Consumer and Producer

As discussed  previously in the this blog technology and media is virtually everywhere from smart phones, laptops, computers, ipads, to on the go or at home. It seeps into nearly every aspect of our lives " Everywhere we remain unfree and chained to technology, whether we passionately affirm or deny it"(1). Along with this new and ever changing technology comes social media, a way to connect, to brand, endorse, be something new, create, collaborate, consume and produce.  Although these forms of media can contribute and expand to our existence at times they can have devastating effects on our lives. For instance in 2013 a British first youth police commissioner resigned from her post after homophobic and  drug related tweets that she had posted between the ages of 14 and 16 were released (uk.news.yahoo.com).  A survey conducted by Northon by Symentec in 2011 showed that “more than half of UK adults would remove everything they had ever posted online about themselves if they could” (2). A similar situation arose with an employee of IAC that tweeted a racist and inappropriate comment. The employee was subsequently fired for her a actions (www.theguardian.com). People become the producer of their own social identity because of these social platforms that are made available to them. However, neglect to understand the consequence of their actions. This freedom of speech becomes blurred by these ignorant comment, certain user of these sites saying what every they want with out basic concepts of the social repercussions. Weather or not a tweet or comment was made at the age of 14 or not it should not be accepted into society for a, public figure or not, to make racist or discriminatory comments on social networking sites. Harsh actions should be taken to allow for people to understand that they cannot say what they want on social media it is an aspect of live that should be taken seriously. If one is to become the moderator of their own social networking site they should have the sense to know that every action has a consequence.

The point was made in the article uk.news.yahoo.com that privacy and protection of ones profile should be made. Although, in tern is a good thing, it also posses the question on whether or no employers have the right to look at these profiles to know what kind of person one is? It could be argued that if unsocial, racist, discriminatory or sexist comments are being made by someone an employer should know as not to promote these behaviour in a workplace.

Ending Here

Footnotes

(1) Heidegger, Martin. "The question concerning technology." Technology and values: Essential readings (1954): 99-113.
(2) Waugh, Rob. 2015. 'How To 'Clean Up' Online To Land That Job'. Yahoo News UK. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/tweet-paris-brown-controversy-how-to--clean-up--online-to-land-that-job-103722398.html#WuqMcf9.
uk.news.yahoo.com