A few articles about our technology-riddled world and what we should do about it that have entered my stream over the past few weeks – worth your time to read.

I generally fall on the side of “tech is neither good nor bad, only thinking [and using] makes it so.” But there’s much to learn about how to connect in this brave new world without losing our souls.

Good reads about the effects of tech on our hearts and minds:

• how parents can help teens navigate social media with maturity in “What social media is offering our kids (and what we can do about it)” by Kristen Welch of We Are That Family

• a sobering read about just how awful people are online is this Medium post: “Why Twitter’s Dying (And What You Can Learn From It)” – “Today’s revolutionary is tomorrow’s little tyrant.” Silicon Valley giants think tech will save humanity. Truth is, humanity is pretty effed up, even when we’re using their shiny, beautiful code. And that’s why people are such a-holes on Twitter.

• In this interesting article about Internet herd dynamics, reasons are given for why the trolls are winning: “How the Internet has brought us too close together – and the wisdom of trolls” 

• Unfortunately, the excellent article in Chronicle of Higher Ed, “How to teach in an age of distraction,” is now behind a paywall. But you can read the full article here for now, at least.
  The author makes a great point about how young adults, having so much opportunity to communicate via text or online, fail to build the deeply necessary skills of face-to-face conversation that is the basis of a classroom learning community.

• The New York Times ran a similar piece recently as well, about the scary lack of empathy among those of us who spend a lot of our time communicating online. Read it here: “Stop Googling. Let’s talk.“

• We now live in the era of the GIF– a deceptively simple device that masks incredible nuance. Maybe. Or not. “The GIF Bite Election” (on Medium)

Categories: Reviews

Tagged as: community technology

RameyLady

I write. I design. I cook. I read. I make music. I talk to people -- all kinds of people.

I used to teach and hopefully will do so again someday.

My dream job would be a cross between barrista and consultant, with a large helping of international travel and bohemian wandering through concerts, museums, galleries, and open spaces.

Somewhere back in time, my students started calling me "RameyLady" and the name stuck. I like it. There's a Ramey-man too. He's a much better writer but he seems to be too humble to share it with the world....at least, not yet.