Anthony Kibble's Diary

I apologise for the lateness of my detox diary. I have suffered from periods of illness that have affected my work commitments. This is a type up of the diary that I kept from the second to the sixth of April, detailing my experiences and the conclusions I took.


Day 1

The first day of my digital detox began well. My girlfriend, Ruth, is departing to Marrakesh this evening, but for now I have no need to contact anyone via phone, or no need to procrastinate on my laptop (frantically cleaning and packing instead). Already, after only a few hours awake, we both come to the conclusion that our morning has seemed longer and more productive without the distraction of digital media. What would have taken 4 hours only took 2, and we even have time for a cup of tea and some lunch before we leave for the airport.
With Ruth safely on the plane my detox became instantly harder, with no company to lead me away from boredom. I returned to my home in London and set about cleaning our bedroom and kitchen, both as a good house-mate and simply just to pass the time! My laptop has remained off for hours, as has my phone, and I have been more productive today than I have been in weeks.
It's 6 pm now, and Ruth is due to land in Morocco in only 20 minute time. This is my first challenge in regards to the detox, as without my mobile phone I will be unable to communicate with her at all. The 20 minutes pass and I relent, turning on my mobile phone to receive a text to let me know that she has arrived safely, and I reply in order to be nice and avoid being rude. After that, I turned my phone off and kept it that way for the remainder of the night. I'm tired from travelling so head straight to bed after a chat with my mum, no TV or Laptop use beforehand, and all in all today has been a good day!

Day 2

The second day began with my breaking my detox to turn on my mobile phone, contact with Ruth whilst holidaying in Morocco impossible without it, and after a text received and reply sent I turn off my phone once again. This highlights the positive elements of digital media, such as the ability to connect with people across the globe, and is evidence still of an increasing globalism
Being back home in Cardiff has given me an easier place to detox. With all of my friends living within a 10 minute walk from me there is no difficulty in finding people to call upon, and I remain abstinent from digital devices from the morning until the dark of night. When I return  home at 10pm, I enter the living room to speak with my mum about our respective days and spend some quality time with her. As I walk into the room the TV is on, and although I explain to my mum the detox that I am undertaking , she has had an arduous day at work and is entitled to relax in front of the TV if she wishes. I remain for a conversation, the TV running in the background, and regardless of the negative implication of the loss of social groups to TV against the positives in terms of education and pleasure, I cannot help but feel that a longer detox would not be viable. Though I have tried my hardest, I have been subjected to bouts of media use either through choice or accident, and it seems impossible to live in such a digital age without digital use for very long.

Day 3

Again, my day begins with me breaking my abstinence to turn my phone, as the text conversation had between me and Ruth is vital for a continued connection whilst apart and at the same time vital to the knowledge of our respective good health and safety. It seems that for as long as she is away this is the routine in which we communicate. Routine is an important part in the regulation of everyday life, and communication must be regulated by routine in these situations. The detox is proving difficult, but in terms of laptop use or general procrastination it is enjoyable to have so much time with which to do the important things in ones day that cause stress when not completed. I have not used my laptop for 2 and a half days now, and not mindlessly watched TV to pass away the afternoon hours, and instead have been building a closer relationship with my family as well as being more productive in my help around the house and in my errands.
The afternoon and evening are still boring though, despite my happiness when thinking of my calm and productiveness. Without any media to waste away some hours I find my chores and errands completed at a much quicker pace, evidence that digital media affects our efficiency in the everyday. I also find myself less stressed, a normal occurrence in my everyday when errands take much longer than they should, and it it much welcome. Like I mentioned however, without these digital devices I have forgotten how to have fun without them. Puzzles, games, or reading a book become insignificant when presented with a TV or Laptop with which to indulge, but without them I struggle to find things to do and resort to leaving my house to find rescue from my boredom at a friends house. Our area is small, and as such it is void of anything to do. We go for walks, and talk about out problems etc, so I find it easy to escape digital media when with my friends. We remain out until late, procuring a mcdonalds, but I conclude that my experience at this fast food restaurant was steeped in digital media. From the TV advertising screens to the interactive ordering menu and even my debit card payment, escape from digital media in such a consumerist environment was impossible. Again, I am finding it increasingly difficult to abstain fully from something which is so deeply integrated into the everyday. I return home, knackered, and head straight for bed.

