are you still home?
10:17pmGreg
yes if you mean Pgh.
10:17pmMe
just got K's msg about defriending ###### for Mom. I can't do that. Would need access to her account and pw to do that. So perhaps you can while there.
This is one area where Mom and I disagree, but she has the right to her own opinions and "friends"
10:18pmGreg
I can handle it...think I'll just hide ### for her...that way #### won't hound her and won't know that she isn't seeing ####'s posts unless ### posts to her directly
10:19pmMe
I thought of that and while I'd advocate hiding too, I think if she looks at her friends list, then she'll know ### is still there.
10:19pmGreg
it's a more "polite" way to ignore
we already talked about that
chances are real good ### won't
talk to her any more on FB than #### does already
10:20pmMe
abso, as long as she agrees
I've spam foldered ##### already. The crap I get from her isn't even personal email.
Just lame and stupid jokes.
The last series of Obama "cartoons" are positively racist, some of them, so off to spam she goes.
10:21pmGreg
I haven't received a single post from ### --to me, since friending.
#### is no more a part of my life now than before FB
no surprise
10:23pmMe
I am one for maintaining congeniality. which fb is a great way to do
friendship/contact but without the sticky stuff.
10:24pmGreg
I am no more/less congenial...like I said, the connection is the same as before.
I think ###, like most "collects" friends...
something I am not interested in doing
I only have about 150 people
on my list
not several hundred
10:25pmMe
I've had marvelous time reconnecting with bricks and mortar friends, some from as many as 30 years ago.
10:25pmGreg
did that with 1-2 people
most are people I already am in steady contact with on a regular basis
10:26pmMe
had a great discussion with 10 people over a photo from the early 90's ITVA. Might even inspire a reunion. Social media at its best.
10:27pmGreg
nice when it does that
10:28pmMe
My latest "friend" is a sophomore college roommate.
10:29pmGreg
so far, the "blasts from the past" have all been "friend collectors"...friended and initiated conversation and it only goes on for a brief exchange...
but that's ok
I'm busy enough
without
the need to search out old connections
10:30pmMe
My last exchange, over the photo, went on for weeks. It was real. Many memories, (+) shared amongst us.
10:34pmMe
lately been adding professional contacts. When you're a small biz, any touch is a good one. Never know what will stick in peoples' heads when making the next purchase decision for creative talent
10:35pmGreg
that is good--the possibility of connecting/reconnecting, but i still maintain some healthy skepticism about FB and other conduits of this nature
10:37pmMe
Social media is here to stay, an important social movement, democratizing media. Individual results will vary according to the user, but the important thing is that everybody has a place at the table if they so chose. Even 79 year old G'ma!
10:48pmGreg
no disagreement...just healthy skepticism
10:48pmMe
re your own use or others?
10:49pmGreg
I think it's great, no GREAT for people like ##### who have no other way to connect, being wheelchair bound
10:50pmGreg
but there are people, kids mainly, who are socially backward when it comes to face to face interaction because they are soooooo addicted to FB--it has replaced getting out and being w/flesh & blood people
I have students who tell me they don't like to hang out any other way than on FB
10:52pmMe
it's a different, brand new level of connection. if you are able bodied and social, then it's just another channel. I look at B and his friends. Totally normal healthy teen social lives, loves, etc. Total FB'ites. I think for the ones that aren't naturally social it's an alternative to total alienation.
FB doesn't cause alienation, it alleviates it.
10:53pmGreg
not necessarily
it has, in my estimation, widened the pool of social introverts
people who might have otherwise taken a risk and met people in the flesh, play it safe
not always a bad thing, unless
it becomes an end, not a means to a greater end
social interaction is about trying and failing and eventually succeeding
10:55pmMe
I've seen a study that speaks against that view, that biggest social media users have healthy social lives and that it improves esteem. Buried in my links somewhere. Not to negate your "anecdotal evidence."
10:57pmGreg
FB allows too many to play it safe...teaches a shorthand for communication/interaction and doesn't help the less sure become more sure of them selves
we have differing viewpoints
I like it
and use it
but don't believe it is more than just another, more technically advanced way to get/stay in touch
10:58pmMe
Then again, positive engagement on it for the timid may inspire reaching out in more b&m social outlets. I think it swings both ways.
10:58pmGreg
but it is cold
lacks the warmth of a handshake
a hug
11:00pmMe
I dunno. I've resurrected conversations and relationships with folks from my past that I might never have had otherwise. Felt warm to me, mostly because the conversations have historical resonances.
11:01pmGreg
it is a just another way to reach out for those who are already socially adept...like I said, I'm not anti-FB, I just don't see it as the be-all and end-all that some do.
11:01pmMe
I love seeing pictures that people post. Those are warm, particularly if I see people I was 20-30-something with and now they have kids and grandkids I've never seen.
11:02pmGreg
we aren't disagreeing here, really.
