[iDC] The Bronx Blog Project

[tobias c. van Veen]

Hi Josh,

It sounds like a great project & I think the politics are great. However
I've been thinking about the downside to social networking ever since
listening to the "Privacy is Dead" talk by Steve Ramban:

    http://www.hopenumbersix.net/speakers.html#pid2

Not that I'm against social networking. I use it myself, have a blog, etc.
But I have since thought long & hard about what I put up on the Net; and
taken steps since towards private browsing, a more controlled data trail,
etc.

I'm curious, was there a discussion concerning privacy and security concerns
related to the newbie blogger's desire to put your whole life up online..?

I was struck by the phrase that blogging pictures of one's girlfriend and
children was a positive step in the blogsphere in the sense of "getting into
it." But who is getting into whom?

I.e. was there a discussion concerning crowdsourcing by corporations & how
much of social networking's raison-d-etre is data harvesting?

And how data harvesting is constructing a very different Net -- now that
Google & MySpace collectively "are" the Net.

I.e., did any student have the option of *not* blogging due to these
concerns? And was the choice presented as such or was blogging -- or one's
virtual self -- the default participation of the class and an assumed good
to begin with? 

Curious ..

best,

    tobias





tobias c. van Veen -----------++++
http://www.quadrantcrossing.org --
McGill Communication & Philosophy