Day 4

Of course my day starts off as it has done for the last 2, my routine conversation with Ruth only possible through digital media. Today I am heading back to London, a 4 hour coach journey followed by an hour journey to my rented property, and despite the initial stumble with my mobile I have no need for digital media. I frantically pack, but much like my packing experience in day one I have more than enough time to complete it without need for panic. I make sure that I have everything I need and say my goodbyes.
The coach journey up was devoid of any digital devices, I normally sleep on these journeys to avoid the boredom of clock-watching. I arrive back in London and take the underground back home, but this is again impossible without digital devices; I top up my Oyster at an electronic card machine, and constantly check the digital clock to see when my trains are coming. I return home, tired from a day of travelling, and head to bed for my last day of my detox.
Throughout this experience, I have found it impossible to detach myself completely from digital devices. Relationships are now dependent on a form of instant communication that depends on digital media, as are intakes of pleasure or methods of procrastination. Furthermore, consumerist environments such as mcdonalds and the underground rely heavily on digital media to manage, inform and advertise. I conclude though that this detox has been helpful in forcing me to evaluate the effectiveness of the devices that I use and the necessity of them. Although my mobile phone seemed like a new necessity, the TV and laptop proved less so, a sign that the use of these media devices is mixed between wants and needs. Though I was unsuccessful in abstaining completely, what I did achieve I was proud of, and it has educated me on my dependence towards these devices.

AND HERE IS THE GRAND FINALE!

Thankyou everyone for the great work! We are sadly coming to the end but I must say we had a great time! 

CIAO!

Posthuman/Digital Free Zone, Digital Awareness Day

HI,

The digital free zone was in conjunction with post-human awareness. This station consisted of a refreshment stand with an assortment of goodies (including a chocolate cake from Becks and cupcakes from Anthony) for people to sit and engage in face to face communication. There was an assortment of digital free activities that comprised of:

Lego 

Connect Four

Painting

Play-dough

Monopoly

The only rule was no interaction with digital devices within the taped zone free area. The rationale behind this station was to  incorporate the mind with the body with touch, communication, sense of achievement and organic creativity activities with no technology involved. 

The average time spent within this zone was approximately 15-20 minutes. The majority of participants 75% received some form of telecommunications, with over half optioning to leave the zone to answer/reply. When people settled into their chosen activity, they became very immersed, especially with the painting, Play dough and Connect Four. These three activities were the most popular with the most time spent. Two participants when playing with the play dough opted to create a masterpiece with no preconceived idea. 

Participants I spoke with were aware of their interaction with the digital and the majority thought overall this was not a positive thing. All mentioned the large amount of time spent on digital devices and their resolve to limit this as time could be spent engaging with more productive activities. But the ease, speed and availability - especially with WI FI availability increasing outside social institutions, e.g. shopping centers, some London Underground stations, restaurants and available free/cheap apps (. It was interesting that photo sharing is a gender specific activity with ladies only engaged with it. 

It was nice to see adults enjoying themselves and having fun outside the sphere of technology and drink. The laughter emitted from playing Connect Four (Edwardian from around 1900), a simple limitless age participation game was quite enduring. 

TRYING TO POST THE VIDEO...

Hey guys.... I've been trying to post the video that I edited on youtube but it's giving me a really hard time...
This is the link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AuXmiq-XXI

Course Reader

Hi,

Having a skim read through the course reader, the Debord piece entitled 'Perspectives for the Conscious Changes in Everyday Life' is a relevant piece. Debord critiques the banal realities of the everyday as a repressive capitalist force inscribed to keep the masses occupied and ignorant of their personal political power. Debord sites society as 'the realm of separation and spectacle'. I thought of social media and the popular selfies movement for this discussion.
I was also thinking of Elettra and the decentralization theme when Debord talks about technology that are popular are geared in becoming widely favored as becoming a means to repress and control social classes.

Def check it out, its available freely on the web: http://www.bopsecrets.org/SI/6.everyday.htm


Tracei x

Eli Pariser

Great presentation on what internet hides from us

http://www.lse.ac.uk/assets/richmedia/channels/publicLecturesAndEvents/slides/20110620_1830_theFilterBubble_sl.pdf

How it all changed...

Very interesting article on where it all started and became what it is today. The monopoly of big corporations...

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/12/the-mission-to-decentralize-the-internet.html

SCARYYYY!!!!!

On the internet of things and the interconnectivity of objects.

http://www.thomasvanmanen.nl/index.php/a-facebook-for-the-internet-of-things/

THE IPAD AS THE NEW EXTENSION OF THE SOUL

Just remembered this! It's a great piece from an Italian philosopher, Maurizio Ferraris. I'll share the youtube link, see if you can find a translation. There is also the book called "Soul and Ipad"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eueC9gjeS60

On my essay...