11:02pmMe
just thinking "out loud"
11:02pmGreg
you are already socially connected
it is just another way for you
11:03pmMe
there are abuses too. won't deny that.
11:04pmGreg
to me, the perfect example of what I am saying is when kids would rather text the person in the same room than walking over to talk to the person...this is an example of the new "techno intimacy"
almost like 1-900-HOTBABE without the sound
one step removed from actual connection
11:05pmMe
I'm guilty of phoning my son upstairs with his hphones on, rather than screaming "BEEENNNEEETTT, get down here!"
11:05pmGreg
after all, it is virtual
not the same thing
11:06pmMe
linguists, comm. theorists say all communication is virtual.
11:06pmGreg
I am talking about two kids, sitting a table or two away from each other who would rather text than talk
some may say this, not all
but to me virtual reality and physical reality are distinctly diff
11:08pmMe
those kids prob don't want to attract (the teacher)'s attention. I don't blame them ;-)
11:08pmGreg
no shit, considering that it is illegal!
at least in IL
they are breaking the law, as established by the state of IL
11:09pmMe
texting in class?
11:09pmGreg
any cell phones in class
why not text each other the answers to the test
11:09pmMe
wow, talk about big GVT!
11:09pmGreg
or, better yet, I will send you a photo text of my answer sheet
11:11pmMe
I don't advocate cheating, mind, but I have problems when the state supersedes the teacher or parent's "natural" authority.
11:12pmGreg
teachers actually like the law.
11:12pmMe
They shouldn't. It's antidemocratic
11:13pmGreg
what about the case where the kids bait the teacher and phone record the whole thing and upload it to YouTube...that's democracy at its finest
11:13pmMe
I'll bet you it gets challenged in court someday
11:14pmMe
that's an invasion of privacy, and should be actionable by the school, but I still don't see it as criminal.
11:15pmGreg
nah, it's just a "good-natured" prank, calculated to embarrass the teacher for millions to see
11:15pmMe
The nexus of privacy and criminality is still gray area. Remember, we have no constitutional guarantee of privacy.
Pranks are not necessarily criminal acts.
11:16pmGreg
true...but sometimes they can cost a person's reputation and possibly even their job
kids don't have the maturity to make appropriate judgment on things like this
11:17pmMe
Bill Czenk poured fiberglass "itching powder" down my back my sophomore year. Was it criminal or a prank?
11:17pmGreg
"i was only funning"
11:18pmGreg
it's not my fault the teacher was embarrassed in front of our whole community and had to go before the school board to explain how we badgered him/her until he/she lost it in front of us
11:18pmMe
Teachers need to be protected in their classrooms, so the kid should be expelled, but not arrested.
11:19pmGreg
heck
he/she was probably a bad teacher who deserved to be fired anyway
expulsion is actually about the same
as arrest
most expulsions require law enforcement intervention first
a charge has to be filed
otherwise
no grounds to expel
11:20pmMe
did you hear about the teacher case in Main Line PA? She blogged about an experience with a student, though she didn't mention the student by name. The blog got her fired.
11:20pmGreg
at least in public school
11:21pmMe
I don't know the law, but I'll bet an expulsion doesn't leave one with a juvy criminal record.
11:21pmGreg
back to my original point about the "new media"...caveat emptor!
11:22pmMe
To me it's less about the new media and more about the old safeguards.
11:22pmGreg
juvy criminal records are expunged at age 18, an expulsion is part of a child's permanent record
Like I said, I like it and I use it, but I realize its limitations and pitfalls...and others should proceed with their eyes open
I don't want it to go away...
just want others to be more aware
and see it for what it is...sleek and fast and cool,
but not without warts
11:24pmMe
Look at Breitbart and co. Breitbart was a known commodity. Sherrod was wronged, less by him, than by the traditional media outlets, the NAACP and the administration who fired her, but who all failed to act on tried and true (journalistic) principles of fact checking and searching for objectivity.
11:25pmGreg
exactly my point
11:25pmMe
I'm still revising my "media literacy" workshop for some future teaching gig. You've provided an interesting discourse.
11:25pmGreg
like I said, we aren't really disagreeing
In fact, I'm taking a one week tech/media course in 2 weeks
part of my recert. process
11:28pmGreg
how about...with rights come responsibilities...with cool technology comes the need for heightened awareness of implications of engagement...
kids like being tech savvy w/o having to own the results of their tech-frivolous actions
11:29pmMe
I think also that the tech needs to go a long way toward protecting the rights it now tramples on. No cellphone should be able to record an image without warning
I thought cameras on cellphones was a horrendous, anti-privacy violation
11:29pmGreg
what? this sounds contradictory to me
11:30pmMe
I don't think so. I'm not for unfettered technology. I only think it's unfettered because there aren't adequate tech safeguards against having your rights violated.
