You’re naked: Exposed in a Digital age— cover up.
With growing advancements in technology and the endless blackhole of the internet, people are ever more reliant on devices, and overly generous in sharing details of their personal life online. Although I called the internet an endless blackhole, I think it a beautiful mosaic. Digital natives (those who have grown up alongside with digital technology) trust technology like a reflex, myself included. How many times have you signed away rights to a website without reading privacy policies? This, as well as other aspects of technology leaves you digitally naked, victim to exploitation which could transfer into your physical reality.
Lack of privacy: cyber-security and Internet of Things (IOT)
‘Privacy is not an option, and it shouldn’t be the price we accept for getting on the internet’ — Gary Kovacs.
Berners-Lee’s intention when creating the internet was wider access of information — it breaks the boundaries and presents a gateway for cyber-crime. When we hit save password or remember me, how do we know it is secure? In 2013, Edward Snowden was the whistleblower who exposed the US government’s data collection of private information, ‘in the name of public safety’. In doing so Snowden broke many crimes, but this is a moral dilemma as he shed light on crimes against personal freedom. Nothing you put online is private anymore. As a geographer, the UEA Climate-gate scandal (2009) comes to mind. Information could easily fall into the wrong hands. The server was hacked and leaked, leading to emails being manipulated to suggest that Climate Change wasn’t real — to create buzz and fake news. This proved detrimental in widespread public trust to the climate scientists, and paved the way for scepticism about the world’s physical reality.
Continually, privacy concerns now cross IOT devices. Technological advances create greater ethical challenges. Gadgets now outnumber the population of people on earth — (around 9 billion). IOT blurs boundaries of connectedness e.g. Amazon Alexa. It can set alarms, play music etc. simply by voice control. The idea is to make life easier. However how moral is this? Is this lazy? The answer is yes, when do we cross a line? We may end up so dependent on technology that we end up like the people in the film ‘WALL-E’!
These new devices also pose the question is someone always listening? It presents issues of data misuse — Alexa can even be used against you in a court of law. There really are no boundaries on your information.
Social media — good or evil?
The Netflix show ‘YOU’ epitomizes the dangers of sharing harmless details about yourself online. The lead character is able to find out everything about a girl by just knowing her first name — including her address, in a matter of seconds. Although fiction — it presents very real implications of one’s safety in a digital society. Twitter, Instagram and Facebook — the go to’s for communicating with friends and family and creating online communities to interact with. It starts with just posting photos, updating your status — but it can lead to numerous mental health problems— the Status of Mind survey (2017) concluded Instagram was the worst app for your mental health. But that doesn’t mean the others are any safer, apps like Twitter leave you vulnerable to online trolling and cyberbullying.
‘ Transparency may be the most disruptive and far-reaching innovation to come out of social media’ — Paul Gillin
Across the course, we have analysed how a lot of issues are aggravated by the internet — including identity theft, fake news extremism etc. People tend to feel invincible online, almost liberated from the confinements of their reality. They can be anyone they want to be — anonymous, cruel etc. with their actions going unpunished. This is where it highlights the ethics of online etiquette — should we apply the morality of our offline lives to our digital ones? The answer is yes. Although they are different spheres, words can hurt the same and transfer from online to real life — ethics are universal. This is evident as people can self harm, or even commit suicide because of an obscene amount of hate from people that don’t even know you. Most recently, someone in the public eye my mind goes to was Caroline Flack — her death has sparked cries for stricter social media laws for online harassment. There are ways of ensuring that social media can operate as a safe place but they just aren’t complying — proposals include having to give your passport details when signing up — so you cannot remain an anonymous troll. It is easy to say a lot when you don’t fear consequences. Although is this ethical? I think yes, this is a very small change that can save lives. It pegs the question, should freedom of speech mean the right to bully online? Digital advancements have paved the way for coming under scrutiny on multiple platforms — from press to TV.
‘Cancel culture’
Signing up to social media shouldn’t mean you forfeit your mental health. Unfortunately, the internet stores everything — it isn’t as easy to forgive past mistakes online when there is proof. Is it right for the internet to store all? Past childhood interactions could easily be found and put on blast on social media — most recently, Nella Rose (Youtuber) came under fire about her 13-year old selfs colourist tweets.
Nella has since apologised for her actions. But is it right to be threatened with death threats and to curse her dead mother almost a decade on? I think not. I understand that your past will affect your future. But we are all human, we make mistakes, we grow as individuals. Becoming more conscious about the world around us is apart of growing up. Others that posted more extreme, racist and derogatory tweets were not cancelled. The Digital Society we live in creates double standards in what is acceptable and what isn’t.
To conclude…
The implications of living in a Digital Society are endless much like the internet. If we are going to indulge in new technology, social media/websites we must be conscious of our digital footprint, and that it leaves us digitally naked for the world to chew and spit out.
Reflection of development throughout the course:
Being a geography student, I chose to take Digital Society because I was curious to expand my knowledge past just the physical and human elements of the world I study, and to look at the modern digital one.
The blog-style writing struck me as a challenge at first as I haven’t written creatively in years. However, it was a refreshing change from essays. The fact it is also available for others to read was daunting at first as I have never posted any of my work online but proved helpful when getting feedback not only from course leaders but sparked interesting debates with my peers.
The future and current global climate (COVID-19) is digitised. It breaks boundaries. I think we had been accustomed to face-to-face communication of teaching, and not utilised the beauty of a more connected world through the internet. The course taught me that digitised learning is the new normal.
I really enjoyed that the course mirrored few boundaries regarding what we wrote about (as long as it was cohesive with the themes), much like Digital Society as it isn’t confined by space. It allowed me the time to research things that interest me but don’t necessarily come up in my degree. In parallel, this meant that I was overwhelmed with ideas, and proved difficult to choose just one. However, this allowed me to become more decisive in my thinking, making it beneficial. The lack of direction was a breath of fresh air.
The course made me understand the realities of a digitised world. ‘The Internet of Things’ and how devices have blended boundaries of connectedness, and how this isn’t always a good thing. From my research on Amazon etc. it is clear that a vast majority of traditional manual labour roles, are now being replaced with robotics — this sets the tone for the future of the secondary sector (manufacturing) — a harsh reality, either gain new skills or be left behind. An interesting curve to see as a geographer.
‘Smart Cities’ was useful in applying that knowledge in the global pandemic. Populations are having to operate more efficiently for the sustained success and quality of life. Continually, ‘Digital Engagement’ sparked interest in me towards a career in digital marketing — COVID-19 has meant all communication has moved to virtual. Upon reflection and speaking to my parents who work in the cooperate world, it is clear that Coronavirus has set the new precedent for an even more Digital Society, as meetings can be held online and from the comforts of your own home. It was the future but is now the standard.
After taking the course, I understand that Digital Society is ‘boundaryless’ regarding space and place. Being digitised epitomises the idea of time-space-compression. Changing the technological landscape must be something we embrace, it has altered all aspects of society, for good and for ill.
