same way as the environment is.</p>
<h2>6. Culture is a development goal in itself</h2>
<p>Most significant is a new momentum to give culture a central place in the global development agenda. Before Mondiacult, Unesco’s aim was to convince the world’s policymakers that culture can <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000371557.locale=fr">contribute</a> significantly to achieving sustainable development goals. Now, Mondiacult 2022’s ambitious final <a href="https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/mondiacult-2022-states-adopt-historic-declaration-culture?TSPD_101_R0=080713870fab2000f74c4eb59493c567f3e18b1c8872e37ae64990e839cf3668f57e49286fb9f65f08249d61f71430003d79c69a210fba638ee45377843ff76e26f08becf03cf6dff247f25bfdb1b4b06649a8fba6fb9883fadb4106e6dc9543">declaration</a> affirms:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We call on the UN secretary general to firmly anchor culture as a global public good and to integrate it as a specific goal in its own right in the development agenda beyond 2030.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The cultural goal is to achieve “more harmony between peoples and communities”. This could involve the promotion of cultural diversity, the return of cultural assets, increased budgets for creative activities and other policies. </p>
<h2>Why this matters</h2>
<p>If the UN adopts this option of culture being a sustainable development goal, the post-2030 sustainable development agenda will have new content. This will change how development agencies deal with culture and how universities teach the relationship between culture and development. The result could be more funding for culture, which is increasingly underfunded by governments. </p>
<p>In addition, making cultural diversity an “ethical imperative” should play a role, if possible, in discussions about the commercialisation of cultural goods and services and the digital transition. </p>
<p>Next to come will be Mondiacult’s conditions of implementation. This is a follow-up action plan that should mobilise stakeholders to embrace Mondiacult’s outcomes ahead of the 2024 UN <a href="https://www.un.org/en/common-agenda/implementation">Summit of the Future</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198247/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ribio Nzeza Bunketi Buse does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The huge gathering of policymakers focused on culture’s crucial role in sustainable development.Ribio Nzeza Bunketi Buse, Associate Professor, University of Kinshasa Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1945962022-11-22T18:26:20Z2022-11-22T18:26:20ZElon Musk’s buyout of Twitter has placed its user-generated archives in danger<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495989/original/file-20221117-21-xsf9nd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C80%2C4500%2C2910&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Since its founding in 2006, Twitter has become one of the largest digital datasets of a record of human history.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Twitter is in disarray. This is troubling for a platform that comprises no small part of the historical record of today. </p>
<p>While only used by a percentage of Americans (<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/05/05/10-facts-about-americans-and-twitter/">some 23 per cent in 2022</a>) and Canadians (<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/spark/388-pokemon-go-for-ecologists-fake-videos-and-more-1.4569277/how-does-your-social-media-use-stack-up-against-other-canadians-1.4569280">42 per cent of adults in 2018</a>), it has outsized value for sharing information, capturing ongoing events and shaping the cultural conversation. </p>
<p>Twitter’s role cannot be underemphasized. In advance of the 2022 American midterm elections, Twitter realized its pivotal role in shaping electoral information meant that its plan to verify anybody who paid US$8 could “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/06/technology/twitter-verification-check-marks.html">sow discord</a>.” </p>
<p>Similarly, Twitter is where many turned to information during the opening weeks of the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2022/01/04/the-vital-role-of-twitter-in-responding-to-covid/">COVID-19 pandemic</a> and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/guns-tanks-and-twitter-how-russia-and-ukraine-are-using-social-media-as-the-war-drags-on-180131">Ukraine war</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496486/original/file-20221121-23-er6qlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="neon sign in red reading #TWEET TWEET, installed on top of green patterned wallpaper" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496486/original/file-20221121-23-er6qlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496486/original/file-20221121-23-er6qlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496486/original/file-20221121-23-er6qlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496486/original/file-20221121-23-er6qlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496486/original/file-20221121-23-er6qlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496486/original/file-20221121-23-er6qlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496486/original/file-20221121-23-er6qlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Twitter has become an important site for information (and disinformation).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash/Chris J. Davis)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The end of Twitter?</h2>
<p>Amidst predictions <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/11/12/1136205315/musk-twitter-bankruptcy-how-likely">of bankruptcy</a> or even wholesale <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/11/08/1062886/heres-how-a-twitter-engineer-says-it-will-break-in-the-coming-weeks/">technical collapse</a>, the cultural record of all of these critical moments are <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/11/11/1063162/twitters-imminent-collapse-could-wipe-out-vast-records-of-recent-human-history/">now endangered</a>.</p>
<p>This is terrible because the <a href="https://theconversation.com/historians-archival-research-looks-quite-different-in-the-digital-age-121096">information that our society creates today is tomorrow’s historical record</a>. For better or worse, Twitter has been with us throughout the last decade and a half: <a href="https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/us-elections">election cycles</a>, the COVID-19 pandemic (where it has been an exemplar platform for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73510-5">misinformation</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-98396-9">information</a> alike), and online culture more generally (some tweets have even <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1612578/">become TV shows</a>). </p>
<p>Future historians may be able to learn about these things through media coverage of Twitter, but the ability to access the tweets themselves will be invaluable for historical research. This is doubly true for the spread of information during breaking events, when the platform itself became the main primary source for observers and participants.</p>
<p>Given the centrality of this source, it is hard to believe that it could all disappear. Could it?</p>
<h2>Unique vulnerability</h2>
<p>Twitter archives take several shapes and sizes. For a time, the most famous one was the Library of Congress’s Twitter archive. In 2010, the Library of Congress announced that it would both receive all the text of tweets dating back to 2006 and acquire them going forward. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"12178991018"}"></div></p>
<p><a href="https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2017/12/update-on-the-twitter-archive-at-the-library-of-congress-2/">Then in December 2017</a>, the Library of Congress moved from a collect <em>everything</em> approach to a “selective basis,” curating rather <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/27/technology/library-congress-tweets.html">than taking everything</a>.</p>
<p>The Internet Archive, a digital library based in the United States, also collects many Twitter streams, both through its <a href="https://archive.org/web/">Wayback Machine</a> and its subscription service <a href="https://archive-it.org">Archive-It</a>, where members can choose and curate the accounts that they collect. </p>
<p>Users can go back and look at the suspended (and since reinstated) <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161109000022/https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump">@realDonaldTrump account</a>, for example. These web archives, however, are targeted: one needs to know the username or particular hashtag that one wants to study.</p>
<p>The Internet Archive’s holdings are not at risk, but they are very hard to search and slow to use. To truly unlock the power of Twitter research, more access is required. </p>
<h2>At-risk datasets</h2>
<p>Fortunately — for now — there is a better way: the <a href="https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-api">Twitter Application Programming Interface</a> (API). APIs are ways for computer programs to speak to each other. The <a href="https://developer.twitter.com/en/products/twitter-api/academic-research">Twitter API for Academic Research</a> program allowed researchers to apply for accounts and then design or use programs to create their own collections of both real-time or historical data. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://catalog.docnow.io">DocNow Catalog</a>, has a subset of these Twitter collections, and currently has some 142 datasets consisting of over six <em>billion</em> tweets, on topics ranging from <a href="https://catalog.docnow.io/datasets/20201020-twitter-corpus-of-the-blacklivesmatter-movement-and-counter-protests-2013-to-2020/">#BlackLivesMatter</a> (41 million tweets) to the <a href="https://catalog.docnow.io/datasets/20190222-2018-us-congressional-election/">2018 American Congressional Election</a> (171 million tweets).</p>
<p>However, to use the API, one needs to agree to the <a href="https://developer.twitter.com/en/developer-terms/agreement-and-policy">terms of service</a>. Each tweet has its own unique number. This means that these datasets do not contain the data, rather they just contain the numbers that are required to <em>get</em> the data. In other words, think of it as a library where you could only share the call numbers with other patrons, not the books themselves.</p>
<p>When the API is functional, this makes sense. Every time a search request is made, a dataset is generated. This means that the same search conducted at different moments in time would produce a different dataset. If somebody had deleted their tweet in the meantime, it would not be available for download. </p>
<p>For example, if in 2020 I had tweeted something which was recorded by a researcher but in 2021 decided to delete it, if the dataset was requested in 2022, my tweet would no longer be there. </p>
<p>But if Twitter disappears — or if the API collapses — this data could suddenly become lost. If Twitter was to completely disappear, perhaps scholars could share their original, full datasets. But some of this data may have already been deleted, perhaps due to researchers running out of storage space or facing other institutional or ethical requirements. </p>
<p>We truly are facing the prospect of widespread erasure.</p>
<h2>An incalculable loss</h2>
<p>The loss of Twitter’s 16 years of user-generated content would be a tragedy.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/2020-is-a-year-for-the-history-books-but-not-without-digital-archives-140234">2020 is a year for the history books, but not without digital archives</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Digital platforms like Twitter are the public town squares of today, unlike more private social media platforms like Facebook. We all have a stake in ensuring its material is preserved: governments, archivists, librarians, historians, activists, among other institutional and private stakeholders.</p>
<p>Without the Twitter archive, we risk losing important voices from the past. Many of us have experienced elections, protest and the pandemic through <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/30/twitters-doubling-of-character-count-from-140-to-280-had-little-impact-on-length-of-tweets/">280-character tweets</a>. Without these voices, we lose the unique flavour of the tumultuous times we have lived through.</p>
<p>And the next time a platform comes along, it is important for developers to consider how to archive its content for future consideration. </p>
<p>In the meantime, we can <a href="https://help.twitter.com/en/managing-your-account/how-to-download-your-twitter-archive">download our own Twitter archives</a>. <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23453703/twitter-archive-download-how-to-tweets">Several instructional guides have appeared</a> <a href="https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/dont-delete-twitter-before-you-download-all-your-tweets-and-messages/">walking users through the process</a> of <a href="https://mashable.com/article/how-to-leave-twitter-guide-elon-musk">downloading this data and making it usable</a>.</p>
<p>While lacking the preservation power of the Library of Congress, perhaps these digital scrapbooks will one day remind us of the Twitter that was.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/social-media-and-society-125586" target="_blank"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479539/original/file-20220817-20-g5jxhm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=144&fit=crop&dpr=1" width="100%"></a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194596/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Milligan receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. </span></em></p>Over the past 16 years, Twitter has amassed an incredible amount of user-generated data which contains a detailed and extensive record of cultural moments. Musk’s takeover threatens these archives.Ian Milligan, Professor of History, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1943792022-11-14T07:50:53Z2022-11-14T07:50:53ZWorker organisations can survive the digital age. Here’s how<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494831/original/file-20221111-14-dka0y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is a food courier who owns one scooter a worker?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There is a widespread view that labour has become irrelevant as a force for change. The argument goes that the proliferation of digital labour platforms – and the rise in <a href="https://theconversation.com/digital-labour-platforms-subject-global-south-workers-to-algorithmic-insecurity-186492">job insecurity this brings</a> – means that worker resistance is increasingly futile.</p>
<p>The problem with this pessimistic “end of labour thesis” is that it gives globalisation and the digital age a logic and coherence that they do not have. The result is the decentring of workplace struggles over the conditions of work and an obscuring of relations of exploitation. The outcome is that <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-a-seductive-idea-requiring-critical-engagement-184475">capital is let off the hook</a>.</p>
<p>We argue that worker organising and public policy can play an important role in shaping the terms of digitisation. </p>
<p>In South Africa, Uber Eats workers have demonstrated their structural power by collectively logging off the app. In Colombia, Rappi delivery workers have successfully organised transnational strikes with support from established unions and social movements.</p>
<p>When it comes to policy, the Biden administration recently <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/new-biden-labor-rule-would-make-contractors-into-employees-2022-10-11/">showed</a> that platform business models can be changed. It proposed a rule which would reclassify platform workers as employees, extending labour and social protection to precarious workers.</p>
<p>We argue that unions continue to be important. But we also argue that, in the face of a decline in traditional union membership, it’s critical to focus on where resistance is taking place, rather than where it is not. While we are witnessing a decline in a particular form of worker organisation, worker organisation is still very much alive and effective.</p>
<h2>The end of labour thesis</h2>
<p>There is significant evidence in support of the “end of labour thesis”. Over the last decades there has been a <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_dialogue/---actrav/documents/publication/wcms_731147.pdf">decline in union membership</a> globally. Established trade unions are particularly reluctant to organise platform workers because it’s a difficult sector to organise.</p>
<p>Platform workers are geographically dispersed and work in an individualised manner, which makes collective claim-making difficult. The elusive nature of algorithmic management muddies the nature of demands. And the misclassification of platform workers as self-employed means that it is not always clear who they should make claims from.</p>
<p>This ambiguity over platform workers’ class location raises difficult questions for union organisers. Who is a worker? Is a food courier who owns one scooter a worker? What about someone who owns two scooters and hires someone to ride the second one?</p>
<p>The picture is blurred further by how big technology giants are using data to manage workers. Data tracking has become critical to what is being called <a href="https://itforchange.net/sites/default/files/1741/WP24-Beyond-Data-Bodies-AG-NC.pdf">algorithmic management</a>. It’s used to make decisions about recruitment and allocation of work, ratings and remuneration and even termination. One of the consequences of this is what’s been termed <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3773164">algorithmic insecurity</a> – the fact that workers are aware that their performance is assessed on the basis of arbitrary ratings.</p>
<p>As Anita Gurumurthy, executive director of <a href="https://itforchange.net">IT for Change</a>, notes, demands for the extension of labour protections need to include demands over data ownership.</p>
<h2>In defence of labour</h2>
<p>Despite the challenge of organising platform workers, labour protests have grown. The <a href="https://www.etui.org/publications/policy-briefs/european-economic-employment-and-social-policy/a-global-struggle-worker-protest-in-the-platform-economy">Leeds Index of Platform Labour Protest</a> shows that platform worker organisation, mobilisation and resistance have spread rapidly across the globe. </p>
<p>Indeed, platforms seem to be a <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Riding+for+Deliveroo:+Resistance+in+the+New+Economy-p-9781509535507">breeding ground for self-organisation</a>, as digital management methods strengthen workers’ associational power.</p>
<p>Protests do not always fit established frameworks for labour relations. Some workers are organised in trade unions, such the <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/media/wits-university/faculties-and-schools/commerce-law-and-management/research-entities/scis/documents/7%20Velez%20Not%20a%20fairy%20tale%20Colombia.pdf">Movimiento Nacional de Repartidores de Plataformas Digitales</a> in Colombia, founded with support from the main union federation and social movements. The <a href="https://twu.or.ke/">Transport and Allied Workers’ Union</a> in Kenya is another.</p>
<p>However, our research also points to the proliferation of self-organised groups, which blur the boundaries between traditional unionism and informal workers’ associations or cooperatives. These range from mutual aid associations like the <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/media/wits-university/faculties-and-schools/commerce-law-and-management/research-entities/scis/documents/I_just_want_to_survive.pdf">Brothers of Melville</a> in South Africa to women-owned worker cooperatives like <a href="https://interactions.acm.org/archive/view/july-august-2022/beyond-platform-cooperativism">Senoritas Courier</a> in Brazil.</p>
<p>As labour scholar Maurizio Atzeni argued during a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEdaigOTMQA&t=4450s">policy dialogue</a> hosted by the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, the processes that create conditions of exploitation also foster resistance. </p>
<h2>The relationship between capital and labour</h2>
<p>A key question is whether emerging forms of worker organisation have the power to reclaim control from digital capital and push back against “algorithmic insecurity”. </p>
<p>While emerging cooperatives may offer insights into alternatives to platform capitalism, they alone cannot transform platform capitalism, media and communications expert Rafael Grohman notes.</p>
<p>At the centre of platform capitalism are unprecedented levels of power in the hands of a few corporates, namely Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, Google and Spotify. Despite a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/new-biden-labor-rule-would-make-contractors-into-employees-2022-10-11/">drop</a> in share prices with the potential introduction of regulatory reforms, they account for <a href="https://companiesmarketcap.com/usa/largest-companies-in-the-usa-by-market-cap/">20% of the US stock market</a>.</p>
<p>Control and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02692171.2020.1773647">power is concentrated</a> in a small, mathematically proficient elite dominating decision-making and policy by owning and controlling the “algorithm” in ways that generate even greater inequalities. Global IT giants have become more powerful than most countries and governments. They evade corporate governance codes, laws and policies, including anti-trust, competition and tax collection.</p>
<p>As Gururmurthy notes, <a href="https://itforchange.net/sites/default/files/2159/ITfC-Workers%E2%80%99-Data-Rights-Platformized-Workplace_1.pdf">data</a> has become a new frontier of capital accumulation. It has also become a source of value in and of itself, to be bought and sold along the data value chain. </p>
<h2>The role of the state</h2>
<p>In the absence of an adequate regulatory framework for platform work, two broad pathways can be identified. </p>
<p>One involves a deepening of the domination of foreign-owned tech giants with no national or global agreement on how to operate. This could be described as a form of <a href="https://www.perlego.com/book/969685/the-costs-of-connection-how-data-is-colonizing-human-life-and-appropriating-it-for-capitalism-pdf?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&campaignid=15853719261&adgroupid=133053614598&gclid=Cj0KCQiA37KbBhDgARIsAIzce16lhvohLFn0QqDFYvmXa0bn95LFt8qL8fAaUq5P0Dvb4WoEqqicubsaAiwMEALw_wcB">re-colonisation of the global south</a>. This could create more jobs, but workers would be stuck in low-wage drudgery with none of the protections or benefits of formal employment.</p>
<p>An alternative pathway could be a “digital social compact” created with the active participation of platform workers and their organisations. This would involve coherent global and national policies, including legislation to protect workers. </p>
<p>This optimistic path opens the possibility of the extension of labour and social protections to informalised platform workers.</p>
<p><em>The Future of Work(ers) Research Programme at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand is hosting a seven-part dialogue series. The aim is to generate public debate on the relationship between digital technologies, the changing nature of work(ers) and the implications for inequality.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194379/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edward Webster receives funding from Friedrich Ebert Stifling . </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruth Castel-Branco receives funding from IDRC.</span></em></p>There are ways in which platform workers can resist the rise in job insecurity and poor working conditions brought on by digital labour platforms.Edward Webster, Distinguished Reserach Professor, Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the WitwatersrandRuth Castel-Branco, Research Manager, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1902462022-09-19T01:25:07Z2022-09-19T01:25:07ZFrom curry nights to ‘coal kills’ dresses: how social media drives politicians to behave like influencers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484223/original/file-20220913-20-2rghxj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=76%2C161%2C5056%2C3255&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jane Dempster/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Why do politicians often post content that seems awkward, outrageous or strange? The answer could be an appeal to authenticity – something that has become a valuable currency in the world of politicians, influencers and social media.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483816/original/file-20220910-18-uluerg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A Facebook post shows a selfie of Scott Morrison mowing his lawn" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483816/original/file-20220910-18-uluerg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483816/original/file-20220910-18-uluerg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=931&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483816/original/file-20220910-18-uluerg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=931&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483816/original/file-20220910-18-uluerg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=931&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483816/original/file-20220910-18-uluerg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1170&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483816/original/file-20220910-18-uluerg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1170&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483816/original/file-20220910-18-uluerg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1170&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scott Morrison’s Facebook page bases its appeals on his ‘ordinariness’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Scott Morrison/Facebook</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When John Howard debuted his first YouTube video as prime minister in 2007 he famously began by addressing the audience with <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2007/s1981103.htm">“Good morning”</a>.</p>
<p>The gaffe – not realising that users might view the content at any time of day – represented the beginning of an era for Australian politicians on social media, and a period coloured by naivety and experimentation. </p>
<p>Yet if we were to examine the then prime minister Scott Morrison’s Facebook page ahead of the 2019 and 2022 elections (not to mention his famous <a href="https://www.facebook.com/scottmorrison4cook/photos/a.729865237057882/2474512919259763/?type=3">“curry night”</a> posts) you might be forgiven for thinking not much had changed.</p>
<p>Of course, Morrison and other pollies’ pages have plenty of high-production content that reflects their professional personas – but among this are also myriad posts that appear unscripted and unrefined. </p>
<p>It could very well be deliberate, and there is evidence to show it’s working.</p>
<h2>Can we fake authenticity?</h2>
<p>Media scholar Gunn Enli argues that for personalities in the media their public-facing “authenticity” is a kind of performance. This thinking suggests that in the media, being authentic is something you <em>do</em> as opposed to something you <em>are</em>. </p>
<p>Theories of authenticity have been used to examine <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003181286-7/primed-authenticity-priming-impacts-authenticity-perception-social-media-influencers-vilma-luoma-aho-tuisku-pirttim%C3%A4ki-devdeep-maity-juha-munnukka-hanna-reinikainen">influencers</a>, reality television and Barack Obama’s presidential <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315751258_Trust_Me_I_Am_Authentic_Authenticity_Illusions_in_Social_Media_Politics">election campaign</a>. </p>
<p>Ambivalence, imperfection and shared “live” experiences are among the range of qualities that Enli suggests constitute an authentic performance.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483830/original/file-20220911-47522-b9agut.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Pauline Hanson eating pizza" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483830/original/file-20220911-47522-b9agut.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483830/original/file-20220911-47522-b9agut.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483830/original/file-20220911-47522-b9agut.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483830/original/file-20220911-47522-b9agut.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483830/original/file-20220911-47522-b9agut.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483830/original/file-20220911-47522-b9agut.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483830/original/file-20220911-47522-b9agut.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Behind-the-scenes photos can make politicians appear more ‘authentic’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pauline Hanson/Facebook</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Strategic engagement with social media platforms has become a major preoccupation for politicians. But why? </p>
