Author Archives: Stephen Francoeur

Summary of Activity on this Site


Number of Posts: 31
Number of Comments: 22

Quiz for Next Tuesday

Next Tuesday, we’ll take about half the class to do a quiz that is essentially a dry run for the final exam. You’ll be given a recent news article by me that you’ll have to write about in a way that connects it up with the themes and lessons in The Filter Bubble. Like the final exam, this is an open book, open notes situation. The only source of information you may not refer to or draw upon is whatever your neighbor in class is doing on the quiz or exam (your work should be your own).

Please bring your book to class on Tuesday. You’ll want to have it, I’m sure.

The Last Two Homework Assignments

In the “Homework” box on the “Assignments” tab of the course website, you’ll now find details about the last two homework assignments. Homework #4 is due Thursday, May 9, and asks you to do some work on the 25th Street Plaza project wiki and write about it on the blog. Homework #5 asks you reflect back on what you learned this semester and write about it on the blog. Please follow the assignment guidelines as they are delineated on the course website.

Reading for Tuesday, April 30

Just a reminder that tomorrow you should have read the following for class:

Lievrouw, Leah A. “Information Society, Description of.” Encyclopedia of Communication and Information. Ed. Jorge Reina Schement. Vol. 2. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2002. 430-437. Gale Virtual Reference Library.Web. 25 Apr. 2013.

Discussing the Reading for Tomorrow (April 25)

Just a reminder that for class tomorrow you should have read the encyclopedia entry on “Information.” If you need a copy of it again, you can find it in the Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Schement, Jorge Reina. “Information.” Encyclopedia of Communication and Information. Ed. Jorge Reina Schement. Vol. 2. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2002. 421-426. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 24 Apr. 2013.

Homework #2 on the Final Chapter in the Filter Bubble

Due April 25 (by the start of class)

Consider the suggestions that Pariser makes in the final chapter (8) of his book about ways that we can address the problems of the filter bubble. Then, on the course blog, write a long post (1-2 pages) in which you identify what you think is the strongest idea and the weakest idea that he has for combatting the filter bubble and the excesses of personalization. Fully explain and defend the two ideas you select and use quoted material from the book as part of your argument. You will be graded on the quality of your defense, the creativity in your writing, and the polish you put into your writing (i.e., you don’t want to lose points on this because of typos or grammar and spelling errors).

Who Google Thinks I Am

In last Thursday’s class, I was unable to share with you what Google thinks I am interested in. As we discussed, Google places a tracking cooking on your computer’s browser so that as you use various Google services, data gets aggregated. If you use a different computer, then a different tracking cookie gets generated for that computer and the aggregated data will look different (at least, I think this is true, as Google doesn’t state whether it combines all the tracking cookie data for you across the various machines you use). I’m not sure if the tracking cookie is unique for each browser on your computer, too. So if you use Firefox sometimes on your laptop, then switch to Chrome or Safari at other times, I’m not sure if there are separate tracking cookies collecting separate sets of data about you in each browser.

At any rate, here’s how Google has me pegged according to the activities on my work computer using the Chrome browser:

Who Google Thinks I Am

 

If you want to see your profile amassed by your activity within Google, here’s how to get there:

  1. Go to the “Ads Preferences” page in Google (if you’re not already logged into your Google account, you’ll be asked to as you try to get to this page)
  2. On the left side of the “Ads Preferences” page, look for the link for the “Ads on the Web” page and click it. This should show you Google’s demographic profile of you that it uses for serving up ads.

Is the Facebook News Feed Increasingly Less Useful

An article in yesterday’s New York Times looks at some of the criticisms that Facebook has been facing as the novelty of the site has worn off for some and the pressures as a public company to make money have increased:

  • the feed should offer more relevant content
  • feed content should engage users more deeply (so they stick around and notice ads more)
  • the sponsored stories in the News Feed have turned some users off
  • more people are taking breaks from Facebook for various reasons
  • teens are no longer flocking to the site and turning instead to Instagram, a company Facebook acquired last year
  • the promoted posts that companies and individuals pay for have raised questions about how the algorithm is being secretly adjusted in ways that suppress the posts from your friends
  • some feel like there’s too much junk in their News Feed and content that they really care about is being hidden or drowned out in content that’s not relevant or interesting to you

Source

Sengupta, Somini. “Face-Lift at Facebook, to Keep Its Users Engaged.” New York Times.  New York Times, 6 Mar. 2013. Web. 7 Mar. 2013.

