Facebook’ problematic relationship with privacy issues infuriates most of its users; it has ensured that no contemporary discussion of online privacy can proceed without a Facebook-related example. This has largely been the case because Facebook set out to provide a means of social networking and communication with an architecture designed to induce behavior in itsContinue reading “Reflections on Facebook, Part Two”
Tag Archives: Facebook
Reflections on Facebook, Part One
This post is the first of several posts I intend to write on my Facebook experiences. Like many (very many!) people, I’m a Facebook user. And like many of those people, I have a vexed relationship with it, a fact best demonstrated by my decision to leave Facebook a couple of years ago, close myContinue reading “Reflections on Facebook, Part One”
Flippin’ Channels to the Debate and Stayin’ Right There
A few days ago, I posted a note here saying I would not deign to pay attention to the debates. Last night, after a dinner date with my Brooklyn College colleague, Corey Robin, during the course of which I remarked, ‘Debates are to you what sports are to me’, I returned home, intending to watchContinue reading “Flippin’ Channels to the Debate and Stayin’ Right There”
Bill Keller and Some Elementary Confusions About Technology and Privacy
Bill Keller argues for a national identification card, urging Americans to ‘get over’ their fears about its abuse: You might start with the Social Security card. You would issue a plastic version, and in it you would embed a chip containing biometric information: a fingerprint, an eye scan or a digital photo. The employer wouldContinue reading “Bill Keller and Some Elementary Confusions About Technology and Privacy”
Distraction, Political Activism Online, and the Neglected Physical Sphere
Frank Pasquale left a very interesting comment on my post yesterday, highlighting the political implications of the attention deficit disorder that the ‘Net facilitates and enhances. (Please read the full comment, and if you have the time, chase down the wonderful links that Pasquale provides. Ironic advice, perhaps, given the subject under discussion.) I wantContinue reading “Distraction, Political Activism Online, and the Neglected Physical Sphere”
Cyberflânerie Contd.
My post yesterday on cyberflanerie sparked a couple of thoughtful and interesting comments in response. John says: [T]he social web also permits us to make ‘friends’ on the basis of common interests. On blogs or on Twitter, we regularly see conversations between former strangers on subjects of common interest. And David Barry said: [T]o a smallContinue reading “Cyberflânerie Contd.”
Evgeny Morozov on the Death of the Cyberflâneur
Evgeny Morozov pens a thoughtful piece on the death of the cyberflâneur – a natural consequence of the customized, walled-off, app-and-Like-and-Tweet-button-infested ‘Net that is staring us in the face–no pun intended–as Mark Zuckerberg and his merry band of Facebook buccaneers ride through town, rolling blunts in thousand-dollar bills. (Morozov runs the inevitable risk of turningContinue reading “Evgeny Morozov on the Death of the Cyberflâneur”
Samir Chopra 