<p>Well, research has shown young voters in Australia, the UK and US want to see politicians who are more <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13676261.2016.1206867?journalCode=cjys20">authentic and accessible</a> online. So it could be politicians are taking the authenticity approach to appeal to young voters. </p>
<p>Another consideration is that social media often force campaigners to reduce the scope of their messaging. It’s hard to articulate the nuance of tax reform in Twitter’s 280 characters, or diplomatic efforts in 15 seconds on TikTok.</p>
<p>Appealing to emotions over logic (what is called “politics of the gut”) could be a strategy for campaigners trying to overcome the constraints of digital platforms. </p>
<h2>So does ‘authenticity’ on social media work?</h2>
<p>We can measure the success of content characteristics or appeals on social media, such as authenticity, by comparing high-engagement posts against a randomised sample. </p>
<p>If a particular characteristic is over-represented in the high-engagement sample, we can estimate it is contributing to its popularity online. </p>
<p><a href="https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/handle/2123/29448/mcternan_cb_thesis.pdf">My analysis</a> of social media posts by Australia’s federal party leaders ahead of the 2019 election indicates these kinds of authenticity appeals do, in fact, give posts an edge. </p>
<p>Using Enli’s analytical theory, the following graph shows six out of seven authenticity traits were over-represented in a sample of high-engagement posts. The data were collected from six party leaders: Bill Shorten, Scott Morrison, Clive Palmer, Pauline Hanson, Richard Di Natale and Michael McCormack.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483885/original/file-20220912-24-mdnrfo.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483885/original/file-20220912-24-mdnrfo.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483885/original/file-20220912-24-mdnrfo.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483885/original/file-20220912-24-mdnrfo.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483885/original/file-20220912-24-mdnrfo.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483885/original/file-20220912-24-mdnrfo.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483885/original/file-20220912-24-mdnrfo.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483885/original/file-20220912-24-mdnrfo.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This graph shows the mean frequency of authenticity appeals between random and top engagement samples. ‘Imperfection’ was the only trait that didn’t feature prominently in high-engagement posts.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cameron McTernan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of these qualities, “predictability” (which loosely refers to how on-brand they stay) and “immediacy” (use of “live” content) were the most frequently observed. </p>
<p>“Ambivalence” appeared to have the widest margin. Further examination at a page-by-page level revealed the majority of these posts were coming from Palmer’s page, reflective of the abundance of memes among Palmer’s high-engagement posts. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483817/original/file-20220910-35059-1uq3wz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483817/original/file-20220910-35059-1uq3wz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=671&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483817/original/file-20220910-35059-1uq3wz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=671&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483817/original/file-20220910-35059-1uq3wz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=671&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483817/original/file-20220910-35059-1uq3wz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=843&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483817/original/file-20220910-35059-1uq3wz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=843&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483817/original/file-20220910-35059-1uq3wz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=843&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Clive Palmer’s posts are often ambivalent to formal political communication.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Clive Palmer/Facebook</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We can understand authenticity alongside a constellation of political communication styles referred to as “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvnjbf2s?turn_away=true">politics of the gut</a>”. Other appeals to politics of the gut include “populist” and “nativist” appeals. </p>
<p>Populism promotes the worldview that political elites are depriving the public of their rights. Nativism conveys a worldview that promotes divisions between non-migrants and migrants.</p>
<p>When I compared posts that have been measured for traits of populism and nativism, the inverse was observed. Populist and nativist appeals made by Australian party leaders received less support. </p>
<p>This would suggest that, in the context of Australian politics, there is less of an appetite for these kinds of appeals, compared to authenticity.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483884/original/file-20220912-68830-rqiitm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483884/original/file-20220912-68830-rqiitm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483884/original/file-20220912-68830-rqiitm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483884/original/file-20220912-68830-rqiitm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483884/original/file-20220912-68830-rqiitm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483884/original/file-20220912-68830-rqiitm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483884/original/file-20220912-68830-rqiitm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483884/original/file-20220912-68830-rqiitm.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This graph shows the mean frequency of populist-nativist appeals between samples of random and top engagement posts.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cameron McTernan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>But authenticity is a good thing … right?</h2>
<p>Politicians have sought to appear more authentic since well before the advent of social media. We can look to former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LXc2CPe33M">fireside chats</a>” as an early example of politicians using the media and performance to appear more down to earth.</p>
<p>But is this a good thing for politics and democracy?</p>
<p>Politics of the gut comes at the cost of hearing politicians discuss matters that genuinely affect the public. If social media continue to be a leading arena for political communication, politicians will continue to engineer content that works best on these platforms. This might mean more political personality, but less political substance.</p>
<p>We saw this play out on TV ahead of the 2022 Australian federal election too, with Anthony Albanese’s <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-gets-personal-as-he-puts-down-the-albanese-glow-up-20220315-p5a4t7.html">authenticity</a> being challenged by Morrison after the former’s “glow-up”.</p>
<p>More recently, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young wore an “end gas and coal” dress at a Press Gallery event – an obvious nod to US politician and social media icon Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (whose “tax the rich” Met gala <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/14/aoc-defends-tax-the-rich-dress-met-gala">dress</a> made headlines everywhere).</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1567452937429094400"}"></div></p>
<p>The research suggests people (especially young people) want more “authentic” politicians. But this might actually be a political literacy issue. </p>
<p>Wanting politicians to act more like influencers might only seem natural for a generation raised on internet media. Memes, selfies and curry nights help us relate to our political leaders, but they don’t help solve the issues that matter most.</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/social-media-and-society-125586" target="_blank"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479539/original/file-20220817-20-g5jxhm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=144&fit=crop&dpr=1" width="100%"></a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190246/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cameron McTernan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We’re seeing a new wave of politicians embracing social media – and often this means a departure from a serious demeanour to one that’s more wilfully strange, awkward and dramatic.Cameron McTernan, Lecturer of Media and Communication, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1767242022-02-22T14:11:41Z2022-02-22T14:11:41ZFor workers in Africa, the digital economy isn’t all it’s made out to be<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446333/original/file-20220214-13-xeilgr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Staff members of an e-commerce company in Rwanda.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Xinhua/Wang Teng via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Today <a href="https://www.itu.int/en/mediacentre/Pages/PR-2021-11-29-FactsFigures.aspx">more than half of the world’s population</a> is connected to the internet. In Africa, there are over <a href="https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htm">590 million internet users</a> and over <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.CEL.SETS.P2?locations=ZG">800 million mobile phone subscribers</a>. </p>
<p>Some <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-and-digitization-will-transform-africa-into-a-global-powerhouse/">observers</a> note that such diffusion of digital tools and connectivity is bringing political, economic, social and cultural transformations on the African continent. </p>
<p>One such change is that workers from Lagos to Johannesburg to Nairobi are carrying out various forms of digital work. These are activities which involve manipulation of digital data using tools such as mobile phones, computers and the internet. </p>
<p>Examples are <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1024529420914473">transcription</a>, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1024529420914473">article writing</a>, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03056244.2020.1728243">image tagging</a>, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03056244.2020.1728243">search engine optimisation</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/most-call-centre-jobs-are-a-dead-end-for-south-africas-youth-117516">inbound and outbound customer services</a>, which can be done for clients <a href="https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/9913">anywhere</a>. </p>
<p>As a result, governments, development organisations and civil society look towards digital work as a fix for African countries’ development problems, including unemployment, poverty, and inequality.</p>
<p>For our new book, <a href="https://fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/academic/pdf/openaccess/9780198840800.pdf">The Digital Continent</a>, we conducted a five year study to investigate call centre work and the remote gig work and its implications for workers in five African countries: South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana.</p>
<p>We argue that job quality in digital work remains questionable. </p>
<p>We show that while digital work can bring some forms of freedom and flexibility into the lives of workers in the five countries, it can also contribute towards their precarity and vulnerability.</p>
<h2>Employment insecurities</h2>
<p>We conducted in-depth interviews with call centre workers and remote gig workers to understand their experiences of digital work, income, working hours, employment relations, and algorithmic management of their labour and body.</p>
<p>A majority of those we interviewed noted new digital jobs as one of their important sources of income. But this should be read with caution. </p>
<p>Call centres are notorious for <a href="https://theconversation.com/most-call-centre-jobs-are-a-dead-end-for-south-africas-youth-117516">contingent employment relations</a> – that is, flexible and short-term contracts. </p>
<p>Firms’ use of temporary staffing agencies to cut labour costs is also common. Call centre agents can be <a href="https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/26026">hired and fired</a> easily. For example, an agent in Nairobi told us that in April 2016 his firm fired 70 workers. </p>
<p>Companies also relocate with relative ease. Though in <a href="https://theconversation.com/most-call-centre-jobs-are-a-dead-end-for-south-africas-youth-117516">South Africa</a> call centre operations have grown in recent years, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19376812.2019.1589730?needAccess=true&instName=University+of+Edinburgh">several</a> have closed down in Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana. Some companies moved to <a href="https://fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/academic/pdf/openaccess/9780198840800.pdf">destinations with cheaper labour</a>. Unfortunately exact data on this is hard to come by. </p>
<p>Similarly, workers on the continent see the digital gig economy as a new opportunity. While technological barriers may have been reduced, they face various hurdles to earning a living in the global gig economy. A worrying trend is that few actually earn an income on platforms where flexible digital work is made available. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.upwork.com/">Upwork</a> is the world’s largest platform in terms of registered workers and the most popular among workers on the continent. But <a href="https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/9913/7748">our estimates</a> suggest that less than 6% of the Africans registered on it ever earn a single US dollar. In the case of Ghana and Uganda, these figures are as low as 3.1% and 2.7% respectively. </p>
<p>There is an <a href="https://fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/academic/pdf/openaccess/9780198840800.pdf">oversupply of labour</a> on the gig economy platforms. Respondents also told us that some clients do not want to give contracts to workers on the continent. </p>
<p>On platforms, work is primarily short-term. Some tasks (like image tagging) take as little as a minute to complete; others can last longer (like virtual assistant work). The short-term contracts mean that workers have to constantly search for work on platforms to earn an income. Yet compensation can be low. </p>
<p>Because some platforms <a href="https://www.mturk.com/pricing">pay as little as $0.10 per task</a>, workers resort to working on multiple contracts, which means longer and unsociable hours. Some of those in our study spent up to 80 hours a week working.</p>
<p>Platforms also give employers access to a planetary workforce, so workers have become more expendable than ever. Workers we spoke to noted that clients preferred lower-cost labour destinations, such as India and the Philippines. </p>
<h2>Managed by algorithms</h2>
<p>Increasing use of <a href="https://fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/academic/pdf/openaccess/9780198840800.pdf">algorithmic management</a> for surveillance and control of workers and the labour process is making digital workers even more vulnerable. </p>
<p>In call centres, technological tools like customer relationship management and workforce management are used to maximise workers’ time on call. Call centres are known as <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1468-2338.00113">“assembly lines in the head”</a> for this reason.</p>
<p>In the gig economy, workers face similar pressures with <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1024529420914473">algorithms keeping track on them</a> by taking a screenshot of their laptops. </p>
<p>While some platform workers can schedule the time and place of work the way they want, this flexibility isn’t available to everyone. Only experienced gig workers were able to achieve some form of flexible working.</p>
<p>Surveillance and algorithmic control result in loneliness and social isolation. Complaints about mental and physical stress, including sleep deprivation, were common among our respondents. </p>
<p>Some gig economy platforms openly state that clients do not have to pay if workers fail to meet the target or if clients are not satisfied with the work. There were dozens of stories of workers in our sample who never got paid for work done. Wage refusal or withholding pay is considered forced labour by the <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/forced-labour/publications/WCMS_081999/lang--en/index.htm">International Labour Organisation</a>.</p>
<h2>Lack of career opportunities</h2>
<p>Call centres are considered flat organisations with very few opportunities for internal progression within a firm. A majority of the agents we interviewed did not consider their work at call centres as a long-term career option. We met workers who had been in the sector for over five years with no real progression in salary or working conditions.</p>
<p>Platform companies and organisations such as the <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/22284">World Bank</a> have built a rhetoric around the gig economy as enabling self-employment or entrepreneurship. Our book shows a less positive reality. Digital work opportunities don’t always translate into good quality jobs, and may not be sustainable.</p>
<p>We see a need for research and activism that exposes how digital work is done. We also call for government action to uphold worker rights. And we advocate for building worker solidarity in digital economy networks.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176724/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mohammad Amir Anwar has received funding from British Academy, Economic and Social Research Council (UK), and Scottish Funding Council. </span></em></p>Whereas digital work can bring freedom and flexibility into the lives of workers in Africa, it can also contribute towards their precarity and vulnerability.Mohammad Amir Anwar, Lecturer in African Studies and International Development, The University of EdinburghLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1729602021-12-07T13:34:39Z2021-12-07T13:34:39ZMaking a difference without millions – how Americans give<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434936/original/file-20211201-16-1oovvbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C12%2C4266%2C2816&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How do regular people participate in philanthropy? </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/computer-pointer-hand-pointing-to-written-word-royalty-free-image/173236978?adppopup=true"> fotosipsak/iStock/Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Can everyday people make a difference in their communities without millions of dollars? <a href="https://pacscenter.stanford.edu/person/lucy-bernholz/">Lucy Bernholz</a>, a senior research scholar at Stanford University’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, believes that philanthropy is far more multifaceted than wealthy individuals writing checks to nonprofit organizations.</p>
<p>“Most books written about philanthropy [talk] about rich people,” said Bernholz, “and I wanted to know what was happening with everyone else.”</p>
<p>Bernholz shared her research and knowledge on how people participate in acts of charitable giving during a webinar hosted by The Associated Press, The Chronicle of Philanthropy and The Conversation U.S., called “Making a difference without millions – How Americans give.” </p>
<p>The panel also featured Tiffani Ashley Bell, executive director of The Human Utility; Maria Smith Dautruche, director of the Westchester Center for Racial Equity; and Sara Lomelin, executive director of Philanthropy Together. The panelists shared how they give and the power of community philanthropy. Watch the video below to hear the entire dicussion. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Panelists Tiffani Ashley Bell, Lucy Bernholz, Maria Smith Dautruche and Sara Lomelin joined Eden Stiffman, senior editor at the Chronicle of Philanthropy, to discuss how American are giving today.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>What is philanthropy?</h2>
<p>According to Bernholz, people are always encountering requests to give – whether you’re on your commute to work, running errands downtown, helping a neighbor, at the register of a drugstore or just checking social media. Bernholz calls these occurrences “the givingscape,” “which are all these opportunities to give time, money and data.”</p>
<p>Nonprofit organizations are just one part of what makes up philanthropy. “They have certain benefits. And certain drawbacks,” Bernholz said. She believes that in order to achieve true equity and justice, charitable giving to nonprofits should not be seen as the only way to give. </p>
<p>Her work, including her latest book, “<a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/how-we-give-now">How We Give Now</a>”, re-imagines what philanthropy looks like and tries to understand how average people create, fund and distribute shared social goods in the digital age.</p>
<h2>Giving in the digital age</h2>
<p>The digital age hasn’t revolutionized philanthropy but instead has brought attention to old behaviors and moral ideals, Bernholz said. While things like mutual aid programs might seem new, Bernholz believes that it’s the same type of community participation people have always been drawn to doing.</p>
<p>“For my book, [my team and I] interviewed people who said, I contribute to the same effort to repair my neighbor’s house from the flood, but if they hit me with a GoFundMe [request], I’m actually going to walk over there and hand them the cash,” Bernholz said. “The sense of connection, community and identity is what drives folks to give.” </p>
<p>Bernholz argues that the <a href="https://theconversation.com/charities-take-digital-money-now-and-the-risks-that-go-with-it-103983">digitization of giving</a> has increased the need for accountability and transparency in philanthropy. She points to the fact that crowdsourcing apps like Venmo, PayPal and Cash App are not required to report their data. </p>
<p>“We rely on these companies to tell us how much [money] they’ve moved, because we can’t see the data. They don’t have to tell us. So we can see the [crowdsourcing], but we don’t actually have the details,” she said. </p>
<h2>Data as a charitable donation?</h2>
<p>While the lack of data from companies concerns Bernholz, she believes that deliberate acts of sharing data are a part of “the givingscape.” </p>
<p>“For example, [people who] take their digital photographs or digitize their family albums and contribute them as a conscious deliberate choice to an archive of [historical events],” Bernholz said. “We can build archives and actually uncover or reveal incredibly important parts of the complicated history of this country.”</p>
<p>Data sharing, according to Bernholz, has had an “enormous effect” on efforts to protect biodiversity. </p>
<p>“Because so many people now have phones with cameras, [they can take a photo of a bird or bug] while out on a walk or hike and can upload it to a particular app and add it to a biodiversity database,” she said. </p>
<p>Bernholz still believes that sharing data should be approached with caution. Efforts must be taken to ensure that “people from different backgrounds, different experiences with data [and] different experiences of structural harm set the parameters for whether and how we should do that.” </p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation’s politics, science or religion articles each week.</em><a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-best">Sign up today</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172960/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Stanford researcher Lucy Bernholz is re-imagining what philanthropy looks like and is trying to understand how average people create, fund and distribute shared social goods in the digital age.Thalia Plata, EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1690022021-11-19T13:15:10Z2021-11-19T13:15:10ZMonitor or talk? 5 ways parents can help keep their children safe online<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432663/original/file-20211118-20-t5yhng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=60%2C0%2C6649%2C4466&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Communication is key, experts say.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/mother-an-son-using-laptop-at-home-royalty-free-image/1033164998?adppopup=true">damircudic/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Children have been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/16/health/covid-kids-tech-use.html">spending more time online</a>. A May 2020 study found that U.S. teenagers spent <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.4334">around seven hours a day, on average</a>, using screens. Even before the pandemic, U.S. teens were indicating in surveys that they were “<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/05/31/teens-social-media-technology-2018/#a-growing-share-of-teens-describe-their-internet-use-as-near-constant">almost constantly online</a>.”</p>
<p>As with any venue, parents might be concerned about what dangers lurk on the internet – from <a href="https://cyberbullying.org/bullying-during-the-covid-19-pandemic">cyberbullying</a> to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-3183">teen-to-teen sexting</a> – and tempted to use various technological tools to monitor their children’s online activities. </p>
<p>As a researcher who specializes in <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=N3T-78EAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">how teens operate in online environments</a>, I know that spying on your children’s keystrokes and web browsers isn’t the only or even the best parental practice to employ and may create problems of its own. Here are five tips on how parents can encourage their children to adopt safer online behavior beyond using spyware or computer surveillance.</p>
<h2>1. Don’t just monitor your kids online, talk to them</h2>
<p>Technical measures, such as those that allow parents to monitor <a href="https://www.mspy.com/">every keystroke</a>, can provide parents with an additional way to keep tabs on what their children are doing. However, parental controls should not replace an ongoing conversation with children about their digital media use and what it means to be safe online. </p>
<p>Many parents <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.04.004">value open communication</a> with their children about their internet use. This can be beneficial in keeping them safe. Research on related traditional risk behaviors, such as teenage substance use, has found that children who have open conversations with their parents are less likely to engage in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15267431.2016.1251920">these risky behaviors</a>. Open communication about online experiences may also allow children to stay safer online.</p>
<h2>2. Search for conversation starters</h2>
<p>More and more television series and films have story lines about digital media use that serve as natural conversation starters. For example, in Episode 5 of the first season of Netflix’s “<a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/80197526">Sex Education</a>,” sexting is a central theme as sexually explicit images of a girl are sent to her schoolmates. The main characters of the show try to put a stop this revenge porn. The movie “<a href="https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/movies/love-simon">Love, Simon</a>” portrays the struggles of a gay teenage boy who seeks and finds online support from another closeted gay student in his school through an online confession site, only to be outed through the same online platform. </p>
<p>Alternatively, you could ask your children to teach you how to use some of their favorite apps. This would be an excellent opportunity to discover together all the features as well as the privacy settings that these applications offer.</p>
