Social Media seems to permeate every aspect of life and often consumes many waking hours for lots of people. Something with such a large footprint deserves a serious look. Peter Pappas, of UP’s School of Education, has put a spotlight on the topic of where social media has taken us. Once enthusiastic about the promise of this communication tool, Pappas is a little more hesitant these days.
“I’ve got 5 Twitter accounts,” Pappas said. “I realize how easy it is for someone with nefarious goals to do the same. It invites the need to teach a new digital literacy. “
In this roundtable-style podcast, we bushwhack through a lot of philosophical terrain from Orwellian outcomes and conspiracy theories to Troll farms and seatbelts for Twitter.
“We say we’re on Facebook, but the Facebook that I see is different from the Facebook that somebody else sees. Because of the algorithms, we’re not in a common space,” Pappas said. “The thought that there’s going to be this greater good that’s going to emerge from it, I don’t see how that happens.”
This is a hot button topic for sure. To weigh in with your point of view, join us for the next UPCrossroads discussion in the Digital Lab of the Clark Library this Friday, March 2 at 3 pm. Peter is our featured guest and will lead an interactive exchange on “Social media promised us a voice for all. Instead we got Troll Farms.”
Transcript from this episode.
Show Notes
Rethinking Social Media – a montage on Padlet that will be part of the UPCrossroads discussion https://padlet.com/pappas2/ghiitxjk3b0f
UP TechTalk is a bi-monthly podcast with cohosts Ben Kahn and Maria Erb of Academic Technology Services and Innovation at UP that explores the use of technology in the classroom, one conversation at a time.
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