Results of the Survey from Class Today

You can view the results of the survey we did in class today. I’d be interested in hearing your analysis of it. As a point of comparison, you may also want to take a look at the study from the Pew Internet and America Life Project where I got the set of questions from:

Miller, Carolyn et al, “How People Get Local News and Information in Different Communities.” Pew Internet. Pew Internet and Life Project, 26 Sep. 2012. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.

When Your Likes on Facebook Spiral Beyond Your Control

Well-known media theorist, Douglas Rushkoff, wrote a post on his blog at CNN in which he explains why he’s giving up on Facebook after mounting frustrations with it over the years:

Through a new variation of the Sponsored Stories feature called Related Posts, users who “like” something can be unwittingly associated with pretty much anything an advertiser pays for. Like e-mail spam with a spoofed identity, the Related Post shows up in a newsfeed right under the user’s name and picture. If you like me, you can be shown implicitly recommending me or something I like — something you’ve never heard of — to others without your consent.

For now, as long as I don’t like anything myself, I have some measure of control over what those who follow me receive in my name or, worse, are made to appear to be endorsing, themselves. But I feel that control slipping away, and cannot remain part of a system where liking me or my work can be used against you.

Chapter 2 in The Filter Bubble is entitled “The User Is the Content.” What do you think Pariser would make of Rushkoff’s concerns?

Sources

Ruskhof, Douglas. “About.” Rushkoff. N.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.

Rushkoff, Douglas. “Why I’m Quitting Facebook.” CNN. CNN, 25 Feb. 2013. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.

Your Trail of Personal Data

A study a few years ago by computer scientists at Stanford University shows just how often personal data can be harvested on sites that you visit. An article from the New York Times about the study notes that “[y]our online travel — your clickstream, as it’s poetically known — is not always anonymous. It can often be traced right back to rather precise parts of you, including your name and e-mail address.”

The article discusses other studies showing similar issues relating to the way that your trail of personal data can be gathered and repurposed in all sorts of ways without your ever being aware of it.

How worried should we be?

Sources

Sengupta, Somini. “Stanford Researcher Finds Lots of Leaky Web Sites.” New York Times.  New York Times, 11 Oct. 2011. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.

Firefox’s New Browser Rejects 3rd Party Cookies

This week, Firefox is in the news after developers of the browser announced that the next version will automatically block third-party cookies. Advertisers have fired back, saying that the cookies are harmless and that ad revenues are essential to the growth and development of the web.

Are the advertisers right? Do they have a point?

Sources

Sengupta, Somini. “In the Tracking Wars, It’s Browser Makers vs. Advertisers.” New York Times.  New York Times, 25 Feb. 2013. Web. 25 Feb. 2013..

 

Google Glass and Overload

It seems to me that if you’re going to strap on a set of Google Glasses (or is it now just called Glass?) and deal with info scrolling in front of you as you move around your world, you’re going to be a bit distracted. Check out some of these videos from Google about this not yet released product and let me know how useful/dangerous/inspiring/crazy you think the Glasses are and how they connect up with some of the themes in Pariser’s book, The Filter Bubble.

First Homework Assignment for the Class

In the “Homework” box on the “Assignments” page of the course website, you’ll now see a description of the first homework assignment (due Feb. 26). Some important things to note:

  • You must use Google Drive (also known as Google Documents) to create a document where you’ll write your essay
  • After you’ve written the essay in Google Drive, you’ll need to share it with me using my Gmail address (Google has instructions about how to share)
  • Look in your Baruch email account for a message from me that has my Gmail address
  • Don’t come to class on February 26 telling me you couldn’t figure out how to share the document with me; contact me in advance of the class if you are having problems.