<h2>3. Assure your children they can turn to you if they run into trouble</h2>
<p>As part of an ongoing conversation about media use, parents should make sure that their children feel they can reach out to them for help when they run into unpleasant online experiences. Research has found that some children are <a href="https://www.igi-global.com/article/adolescents-experiences-of-cyberbullying/173740">afraid to talk</a> to their parents when they face problems such as cyberbullying. They worry that parents may overreact or take away their devices. </p>
<p>Making sure that your child knows that they can reach out for help and that you will try your best to understand their needs can make them less vulnerable to risks like online extortion. If your child does disclose a particular online problem, a good way to respond is to simply ask your child how the problem makes them feel.</p>
<h2>4. Explain why you’re monitoring their online activities</h2>
<p>Parents who do decide to monitor their children’s internet use should always disclose that they are doing so. Most parents already do this, as evidenced in a study that found most parents believe that not telling their children that they are being monitored would <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2020.1744458">violate their child’s sense of privacy and security</a>.</p>
<p>Moreover, when children find out that their internet use has been monitored without their knowledge, it could lead to a <a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/assets/documents/research/projects/childrens-privacy-online/Evidence-review-final.pdf">breach of trust</a>. One study found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000615">intrusive parenting</a>, such as snooping without their children’s knowing, can lead to more negative interactions between parents and children once the children find out and could make some children less likely to communicate with their parents. Consequently, parents will become less informed about their children’s lives. Therefore, it is important for parents to explain the reasons they are monitoring their children’s online behavior.</p>
<h2>5. Tailor monitoring to your child’s maturity and unique situation</h2>
<p>While young children can benefit from a close monitoring of their internet use, research has found that many parents gradually grant more autonomy to their children and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.04.004">become less restrictive in their monitoring</a><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.09.002">as the children get older</a>. As a natural part of growing up, teenagers increasingly value <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.04.004">personal autonomy</a>, especially when it comes to their media use.</p>
<p>Just as parents cannot always monitor their teenage children in the offline world, they could find it useful to grant their children gradual increased autonomy in the online world as they get older. This can encourage children to develop <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-020-10342-w">problem-solving skills</a> and teaches them to navigate online risks. What this looks like will differ for each child and depends on their age. Everyone is susceptible in different ways <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119011071.iemp0122">to media effects and online risks</a>. This is why it is important to adapt the autonomy that you grant your child based on their personality, their maturity and their prior online experiences.</p>
<p>Online monitoring can also have some unintended side effects. For example, parents of LGBTQ teenagers should be aware that sexual and gender minority youths often rely on the internet to find information, explore their identities and connect with the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/2005615X.2017.1313482">broader LGBTQ community</a>. Restrictive forms of monitoring may take away youth agency and may severely limit opportunities for them to grow in their identities.</p>
<p>Whether or not parents decide to monitor their children’s internet use, there is still <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/20501579211012436">much to learn</a> about effective parental mediation in an increasingly complex digital world. While parental monitoring differs for each child, it should primarily start with good communication and a balance between <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-020-10342-w">surveillance and autonomy</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169002/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joris Van Ouytsel received funding from the Research Foundation - Flanders.</span></em></p>Parents who spy on their children’s online activity run the risk of doing more harm than good, an expert says.Joris Van Ouytsel, Assistant Professor of Interpersonal Communication, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1691252021-10-15T11:36:56Z2021-10-15T11:36:56ZDo unbiased jurors exist in an age of social media?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426289/original/file-20211013-15-1y076ge.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C8%2C5477%2C3582&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is it possible to have a jury whose members are unbiased?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-jury-box-in-the-centennial-court-room-in-the-milwaukee-news-photo/456338404?adppopup=true">Raymond Boyd/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Jury selection that began on Oct. 18, 2021, in the trial of three men accused of murdering unarmed Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery has been, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/10/18/1047106255/ahmaud-arbery-case-trial">according to an NPR report</a>, a “very painstaking process.” That’s because it’s been hard to find jurors who have not been exposed to media reports of Arbery’s death or a graphic video of his killing taken by one of the defendants. And that, it is feared, could bias them either for or against the defendants.</p>
<p>Lawyers on both sides of the Arbery case aren’t the only ones grappling with the problem of finding unbiased jurors in the age of social media.</p>
<p>The U.S. Supreme Court <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/13/boston-marathon-bomber-supreme-court-to-consider-death-sentence-for-dzhokhar-tsarnaev.html">heard oral argument</a> on Oct. 13, 2021, in the case of <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/united-states-v-tsarnaev/">Dzokhar Tsarnaev</a>, the lone surviving Boston Marathon bomber. While much of the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/13/boston-marathon-bomber-supreme-court-to-consider-death-sentence-for-dzhokhar-tsarnaev.html">news coverage has focused on whether the court will uphold the death penalty</a> for Tsarnaev, the case also presents a fundamental question for this era: Is it possible to find unbiased citizens to serve on a jury in high-profile cases during an age of ubiquitous social media?</p>
<p>This aspect of the case focuses on the “<a href="https://dictionary.law.com/default.aspx?selected=2229">voir dire</a>” process, which employs a French term that roughly translates to “speak the truth.” Voir dire occurs before the start of trial, when lawyers or the judge, depending on the jurisdiction, question prospective jurors to determine whether they harbor any kind of bias or prejudice against one of the parties.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2015/04/08/us/boston-marathon-bombing-trial/index.html">Tsarnaev was charged with 30 counts</a> related to the bombing of the marathon. The case had <a href="https://www.wbur.org/tag/dzhokhar-tsarnaev-trial">received widespread attention</a>, including online commentary about the defendant and pictures of him <a href="https://www.today.com/video/boston-bombing-suspect-drops-backpack-in-video-27008067930">carrying a bomb-laden backpack to the finish line</a>. Voir dire in his case was extensive, lasting 21 days and involving 1,373 prospective jurors, each of whom completed a 28-page questionnaire.</p>
<p>At some point during voir dire, Tsarnaev’s attorney wanted the judge to ask a two-part question to prospective jurors. First, whether they had seen media coverage of the case, and second, what specifically they had seen. The judge asked the first part of the question, but not the second. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426290/original/file-20211013-15-1aqax9l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A crowd of news cameras focused on the courthouse where the Tsarnaev trial was held." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426290/original/file-20211013-15-1aqax9l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426290/original/file-20211013-15-1aqax9l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426290/original/file-20211013-15-1aqax9l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426290/original/file-20211013-15-1aqax9l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426290/original/file-20211013-15-1aqax9l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426290/original/file-20211013-15-1aqax9l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426290/original/file-20211013-15-1aqax9l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There was intense media focus on the crime and the subsequent trial; here, outside the courthouse on the first day of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s trial, May 4, 2015, in Boston.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/members-of-the-media-from-around-the-world-wait-outside-the-news-photo/465212542?adppopup=true">Scott Eisen/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Does not suffice’</h2>
<p>Tsarnaev’s lawyers appealed the death penalty, saying in part that the trial judge should have asked what media coverage jurors had seen or read about the case to ensure a fair jury.</p>
<p>The First Circuit Court of Appeals <a href="https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/07/31/tsarnaev-death-sentence-overturned">found fault with the judge,</a> saying that asking the jurors “only whether they had read anything that might influence their opinion’ does not suffice,” because that sole question does not elicit “what, if anything, they have learned.” During the oral argument at the Supreme Court, <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/10/justices-appear-to-favor-reinstating-death-penalty-for-boston-marathon-bomber/">Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted that</a> “there was a whole lot of different publicity here.”</p>
<p><a href="https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_v._Tsarnaev">It is now up to the Supreme Court to decide who was correct</a>. </p>
<p>Since this appeal relates only to the <a href="https://www.wbur.org/news/2019/12/11/dzhokhar-tsarnaev-death-sentence-appeal-boston">death penalty sentence</a>, Tsarnaev’s guilty verdict and life sentence without parole remain in place. </p>
<p>The dilemma facing the Supreme Court is how prescriptive they want the voir dire process to be. It could issue an opinion requiring lower courts to ask jurors more penetrating questions about their exposure to media accounts in high-profile cases.</p>
<p>Some believe that trial judges should be given a measure of flexibility and autonomy in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/409/524">how they conduct voir dire</a>. Others want the Supreme Court to step in and <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/409/524">spell out exactly how voir dire should be conducted</a>. </p>
<p>Those favoring this latter approach point out that Tsarnaev was facing a death sentence and <a href="https://courses2.cit.cornell.edu/sociallaw/Tsarnaev/TsarnaevTrial.html">made four requests for a change of venue</a> to move the case from Boston because, his lawyers argued, it would be impossible to get unbiased jurors in the local area. As a <a href="https://udayton.edu/directory/law/hoffmeister_thaddeus.php">scholar of criminal law and juries</a>, I believe a strong argument could be made that any trial judge in this situation should take additional steps to uncover bias in prospective jurors. </p>
<p>Those on the other side believe that requiring more questions will unduly lengthen the voir dire process and encroach on juror privacy. Despite these misgivings, courts around the country are increasingly questioning jurors about <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/groups/tort_trial_insurance_practice/publications/the_brief/2016_17/winter/voir_dire_becomes_voir_google_ethical_concerns_of_21st_century_jury_selection/">such topics as social media and their use of the internet</a>. </p>
<h2>Can’t unplug a juror</h2>
<p>The issue confronting the Supreme Court here is part of a larger discussion about whether courts in the digital age can find objective jurors.</p>
<p>Finding unbiased jurors in the pre-digital age, even in high-profile cases, was not too difficult. Once chosen, <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/resources/law_related_education_network/how_courts_work/jurydeliberate/">jurors needed to maintain that unbiased status</a> and were told not to discuss the case with anyone and to avoid radio, television and newspapers. If the case involved the death penalty, jurors might be <a href="https://law.jrank.org/pages/10160/Sequestration.html">sequestered</a>. </p>
<p>Today, that same approach won’t work.</p>
<p>Few jurors can go eight hours, much less a whole week, without using their smartphone or social media. Many people share aspects of their life with others in real time through social media, which is incompatible with jury service. In fact, being a juror makes their social media posts more interesting to others.</p>
<p>In Tsarnaev’s case, the court of appeals’ opinion referenced <a href="https://www.wbur.org/news/2019/12/11/dzhokhar-tsarnaev-death-sentence-appeal-boston">juror #138, who had a running dialogue about the case on Facebook with his friends</a>.</p>
<p>Today’s jurors also have much more information available to them. Where news stories about a crime or the defendant would have been difficult to discover or access previously, they are now just a click away. This information does not disappear when out of the news cycle; it remains online and accessible. In fact, often the information is pushed to the juror or shows up in their news feed.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426297/original/file-20211013-19-zem2rd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Investigators in white suits examining the bombing scene at the Boston Marathon." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426297/original/file-20211013-19-zem2rd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426297/original/file-20211013-19-zem2rd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426297/original/file-20211013-19-zem2rd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426297/original/file-20211013-19-zem2rd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426297/original/file-20211013-19-zem2rd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426297/original/file-20211013-19-zem2rd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426297/original/file-20211013-19-zem2rd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">On April 16, 2013, investigators examine the scene near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, one day after two blasts killed three and injured more than 260 people.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SupremeCourtBostonMarathonBombing/6d6dd5e671c54c97b941413ef2c9d2e9/photo?Query=Tsarnaev%20jury&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=94&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Dealing with the connected juror</h2>
<p>Judges across the country take a variety of approaches to combat the negative influences of the digital age on the jury. </p>
<p>Attorneys and judges will ask potential jurors questions. In addition, attorneys will investigate jurors to learn what they know about the case. This happens both in the courtroom at <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/groups/tort_trial_insurance_practice/publications/the_brief/2016_17/winter/voir_dire_becomes_voir_google_ethical_concerns_of_21st_century_jury_selection/">voir dire and online</a>, where attorneys research the juror’s digital footprint to include social media posts. The question of how far to pry during voir dire is the main issue of concern in Tsarnaev’s case. </p>
<p>Once chosen, jurors are told to follow the court’s instructions, but the lure of social media can be all too tempting. Thus, courts impose penalties on jurors who <a href="https://lawreview-dev.cu.law/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/8.-Hoffmeister-FINAL_s.pdf">are unable to follow the rules on seeking out information or discussing the case</a>. </p>
<p>These penalties include holding jurors in contempt of court, taking their devices or imposing sequestration, in which jurors are put up in hotels <a href="https://lawreview-dev.cu.law/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/8.-Hoffmeister-FINAL_s.pdf">away from their family and devices</a>. The common theme with all penalties is that once imposed, they make citizens less inclined to want to serve as jurors.</p>
<h2>Question time</h2>
<p>Some legal experts believe that if jurors are given sufficient information about the case, they will be less inclined to violate court rules and go online to look for information or discuss the case. One way to improve the appropriate flow of information to jurors is <a href="https://lawreview-dev.cu.law/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/8.-Hoffmeister-FINAL_s.pdf">to allow them to ask questions during trial</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 115,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>Finally, there are calls to change jury instructions to fit the modern times. Since today’s jurors are so receptive to learning information online, they have to be told why practices that they regularly use are prohibited while on jury duty.</p>
<p>The jury, throughout its approximately 400-year history in America, has witnessed many changes in society. Through each one, the jury has adapted and survived. Thus, I believe it is highly likely the jury will weather the storm of the digital age.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an article originally published on Oct. 15, 2021.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169125/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thaddeus Hoffmeister does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A video of Ahmaud Arbery was widely seen and shared by the citizens who could be called on to judge the accused killers. The issue was recently argued before the Supreme Court.Thaddeus Hoffmeister, Law Professor, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1576982021-04-14T14:25:49Z2021-04-14T14:25:49ZWhy converging newsroom cultures can make media houses more sustainable<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392924/original/file-20210331-19-o4wv2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Traditional media houses must adapt, innovate and converge to survive in the digital age.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Until the arrival of the world wide web, the media model that worked revolved around money made from selling advertisements and from revenue from subscriptions or copy sales. But online delivery has left traditional media struggling to find new revenue sources while using web metrics to <a href="https://medium.com/code-for-africa/six-skills-you-need-to-run-a-modern-sustainable-newsroom-4f750d38e4af">quantify audience numbers and engagement</a>. </p>
<p>To cope they have begun to use web metrics to inform how they sell online content and attract diverse, digital revenue sources. These have received substantial attention across media houses struggling to sustain themselves financially on digital platforms.</p>
<p>But as <a href="http://repository.daystar.ac.ke/bitstream/handle/123456789/3299/An%20Actor-Network%20Analysis%20of%20the%20Use%20of%20the%20World%20Wide%20Web%20in%20a%20Kenyan%20Newsroom%e2%80%99s%20Journalistic%20Practice%20A%20Case%20Of%20Capital%20Fm%20.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y">my 2017 PhD research</a> shows, there are other factors that contribute to the strength and sustainability of a media house. </p>
<p>One of them is how news outlets are organised – how they conduct their day-to-day business. In particular, how they marry traditional practices (before the arrival of the internet), with the demands of making news available for online distribution.</p>
<p>My research focused on a case study of a Kenyan commercial FM radio station that had incorporated the web and other digital technologies in its journalistic practice. The station was making money from its digital platforms. The interesting question was: why?</p>
<p>The study showed the emergence of two distinct organisational cultures in the newsroom. These cultures – hierarchical and non-hierarchical – enabled production speed and innovation respectively. </p>
<p>In hierarchical cultures there is a clear chain of command. Reporters, news readers and camera personnel develop content that is reviewed by a team of editors who are overseen by an editorial director. Content produced in hierarchical cultures tends to follow prescribed patterns. </p>
<p>At the radio station where I did my research, radio scripts were no longer than four or five lines with an accompanying audio clip of about 20 seconds. Web stories were at least 300 words long with an accompanying photograph. </p>
<p>This formulaic approach tended to promote speed. On multiple occasions, I observed radio and web stories being written within 10 to 15 minutes because of the standardised approach that reporters took to developing the stories.</p>
<p>But in a separate working area where contributing writers and in-house editors worked together to develop and edit web content, I witnessed a more ad hoc working culture. Here, journalists collaborated frequently and there was little emphasis on hierarchy. Meetings tended to be informal interactions. And all the experimentation took place in this area. For example, members of this team conceptualised, created and published web series on YouTube and then embedded them in the website’s TV section. </p>
<p>I was persuaded that the station’s meld of hierarchical and non-hierarchical cultures contributed to its success. In my view, organisational culture can also make a difference. But only if it is disrupted.</p>
<p>My main takeaway from my research is that newsrooms need a blend of both cultures: the old ways of doing things provide a bridge to the past, while the new enable news organisations to exploit and adapt to the nimbleness of emerging and changing technologies.</p>
<h2>A tale of two systems</h2>
<p>The adoption of digital technologies and the emergence of two working cultures at the radio station were done at the behest of the owner and management. Driven to establish the station as a pioneer and market leader, they moved early to incorporate digital technologies more deeply even with the early uncertainty that the venture wouldn’t pay off. </p>
<p>The station had a typical, traditional newsroom with an editorial director overseeing a team of editors, reporters and news readers. They produced news for radio, their website, and mobile breaking news platforms. The coverage included sports, general news, politics, and business.</p>
<p>But it also had a team that focused purely on generating digital content for its website and social media platforms. This content was sourced from a small team of editors and a network of external contributors. It included lifestyle features, celebrity gossip and web video series. This content was more playful and experimental than what was generated in the newsroom.</p>
<p>News had been the station’s traditional money-maker primarily through advertising and sponsorship of radio news bulletins. But the lighter content from the exclusively digital team had drawn audiences, attracting new advertising clients. By the time of conducting my research in 2016, the lifestyle section of the website had begun making more money than the news section of the website.</p>
<p>The digital set up was much less formal than than the traditional newsroom. Here, the team relied on a network of freelancers who worked on exclusively digital content with weekly deadlines. The team worked non-hierarchically. Editors allowed for greater collaboration and interaction among the contributors, themselves, and a webmaster who contributed story ideas.</p>
<p>There was a physical separation between the newsroom and the digital department. But the company bridged the gap by embedding new roles, like a social media manager, into the traditional newsroom. It also allowed certain personnel – such as a business writer – to work in both spaces. </p>
<p>Journalists working in traditional newsrooms are used to hierarchical, structured routines and practices. In my research, I found that these journalists have been disrupted by the entry of digital spaces where younger, tech-savvy content creators work on rolling deadlines within evolving structures and routines. </p>
<p>The result is separation and tension between the two. This has left media houses struggling to take advantage of their divergent but complementary strengths.</p>
<p>Research has established that even with digital technologies there are aspects of journalistic labour that have <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0957926504045032">remained rooted in routine</a>. Take the gatekeeper role of the editor, for example. This role contributes to the verification of content and strengthens the credibility and trustworthiness of a news brand. By contrast, the flexible digital structure enables experimentation and creativity, which is useful when dealing with the dynamism of the profession of journalism.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-economic-questions-are-key-to-africas-media-freedom-debate-96429">Why economic questions are key to Africa's media freedom debate</a>
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<p>There is therefore room to enable and encourage these two types of cultures in contemporary newsrooms.</p>
<h2>How to enable disruption</h2>
<p>Team members should possess different abilities ranging from management, to legacy editorial, digital, and business development skills. </p>
<p>Teams should also be a mix of new hires and experienced editors, tech-savvy content creators and technically challenged news gatherers. The goal would be to harness the technical know-how and creativity of the denizens of the digital space, while making use of the experience, institutional knowledge and networks held by those in the traditional newsroom.</p>
<p>Participatory, informal discussions could then be had alongside top-down, formal interactions to engender a hybrid innovative and imitative environment. </p>
<p>Towards this end, media houses with digital and traditional newsrooms in Africa can engender more collaborative environments to address the tensions that often emerge between the old and the new. This would go a long way towards sustainability.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157698/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wambui Wamunyu is affiliated with Kenya Editors Guild.</span></em></p>Media houses with digital and traditional newsrooms need to create collaborative environments to address the tensions that often emerge between the old and the new.Wambui Wamunyu, Senior Lecturer in Media Studies, Daystar UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1541782021-01-29T05:13:21Z2021-01-29T05:13:21ZGoogle is leading a vast, covert human experiment. You may be one of the guinea pigs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381255/original/file-20210129-17-4so5r3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C26%2C5847%2C3869&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On January 13 the <a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/google-blocks-australian-news-in-experiment-20210113-p56tqd">Australian Financial Review reported</a> Google had removed some Australian news content from its search results for some local users. </p>
<p>Speaking to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jan/13/google-admits-to-running-experiments-which-remove-some-media-sites-from-its-search-results">the Guardian</a>, a Google spokesperson confirmed the company was “running a few experiments that will each reach about 1% of Google Search users in Australia to measure the impacts of news businesses and Google Search on each other”.</p>
<p>So what are these “experiments”? And how concerned should we be about Google’s actions? </p>
<h2>Engineering our attention</h2>
<p>Google’s experiment (which is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jan/13/google-admits-to-running-experiments-which-remove-some-media-sites-from-its-search-results">supposed to run</a> until early February) involves displaying an “alternative” news website ranking for certain Australian users — at least 160,000, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jan/28/important-stories-hidden-in-googles-experiment-blocking-australian-news-sites">according to</a> The Guardian.</p>
