Ethical Dilemmas of Online Use
By Emily Neelon, University of Portland ’17
We’ve all been there. We’ve carefully crafted the perfect status to express how we feel about the return of burrito bowls to the Commons. We’ve deliberated between filters, debating using “X Pro II” versus “Walden” on our photos of the cherry blossoms blooming around campus. We’ve posted sarcastic tweets to twitter and celebrated a small victory when our thoughts are favorite and shared.
All of our actions on social media and our careful (and sometimes not –so-careful) contemplation of what we post builds a digital identity for ourselves. In the process of building this identity, ethical dilemmas can arise.
In the panel discussion “Digital Identity and Ethics”, President Fr. Mark Poorman, Associate Dean of Nursing Dr. Susan Stillwell, Communication studies professor Dr. Jennette Lovejoy, and School of Education professor Dr. Eric Anctil, engaged in a conversation about ethical dilemmas in online spaces on Thursday in the Bauccio Commons.
Drawing from four different disciplines, each panelist had unique insight into the role social media plays in their own lives as well as the fields of study they work within.
Fr. Poorman, who has a doctoral in degree in Christian Ethics, believes the way we portray ourselves online can be dishonest and therefore unethical. Deeming this problem “The Airbrushed Personality”, Poorman believes our efforts to show our best selves online are a reflection of an everyday problem that spans larger than the digital realm: being dis-genuine in interpersonal interactions.
Dr. Stillwell brought to light how social media and the healthcare field can be a dangerous and deadly mixture. She noted that talking about a patient over social media breaks doctor/patient confidentiality, which becomes an invasion of one’s privacy as well as grounds to be fired.
Dr. Lovejoy spoke to how social media use is a privileged position, as many people throughout the world do not have access to technology to utilize these programs. The communication expert also noted that people, especially teenagers today, cannot afford to not be social when everyone else they know is. This desperation to fit in and an inability to make mature cost-benefit analysis about what content to post often leads to unethical practices online, such as posting inappropriate pictures or statuses.
Although social media use can bring about many ethical dilemmas, Lovejoy noted the positive aspects of activity on these sites. Among these benefits is the ability to be part of a public conversation an individual otherwise wouldn’t be able to be a part of.
Encompassing all of these issues, Dr. Anctil, who moderated the discussion, pondered how our identities are formed and reformed by the digital world. In creating digital identities, he agreed with Fr. Poorman that it’s easy to stray away from one’s true self.
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Finding Digital Identity Through Social Media
By Emily Neelon, University of Portland ’17
In today’s digitalized world, individuals have the ability to create profiles on a wide array of social media sites from Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter to Instagram, Pinterest, and WordPress. As social media becomes increasingly integral to the way we communicate about who we are to the world, it’s important to consider how our digital identities coincide and contrast with our real life selves. Of additional interest is how companies utilize social media to attract consumers to their brands.
This is where Aaron Babbie comes in.
Aaron Babbie, Vice President of Business Development of Sparkloft Media, spoke with students and staff about his role developing digital identities for clients at Mago Hunt Theater on Wednesday. Babbie’s presentation “Digital Identity and Social Media” was part of UP’s Digital Identity Week initiative to start conversations on campus about how technology affects self conceptions.
Prior to his position at Sparkloft, a social media agency located in Portland, Babbie worked in marketing and sales for sixteen years. During this time, he gained a clear understanding of how to engage consumers using strategic tactics. He applies this knowledge to helping companies attract customers using creative digital media campaigns.
Babbie discussed the constant evolution of social media and the importance of companies keeping up with readers who consume content very quickly. His company works to adapt to these changes and has grown at a constant rate since its start in 2006.
Keeping up with rapid changes in social media has proven daunting for Sparkloft and it’s clients. This difficulty extends into personal social media use as well. With so many social media sites at your fingertips, individuals and companies alike have a hard time managing and maintaining online identities.
To ease the frustrations and potential faux pas that come with active social media use, Babbie offered up multiple tips for creating and cultivating a digital identity online:
-Your digital voice should reflect your personal and professional goals.
-Find a balance between who you are and who you want to be. Look at social media as a way to portray the best, most competent version of yourself.
-Create a digital identity and commit to it. Practice what you preach.
-Do not use social media as therapy.
-Decide how you can use content to tell a story
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A Month Without Computers
By Emily Neelon, University of Portland ’17
This week marks UP’s first annual Digital Identity Week, a five-day event shining light on how our online personalities affect our real-life selves. As part of the weeklong inspection of our digital identities, Clark Library showed the film “Disconnected: A Month Without Computers” on Tuesday.
“Disconnected” follows three students at Carleton College who take on the challenge of going without a computer for thirty days. Each of the participants were apprehensive about disconnecting from technology for an entire month and felt their computers were essential to there success in the college classroom. The students also admitted they use their computers frequently for non-academic reasons and waste much of their time jumping from one website to another to another. Other students who heard about the participants project could not wrap their minds around the concept of disconnecting from computers for an entire month.
One professor interviewed in the film pondered the unhealthy dependence students and professionals alike have on technology and tools it provides.
“I worry about a type of technology addiction,” he noted.
Once the students began the thirty-day technology free challenge, they became more productive and spent time doing things they usually wouldn’t do, like reading the newspaper, cleaning their rooms, and spending time outdoors. The participants also found that their ability to complete schoolwork was not aversely affected by a lack of access to computers.
At the end of the month, each of the students found their disconnection from technology hadn’t disconnected them from their lives in any negative way. They seemed to appreciate the break they had taken from technology and did not feel a strong desire to spend time online anymore.
“Disconnected” and the students it features raises questions about our dependence on technology here at UP. Following the film, UP students engaged in a discussion about our collective obsession and dependency on technology in college culture. Computer Science major Kai Jorgenson feels technology can become more of a hindrance than help with prolonged use.
“It feels like homework after a while,” Jorgenson said about staying active on social media.
Academically, many of our classes require us to research online, write papers on Microsoft Word, and post responses to Moodle. We communicate through the UP email network and are expected to register and access important documents on the Pilot Portal. We also stay informed about events on campus through social media initiatives. This reliance on technology to complete many important tasks is problematic.
Finance major Guangju Wei believes our addiction to technology has caused us to be unable to interact with one another in person.
“We are a head down generation.”
Want to engage in the Digital Identity conversation? Don’t miss “Digital Identity & Social Media” at 4:30pm in Mago Hunt Recital Hall today 3/18 with Aaron Babbie of SparkLoft Media. At 6:00pm, head over to St. Mary’s Lounge for “To Share or not to Share” hosted by Lambda Pi Eta at 6:00pm.