Comments:

"Was there an article you meant to link to in your post?"
posted on May 2, 2013, on the post Addiction to Technology

"This reminds of the way that humans are portrayed in Wall-E as lazy slobs glued to their chairs watching a video screen that responds to all their needs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9s7afoYI-M"
posted on Apr 23, 2013, on the post Did we really become this lazy?

"Have ever heard the saying that the internet is made up of cats? It's funny how many websites feature cat photos, cat videos, cat animated GIFs. An interesting question is why cats? Why are they so prevalent on the web? And how have memes about cats propagated on the web? How have they evolved? The concept of memes is something that can be traced back to Richard Dawkins, one of the most famous scholars of biology and evolution. He actually coined the term "meme" to describe those tiny, discrete pieces of information that get transmitted and that, taken as whole, help make up what we might call "culture." If you've never been to the Know Your Meme website, it's a fun take on the idea that we should study the history of silly internet memes. A personal favorite meme of mine is Nyan Cat, which you can read all about on the Know Your Meme site."
posted on Apr 23, 2013, on the post A Little Something to Brighten Up Our Day

"Great post. In this case, posting the video online is what made it possible to quickly ID the suspect. The case reminds me a bit of a long trend in internet vigilantism, which gets a nice entry in Wikipedia. One notable case was of crowdsourcing the effort to do justice that I remember well was an in incident in 2006 when a woman who had found a lost Sidekick but refused to give it back was shamed on the web thanks to the vigilante like efforts of thousands of netizens. A June 21, 2006, story in the New York Times gives all the details on this fascinating case."
posted on Apr 5, 2013, on the post Online Commenters Identify Criminal

"Daniel, when the article says, "“We fill conversational spaces by saying what’s top of mind. But when you write something, you have the time to construct and refine what you say, so it involves more self-presentation," the point doesn't seem to be that it makes more reliable; instead the point is that you are more likely to smooth away any rough edges from your story or what you're saying. In face-to-face conversation, people blurt out things off the top of their head in ways that aren't always so refined and polished. But when you take the time to type in (in Twitter or Facebook), you're more likely to clean things up."
posted on Mar 21, 2013, on the post Good News Beats Bad on Social Networks

"What's funny is that the more she pursues this strategy of lawsuits, the more her name will be linked with those products."
posted on Mar 18, 2013, on the post What is your name promoting?

"Like a lot of families, my family all shares the one Netflix account. I wonder what my recommendations/viewing habits are going to look like in Facebook if the things I watch there are mixed in with all things my two boys watch on Netflix (at the moment, they're plowing through all the old episodes from the cartoon show "The Transformers" from the past twenty years). I also suspect that if I were to start sharing my Netflix viewing habits on Facebook, I'd be less likely to watch certain things I wouldn't want my friends to know I watch. Instead, my viewing habits would start to reflect my aspirational self more if I were to go public with them."
posted on Mar 18, 2013, on the post Netflix Begins to “Swim” in Social Network Pool

"What about posting under a pseudonym? Is that any different from posting anonymously?"
posted on Mar 5, 2013, on the post Anonymity Online

"That's so funny you happened to mention a film featuring Ai Weiwei. I was just watching a different one on PBS last night: "Who's Afraid of Ai Weiwei". What an amazing person!"
posted on Feb 26, 2013, on the post Ai Weiwei: The Internet vs. The Chinese Government

"You know what Google Glass reminds me of? Those computer screens that humans have set in front of them at all times in the movie Wall-E that shield them from the reality around them and that instead deeply immerse them in a consumer wonderland (here's a screen grab that captures the image)."
posted on Feb 26, 2013, on the post Google Glass and Overload

"Anthony: that TED Talk video by Lessig is pure gold! Thanks for sharing it. I think I'll use it in class when we get to the topic of copyright and the cultural commons on the web. I'm intrigued by your idea that boredom breeds creativity. In his talk, Lessig notes that youth today have access to amazing tools that allow them to become authors and creators of culture in ways that previous generations haven't. When you say that our world is too saturated today by media, are you arguing that the creativity you witnessed on YouTube is no longer possible? And by "media," do you mean corporate, for-profit media or media created by all--individuals and corporations?"
posted on Feb 26, 2013, on the post Larry Lessig: Laws that choke creativity