<p>A Google spokesperson told The Conversation the experiment didn’t prevent users (being experimented on) from accessing a news story. Rather, they would not discover the story through Search and would have to access it another way, such as directly on a publisher’s website.</p>
<p>Google’s experiment is a form of “A/B testing”, which classically involves dividing a population randomly in half — into groups A and B — and subjecting each group to a different “stimulus”. </p>
<p>For example, in the case of web design, the two groups may be served different web layouts. This could be done to test changes to layout, the colour scheme or any other element. </p>
<p>Performance in A/B testing is judged on a range of factors, such as which links are clicked first, or the average time spent on a page. If group A perused the site longer than group B, the modification tested on group A may be considered favourable.</p>
<p>In Google’s case, we don’t know the motivation behind the tests. But we do know a small subset of users received different results to the majority and were not alerted.</p>
<p>The experiment has resulted in the promotion of dubious news sources over trusted ones, some of which have been <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/trump-qanon-impending-judgment-day-behind-facebook-fueled-rise-epoch-n1044121">known to publish</a> disinformation (which intends to mislead) and misinformation (false claims that are spread regardless of intent). </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-accc-is-suing-google-for-misleading-millions-but-calling-it-out-is-easier-than-fixing-it-143447">The ACCC is suing Google for misleading millions. But calling it out is easier than fixing it</a>
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<p>When asked about this ranking, Google’s spokesperson said it was a “single anecdotal screenshot” and the experiment didn’t “remove results that link to official government departments and agencies”. </p>
<h2>Intent to manipulate</h2>
<p>A/B testing is a widespread practice. It can range from being fairly benign — such as to determine the best location for an advertisement banner — to much more invasive, such as Facebook’s <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/06/everything-we-know-about-facebooks-secret-mood-manipulation-experiment/373648/">infamous mood experiment</a>. </p>
<p>In January 2012, Facebook conducted an experiment on 700,000 users without their knowledge or explicit consent. It adjusted users’ feeds to artificially boost either positive or negative news content. </p>
<p>One reported aim, according to Facebook’s own researchers, was to examine whether emotional states could spread from user to user on the platform. Results were reported in the <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/111/24/8788.full">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.</p>
<p>Following the report’s publication, Facebook’s “experiment” was widely condemned by academics, journalists and the public as ethically dubious. It had a specific objective to emotionally manipulate users and didn’t obtain informed consent.</p>
<p>Similarly, it’s unlikely users caught in the midst of Google’s Australian news experiment would realise it. </p>
<p>And while the direct risk to those being tested may seem lower than with Facebook’s mood experiment, tweaking news results on Google Search introduces its own set of risks. As <a href="https://research.qut.edu.au/dmrc/2020/04/30/like-a-virus/">research</a> my colleagues and I has shown, platforms and news media both play a large role in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1329878X20946113">spreading conspiracy theories</a>. </p>
<p>Google tried to downplay the significance of the experiment, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jan/13/google-admits-to-running-experiments-which-remove-some-media-sites-from-its-search-results">noting that</a> it conducts “tens of thousands of experiments in Google Search” each year. </p>
<p>But this doesn’t excuse the company from scrutiny. If anything, it’s even more concerning.</p>
<p>Imagine if a police officer pulled you over for speeding and you said: “Well, I speed thousands of times each year, so why should I pay a fine just this one time I’ve been caught?”</p>
<p>If this is just one experiment among of tens of thousands, as Google has admitted, in what other ways have we been manipulated in the past? Without basic disclosures, it’s difficult to know. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381258/original/file-20210129-15-ljtpih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381258/original/file-20210129-15-ljtpih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381258/original/file-20210129-15-ljtpih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381258/original/file-20210129-15-ljtpih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381258/original/file-20210129-15-ljtpih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381258/original/file-20210129-15-ljtpih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381258/original/file-20210129-15-ljtpih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381258/original/file-20210129-15-ljtpih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A report from the Australian Financial Review said ‘anecdotal evidence’ suggested Google was ‘experimenting with its algorithm to remove stories from Australian news publishers from its search results’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>A history of non-disclosure</h2>
<p>This isn’t the first time Google has been caught experimenting on users without adequate disclosure. In 2018, the company <a href="https://ai.googleblog.com/2018/05/duplex-ai-system-for-natural-conversation.html">released Google Duplex</a>, a speech-enabled digital assistant that could purportedly make restaurant and other personal service bookings on a user’s behalf.</p>
<p>In the Duplex <a href="https://ai.googleblog.com/2018/05/duplex-ai-system-for-natural-conversation.html">demos</a>, Google played audio of an AI-enabled speech agent making bookings via conversations with real service workers. What was missing from the calls, however, was a disclosure that the agent opening the call <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/26/18112807/google-duplex-robot-calls-restaurants-businesses-transparency">was a bot</a>, not a human. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.afr.com/technology/google-duplex-humanlike-voice-raises-ethical-concerns-20180510-h0zw3f">Critics</a> questioned the <a href="https://mashable.com/2018/05/10/google-duplex-disclosures-robot/">deceptiveness of the technology</a>, given its mimicry of human speech.</p>
<p>Google’s <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/12/04/1013294/google-ai-ethics-research-paper-forced-out-timnit-gebru/">controversial dismissal</a> in December of world-leading AI ethics researcher Timnit Gebru (former co-lead of its ethical AI team) cast further shade over the company’s internal culture.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1334341991795142667"}"></div></p>
<h2>What needs to change?</h2>
<p>Digital media platforms including Google, Facebook, Netflix and Amazon (among others) exert enormous power over our lives. They also have vast <a href="https://theconversation.com/facebook-is-tilting-the-political-playing-field-more-than-ever-and-its-no-accident-148314">political influence</a>. </p>
<p>It’s no coincidence Google’s news ranking experiment took place against the backdrop of the escalating news media bargaining code debate, wherein the federal government wants Google and Facebook to negotiate with Australian news providers to pay for using their content. </p>
<p>Google’s spokesperson confirmed the experiment is “directly connected to the need to gather information for use in arbitration proceedings, should the code become law”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/googles-open-letter-is-trying-to-scare-australians-the-company-simply-doesnt-want-to-pay-for-news-144573">Google's 'open letter' is trying to scare Australians. The company simply doesn't want to pay for news</a>
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<p>While users benefit from the services big tech provides, we need to appreciate we’re more than mere consumers of these services. The data we forfeit are essential input for the massive algorithmic machinery that runs at the core of enterprises such as Google. </p>
<p>The result is what digital media scholars call an “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1367549415577392">algorithmic culture</a>”. We feed these machines our data and in the process tune them towards our tastes. Meanwhile, they feed us back more things to consume, in a giant <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1461444815605463">human-machine algorithmic loop</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381262/original/file-20210129-17-179tdws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381262/original/file-20210129-17-179tdws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381262/original/file-20210129-17-179tdws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381262/original/file-20210129-17-179tdws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381262/original/file-20210129-17-179tdws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381262/original/file-20210129-17-179tdws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381262/original/file-20210129-17-179tdws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381262/original/file-20210129-17-179tdws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Large tech enterprises such as Facebook and Google rely on user data to stay afloat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Until recently, we have been uncritical participants in these algorithmic loops and experiments, willing to use “free” services in exchange for our data. But we need to rethink our relationship with platforms and must hold them to a higher standard of accountability. </p>
<p>Governments should mandate minimum standards of disclosure for platforms’ user testing. A/B testing by platforms can still be conducted properly with adequate disclosures, oversight and opt-in options.</p>
<p>In the case of Google, to “<a href="https://www.engadget.com/2015-10-02-alphabet-do-the-right-thing.html">do the right thing</a>” would be to adopt a <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2014/06/29/ethics-in-a-data-driven-world/">higher standard of ethical conduct</a> when it comes to user testing.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154178/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Angus receives funding from Australian Research Council through Discovery projects DP200100519 ‘Using machine vision to explore Instagram’s everyday promotional cultures’, and DP200101317 ‘Evaluating the Challenge of ‘Fake News’ and Other Malinformation’.</span></em></p>If this is just one experiment among of tens of thousands, as Google has admitted, in what other ways might users have been manipulated in the past?Daniel Angus, Associate Professor in Digital Communication, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1486302020-11-03T03:05:25Z2020-11-03T03:05:25Z3.2 billion images and 720,000 hours of video are shared online daily. Can you sort real from fake?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366370/original/file-20201029-13-q049a9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6000%2C2479&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Twitter screenshots/Unsplash</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Twitter over the weekend “tagged” as manipulated a video showing US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden supposedly forgetting which state he’s in while addressing a crowd. </p>
<p>Biden’s “hello Minnesota” greeting contrasted with prominent signage reading “Tampa, Florida” and “Text FL to 30330”. </p>
<p>The Associated Press’s fact check <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-video-altered-58124115393828f85cd496514bba4726">confirmed</a> the signs were added digitally and the original footage was indeed from a Minnesota rally. But by the time the misleading video was removed it already had more than one million views, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/02/joe-biden-manipulated-video-mixing-up-states-twitter-removed">The Guardian</a> reports.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1323048954662182913"}"></div></p>
<p>If you use social media, the chances are you see (and forward) some of the more than <a href="https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/amazing-social-media-statistics-and-facts/">3.2 billion</a> images and <a href="https://www.tubefilter.com/2019/05/07/number-hours-video-uploaded-to-youtube-per-minute/">720,000 hours</a> of video <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201021112337.htm">shared daily</a>. When faced with such a glut of content, how can we know what’s real and what’s not?</p>
<p>While one part of the solution is an increased use of content verification tools, it’s equally important we all boost our digital media literacy. Ultimately, one of the best lines of defence — and the only one you can control — is you. </p>
<h2>Seeing shouldn’t always be believing</h2>
<p>Misinformation (when you accidentally share false content) and disinformation (when you intentionally share it) in any medium can <a href="https://theconversation.com/deepfake-videos-could-destroy-trust-in-society-heres-how-to-restore-it-110999">erode trust in civil institutions</a> such as news organisations, coalitions and social movements. However, fake photos and videos are often the most potent.</p>
<p>For those with a vested political interest, creating, sharing and/or editing false images can distract, confuse and manipulate viewers to sow discord and uncertainty (especially in already polarised environments). Posters and platforms can also make money from the sharing of fake, sensationalist content.</p>
<p>Only <a href="https://www.icfj.org/our-work/state-technology-global-newsrooms">11-25%</a> of journalists globally use social media content verification tools, according to the International Centre for Journalists. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/facebook-is-tilting-the-political-playing-field-more-than-ever-and-its-no-accident-148314">Facebook is tilting the political playing field more than ever, and it's no accident</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Could you spot a doctored image?</h2>
<p>Consider this photo of Martin Luther King Jr.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"413918195456966656"}"></div></p>
<p>This <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/mlk-flip-off/">altered image</a> clones part of the background over King Jr’s finger, so it looks like he’s flipping off the camera. It has been shared as genuine on <a href="https://twitter.com/HistoryInPics/status/400762777964646400">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/OldSchoolCool/comments/2t0z4t/the_man_the_legend_mlkj_early_50s/">Reddit</a> and <a href="https://archive.is/POvXf">white supremacist websites</a>.</p>
<p>In the <a href="https://civilrights.flagler.edu/digital/collection/p16000coll3/id/103/">original</a> 1964 photo, King flashed the “V for victory” sign after learning the US Senate had passed the civil rights bill. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1087425407052337153"}"></div></p>
<p>Beyond adding or removing elements, there’s a whole category of photo manipulation in which images are fused together. </p>
<p>Earlier this year, a <a href="https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/volunteer-works-security-at-an-entrance-to-the-so-called-news-photo/1219247529?uiloc=thumbnail_more_from_this_event_adp">photo</a> of an armed man was photoshopped by <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/fox-news-runs-digitally-altered-images-in-coverage-of-seattles-protests-capitol-hill-autonomous-zone/">Fox News</a>, which overlaid the man onto other scenes without disclosing the edits, the Seattle Times <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/fox-news-runs-digitally-altered-images-in-coverage-of-seattles-protests-capitol-hill-autonomous-zone/">reported</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1271620044837941250"}"></div></p>
<p>Similarly, the <a href="https://perma.cc/XK5E-LFA3">image</a> below was shared thousands of times on social media in January, during Australia’s Black Summer bushfires. The AFP’s fact check <a href="https://factcheck.afp.com/virtual-image-was-created-artist-new-south-wales-australia-its-not-real-photo">confirmed</a> it is not authentic and is actually a combination of <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/EerxztHCjM8">several</a> <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/lzcDi7-MWL4">separate</a> <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/hLUTRzcVkqg">photos</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1214222190117376003"}"></div></p>
<h2>Fully and partially synthetic content</h2>
<p>Online, you’ll also find sophisticated “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/in-event-of-moon-disaster-nixon-deepfake/12656698">deepfake</a>” videos showing (usually famous) people saying or doing things they never did. Less advanced versions can be created using apps <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/2/20844338/zao-deepfake-app-movie-tv-show-face-replace-privacy-policy-concerns">such as Zao</a> and <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/17/deepfake-video-app-reface-is-just-getting-started-on-shapeshifting-selfie-culture/">Reface</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yaq4sWFvnAY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology created this fake video showing US President Richard Nixon reading lines from a speech crafted in case the 1969 moon landing failed. (Youtube)</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Or, if you don’t want to use your photo for a profile picture, you can default to one of several <a href="https://generated.photos/">websites</a> offering hundreds of thousands of AI-generated, photorealistic images of people. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365166/original/file-20201023-17-4s2gtw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="AI-generated faces." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365166/original/file-20201023-17-4s2gtw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365166/original/file-20201023-17-4s2gtw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=198&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365166/original/file-20201023-17-4s2gtw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=198&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365166/original/file-20201023-17-4s2gtw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=198&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365166/original/file-20201023-17-4s2gtw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=249&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365166/original/file-20201023-17-4s2gtw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=249&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365166/original/file-20201023-17-4s2gtw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=249&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">These people don’t exist, they’re just images generated by artificial intelligence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://generated.photos/faces">Generated Photos</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Editing pixel values and the (not so) simple crop</h2>
<p>Cropping can greatly alter the context of a photo, too. </p>
<p>We saw this in 2017, when a US government employee edited official pictures of Donald Trump’s inauguration to make the crowd appear bigger, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/06/donald-trump-inauguration-crowd-size-photos-edited">The Guardian</a>. The staffer cropped out the empty space “where the crowd ended” for a set of pictures for Trump.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367129/original/file-20201103-23-1ko5gze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367129/original/file-20201103-23-1ko5gze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367129/original/file-20201103-23-1ko5gze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=191&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367129/original/file-20201103-23-1ko5gze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=191&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367129/original/file-20201103-23-1ko5gze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=191&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367129/original/file-20201103-23-1ko5gze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=240&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367129/original/file-20201103-23-1ko5gze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=240&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367129/original/file-20201103-23-1ko5gze.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=240&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Views of the crowds at the inaugurations of former US President Barack Obama in 2009 (left) and President Donald Trump in 2017 (right).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But what about edits that only alter pixel values such as colour, saturation or contrast?</p>
<p>One historical example illustrates the consequences of this. In 1994, Time magazine’s <a href="http://content.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601940627,00.html">cover</a> of OJ Simpson considerably “darkened” Simpson in his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._J._Simpson_murder_case#/media/File:Mug_shot_of_O.J._Simpson.jpg">police mugshot</a>. This added fuel to a case already plagued by racial tension, to which the magazine <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/25/us/time-responds-to-criticism-over-simpson-cover.html">responded</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>No racial implication was intended, by Time or by the artist.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1323345865164132352"}"></div></p>
<h2>Tools for debunking digital fakery</h2>
<p>For those of us who don’t want to be duped by visual mis/disinformation, there are tools available — although each comes with its own limitations (something we discuss in our recent <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17512786.2020.1832139">paper</a>).</p>
<p>Invisible <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2020/trusted-news-initiative">digital watermarking</a> has been proposed as a solution. However, it isn’t widespread and requires buy-in from both content publishers and distributors.</p>
<p>Reverse image search (such as <a href="https://www.google.com/imghp?hl=EN">Google’s</a>) is often free and can be helpful for identifying earlier, potentially more authentic copies of images online. That said, it’s not foolproof because it:</p>
<ul>
<li>relies on unedited copies of the media already being online</li>
<li>doesn’t search the <em>entire</em> web</li>
<li>doesn’t always allow filtering by publication time. Some reverse image search services such as <a href="https://tineye.com/">TinEye</a> support this function, but Google’s doesn’t.</li>
<li>returns only exact matches or near-matches, so it’s not thorough. For instance, editing an image and then flipping its orientation can fool Google into thinking it’s an entirely different one.</li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/instead-of-showing-leadership-twitter-pays-lip-service-to-the-dangers-of-deep-fakes-127027">Instead of showing leadership, Twitter pays lip service to the dangers of deep fakes</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Most reliable tools are sophisticated</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, manual forensic detection methods for visual mis/disinformation focus mostly on edits visible to the naked eye, or rely on examining features that aren’t included in every image (such as shadows). They’re also time-consuming, expensive and need specialised expertise.</p>
<p>Still, you can access work in this field by visiting sites such as Snopes.com — which has a growing repository of “<a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/category/photos/">fauxtography</a>”.</p>
<p>Computer vision and machine learning also offer relatively advanced detection capabilities for images and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/13/what-are-deepfakes-and-how-can-you-spot-them">videos</a>. But they too require technical expertise to operate and understand. </p>
<p>Moreover, improving them involves using large volumes of “training data”, but the image repositories used for this usually don’t contain the real-world images seen in the news. </p>
<p>If you use an image verification tool such as the REVEAL project’s <a href="http://reveal-mklab.iti.gr/reveal/">image verification assistant</a>, you might need an expert to help interpret the results.</p>
<p>The good news, however, is that before turning to any of the above tools, there are some simple questions you can ask yourself to potentially figure out whether a photo or video on social media is fake. Think:</p>
<ul>
<li>was it originally made for social media?</li>
<li>how widely and for how long was it circulated?</li>
<li>what responses did it receive?</li>
<li>who were the intended audiences?</li>
</ul>
<p>Quite often, the logical conclusions drawn from the answers will be enough to weed out inauthentic visuals. You can access the full list of questions, put together by Manchester Metropolitan University experts, <a href="https://datajournalism.com/read/handbook/verification-3/investigating-actors-content/5-verifying-and-questioning-images">here</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148630/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The research underlying this article received funding support from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Angus receives funding from Australian Research Council through Discovery projects DP200100519 ‘Using machine vision to explore Instagram’s everyday promotional cultures’, and DP200101317 ‘Evaluating the Challenge of ‘Fake News’ and Other Malinformation’. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paula Dootson receives funding from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre. </span></em></p>In an age of democracy via social media, platforms are struggling to combat visual mis/disinformation such as ‘spliced’ images and deepfakes. Digital media literacy has never been so important.T.J. Thomson, Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication & Media, Queensland University of TechnologyDaniel Angus, Associate Professor in Digital Communication, Queensland University of TechnologyPaula Dootson, Senior Lecturer, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1457002020-09-13T19:49:26Z2020-09-13T19:49:26ZBehind the new Samsung Fold: how the quest to maximise screen size is driving major innovation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357642/original/file-20200911-22-apy4aa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C209%2C1360%2C702&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Samsung</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>To enlarge a phone, or not to enlarge a phone? That is the question. In the world of flagship smartphones, there seems to be one clear trend: bigger is better. </p>
<p>Manufacturers are trying to strip away anything that might stand in the way of the largest possible slab of screen. There is also growing demand for thinner phones with diminishing <a href="https://www.lifewire.com/bezel-4155199">bezels</a> (the area surrounding a screen). </p>
<p>This trend has now culminated in the latest innovation in smartphone design, the <a href="https://www.t3.com/au/news/best-folding-phones">foldable screen phone</a>. These devices sport thin <a href="https://www.techradar.com/au/news/what-is-oled">OLED</a> self illuminating screens that can be folded in half.</p>
<p>The newest release is the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/21427462/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-2-review">Samsung Galaxy Z fold 2</a> – a device that is almost three-quarters screen and has extravagant overtones rivalled only by a hefty <a href="https://www.samsung.com/au/smartphones/galaxy-z-fold2/buy/">A$2,999 price tag</a>.</p>