11:30pmGreg
time and place...there is a time & place for everything...many are not appropriate...but kids (and adults) don't always make the right distinction.
11:31pmMe
You've heard about "Laptopgate" in Lower Merion? I blogged about it
11:32pmGreg
just like I like an uncensored internet, I like cameras on cell phones, but I realize there is a time and place when I can/cannot use it
11:32pmMe
should/should not.
11:32pmGreg
face it, socially we are behind the curve set by technology...we are destined to play catch up, not matter what.
11:33pmMe
That is until the tech becomes smarter.
Right now, innovation is pure tech but eventually it will become smarter and socially savvy
11:33pmGreg
AI? Now that's not scary at all...and a whole different discussion
11:34pmMe
Not really. I think social media technology, paradoxical as it sounds, will eventually lead that tech privacy charge. It' s a critical mass thing.
11:34pmGreg
our social interactions are destined to play catch-up to tech advances
11:34pmMe
the worm will turn. mark my words
11:34pmGreg
...sounds like a R. Anton Wilson theme
11:35pmMe
don't know him
11:35pmGreg
we will eventually embrace and be saved by the "villain"
11:35pmMe
so it's a Rick theme for now. one I've been espousing for decades
11:36pmGreg
he wrote the Illuminati series
He spent most of the books setting them up to be the heinous, big brother villain, but in the last work had them come to save the day...
what a Mindf**k
11:37pmMe
tech is neither villain or savior. Human application is villainous or heroic.
11:38pmGreg
nucular weapons aren't dangerous, just the people who possess them (sp intentional)
the history of man
plays out
from
stone age
to now
only the size and
shape of the tools have changed
11:38pmMe
a teacher who has a chip implant or pocket device that scrambles recording would be free to rob a bank or just prevent some jackass from baiting him in class and posting it on the net
11:39pmMe
smaller, cheaper, more democratic
11:39pmGreg
some schools/universities have toyed with the idea of installing signal scramblers to eliminate the problem,
but there are 2 big problems:
1
cost
2
emergencies that necessitate the use of devices
11:40pmMe
so that tech would need to shrink to personal level.
like phones. You used to have to leave the classroom, go to an office, to use a phone
now you just fish in your pocket pull it out and instant connectivity
11:41pmGreg
no, I have a working phone on my desk
it's just not fun
to use it
kids
can bring their phones to school
but must store them in their lockers
for use
before or after
school
any other use
they are confiscated and
the student has an automatic
Saturday detention
and the parent has to come to school
to retrieve the phone
that is how most schools
interpret the state school law
mine included
11:43pmMe
that's a better social engineering solution than making something illegal.
11:44pmGreg
the only way we were allowed to have this consequence was because the state made it school law
11:44pmMe
a school can have and enforce that as policy without the need for legislative or judicial action on part of the state
11:44pmGreg
not true
what you just said
we had a very lenient non-law before
and we were not allowed
to confiscate phones
against legal rights
11:45pmMe
by law? hmm. I still say it's bad law.
11:46pmGreg
easy to say from your perspective
11:46pmMe
The law should be written to allow exercise of reasonable non judicial policy.
11:46pmGreg
75% of the parents we deal with will hang us on any technicality they can find
11:47pmMe
I understand that practically speaking it makes your job easier. But many bad laws are written to make somebody's job easier.
11:47pmGreg
the relationship between school and home has never been more contentious
11:47pmMe
I can see that.
11:47pmGreg
teaching has never been as high respect field in this country,
11:47pmMe
It's an ethical issue IMHO and not a legal one.
11:48pmGreg
but the legal precedent is the only effective tool to address the ethical concern
sorry, but we are powerless otherwise
until parents
actually believe that teachers should be respected
the greater majority would rather take the side of a child and "shoot first", ask questions later...
never doubt that a child has made a poor choice
and wants to cover his/her butt
so I'll lie to Mom/Dad
cause they will believe me over an adult-teacher
that is the NORM
not the EXCEPTION
sad but true. just wait ...
11:51pmMe
I see that it is an expedient solution. But IMHO, not the best one.
11:51pmGreg
... eventually teachers will be the new "postal" employees...they'll be saying, "don't go teacher on me"
theory vs. practice
if the schools weren't such a quagmire to negotiate, i would agree with you
gotta run
11:53pmMe
Look at Columbine and Athens Ga and dozens of other cases where teachers and students getting killed can't get gun laws shored up
But go, so nice chatting with you. almost as good as a phone chat. ;-)
11:54pmGreg
gun vs. phone...##################... lol, bye!
Brother Greg's last comment redacted. Though it was said in jest and it was actually quite apropos, you never know who's watching and how a candid social moment can land you in hot water. (Great Huffpo link on idiots and not-so-idiots who've shot themselves in the foot with social media.)
To paraphrase one of my brother's earlier comments, "CAVEAT LOCUTOR."
Nuff said. See you on the FB.
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