"Just noticed this article on the website of the Society for Human Resources Management (a professional organization representing the interests of people who work in human resources) that outlines many of the privacy issues with facial recognition software."
posted on Feb 26, 2013, on the post Your Trail of Personal Data

"Vanny: your fears about facial recognition software are ones that Google shares, to an exent. I've read that Google could be rolling out software like that on the cameras in Android phones but has held back out of fear of unintended consequences that such technology might have. At the moment, it is part of the Android OS but only to let you unlock your phone. I wonder if it will be built into Google Glass, though, to let you easily run Google searches on people you see; now that would be scary."
posted on Feb 26, 2013, on the post Your Trail of Personal Data

"Anthony: Just a quick reply here to note that (a) I'm super impressed you went off and found that article and (b) your link to it doesn't work. Here's a link to that article that will work."
posted on Feb 26, 2013, on the post Your Trail of Personal Data

"Just a quick note to offer a link to the Wall Street Journal article within a library database (ABI/INFORM Global) that you all should be able to access."
posted on Feb 19, 2013, on the post Love in the Time of Algorithms

"Mike, this is a great post! I hadn't heard of this author and the points she raises are fascinating. I'll let others in the class take a shot at answering your question about where the tipping point is. But I do want to ask you what was the name of the radio show where you heard the author interviewed?"
posted on Feb 12, 2013, on the post Privacy Information on the Web

"I was wondering how you would define the "media" category. Isn't a book a kind of media? A blog post?"
posted on Feb 11, 2013, on the post Group 3 – Categories

"I'm confused by the category "Print." How would you characterize that category? Does it not include print books (the author cites several in the notes)?"
posted on Feb 11, 2013, on the post Team # 5 Sources in Intro

"Interesting categories. I'm not quite sure what you meant by "press review." Can you clarify what that category means exactly? Also, the example you've used is actually a book, a mistake that other groups made on this activity. You can tell it's a book because there are parentheses at the end that mention a city or town (Princeton is town where book's publisher has its headquarters), the name of a publisher (Princeton University Press), followed by a year (the date the book was published). Take a look at the guidelines for how to cite a book using the MLA citation format to see how books are typically listed in a bibliography or note."
posted on Feb 11, 2013, on the post Team #1 on Sources in The Filter Bubble

"I noticed that in the "articles" category the example you give is actually a book, not an article at all. You can tell it's a book because there are parentheses at the end that mention a city or town (Cambridge is town where book's publisher has its headquarters), the name of a publisher (MIT Press), followed by a year (the date the book was published). Take a look at the guidelines for how to cite a book using the MLA citation format to see how books are typically listed in a bibliography or note. Looking at the example you give for the "TV News Program," I should mention that the note isn't actually citing a source. If Pariser was really citing ABC News, he would have given a proper citation with the date of the news broadcast. Instead, he is just saying that the ABC News website features a little set of buttons from a company called AddThis that makes it easy to email, tweet, or share to Facebook any news story found on the ABC News website. This note, then, is there not so he can clue you in on what source he used but rather to say something that he didn't want to clutter up the main part of the text with. I suppose he could have cited the website and given us the URL if he wanted to be really formal, but I guess he was thinking that would be as useful as citing Facebook in a note and giving the web address for Facebook; not really necessary if you are talking about something in a general way."
posted on Feb 11, 2013, on the post Team 4 on Sources in The Filter Bubble

"Nice job. The one thing I'd like to point out is that the example you give for "online news sources" is actually a book. You can tell it's a book because there are parentheses at the end that mention a city or town (Princeton is town where book's publisher has its headquarters), the name of a publisher (Princeton University Press), followed by a year (the date the book was published). Take a look at the guidelines for how to cite a book using the MLA citation format to see how books are typically listed in a bibliography or note."
posted on Feb 11, 2013, on the post Group 2 Soures Exercise

"I do. They are at school right now."
posted on Jan 31, 2013, on the post It is 2:40, do you know where your children are?