<p>But to prevent the phones themselves from growing to unwieldy size, manufacturers are having to find ways to balance size with usability and durability. This presents some interesting engineering challenges, as well as some innovative solutions. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357605/original/file-20200911-22-1vlsst9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A giant, old-style phone" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357605/original/file-20200911-22-1vlsst9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357605/original/file-20200911-22-1vlsst9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357605/original/file-20200911-22-1vlsst9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357605/original/file-20200911-22-1vlsst9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357605/original/file-20200911-22-1vlsst9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357605/original/file-20200911-22-1vlsst9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357605/original/file-20200911-22-1vlsst9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Why do we love large phones?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pixabay</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Internal design complexities of folding phones</h2>
<p>Modern phones still typically use a thin LCD or plastic OLED display covered by an outer glass panel. </p>
<p>Folding displays are a new category that exploit the flexibility of OLED display panels. Instead of simply fixing these panels to a rigid glass panel, they carefully engineer the panel so that it bends – but never quite tightly enough to snap or crack. </p>
<p>Internal structural support is needed to make sure the panel doesn’t crease, or isn’t stressed to the point of creating damage, discolouration or visible surface ripples. </p>
<p>Since this is a mechanical, moving system, reliability issues need to be considered. For instance, how long will the hinge last? How many times can it be <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/4/20898484/samsung-galaxy-fold-folding-test-failure-durability">folded and unfolded</a> before it malfunctions? Will dirt or dust make its way into the assembly during daily use and affect the screen?</p>
<p>Such devices need an added layer of reliability over traditional slab-like phones, which have no moving parts.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-iphone-se-is-the-cheapest-yet-smart-move-or-a-premium-tech-brand-losing-its-way-136507">The new iPhone SE is the cheapest yet: smart move, or a premium tech brand losing its way?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Large screen, thin phone: a recipe for disaster?</h2>
<p>Each generation of smartphones becomes thinner and with smaller bezels, which improves the viewing experience but can make the phone harder to handle. </p>
<p>In such designs, the area of the device you can grip without touching the display screen is small. This leads to a higher chance of <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/study-19-percent-of-people-drop-phones-down-toilet/">dropping the device</a> – a blunder even the best of us have made. </p>
<p>There’s an ongoing tussle between consumers and manufacturers. Consumers want a large, viewable surface as well as an easily portable and rugged device. But from an engineering point of view, these are usually competing requirements. </p>
<p>You’ll often see people in smartphone ads holding the device with two hands. In real life, however, most people use their phone with <a href="https://www.smartinsights.com/mobile-marketing/mobile-design/research-on-mobile-interaction-behaviour-and-design/">one</a> <a href="https://alistapart.com/article/how-we-hold-our-gadgets/">hand</a>. </p>
<p>Thus, the shift towards larger, thinner phones has also given rise to a boom in demand for assistive tools attached to the back, such as <a href="https://www.androidcentral.com/best-popsockets">pop-out grips and phone rings</a>.</p>
<p>In trying to maximise screen size, smartphone developers also have to account for interruptions in the display, such as the placement of cameras, laser scanners (for face or object identification), proximity sensors and speakers. All are placed to minimise visual intrusion.</p>
<h2>Now you see it, now you don’t</h2>
<p>In the engineering world, to measure the physical world you need either cameras or sensors, such as in a fingerprint scanner. </p>
<p>With the race to increase the real estate space on screens, typically these cameras and scanners are placed somewhere around the screen. But they take up valuable space.</p>
<p>This is why we’ve recently seen tricks to carve out more space for them, such as <a href="https://www.techradar.com/au/news/this-is-the-worlds-first-smartphone-where-half-the-screen-is-a-fingerprint-scanner">pop up</a> cameras and <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=phone+screen+hole+for+camera&source=lmns&bih=598&biw=1280&rlz=1C5CHFA_enAU871AU871&safe=active&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjXvcyoveDrAhUwhUsFHXvqBYMQ_AUoAHoECAEQAA">punch-hole</a> cameras, in which the camera sits in a cutout hole allowing the display to extend to the corners. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357640/original/file-20200911-18-r1bxyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Front view of Samsun Galaxy Note 10." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357640/original/file-20200911-18-r1bxyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357640/original/file-20200911-18-r1bxyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357640/original/file-20200911-18-r1bxyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357640/original/file-20200911-18-r1bxyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357640/original/file-20200911-18-r1bxyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357640/original/file-20200911-18-r1bxyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357640/original/file-20200911-18-r1bxyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Samsun Galaxy Note 10 has a centered punch hole front-facing camera.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Samsung</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>But another fantastic place for sensors is right in front of us: the screen. Or more specifically, under the screen.</p>
<p>Samsung is one company that has suggested placing selfie-cameras and fingerprint readers behind the screen. But how do you capture a photo or a face image through a layer of screen? </p>
<p>Up until recently, this has been put in the “too hard basket”. But that is changing: Xiaomi, Huawei and <a href="https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/262497-samsung-patent-shows-phone-camera-inside-display">Samsung</a> all have patents for <a href="https://www.phonearena.com/news/samsung-galaxy-s21-s30-under-display-camera_id125174">under-display cameras</a>.</p>
<p>There are a range of ways to do this, from allowing a camera to see through the screen, to using <a href="https://www.rp-photonics.com/microlenses.html">microlenses</a> and camera pixels distributed throughout the display itself – similar to an insect’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/insect/Nervous-system#ref250944">compound eye</a>. </p>
<p>In either case, the general engineering challenge is to implement the feature in a way that doesn’t impact screen image quality, nor majorly affect camera resolution or colour accuracy.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357639/original/file-20200911-20-1vwk072.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Close up of an insect's compound eyes" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357639/original/file-20200911-20-1vwk072.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357639/original/file-20200911-20-1vwk072.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357639/original/file-20200911-20-1vwk072.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357639/original/file-20200911-20-1vwk072.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357639/original/file-20200911-20-1vwk072.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357639/original/file-20200911-20-1vwk072.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357639/original/file-20200911-20-1vwk072.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Insects have compound eyes. These are made up of repeating units called the ommatidia, sometimes with thousands in each eye. Each ommatidia is a separate visual receptor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Laptops in our pockets</h2>
<p>With up to 3.8 billion smartphone users <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/330695/number-of-smartphone-users-worldwide/">expected by 2021</a>, mobile computing is a primary consumer technology area seeing significant growth and investment.</p>
<p>One driver for this is the professional market, where larger mobile devices allow more efficient on-the-go business transactions. The second market is individuals who who <a href="https://www.statista.com/topics/779/mobile-internet/"><em>only</em> have a mobile device</a> and no laptop or desktop computer.</p>
<p>It’s all about choice, but also functionality. Whatever you choose has to get the job done, support a positive user experience, but also survive the rigours of the real world.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/apples-iphone-11-pro-wants-to-take-your-laptops-job-and-price-tag-123372">Apple's iPhone 11 Pro wants to take your laptop's job (and price tag)</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145700/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Maxwell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 2 is almost three-quarters screen. And while that’s convenient, it’s important to actually be able to hold the phone. As design evolves, how do manufacturers adapt?Andrew Maxwell, Senior Lecturer, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1394982020-06-14T08:14:06Z2020-06-14T08:14:06ZWhy it’s time for adults to accept that Nigerian teenagers have a digital life<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340972/original/file-20200610-34696-aadzuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nigerian teenagers need knowledgeable digital mentors and coaches.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/schoolchildren-in-lagos-island-on-march-10-2016-in-lagos-news-photo/646158384?adppopup=true">Frederic Soltan/Getty Images </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>All over the world, the reach of digital technology is <a href="https://thenextweb.com/podium/2020/01/30/digital-trends-2020-every-single-stat-you-need-to-know-about-the-internet/">growing</a> at an extraordinary rate, even in developing countries. Young people are growing up in an environment ruled by digital devices, the internet and social media. </p>
<p>Research <a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/62130/1/Livingstone_Global_Research_Agenda_Childrens_Right_Digital_Age.pdf">evidence</a> indicates that using the internet and other technologies such as video games and computers has become a daily routine for many children and adolescents from high-income to low-income countries. The United Nations Children’s Fund <a href="https://www.unicef.org/publications/index_101992.html">reports</a> that children are accessing the internet at increasingly younger ages, and that smartphones are young people’s gadget of choice. Phones guarantee easy online access and are more private.</p>
<p>In the global South, there is a <a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/83753/">deficiency in research</a> focusing on the impact of technology on young people’s everyday life. The research gap needs to be filled to inform policies, education and programmes. Technology can either support young people’s education and socialisation or pose some risks to their well-being.</p>
<p>Nigeria is one of the African countries in which the internet and digital media penetration has been increasing in leaps. The country accounts for close to 30% of internet penetration in Africa. According to a global digital <a href="https://wearesocial.com/global-digital-report-2019">report</a>, there were 85 million internet users in Nigeria as at January 2020. Although an <a href="https://www.ncc.gov.ng/docman-main/industry-statistics/policies-reports/883-national-digital-economy-policy-and-strategy/file">estimated</a> 60% of the population is made up of young people, there is little known about how they use digital technology every day.</p>
<p>My three-year <a href="https://open.uct.ac.za/handle/11427/31316">study</a> of rural and urban teenagers in Nigeria aimed to investigate how they access, understand, work and play with the digital technologies that are available to them. The study also paid attention to the contextual factors and digital gatekeepers in the children’s lives, including parents, guardians and teachers. </p>
<p>The fieldwork was conducted from 2017 with schoolchildren aged 13 to 18 in mostly public schools in the South East and North Central parts of the country. A total of 175 schoolchildren took part in focus group interviews and 430 participated in a survey.</p>
<p>I took a child-centred approach, relying on the children’s voices and views alone. <a href="https://www.ssrc.org/publications/view/makers-breakers-children-youth-in-postcolonial-africa/">In Africa</a>, young people make up the majority of the population, yet their views are rarely heard and taken seriously by adults. The consequence is that they continue to be viewed as vulnerable and disruptive. They grow up in social systems that do not value what they have to contribute to their own well-being.</p>
<h2>Children’s access to digital technology</h2>
<p>My study found that a growing number of Nigerian teens have access to digital technologies, particularly mobile phones and the mobile internet. Two-thirds (63.7%) of mostly 14 to 18 year olds in peri-urban and urban centres owned mobile phones of their own. Others had access to a shared smartphone or a simple feature phone through their siblings and friends. About 57% of the respondents had their phones bought for them by parents and guardians; others by relatives such as older siblings. Still, 23% bought phones with personal savings. Almost 60% had internet-enabled phones. </p>
<p>A significant number of the respondents (30.9%) reported relying on their personal money for airtime and internet data bundles. Two-thirds (66%) used mobile phones for between one and five hours a day whenever they could.</p>
<p>The young people’s expertise with the use of mobile phones and the internet is somewhere in between the “dabblers” and the “proficients” – borrowing from a <a href="https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/files/A_Private_Public_Voices_of_Youth_Kenya_study.pdf">study by UNICEF</a> of young people in Kenya. </p>
<p>The use of and access to other digital devices such as computers, laptops and tablets was very low. The teens rely instead on mobile phones for connecting with their friends and peers, meeting new people, doing school assignments, and finding information. Technology also helps them to relieve boredom and stress. </p>
<h2>Impediments to effective digital participation</h2>
<p>Despite the presence and potential impact of technology in their lives, the children’s digital practices are hampered by a lack of proper support from their homes and in school. The adults in their lives control their use of technology very strictly, and both the teens and these adults lack the skills and literacy needed to navigate potential risks. From my analysis, this increases the risk of access to pornography, meeting strangers online and offline, and identity crisis, as reported by the children.</p>
<p>The children reported having to deal with authoritarian parents and teachers who say that technology is bad for them.</p>
<p>I found some teenagers develop “technophobia” as a result of constant negativity around technology. They lack knowledgeable digital mentors and coaches. They are not taught what they need to know to be safe and how to take advantage of digital opportunities necessary for their development. </p>
<p>They also complained about the high cost of devices, data and airtime, limited power supply, and lack of government intervention to provide digital infrastructure and opportunity.</p>
<h2>What needs to change and why</h2>
<p>Effective teaching of digital skills and issues surrounding the digital life must be prioritised. Government, families and schools must come to terms with the fact that digital technologies have come to stay. People who need to educate the children must be taught and trained as well.</p>
<p>There is <a href="https://theconversation.com/nigeria-can-equip-every-child-with-basic-digital-skills-if-it-takes-three-simple-steps-133086">evidence</a> that schools in Nigeria lack the curriculum necessary to expose children to digital skills, information literacy and opportunity. Until such measures are in place, other concerns such as protecting children’s online rights, safety, privacy and well-being will remain un-addressed.</p>
<p>To navigate the complications of digital life, adults and young people must collaborate because young people’s opinions matter and many are proving to be “experts” in their own digital lives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139498/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chikezie E. Uzuegbunam does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nigeria must give more attention to teaching of digital skills and issues surrounding digital life as digital technologies have come to stay.Chikezie E. Uzuegbunam, Postdoctoral researcher, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1376532020-06-01T14:27:21Z2020-06-01T14:27:21ZAfricans are concerned about ills of social media but oppose government restrictions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337985/original/file-20200527-20245-zicaym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/smartphone-tied-chain-lock-on-wooden-370281890">Julia Sudnitskaya/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When it comes to fighting COVID-19 in Africa, the internet and social media have been a double-edged sword. Governments and public health officials have used Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook and other social media to reach large numbers of people, quickly and efficiently, with information on how to stay healthy and limit the virus’s spread. And digital networks have allowed people to stay in touch, and some businesses to operate, in the face of lockdowns and social-distancing guidelines.</p>
<p>Yet these technologies have also facilitated the spread of misinformation. Messages disseminated on WhatsApp claimed that people could self-test by <a href="https://qz.com/africa/1810219/nigerias-coronavirus-case-may-spark-wave-of-fake-news-and-fears/">holding their breath for more than 10 seconds</a>, that <a href="https://africacheck.org/fbcheck/no-african-blood-and-black-skin-dont-resist-new-coronavirus/">“African blood and black skin prevent COVID-19</a>” and that inhaling steam or drinking alcohol could <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-51710617">kill the virus</a>. </p>
<p>Misinformation can be dangerous, as evidenced by <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2020/3/23/headlines/two_nigerian_overdose_self_medicating_with_chloroquine_after_trump_praised_anti_malaria_drug_as_possible_covid_19_treatment">hydroxychloroquine poisonings</a> in Nigeria. And in the longer term, it undermines public confidence in guidelines and treatment information supported by robust scientific evidence. Misinformation, in other words, poisons the well.</p>
<p>Concerns extend beyond the COVID-19 crisis. In Africa, where messaging was often centralised and speech freedoms were limited in the first decades after independence, the internet and social media provide individuals and organisations with new opportunities to share points of view and information that holds governments to account. On the other hand, they have been widely abused as political weapons. </p>
<p>One <a href="https://qz.com/africa/1473127/africas-fake-news-problem-is-worse-than-in-the-us/">study</a> found that political misinformation is pervasive in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. Foreign actors, including some <a href="https://fsi-live.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/29oct2019_sio_-_russia_linked_influence_operations_in_africa.final_.pdf">from Russia</a>, have been increasingly involved in attempts to influence African politics using disinformation in social media.</p>
<p>What do Africans think of the promises and perils of the digital age? Preliminary data from Afrobarometer, which is a non-partisan research institution, suggest that many have mixed feelings. </p>
<p>They see the value of social media and use it extensively. They are also wary of its negative effects, but don’t want curbs put in place.</p>
<h2>Digital sources of information increasing</h2>
<p>It’s important to recognise that digital media remain beyond many Africans’ reach. According to newly available data from the eighth round of the survey, in 2019, nearly half (48%) of Africans used radio daily for their news, while about a third (35%) used television. Only 19% and 22%, respectively, used the internet or social media that frequently.</p>
<p>And there is a pronounced digital divide. Younger, better-educated, wealthier, male and urban-dwelling Africans are much more likely to access social media and the internet. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, the use of digital sources is increasing across eight countries for which both <a href="http://afrobarometer.org/publication-round/round-7">Round 7</a> (2016-18) and <a href="http://afrobarometer.org/sites/default/files/ab_r8_presentation_corruption_03122019.pdf">Round 8</a> (2019) survey data is available. </p>
<p>Daily use of the internet is up five percentage points, while daily use of social media is up seven. Most countries saw substantial increases; in Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea, everyday use of digital media roughly tripled during this brief period. One of the exceptions is Uganda, where a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/feb/27/millions-of-ugandans-quit-internet-after-introduction-of-social-media-tax-free-speech">social media tax</a>” launched in July 2019 may have served as a barrier to digital access. </p>
<p>While more people are using the internet and social media, they aren’t entirely happy with what they see. On the positive side, most respondents who are aware of social media say it “makes people more informed about current events” (87% on average across nine countries surveyed in 2019) and “helps people have more impact on political processes” (72%). On the negative side of the ledger, however, strong majorities say social media usage “makes people more likely to believe false news” (74%) and “makes people more intolerant” (60%).</p>
<p>A majority (54%) of those aware of social media say that the overall effect of social media usage is positive. The exception is Botswana, where only 35% see social media as positive.</p>
<h2>Conundrums</h2>
<p>If “false news” is a problem, who do people think is responsible for spreading it? Two-thirds (66%) of respondents blame politicians and political parties. A staggering 83% in Kenya blame this group, but in every country except Angola (36%), majorities point the finger at political figures. Still, there’s plenty of blame to go around. Six in 10 respondents (61%) attribute misinformation to “social media users” in general, while substantial portions blame government officials (53%), the news media and journalists (50%), and activists and interest groups (44%).</p>
<p>For all their potential dangers, respondents are generally opposed to government restrictions on access to the internet and social media. Across the nine countries, only 34% agree that “information shared on the internet and social media is dividing (our country), so access should be regulated by government”, while 51% endorse unrestricted access. Support for open access is strongest in Côte d’Ivoire (63%), while only minorities support it in Ghana (48%), Kenya (44%) and Malawi (40%).</p>
<p>Support for open access is particularly strong among people who use the internet every day (67%), youth (56%), urban residents (55%), men (54%) and respondents with post-secondary education (65%).</p>
<h2>A complicated problem</h2>
<p>These findings highlight the ambivalence that many people – not just in Africa – feel about the emerging digital era. People want broad access to the tools they have used to gather information and keep in touch with family and friends. Internet and social media shutdowns of the types that have <a href="https://cipesa.org/?wpfb_dl=283">hit almost half</a> of the continent’s countries since 2015 are likely not popular. These tools have become even more crucial because of “social distancing” and lockdowns.</p>
<p>On the other hand, unfettered internet and social media have a dark underside, with messages designed to misinform, discriminate and polarise. When fears are heightened, at election times or during pandemics, these threats are magnified. Fact-checking and “digital literacy” initiatives will go only so far, and calls for government censorship will likely grow. The danger is that governments will use these very real concerns as excuses to target their opponents selectively, in ways that stifle opposition, fair elections and accountability.</p>
<p><em>This article was co-authored with Josephine Appiah-Nyamekye Sanny. She is Afrobarometer regional communications coordinator for anglophone West Africa, based at the Ghana Centre for Democratic Governance. Email: jappiah@afrobarometer.org</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137653/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeffrey Conroy-Krutz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While more people are using the internet and social media during the pandemic, they aren’t entirely happy with what they see.Jeffrey Conroy-Krutz, Associate Professor of Political Science, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1277992020-03-16T22:40:25Z2020-03-16T22:40:25ZWhat my students taught me about reading: old books hold new insights for the digital generation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316797/original/file-20200224-24672-2zy1rc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/Sssq3zpPhws">Sophie Elvis/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every year about 150 students enrol in the introductory English literature course at the Australian National University, which I teach. The course includes works by Shakespeare, Austen, Woolf and Dickens. </p>
<p>I know what these books did for me as a student 20 years ago, but times have changed. I am curious to discover what reading these old books does for young people today. </p>
<p>Last year, 2019, saw the first cohort of students who were born in or beyond 2000 – the so-called digital generation. These students have grown up in a world where you can read a book without holding the physical object. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/love-laughter-adventure-and-fantasy-a-reading-list-for-teens-126928">Love, laughter, adventure and fantasy: a reading list for teens</a>
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<p>I decided to introduce the option of a bibliomemoir – an <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/92812c26-17d4-11e8-9c33-02f893d608c2">increasingly popular</a> form of creative non-fiction – into their final year assignment. This would allow me to tease out the particular connections students were making between literature and their own lives. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320677/original/file-20200316-18023-k77ksl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320677/original/file-20200316-18023-k77ksl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320677/original/file-20200316-18023-k77ksl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320677/original/file-20200316-18023-k77ksl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320677/original/file-20200316-18023-k77ksl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320677/original/file-20200316-18023-k77ksl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320677/original/file-20200316-18023-k77ksl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320677/original/file-20200316-18023-k77ksl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">My first year students have grown up in a world where you can read a book without holding the physical object.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/MqKDzLsPVQM">Dexter Fernandes</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>The idea for a bibliomemoir was sparked in a workshop run by our then writer-in-residence, celebrated Australian teen novelist and author of <em>Puberty Blues</em>, <a href="https://researchers.anu.edu.au/researchers/carey-gx">Dr Gabrielle Carey</a>. </p>
<p>Carey described bibliomemoir as a piece of writing that shows literary criticism is “best written as a personal tale of the encounter between a reader and a writer”.</p>
<p>Written with flair and precision the students’ bibliomemoirs revealed the formative effects of reading on their lives. Many of their insights related directly to challenges of growing up in the digital age. </p>
<p>They wrote about responding to distraction and cultivating compassion, connection, concentration and resilience.</p>
<h2>Why a bibliomemoir?</h2>
<p>A bibliomemoir might be an account of <a href="https://www.textpublishing.com.au/books/the-road-to-middlemarch">how one book or author has shaped</a> a person’s life. Or it might be the memoir of a life structured by reading books. In Outside of a Dog, for instance, Rick Gekoski tells his life story through 25 books that have influenced him, including authors from Dr Seuss to Sigmund Freud.</p>
<p>Gekoski <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/oct/25/paperback-rick-gekoski-outside-dog-qa">pointed out in an interview</a> that bibliomemoir reveals the formative effects of reading. I saw immediately that I could adapt bibliomemoir to help me understand how my students saw books as shaping their lives.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-australian-books-that-can-help-young-people-understand-their-place-in-the-world-127712">5 Australian books that can help young people understand their place in the world</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>So, for the final essay of the introductory English course, Carey and I designed a new essay question. It invited students to write a brief bibliomemoir based on one of the novels in the course. Like a traditional essay this would allow me to evaluate their skills of written expression, argument and technical analysis of literary language. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320679/original/file-20200316-18073-90mz3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320679/original/file-20200316-18073-90mz3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320679/original/file-20200316-18073-90mz3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320679/original/file-20200316-18073-90mz3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320679/original/file-20200316-18073-90mz3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320679/original/file-20200316-18073-90mz3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320679/original/file-20200316-18073-90mz3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320679/original/file-20200316-18073-90mz3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students who write the bibliomemoir can still be assessed on technical aspects of their writing style.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/Hcfwew744z4">Unsplash/Christin Hume</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unlike a traditional essay, it would allow me to see inside their individual reading experience. I would be able to understand how these books were influencing my students’ view of the world and their understanding of themselves. </p>
<h2>Here’s what the students wrote</h2>
<p>One student shared how reading Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway prompted a conversation with his flatmate about experiences of digital distraction and strategies for concentration: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Soon we came to the subject of Big Ben, which Woolf uses as a motif through the book. [My friend] said that the way Big Ben interrupted the characters’ thoughts reminded her of how a notification from your phone can interrupt your stream of thought. </p>
<p>I had also noticed the motif of Big Ben, however I appreciated it as an element of structure and pacing in a book that had no chapters, in fact I had sometimes structured my reading sessions around the ringing of Big Ben in the book.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another student, reading of the mental torment experienced by the returned soldier Septimus in Mrs Dalloway, gained a new perspective on people who don’t seem to fit in. Reflecting on her initially judgemental perception of a dishevelled man boarding her bus the student asked: “was he so different from Septimus? Wise and lost?”. </p>
<p>She then explained she gained a new and unexpected perspective on life: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>[Woolf] gave me glasses I never knew I needed – lenses smeared with multiple fingerprints that enhanced rather than hindered the view. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>She concluded that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>to be a reader is to suspend rigid views, to consider and honour the perspectives of the characters one meets.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A third student reflected on the challenges of reading itself, and on the rewards of persisting when structure and characterisation are unfamiliar. The student said she set out wanting to be an “inspired reader” but confessed to feeling “frustrated” by Woolf’s “merciless indifference” to her characters in Mrs Dalloway. </p>
<p>In noting this frustration, the student had registered the novel’s lack of clear protagonist or plotline. The novel is difficult to read because, while we do see individual characters trying to interpret their lives as coherent stories, Woolf refuses to impose an artificial grand narrative. </p>
<p>After sticking with it, however, the student recognised the novel’s achievement: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>There lies the beauty of it: the ordinary day captured in time and words as a novel. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This student’s bibliomemoir was a story of the dividends paid by sustained concentration and a flexible mindset.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320683/original/file-20200316-18017-pprewt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320683/original/file-20200316-18017-pprewt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320683/original/file-20200316-18017-pprewt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320683/original/file-20200316-18017-pprewt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320683/original/file-20200316-18017-pprewt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320683/original/file-20200316-18017-pprewt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320683/original/file-20200316-18017-pprewt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320683/original/file-20200316-18017-pprewt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One student wrote about how the ringing of Big Ben in Mrs Dalloway was similar to a phone alert.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/ltPWfy2pX6M">Nick Fewings/Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A fourth student used the bibliomemoir to analyse how Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey showed her the value of observing people closely, and has equipped her with resilience as a student facing the challenge of dyslexia: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I could not work out how to do the exact things my teachers wanted me to do. What I could do was learn to understand my teachers. By learning to watch them, like Austen watched people, and learning to understand them as people, I began to understand how to jump through their hoops.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While she couldn’t quantify the competencies reading books had given her, the student said she just knew books had formed who she was: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I cannot list the strategies that I employ when reading and writing […] I give all the credit to reading literature, to books like Northanger Abbey and writers like Jane Austen and so volunteer myself as an example of how reading literature is valuable in our era.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These examples revealed some of the many reasons new readers, even of the digital age, return to old books and old ways of reading them. The readers expressed an urgency for connection with narratives more complex than a news feed. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-you-can-read-this-headline-you-can-read-a-novel-heres-how-to-ignore-your-phone-and-just-do-it-116524">If you can read this headline, you can read a novel. Here's how to ignore your phone and just do it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>They recognised that truthful self-reflection can be prompted by sustained engagement with fiction. They proved that connection with others, compassion and resilience are nurtured through a deepened understanding of story in the study of literature. </p>
<p>I can only conclude that for this group of readers, taking a book into their hands is a very deliberate act of identification with the bigger, shared story of reading.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127799/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Flaherty works for the Australian National University. From 2008-2010 she was the recipient of an Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Award (Industry) at The University of Sydney for the project "Shakespeare Reloaded: Innovative Approaches to Shakespeare and Literature Research in Australian Universities and Secondary Schools".</span></em></p>Last year saw the first cohort of English literature students who were born in or beyond 2000 – the so-called digital generation. I wanted to know whether the classics still affected their lives.Kate Flaherty, Senior Lecturer (English and Drama) ANU, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1165192020-02-11T19:09:47Z2020-02-11T19:09:47ZDon’t ‘just Google it’: 3 ways students can get the most from searching online<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313652/original/file-20200205-149757-m4ou8v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/g1Kr4Ozfoac">Brooke Cagle/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Searching online has many educational benefits. For instance, <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1209673">one study found</a> students who used advanced online search strategies also had higher grades at university.</p>
<p>But spending more time online <a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/57211/1/Gorzig_etal_Primary-school-children's-internet-skills_2014.pdf">does not guarantee</a> better online skills. Instead, a student’s ability to successfully search online increases with <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2637002.2637007">guidance</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306457317308889">explicit instruction</a>.</p>
<p>Young people tend to assume they are already <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2307096.2307121">competent searchers</a>. Their <a href="https://ajet.org.au/index.php/AJET/article/view/986">teachers</a> and <a href="http://ecite.utas.edu.au/130837">parents</a> often assume this too. This assumption, and the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0165551515615841">misguided belief</a> that searching always results in learning, means much classroom practice focuses on searching to learn, rarely on learning to search. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/most-young-australians-cant-identify-fake-news-online-87100">Most young Australians can’t identify fake news online</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p><a href="http://ecite.utas.edu.au/130838">Many teachers don’t explictly</a> teach students how to search online. Instead, students <a href="https://ajet.org.au/index.php/AJET/article/view/986">often teach themselves</a> and are reluctant to ask for assistance. This does not result in students obtaining the skills they need. </p>
<p>For six years, I studied how young Australians use search engines. Both <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331101627_Search_engine_use_as_a_literacy_in_the_middle_years_The_need_for_explicit_instruction_and_active_learners">school students</a> and home-schoolers (the nation’s fastest growing educational cohort) showed some traits of online searching that aren’t beneficial. For instance, both groups spent greater time on irrelevant websites than relevant ones and regularly quit searches before finding their desired information. </p>
<p>Here are three things young people should keep in mind to get the full benefits of searching online.</p>
<h2>1. Search for more than just isolated facts</h2>
<p>Young people should explore, synthesise and question information on the internet, rather than just locating one thing and moving on.</p>
<p>Search engines offer endless educational opportunities but many students <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JD-03-2017-0048/full/html">typically only search</a> for isolated facts. This means they are no better off than they were 40 years ago with a print encyclopedia. </p>
<p>It’s important for searchers to use different keywords and queries, multiple sites and search tabs (such as news and images). </p>
<p>Part of my (as yet unpublished) PhD research involved observing young people and their parents using a search engine for 20 minutes. In one (typical) observation, a home-school family type “How many endangered Sumatran Tigers are there” into Google. They enter a single website where they read a single sentence. </p>
<p>The parent writes this “answer” down and they begin the next (unrelated) topic – growing seeds.</p>
<p>The student could have learnt much more had they also searched for</p>
<p>• where Sumatra is </p>
<p>• why the tigers are endangered</p>
<p>• how people can help them.</p>
<p>I searched Google using the key words “Sumatran tigers” in quotation marks instead. The returned results offered me the ability to view National Geographic footage of the tigers and to chat live with an expert from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) about them. </p>
<p>Clicking the “news” tab with this same query provided current media stories, including on <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2019/03/29/watch-rare-sumatran-tiger-cubs-make-debut-at-sydney-zoo">two tigers coming to an Australian wildlife park</a> and on the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-03/sumatran-tigers-on-the-brink-of-extinction/10568758">effect of palm oil</a> on the species. Small changes to search techniques can make a big difference to the educational benefits made available online. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313654/original/file-20200205-149796-9y0p07.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313654/original/file-20200205-149796-9y0p07.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313654/original/file-20200205-149796-9y0p07.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313654/original/file-20200205-149796-9y0p07.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313654/original/file-20200205-149796-9y0p07.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313654/original/file-20200205-149796-9y0p07.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313654/original/file-20200205-149796-9y0p07.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More can be learnt about Sumatran tigers with better search techniques.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/tiger-456683032">from Shuttertock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>2. Slow down</h2>
<p>All too often we presume search can be a fast process. The home-school families in my study spent 90 seconds or less, on average, viewing each website and searched a new topic every four minutes.</p>
<p>Searching so quickly can mean students don’t <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a3e0/75d194661568b6279ed82ac1641576ce9c4f.pdf">write effective search queries</a> or get the information they need. They may also not have enough time to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10639-012-9190-3">consider search results</a> and <a href="https://research.utwente.nl/en/publications/how-students-evaluate-information-and-sources-when-searching-the-">evaluate websites</a> for accuracy and relevance. .</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/on-an-average-day-only-1-of-australian-news-stories-quoted-a-young-person-no-wonder-so-few-trust-the-media-122464">On an average day, only 1% of Australian news stories quoted a young person. No wonder so few trust the media</a>
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<p>My research confirmed <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2063576.2063638">young searchers</a> frequently click on only the most prominent links and first websites returned, possibly trying to save time. This is problematic given the commercial environment where such positions can be bought and given children <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2956153">tend to take</a> the accuracy of everything online for granted.</p>
<p>Fast search is <a href="http://tecfa.unige.ch/tecfa/maltt/ergo/articles/P3/Chevalier2015.pdf">not always problematic</a>. Quickly locating facts means students can spend time on more challenging educational follow-up tasks – like analysing or categorising the facts. But this is only true if they first persist until they find the right information. </p>
<h2>3. You’re in charge of the search, not Google</h2>
<p>Young searchers <a href="https://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/eserv/rmit:160639/Mohamed_Shuhidan.pdf">frequently rely</a> on search tools like Google’s “Did you mean” function. </p>
<p>While students feel confident as searchers, my PhD research found they were more confident in Google itself. One year eight student explained: “I’m used to Google making the changes to look for me”. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/now-theres-a-game-you-can-play-to-vaccinate-yourself-against-fake-news-92074">Now there's a game you can play to 'vaccinate' yourself against fake news</a>
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<p>Such attitudes can mean students dismiss relevant keywords by automatically agreeing with the (sometimes incorrect) auto-correct or going on irrelevant tangents unknowingly.</p>
<p>Teaching students to choose websites based on domain name extensions can also help ensure they are in charge, not the search engine. The easily purchasable “.com”, for example, denotes a commercial site while information on websites with a “.gov”(government) or “.edu” (education) domain name extension better assure quality information. </p>
<p>Search engines have <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2729.2011.00406.x">great potential</a> to provide new educational benefits, but we <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0165551515615841">should be cautious of presuming</a> this <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2729.2009.00338.x">potential is actually</a> a guarantee.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116519/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Renee Morrison works for University of Tasmania. Her research was undertaken at Griffith University. </span></em></p>Most students think they know how to use the internet to search for information, and teachers agree. But this isn’t always the case.Renee Morrison, Lecturer in Curriculum Studies, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1275012020-01-01T21:03:22Z2020-01-01T21:03:22ZA month at sea with no technology taught me how to steal my life back from my phone<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307034/original/file-20191216-124022-gd83ma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C26%2C5835%2C3858&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The time we invest in our digital lives is time we don’t get back. But, it's not impossible to knock your digital-dependance - and the holidays are the best time to start.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/industrial-port-containers-logistic-concept-313491500?src=775347ef-5dc6-447c-a084-27f7026c33eb-1-39&studio=1">SHUTTERSTOCK</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A survey this year revealed that Australians, on average, spend <a href="https://wearesocial.com/au/blog/2019/02/digital-report-australia">10.2 hours</a> a day with interactive digital technologies. And this figure goes up every year.</p>
<p>This is time we don’t get back. And our analogue lives, which include everything not digital, shrink in direct proportion.</p>
<p>I recently decided to spend four weeks at sea without access to my phone or the internet, and here’s what I learnt about myself, and the digital rat race I was caught in.</p>
<h2>Cold turkey</h2>
<p>Until a year or so ago, I was a 10.2 hours a day person. Over the years, dependence on technology and stress had destroyed any semblance of balance in my life – between work and home, or pleasure and obligation.</p>
<p>I wanted to quit, or cut down, at least. Tech “detox” apps such as the time-limiting <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/17/17870126/ios-12-screen-time-app-limits-downtime-features-how-to-use">Screen Time</a> were useless. Even with these, I was still “on”, and just a click away from unblocking Instagram. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-of-us-are-opting-for-digital-detox-holidays-99740">More of us are opting for 'digital detox' holidays</a>
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<p>So I thought: what about going cold turkey? No screen time at all, 24/7. Was that possible, and what would it feel like? </p>
<p>My commute to work passed the Footscray docks, where container-ships come and go. Passing one day, I wondered if it was possible to go on one of those ships and travel from Melbourne to … somewhere? </p>
<p>Turns out it was. You can book a cabin online and just go. And in what was probably an impulse, I went. </p>
<p>For about four weeks I had no devices, as I sailed solo from <a href="http://www.cma-cgm.com/products-services/line-services/Flyer/AAXANL">West Melbourne to Singapore</a>. </p>
<p>I wanted to experiment, to see what it felt like to take a digital detox, and whether I could change my habits when I returned home. </p>
<h2>What I learnt</h2>
<p>Cold turkey withdrawal is difficult. Even in prison, <a href="https://aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi560">many inmates have access of some kind of device</a>.</p>
<p>The time on that ship taught me there is a whole other side to life, the non-digital side, that gets pushed aside by the ubiquitous screen. </p>
<p>Real life contains people, conversations, flesh and textures that are not glass or plastic. </p>
<p>It also contains whole worlds that exist inside your head, and these can be summoned when we have the time, and devote a bit of effort to it. </p>
<p>These are worlds of memory and imagination. Worlds of reflection and thought. Worlds you see differently to the pallid glare of a screen.</p>
<p>I took four books with me and read them in a way I hadn’t before: slower, deeper and with more contemplation. The words were finite (and therefore precious). </p>
<p>I’d never spent time like this in my whole life, and was inspired to write about it in <a href="https://grattanstreetpress.com/new-releases/">detail</a>. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/waiting-rediscovering-boredom-in-the-age-of-the-smartphone-83207">Waiting: rediscovering boredom in the age of the smartphone</a>
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<hr>
<p>Of course, we all have our own commitments and can’t always do something like this. </p>
<p>But away from the screen, I learned a lot about our digital world and about myself, and have tried to adapt these lessons to “normal” life. </p>
<p>Since I’ve been back, it feels like some sense of balance has been restored. Part of this came from seeing the smartphone as a slightly alien thing (which it is). </p>
<p>And instead of being something that always prompts me, I flipped the power dynamic around, to make it something I choose to use - and choose when to use. Meaning sometimes it’s OK to leave it at home, or switch it off.</p>
<p>If you can persist with these little changes, you might find even when you have your phone in your pocket, you can go hours without thinking about it. Hours spent doing precious, finite, analogue things. </p>
<h2>How to get started</h2>
<p>You could begin by deleting most of your apps. </p>
<p>You’ll be surprised by how many you won’t miss. Then, slowly flip the power dynamic between you and your device around. Put it in a drawer once a week - for a morning, then for a day - increasing this over time. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/do-you-zombie-check-your-phone-how-new-tools-can-help-you-control-technology-over-use-103042">Do you 'zombie check' your phone? How new tools can help you control technology over-use</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If this sounds a bit like commercial digital detox self-care, then so be it. But this is minus the self-care gurus and websites. Forget those. </p>
<p>No one (and no app) is really going to help you take back your agency. You need to do it yourself, or organise it with friends. Perhaps try seeing who can go the furthest. </p>
<p>After a few weeks, you might reflect on how it feels: what’s the texture of the analogue world you got back? Because, more likely than not, you will get it back.</p>
<p>For some, it might be a quieter and more subjective pre-digital world they half remember. </p>
<p>For others, it might be something quite new, which maybe feels a bit like freedom.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127501/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Hassan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the head of a media and communications program, my life’s digital-analogue balance was off. Four weeks at sea with no devices refocussed my views – even on things that had been there all along.Robert Hassan, Professor, School of Culture and Communication, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1241182019-09-25T14:10:34Z2019-09-25T14:10:34ZTeletext was slow but it paved the way for the super-fast world of the internet<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294067/original/file-20190925-51401-sivjcn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A CEEFAX page from 1979.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://twitter.com/grim_fandango/status/1123663129022554112/photo/1">The Teletext Archaeologist - @grim_fandango</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The BBC has announced that 2020 will mark <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-49715314">the end of the Red Button text service</a> – the final incarnation of what was originally known as <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01k3l1q">CEEFAX</a> and Oracle. Those old text-based TV services would seem ridiculously clunky and old-fashioned to an internet generation used to instant streaming and apps for everything. But – as slow and frustrating as that old text system was – it paved the way for the World Wide Web and helped prepare us for the world of social media.</p>
<p>To most of us, the end of the red button shouldn’t be a huge surprise – not many people can remember the last time they pulled up a Red Button text page. Nowadays, like most people, I use my smart phone for pretty much everything. The Red Button service (and its predecessors CEEFAX/Teletext) take us back to a strange and foreign country: The Place Before Internet.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1176198276909019141"}"></div></p>
<p>CEEFAX was the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/anniversaries/september/ceefax">world’s first text information service</a> which started in 1974. It was joined by Independent Television’s Oracle (later renamed Teletext) in the early 1980s. Both services depended on a quirk of the old analogue TV signal. For reasons to do with the hardware (big glass cathode ray tubes and heavy electromagnets) there had to be a couple of milliseconds of pause between each frame of the moving image – and that pause was when the CEEFAX pages were transmitted. </p>
<h2>Like waiting for sushi</h2>
<p>When you fetch a web page, your browser sends a request to the server and the server sends the requested data back to you. CEEFAX, on the other hand, sent each page in turn, on a sort of endless loop. So you would put in the page number you wanted to see using your remote control, but it could take some time before that page came around again. It was a bit like waiting for your favourite sushi dish at one of those Japanese restaurants which use a conveyor belt to deliver the food, or your suitcase at an airport baggage claim.</p>
<p>Just 200 pages of information (made up of 25 lines with only 40 characters on each line) may seem hopelessly primitive these days when you can stream box sets to your mobile. But in 1974 if you wanted to know the headlines you had to wait for the next news bulletin. If you wanted to know the football scores, you had to go to the newsagents and buy a newspaper and if you wanted to know what time to catch the train to London you had to go to the station and pick up a printed timetable. With the arrival of CEEFAX, people could look up any of these things in a few minutes on their TVs using their remote control – and remote controls were pretty cutting-edge in the 70s too.</p>
<p>CEEFAX finally gasped its last breath <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20032882">in 2012</a> with the digital switch-over. The information, however, lived on within the Red Button. But now it was digital you could go directly to the page you wanted (no more sushi conveyor belt).
This is despite the fact that the internet increasingly became the first place anyone would look if they wanted information on anything from holidays, to voting on their favourite TV reality show.</p>
<p>Originally, CEEFAX and Oracle/Teletext were intended to supply mundane so-called “medium-latency information” (things that couldn’t wait for next morning’s papers) but which were not so time-sensitive – things that you had to know the exact second it happened. So information like the weather forecast fit the bill perfectly.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1176063276502962177"}"></div></p>
<h2>Budget holidays</h2>
<p>Soon, ways were found to turn a profit from it. CEEFAX was a BBC product, so it always kept to the public service model. But Teletext was commercial from the start and, in the mid 1990s, it found its killer application – cheap flights and holidays.</p>
<p>In 1996 Teletext branched out from news and sport to include listings of last-minute <a href="http://teletextart.co.uk/new-collection-teletext-palm-trees">flight offers and holidays</a>. These proved so popular, especially with small travel agents, that as the web began to appear they migrated the service on to a website – which still exists today, as <a href="https://www.teletextholidays.co.uk/">an ordinary holiday search site</a> – despite the Teletext service it sprang from having died with the end of analogue broadcasting. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1176214252086091776"}"></div></p>
<p>It was a similar story with the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18610692">French Minitel system</a>. In the late 1970s PTT, the French telephone service, wanted to save money in printing and distributing telephone directories, and also wanted to encourage the use of the telephone network overall. Their solution was to provide every PTT subscriber with a free Minitel terminal, and put all the phone numbers on their system.</p>
<p>There were stories of unwilling subscribers just leaving their Minitel unused, but the fact that essentially every French home had a terminal gave them instant market penetration, and various commercial services running on the service sprang up in a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18610692">small, francophone version of the dotcom bubble</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294107/original/file-20190925-51452-1mgwvkk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294107/original/file-20190925-51452-1mgwvkk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=707&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294107/original/file-20190925-51452-1mgwvkk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=707&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294107/original/file-20190925-51452-1mgwvkk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=707&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294107/original/file-20190925-51452-1mgwvkk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=888&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294107/original/file-20190925-51452-1mgwvkk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=888&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294107/original/file-20190925-51452-1mgwvkk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=888&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of the French Minitel machines from the early 1980s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Minitel1.jpg">Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the government were most keen to emphasise “online” shopping, travel purchases and similar services, what became known as the “Messageries roses” services proved unexpectedly popular (“pink messages” were a euphemism for adult chat services).</p>
<p>This was all taking place before anyone outside of a university science lab in the rest of the world had any kind of online connection. I remember seeing lurid adverts for Minitel adult services on the Paris Metro in the early 1990s. As late as 1998 Minitel was generating more than €80m and despite the development of the internet the service was not finally closed down until <a href="http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2011/07/21/97001-20110721FILWWW00446-le-minitel-disparaitra-en-juin-2012.php">June 2012</a>.</p>
<p>Today, it is estimated the revenue made from apps and text services linked to television shows is <a href="https://psauthority.org.uk/-/media/Files/PSA/00NEW-website/Research-and-consultations/Research/_PSA_Annual_market_review_2018_2019.pdf?la=en&hash=9BEF5B2FA67D5F46EA0939C387A31C67C1076694">more than £100m</a>, though they were <a href="https://psauthority.org.uk/%7E/media/Files/PhonepayPlus/News-Items/2015July/2014-Annual-Market-Review.pdf">already £57m in 2014</a> – the year ITV made voting on X-Factor free.</p>
<p>But it was CEEFAX and Teletext that ushered in the world of the web we all now take for granted. It gave us the first taste of an array of commercial possibilities available to us even as we sat on our sofas. It may have taken a bit longer to get to that page of interest, but waiting to press the “hold” button just in time was just another part of its analogue charm.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124118/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andy Holyer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The death of the BBC Red Button teletext service marks the end of an analogue era.Andy Holyer, Teaching Fellow at the School of Creative Technologies, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1187542019-06-16T20:00:37Z2019-06-16T20:00:37ZThe New York Times ends daily political cartoons, but it’s not the death of the art form<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279500/original/file-20190614-158949-1ya6vow.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1449%2C0%2C2544%2C2000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The New York Times decision to end daily political cartoons in its international edition has led to predictions of the death of cartooning. But the decision actually reflects an increasingly globalised, online industry.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wes Mountain/Baiducao/Carlos Latuff/David Pope/First Dog/David Rowe/Jon Kudelka/Glen Le Lievre/Rebel Pepper/António Moreira Antunes/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/10/business/international-new-york-times-political-cartoons.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FCartoons%20and%20Cartoonists&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection">has announced</a> it will no longer be running daily political cartoons in its international edition, amid a continuing controversy over anti-Semitism in its pages. This brings the international paper in line with the domestic edition, which stopped featuring daily political cartoons <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/12/new-york-times-cartoonists-ban-antisemitism">several years ago</a>.</p>
<p>It follows an earlier decision to end syndicated cartooning (“syndicates” represent collectives of cartoonists, looking to have work placed in a variety of publications). The Times said that a <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/ny-times-deeply-sorry-for-anti-semitic-cartoon-of-netanyahu-and-trump/">“faulty process” and lack of oversight</a> led to a syndicated cartoon of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump (which was condemned by many as anti-Semitic) slipping through the net on April 25.</p>
<p>The decision has caused international consternation and prompted doom-laden predictions about the death of cartooning, or even of free speech itself. The paper’s former in-house cartoonists – Patrick Chappatte and Heng Kim Song – have <a href="https://www.chappatte.com/en/the-end-of-political-cartoons-at-the-new-york-times/">taken to Twitter and the web</a> to defend their careers and their profession.</p>
<p>But this decision should be seen less an overreaction by a newspaper frightened of (of all things) bad press, than a wake-up call. It’s a moment to acknowledge the new realities of cartooning, globally. As The Times’ editors <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/10/business/international-new-york-times-political-cartoons.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FCartoons%20and%20Cartoonists&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection">have asserted</a>, this has been a long time coming. </p>
<p>Indeed, the writing has been on the wall for at least a decade. The hallowed cartooning traditions of the 20th century cannot continue without facing up to fundamental changes in the industry. Although this decision doesn’t spell the end of cartooning as we know it, this may very well be a tipping point for the global cartooning industry.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279454/original/file-20190614-32347-1v30n4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279454/original/file-20190614-32347-1v30n4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279454/original/file-20190614-32347-1v30n4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279454/original/file-20190614-32347-1v30n4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279454/original/file-20190614-32347-1v30n4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279454/original/file-20190614-32347-1v30n4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279454/original/file-20190614-32347-1v30n4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279454/original/file-20190614-32347-1v30n4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Headquarters of New York Times, New York 2014. The newspaper’s editors recently announced they will no longer publish daily political cartoons in the international edition.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A borderless world</h2>
<p>Chappatte <a href="https://www.chappatte.com/en/the-end-of-political-cartoons-at-the-new-york-times/">has said</a>: “Cartoons can jump over borders.” But I’d go further: for cartoons, there are no longer any borders. There haven’t been for about a decade or so. And cartoonists have to understand that what they produce for one set of readers in one particular context will inevitably now be seen by people far away, with a very different set of views.</p>
<p>Remember the 2005 controversy over the depiction of the Prophet Muhammad in the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten? Initial low-level grumbling soon <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/feb/05/pressandpublishing.religion">turned into worldwide outrage</a>. Of course, it took a full decade for the worst reaction to manifest itself.</p>
<p>The French satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo – which had not only reprinted the original Danish cartoons, but continued to print <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/07/charlie-hebdo-satire-intimidation-analysis">deliberately offensive anti-Islamic cartoons</a> in subsequent years – was firebombed in 2011, and then the unthinkable: the shootings at the magazine’s offices in January 2015. </p>
<p>And Australia cannot stand aloof. Remember <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-11/cartoonist-mark-knight-defends-serena-williams-depiction/10230044">Mark Knight’s caricature of Serena Williams from 2018</a>? The cartoon dropped like a stone until picked up by J.K. Rowling, and American readers in particular. The global reach of the Murdoch press ensured it would become a battleground for issues of press freedom versus “political correctness”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279478/original/file-20190614-158925-5fmja9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279478/original/file-20190614-158925-5fmja9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279478/original/file-20190614-158925-5fmja9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279478/original/file-20190614-158925-5fmja9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279478/original/file-20190614-158925-5fmja9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279478/original/file-20190614-158925-5fmja9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279478/original/file-20190614-158925-5fmja9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/279478/original/file-20190614-158925-5fmja9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australian cartoonist Mark Knight with his prize winning cartoon at the National Museum in Canberra in 2004. Knight was at the centre of a controversy for his depiction of Serena Williams in 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alan Porritt/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/rupertmurdoch/status/295964833394851840?lang=en">Rupert Murdoch himself took to Twitter in 2012</a> to defend the London-based Sunday Times after a Gerald Scarfe cartoon depicted Netanyahu building a wall with the bodies of Palestinians (<em>plus ça change</em>…?). <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/leunig-your-provocative-use-of-nazi-analogies-is-so-tiresome-20121213-2bcef.html">Michael Leunig weighed in</a>, claiming the need for cartoonists to “give balance”, rather than present a balanced opinion; reworking Martin Niemöller’s “first they came” in controversial style. Leunig himself <a href="https://www.academia.edu/17773536/Crossing_the_Line_Offensive_and_Controversial_Cartoons_in_the_21st_Century_-_The_View_from_Australia">had a cartoon in 2002 refused</a> on the basis of likely backlash from the Jewish community. </p>
<p>The point is that globalisation and information technology have changed the business of cartooning. Cartoonists wedded to the old-school, in-house ways of the 20th century can throw tantrums about free speech as much as they like. If they do not recognise the way the world has changed – and is changing – then they will be left behind as their profession moves forward. </p>
<p>History is not on their side. Just as 18th-century copperplate engravings were replaced by lithograph prints, and standalone caricatures were replaced by cartoons in 19th-century humour magazines, and they in turn by 20th-century newspaper cartoons, the web cartoon has well and truly arrived in the 21st century.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-political-cartooning-the-end-of-an-era-81680">Friday essay: political cartooning – the end of an era</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A recent example of a web-based cartoonist is Badiucao, the Chinese-Australian artist who <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-04/badiucao-tiananmen-square-china-artist-takes-off-mask/11173530">instigated the global movement to recreate the famous “tank man” image</a> in memory of the Tiananmen Square massacre.</p>
<p>So, although a blow to an older way of doing things, The New York Times decision won’t halt the ever-greater expansion of cartooning in its online form. The Times hasn’t really been known for its cartoon content (and actually been quite dismissive of the artform, historically).</p>
<p>The Portuguese anti-Netanyahu cartoonist – António Moreira Antunes – doesn’t even work for the Times. He is one of an army of cartoonists who work without borders, without much of the self-censorship that has always characterised the profession, and without the limitations of the past. </p>
<p>That comes at a cost: job security, a greater reliance on volunteer labour, and a decline in professionalism. But it’s where the future lies.</p>
<p>Paradoxically, the syndication that has been such a part of US cartooning culture for more than a century may provide a model for the future of the profession. The great press barons of the early 20th century – Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst (“Citizen Kane”) – were among the pioneers. </p>
<p>Rather than individual papers employing in-house staff cartoonists, the syndicate model looks remarkably like the “gig” economy of freelancers and short-term contracts. The Times has dealt with CartoonArts International – founded in 1978 – for many years. By divesting itself of that relationship, it may actually be taking a backward step. </p>
<p>But beyond this one paper, cartooning will continue. Talented artists will continue to create brilliant comments on the news of the day; less talented amateurs can always knock up a truly witty meme. Check your Facebook or Twitter feed – there’s more cartooning happening now than ever.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118754/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Scully is an employee of the University of New England (UNE); receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC); and is an associate member of the Australian Cartoonists Association (ACA). His views do not reflect those of the UNE, ARC, or ACA.</span></em></p>A New York Times decision has led to predictions of the death of cartooning. But rather than perishing, is the global art form just feeling the full force of technological and workplace change?Richard Scully, Associate Professor of Modern European History, University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1132402019-03-20T17:36:56Z2019-03-20T17:36:56ZTeens have less face time with their friends – and are lonelier than ever<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264693/original/file-20190319-60956-6picsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Teens aren't necessarily less social, but the contours of their social lives have changed.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pxhere.com/en/photo/519646">pxhere</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ask a teen today how she communicates with her friends, and she’ll probably hold up her smartphone. Not that she actually calls her friends; it’s more likely that she texts them or messages them on social media. </p>
<p>Today’s teens – the generation I call “<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/iGen/Jean-M-Twenge/9781501152016">iGen</a>” that’s also called Gen Z – are constantly connected with their friends via digital media, spending as much as <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/about-us/news/press-releases/landmark-report-us-teens-use-an-average-of-nine-hours-of-media-per-day">nine hours a day on average</a> with screens. </p>
<p>How might this influence the time they spend with their friends in person?</p>
<p>Some <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1369118X.2018.1430162?journalCode=rics20">studies</a> have found that people who spend more time on social media actually have <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/11/28/teens-who-are-constantly-online-are-just-as-likely-to-socialize-with-their-friends-offline/">more face time with friends</a>.</p>
<p>But studies like this are only looking at people already operating in a world suffused with smartphones. They can’t tell us how teens spent their time before and after <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/ppm-ppm0000203.pdf">digital media use surged</a>. </p>
<p>What if we zoomed out and compared how often previous generations of teens spent time with their friends to how often today’s teens are doing so? And what if we also saw how feelings of loneliness differed across the generations? </p>
<p>To do this, my co-authors and I examined trends in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407519836170">how 8.2 million U.S. teens</a> spent time with their friends since the 1970s. It turns out that today’s teens are socializing with friends in fundamentally different ways – and also happen to be the loneliest generation on record.</p>
<h2>Less work, but fewer hangs?</h2>
<p>After studying two large, nationally representative surveys, we found that although the amount of time teens spent with their friends face to face has declined since the 1970s, the drop accelerated after 2010 – just as smartphones use started to grow.</p>
<p>Compared with teenagers in previous decades, iGen teens are less likely to get together with their friends. They’re also less likely to go to parties, go out with friends, date, ride in cars for fun, go to shopping malls or go to the movies. </p>
<p>It’s not because they are spending more time on work, homework or extracurricular activities. <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cdev.12930">Today’s teens</a> hold fewer paid jobs, homework time is either unchanged or down since the 1990s, and time spent on extracurricular activities is about the same.</p>
<p>Yet they’re spending less time with their friends in person – and by large margins. In the late 1970s, 52 percent of 12th-graders got together with their friends almost every day. By 2017, only 28 percent did. The drop was especially pronounced after 2010. </p>
<p><iframe id="5ezEn" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/5ezEn/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Today’s 10th-graders go to about 17 fewer parties a year than 10th-graders in the 1980s did. Overall, 12th-graders now spend an hour less on in-person social interaction on an average day than their Gen X predecessors did. </p>
<p>We wondered if these trends would have implications for feelings of loneliness, which are also measured in one of the surveys. Sure enough, just as the drop in face-to-face time accelerated after 2010, teens’ feelings of loneliness shot upward. </p>
<p>Among 12th graders, 39 percent said they often felt lonely in 2017, up from 26 percent in 2012. Thirty-eight percent said they often felt left out in 2017, up from 30 percent in 2012. In both cases, the 2017 numbers were all-time highs since the questions were first asked in 1977, with loneliness declining among teens before suddenly increasing.</p>
<p><iframe id="UmhvG" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/UmhvG/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>A new cultural norm</h2>
<p>As previous studies have shown, we did find that those teens who spent more time on social media also spent more time with their friends in person. </p>
<p>So why have in-person social interactions been going down, overall, as digital media use has increased? </p>
<p>It has to do with the group versus the individual. </p>
<p>Imagine a group of friends that doesn’t use social media. This group regularly gets together, but the more outgoing members are willing to hang out more than others, who might stay home once in a while. Then they all sign up for Instagram. The social teens are still more likely to meet up in person, and they’re also more active on their accounts. </p>
<p>However, the total number of in-person hangs for everyone in the group drops as social media replaces some face-to-face time. </p>
<p>So the decline in face-to-face interaction among teens isn’t just an individual issue; it’s a generational one. Even teens who eschew social media are affected: Who will hang out with them when most of their peers are alone in their bedrooms scrolling through Instagram?</p>
<p>Higher levels of loneliness are just the tip of the iceberg. Rates of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-mental-health-crisis-among-americas-youth-is-real-and-staggering-113239">depression</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-might-explain-the-unhappiness-epidemic-90212">unhappiness</a> also skyrocketed among teens after 2012, perhaps because spending more time with screens and less time with friends isn’t the best formula for mental health.</p>
<p>Some have argued that teens are simply <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2014/3/13/5488558/danah-boyd-interview-the-era-of-facebook-is-an-anomaly">choosing to communicate with their friends in a different way</a>, so the shift toward electronic communication isn’t concerning. </p>
<p>That argument assumes that electronic communication is just as good for assuaging loneliness and depression as face-to-face interaction. It seems clear that this isn’t the case. There’s something about being around another person – about touch, about eye contact, about laughter – that can’t be replaced by digital communication. </p>
<p>The result is a generation of teens who are lonelier than ever before.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113240/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jean Twenge does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the late 1970s, 52 percent of 12th-graders hung out with their friends almost every day. By 2017, only 28 percent were doing so.Jean Twenge, Professor of Psychology, San Diego State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1097542019-03-13T10:37:28Z2019-03-13T10:37:28ZBereaved who take comfort in digital messages from dead loved ones live in fear of losing them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262463/original/file-20190306-100802-12wic90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Antonio Guillem/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The internet is changing how we converse with the dead. While the bereaved have traditionally visited graves or burial sites to talk to deceased loved ones, some are now turning to digital spaces to continue their bonds with the dead.</p>
<p>Research has highlighted how some bereaved people use Facebook to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01972243.2013.777300#.UZuqnys6Vch">talk to the dead</a>, keeping them updated with family news by logging on and leaving messages with some expectation that their dead loved ones may read them. </p>
<p>Death-tech companies such as <a href="http://eterni.me/">Eternime</a> and <a href="https://www.lifenaut.com/">LifeNaut</a> now even offer ways for the dead to be digitally resurrected using artificial intelligence.</p>
<p>The dead are no longer hidden away, they are carried with us on our digital devices in the form of voicemails, WhatsApp messages, texts and photographs. But these social networks and messaging services were designed for people to stay in touch with the living. Using them to talk with the dead is blurring the distinction between the social lives of the living and those of the “socially active dead”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-here-to-eterni-me-the-quest-for-digital-immortality-33688">From here to Eterni.me – the quest for digital immortality</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Taking comfort</h2>
<p>As a sociologist I became interested in how everyday memories and messages received from loved ones take on new significance following the death of the sender. My research explores how these treasured digital possessions, available at a keystroke on everyday portable devices, affect how people grieve.</p>
<p>I interviewed 15 people who had inherited online digital memories and messages and <a href="https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/s12144-018-0006-5?author_access_token=Xbt2QzQbcHH59azM4ygf6ve4RwlQNchNByi7wbcMAY7q6zQ9NZJCXofAQqKyG34W8QszHeBsUX2Xwi0tPUN6hkIXS1bFVP9mUzekyf6coECN-d9VdCpmvqyq2DKgZLLhsMV9yNSgoxGJ6jLorCxpWQ%3D%3D">found many took real comfort</a> from the messages stored on social networking sites. It wasn’t the profound or purposeful WhatsApp and text messages the people I interviewed found most comforting, but rather the every day messages – such as “I’m ringing the doorbell”, “speak later” and “I’m with you in spirit”. </p>
<p>One woman, Sarah* explained how she found comfort in the LinkedIn page of her dead aunt. Her aunt didn’t upload a photograph on the professional networking site, so there is standard grey outline instead, and the woman explained she found this “little shadow thing” poignant. </p>
<p>Issues around access and retrieval were of paramount importance to the bereaved people I spoke to – and any sense of comfort was always inextricably linked to securing and having control of the messages. </p>
<p>Many of my participants explained their fear of losing the data by either the obsolescence of the hardware or software. One woman, Emma*, described how she felt following the death of her best friend, when his Facebook page disappeared from the platform:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Then one day I hadn’t visited his page for a while, and when I searched for it, it was gone. My heart dropped. I felt panicky, I went to pictures other people had posted of him, thinking I could follow the tags to find him, but they were gone. The pictures were just his face, with no way to get to him. It was like losing him all over again.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262469/original/file-20190306-100793-15lcq87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262469/original/file-20190306-100793-15lcq87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262469/original/file-20190306-100793-15lcq87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262469/original/file-20190306-100793-15lcq87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262469/original/file-20190306-100793-15lcq87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262469/original/file-20190306-100793-15lcq87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262469/original/file-20190306-100793-15lcq87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scared of being locked out.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bangkok-thailand-march-18-2018-facebook-1048440403">Chinnapong/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The fear of second loss</h2>
<p>Amy* whose sister had died, had taken great comfort in reading old messages and listening to answerphone messages her sister had left her. Amy told me how she’d purchased software to take the voicemails off her mobile and transferred onto her laptop:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I bought some software … because I just couldn’t get the audio messages. I couldn’t save them. I wanted them on my laptop … they are my most treasured thing. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some people told me they were reluctant to upgrade their telephones, deeply concerned that the precious messages would be lost if they did. Pam*, whose daughter had died, explained that she hadn’t upgraded her telephone for five years. She said losing the text messages and voicemails would be like “losing her again”.</p>
<p>There are some <a href="https://www.deadsocial.org">third-party tools</a> that can assist with the transfer of these precious messages, but still many of those I interviewed told me they were reluctant to use them in case the messages are lost in the process. Pam explained that by transferring the data she felt that she would somehow lose part of the “essence” of her daughter. </p>
<p>This fear of <a href="https://rdcu.be/7wWD">second loss</a> is a new phenomenon for those grieving in our digital society. While images of the dead stowed away in boxes of photos in attics may well fade or perish over time, they don’t form part of people’s everyday lives in such a socially active way as digital memories do. </p>
<p>The digital data of the dead is far more than code – it contains the digital souls of the deceased. While, for some, the internet provides comfort by enabling a continuing relationship with the departed, for others it is causing a new anxiety – the fear of second loss. </p>
<p><em>* Names have been changed throughout the piece to protect the anonymity of interviewees.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109754/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Debra Bassett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With digital immortality comes fear of digital erasure from those who treasure messages and photos of dead loved ones.Debra Bassett, PhD Candidate, University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1078362018-12-03T22:06:08Z2018-12-03T22:06:08ZThe promise of the “learn to code” movement<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248557/original/file-20181203-194953-16inz5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Truly learning to code involves more than episodic experiences. Students should ideally develop a 'coding mindset.'</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/kwzWjTnDPLk">Nesa by makers/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>This week, educators, students and the public around the world are participating in <a href="https://csedweek.org/">Computer Science Education Week</a> by organizing and leading one-hour coding tutorials. </p>
<p>By the start of the week, more than <a href="https://hourofcode.com/ca/events/all/ca">2,700 Canadian coding events</a> had been registered with <a href="https://code.org">Code.org</a>, a not-for-profit organization in the United States that promotes the week.
This annual event incorporates the spirit of the “learn to code” movement; it aims to attract interest and engage students from primary grades to senior secondary levels in developing coding skills. </p>
<p><a href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/coding-21st-century-skill">Governments</a>, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2017/10/18/considering-a-new-job-here-are-10-industries-in-need-of-programmers/#3c0905e65fe3">corporations</a>, <a href="https://k12cs.org">associations in the computer science field</a> and <a href="https://code.org/quotes">trend-setters</a> all assert that learning to code will play a key role in the future. In this context, learning to code is often presented as a panacea to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/careers/careers-blog/2015/apr/14/coding-isnt-just-for-the-next-zuckerberg-it-can-help-dentists-too">job market problems</a> of the 21st century. </p>
<p>But for educators, there are multiple factors to consider when deciding what coding skills and which approaches to promote. How should they present what coding offers? </p>
<h2>Disillusioned workforce</h2>
<p>We take particular interest in this topic. Together we combine years of training in computer science, educational technology and educational psychology; our research interest is to develop a teaching and learning model for introducing down-to-earth computer programming concepts and logic. </p>
<p>We want research in computer science education to suit the needs and characteristics of 21st-century learners.
Otherwise, the cost will be an ill-prepared and disillusioned workforce. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248112/original/file-20181130-194928-1h186mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248112/original/file-20181130-194928-1h186mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248112/original/file-20181130-194928-1h186mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248112/original/file-20181130-194928-1h186mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248112/original/file-20181130-194928-1h186mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248112/original/file-20181130-194928-1h186mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248112/original/file-20181130-194928-1h186mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The learn-to-code movement is promising and represents an answer to preparing learners for a digital future. Nonetheless, educators have a responsibility to ensure computer science education fully suits the needs and characteristics of 21st-century learners.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelpollak/14005409228">Michael Pollak/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why code?</h2>
<p>In an era of an insecure job market, when <a href="http://reports.weforum.org/future-of-jobs-2018/workforce-trends-and-strategies-for-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/?doing_wp_cron=1543552438.9746980667114257812500">redundant professions are projected to be eliminated while new ones arise</a>, learning to code gives hope to our collective imagination. </p>
<p>It creates the promise of alternative sources of income as well as opportunities for self-employment given the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/janicegassam/2018/08/15/the-25-highest-paying-jobs-in-america-in-2018/#30f747d55fd5">demand of coding skills in a variety of industries</a>.</p>
<p>Learning to code is not just a younger-generation trend. For example, <a href="https://scratch.mit.edu">Scratch</a> is a <a href="https://scratch.mit.edu/statistics/">popular</a> tool used <a href="http://ims.mii.lt/ims/konferenciju_medziaga/ICER'10/docs/p69.pdf">in and outside of classrooms</a> to create, share and remix games. It allows intergenerational learning where youth, adults and seniors can <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15350770.2018.1404855">create game prototypes</a>. </p>
<p>Coding can be used to automate tasks, solve complex problems, forecast, or simulate events that did not happen yet. A trendy area of interest for businesses is <a href="https://www.morningfuture.com/en/article/2018/02/21/data-analyst-data-scientist-big-data-work/235/">data analytics</a>, a field involving
making sense of massive amounts of data.</p>
<p>When we live in a digital world, many problems we encounter with solving technical computer issues, controlling devices, or managing online brands can be solved with coding. </p>
<p>For a long time, researchers have associated coding with the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/00346543060001065">development of problem-solving skills</a>.
Jeannette Wing coined the term <a href="http://www.cs.cmu.edu/%7E./15110-s13/Wing06-ct.pdf">computational thinking</a> to denote attitudes and skills, including problem-solving and analyzing systems, that can be drawn from fundamental concepts of computer science. </p>
<p>This notion of computational thinking presented an opportunity for educators to explore how coding could be used as a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563214004634?via%3Dihub">means for developing other relevant skills, such as problem-solving, creative thinking and critical judgement</a>.</p>
<h2>Believe the hype?</h2>
<p>In the U.S., jobs for computer programmers are <a href="https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/computer-programmers.htm#tab-6">projected to decrease</a> because contracts are being outsourced. But the hype around coding is still increasing. </p>
<p>Due to this gap, critics suggest that the movement will potentially <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/21/coding-education-teaching-silicon-valley-wages">create a cheaper workforce</a>. Once everyone learns to code, the market will become overcrowded and employers will not need to offer a competitive salary.</p>
<p>While participating in a coding event may suggest that learning to code is easy, the truth is that episodic experience does not translate to coding skills. In making learning to code attractive, there is a danger of <a href="https://www.cs.utexas.edu/%7EEWD/transcriptions/EWD10xx/EWD1036.html">misrepresenting computer programming by oversimplifying concepts</a>. To develop as a coder requires effort, persistence and patience. </p>
<p>Computer science researcher Leon Winslow estimated in 1996 that it <a href="https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=234872">takes approximately 10 years to turn a novice into an expert coder</a>. Researchers have been debating the best way to teach introductory computer programming. There is <a href="https://www.seas.upenn.edu/%7Eeas285/Readings/Pears_SurveyTeachingIntroProgramming.pdf">no consensus yet on the answer</a>.</p>
<p>Further, how can we ensure that what kids learn today will be aligned with the jobs and needs of the future? We can only speculate.</p>
<h2>Fourth industrial revolution</h2>
<p>Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, highlights that with the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/about/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-by-klaus-schwab">emergence of the fourth industrial revolution</a>, information and the ability to manipulate it will be essential for survival in a future workforce. </p>
<p>We do know information management and manipulation will be key to creating and maintaining physical, digital and biological systems that will be part of our homes and workplaces. We know we have complex problems to solve. </p>
<p>Coding can help by processing raw observations into concrete simulations: that means using data from the past and present to create model scenarios to forecast the future. </p>
<p>Such simulations could be used to fight <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/420595/how-coders-can-help-fight-climate-change/">climate change</a>, to <a href="https://www.geotab.com/blog/reduce-traffic-congestion/">reduce traffic</a> and even to <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/how-coders-are-fighting-bias-in-facial-recognition-software/">fight racial bias</a> in social media. </p>
<p>Creativity and critical thinking will also be fundamental, <a href="https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-future-of-jobs">as these skills will probably be one of the only ways to compete with artificial intelligence</a>. </p>
<p>Workers will require swift decision-making skills in an accelerated work environment requiring flexibility and adaptability. </p>
<p>This scenario does not preclude the capacity to create and understand code. But the requirements are more complex.
A key in addressing future challenges through coding lies in assessing opportunities to complement the learn to code movement. </p>
<h2>A coding mindset</h2>
<p>We want to propose that beginner coders could start with an attractive and engaging activity, but should also explicitly develop what could be called “the coding mindset.” </p>
<p>This mindset represents a gradual development of computer programming knowledge and strategies, but also includes analyzing systems, solving problems, persisting in front of errors, being resourceful and collaborating.</p>
<p>To teach the coding mindset, educators need to include more explicit foundational computer science concepts and competencies, such as <a href="https://research.hackerrank.com/developer-skills/2018/">creating algorithms to solve problems, debugging existing programs, and designing systems to accomplish new tasks or gather data</a>. </p>
<p>Learning to code should not be intimidating. But it should fulfil promises, not simply hype mythic dreams.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107836/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ann-Louise Davidson receives funding from SSHRC and Concordia University</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ivan Ruby does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Learning to code is often presented as a solution to job market problems of the 21st century, but are students really learning the competencies they will need?Ivan Ruby, Ph.D. Student, Concordia UniversityAnn-Louise Davidson, Concordia University Research Chair, Maker culture; Associate Professor, Educational Technology, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/993452018-07-27T08:44:01Z2018-07-27T08:44:01ZDigital nomads: what it’s really like to work while travelling the world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229441/original/file-20180726-106505-7iyjyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">She makes it look so easy. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-beautiful-woman-hipster-traveler-freelancer-678618808?src=v9BGhLr0nfHUCcQ-HV_ILg-8-43">Shutterstock.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The phrase “digital nomad” summons the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/11597145/Living-and-working-in-paradise-the-rise-of-the-digital-nomad.html">trope of joyful millennials</a> who escape the daily grind to travel the world, working with laptops on far flung beaches. Bullish statistics are regularly regurgitated: “There will be <a href="https://levels.io/future-of-digital-nomads/">one billion digital nomads</a> by 2035,” the headlines declare. </p>
<p>As an <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anthropology">anthropologist</a>, I started researching digital nomadism in 2015. It took me three years to develop an understanding of what might be going on, behind the corporate jargon. I can’t offer hard statistics: until new systems such as <a href="https://e-estonia.com/digital-nomads-visa-shape-urban-employment/">Estonia’s digital nomad visa</a> – an easy route for people to live and work in Estonia for a year – get off the ground, no one can. But I’ve met hundreds of people who think of themselves as digital nomads – and many more who have dreamed about becoming one. </p>
<p>The first thing I learned is that how people feel about the label “digital nomad” changes over time. People starting out often assume it’s a permanent lifestyle – but that’s rarely the case. As one participant explained, “I went to a conference, drank the cool aid, went to Thailand. But I don’t go around calling myself a digital nomad now, it’s a bit naff”.</p>
<p>Indeed, there’s <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21931674.2016.1229930">still debate</a> about whether it’s a buzzword or a bone fide phenomenon. Some have even <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/11745398.2017.1358098">tried to define</a> how “authentic” a digital nomads is, by how much they move from place to place. And online forums such as Reddit play host to <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/digitalnomad/comments/65sxea/whats_the_digital_nomad_population_of_chiang_mai/">heated debates</a> about who’s a real digital nomad, and who is merely “tedious and self-promoting”. </p>
<h2>Escaping the everyday</h2>
<p>Most of the digital nomads I spoke to, who once had static jobs, told me that they were escaping from deeply rooted problems in the contemporary Western workplace. A common trigger is economic: one of my respondents, Zeb, was working three restaurant jobs to make the rent in San Francisco. The city sucked up all his time and money. This scuppered his plans to sell recycled products online. Swapping expensive California for affordable South-East Asia helped Zeb to launch his own business. </p>
<p>Even more common are objections to bad work cultures. Lissette, a skilled translator from Hamburg, Germany is able to produce high quality work quickly. She soon tired of the culture of subtle bullying and presenteeism at her workplace. She explained, “I’m efficient, I like to get the work done and leave on time. Other staff were obviously scared to leave first, so would sit at their desks on Facebook”. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229460/original/file-20180726-106502-1m9of8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229460/original/file-20180726-106502-1m9of8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229460/original/file-20180726-106502-1m9of8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229460/original/file-20180726-106502-1m9of8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229460/original/file-20180726-106502-1m9of8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229460/original/file-20180726-106502-1m9of8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229460/original/file-20180726-106502-1m9of8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The daily grind.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/liverpool-street-station-uk-rush-hour-28415320?src=V4LCtqXffEyOCLZbX06Yxw-1-100">Shutterstock.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Activist and anthropologist David Graeber uses the phrase “<a href="http://strikemag.org/bullshit-jobs/">bullshit jobs</a>” to refer to pointless work: apt, given that <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/news/2015/08/12/british-jobs-meaningless/">nearly 40% British adults</a> believe their jobs are meaningless. This could be expanded to include <a href="https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/media/press-releases/up-to-a-third-of-millennials-face-renting-from-cradle-to-grave/">bullshit housing</a> (poor quality and too expensive), or bullshit economies, which <a href="https://theconversation.com/young-people-are-leading-a-growing-movement-against-low-pay-and-precarious-work-97202">don’t provide young people</a> with wages they can live on. Faced with these challenges, it’s hardly surprising that those new to the world of work are already desperate to escape. </p>
<h2>CEO of Me Inc.</h2>
<p>Yet there are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/18/digital-nomad-homeless-tech-work">certain complexities</a> that come with living as a citizen of the world. As Lissette said, “digital nomads can quickly become isolated or unaccountable”. </p>
<p>Digital nomads have to shoulder responsibility for almost every aspect of modern life: their <a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html">mental health, daily routine, income, safety and shelter</a>. Most digital nomads travel on tourist visas, which require them to up sticks and move regularly – an experience my participants have described as disorienting. </p>
<p>On top of all this, many digital nomads run their own businesses, and face pressure to develop distinctive personal brands. They often can’t attend in-person meetings or pitches, so they need an online marketing strategy that will get them noticed and win clients. </p>
<p>Workers are forced to think of themselves as the “<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/28905/brand-called-you">CEO of Me Inc.</a>”: this means having a unique brand, a marketing strategy and sales skills. They often have to do their own graphic design, copywriting and web design as well. Anthropologist Iliana Gershon has explored <a href="https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/plar.12075">personal branding in Silicon Valley</a>, and found that many workers there need such skills just to get a job in a traditional office. So digital nomads are taking this trend to a new extreme. </p>
<h2>Are you happy?</h2>
<p>For those digital nomads who make a living as professional bloggers, it’s also part of their job to sell the lifestyle. As a result, many try and project a stable, and happy image online. Lissette explained: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>There’s a danger, that when my aunt looks at Instagram, she sees that everything looks so happy here on the beach. Of course, my digital identity always looks happier than my life is. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>But at some point, most of my research participants have lamented the loss of some aspect of location dependence, a chat over a water cooler, regular work hours, an office party. They miss some of the things they are escaping. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229447/original/file-20180726-106517-qrroxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229447/original/file-20180726-106517-qrroxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229447/original/file-20180726-106517-qrroxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229447/original/file-20180726-106517-qrroxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229447/original/file-20180726-106517-qrroxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229447/original/file-20180726-106517-qrroxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229447/original/file-20180726-106517-qrroxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lost at sea.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mockup-image-woman-using-laptop-blank-1008790915?src=v9BGhLr0nfHUCcQ-HV_ILg-1-96">Shutterstock.</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>It’s hardly surprising that blogs and articles aimed at digital nomads obsess over the recurring themes of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kaviguppta/2015/02/25/digital-nomads-are-redefining-what-it-means-to-be-productive/#3be18c423689">productivity</a>, <a href="http://www.makingitanywhere.com/digital-nomad-skills/">resilience</a>, positive thinking, focus and mindfulness. But the flipside to all this relentless positivity is <a href="https://hackernoon.com/i-went-full-nomad-and-it-almost-broke-me-2a02c5e8f138">burnout</a>. As one participant told me, “it’s all too easy to lose yourself in a sea of choices”. </p>
<p>As social entrepreneur <a href="https://hackernoon.com/i-went-full-nomad-and-it-almost-broke-me-2a02c5e8f138">Sam Applebee</a> explains, burnout creeps up on people slowly, while “your self-awareness and the ability to save yourself erodes”. Many nomads I’ve interviewed just pack up and go home without telling anyone. Others pop home because they had too much stuff stored with friends and family, fully intending to go back out on the road – but never do. </p>
<p>Digital nomadism can be rewarding, and offers an escape from the drudgery of office life. But it’s important that aspiring digital nomads read up and think deeply about the importance of community and mental health in their lives. Freedom does not mean the same thing for everyone. </p>
<p><em>Names of participants have been changed to protect their anonymity.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99345/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dave Cook does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Go beyond the corporate jargon to really understand the freedom and challenges that come with being a digital nomad.Dave Cook, PhD Researcher, Anthropology, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.