Hey everyone, how are you doing with your essay?...
I'm working on it and I just found the title of this book....seems interesting :)

The surveillant assemblage

http://www.englweb.umd.edu/englfac/KChuh/Haggerty%20Kevin%20and%20Ericson%20Richard%20The%20SurveillantAssemblage.pdf

Hey guys,
I'm just working on my essay and found this really interesting essay on surveillance from another persepctive. It takes Foucault's position into consideration but works a different angle on surveillance connecting the development of technology and the loss of anonymity. The essay discusses how we have gone from an almost invisible system of surveillance to a 'surveillance assemblage' 'This assemblage operates by abstracting human bodies from their territorial settings and seperating them into a series of discrete flows. These flows are then reassembled into distinct 'data doubles' which can be scrutinized and targeted for intervention.' (Haggerty, K.D., R.V. Ericson. 2000. The surveillant assemblage. British Journal of Sociology 51 (4) : p. 606 )
I hope this helps you with your essays!
See you tomorrow at 2 pm

Becci

Before the event.....

Robot World is nearly upon us!!!!

Hi,

I thought I'd follow Anthony's lead and check out BBC News. The link below is a very short (2.35) report on hospital robots in the USA. Instead of the doctor coming round and doing his daily rounds, a robot with the doctors face in the screen interacts with you instead. What I found quite disturbing about this report was the doctor asking the reporter what would you prefer a highly qualified doctor or a trainee attending to your needs. Very scary, makes me think that the divide between the rich and poor dropping down dead will keep growing ever wider.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26838252



Tracei x

How much do we take technology for granted....

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/watching-two-old-women-fly-for-the-first-time-is-pure-g-1562267586/+jesusdiaz

This made me teary eyed. Flying. What an incredible thing it is.

Link for the Facebook Event

Hey guys,
Here the link to the Facebook event that I have created for our intervention on wednesday. So far we have 14 people that are definitly going to come, spread the word and invite more of your friends so we can engage the most people possible!

Have a great day,
Rebecca

https://www.facebook.com/events/1486143148265079/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming

Privacy and the National Security Agency

Within the last year, news broke of a global surveillance programme spearheaded by America's NSA, that without consent intercepted correspondence via e-mail, listened to phone calls and read text messages, all done via co-operation with telecommunication companies and European governments. This massive impeachment on our right to privacy was justified by the tiresome buzzword of 'national security', leading the average citizen to believe that their state would also consider this breach of privacy as a viable course action if it adequately suited their needs.

The leak of powerful national documents by whistle-blower Edward Snowden uncovered that which so many of us had already given considerable thought to, that the systematic spying on its citizens by the state is possible and probable. With this release the US state, and others connected, lost a certain amount of respect and even more so legitimacy, as public opinion on age-old conspiracy theories such as the assassination of JFK and the 9/11 terrorist attacks reflected a growing level of distrust in the truth when compared to the official version of events. Furthermore, the extent of this surveillance operation is unknown and as such we are in the grip of distrust as to it's reach.

This damaging release of secretive US documents highlighted the little amount of knowledge that the average citizen has as to their privacy on digital media, and the implications of organised spying on our personal digital correspondence calls into question the privacy we own during phone calls and even letters (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25770313). Dangerous is this revelation, as we are informed that that which we assume is innate, the right to privacy, is deemed important only when a government sees fit and as such we are prone to believe that other 'human rights' can be equally forgotten and impeached if a gain is to be had.

On a side note Jimmy Carter, the former US president, recently revealed that he had been conducting all important correspondence via letter despite the digital explosion, for what he revealed was a fear that it was not as private and therefore easier to intercept. This shows a massive level of distrust from a man who would have been heavily involved in, and aware of, plans to increase surveillance by the state on it citizens through his presidency and beyond (www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-26725670).

Elettra's reflections.... More to come

The impact of violent video games

Hey guys, 

I found this very interesting article about the correlation between teenager's violence and their activity in playing violent video games. There are a couple of factors that suggest that when teenagers play these games more than 3 hours a day, their perception of reality gets distorted in terms of seperating 'right' and 'wrong', as also mentioned in this article (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-26049333). I think it is notable how much of a psychological impact games have on teenagers. One of the key arguments of the article was that because children greatly learn from imitating what they see, a great exposure to violence on screen may lead them to behave in a similar way or lead to a lack of compassion. This I think can be very well related to the 'hyperreal' by Baudrillard. His theory suggests that there is a moment when the imitation of reality becomes a reality in itself, which then gets re-enacted, this creates a moment of the 'hyperreal' (Jean Baudrillard, "Procession of the Simulacra", Simulacra and Simulation, Trans. Sheila Faria Glaser, New York: University of Michigan Press, 1994, pp. 1-30) Consequently if we see violent video games creating a moment of hyperreality, which influences the psychological mindset of a given generation, who then has a different perception of reality than the previous generation, it is inevitable to suggest that digital devices and media have had a great political impact on the everyday lives of society. I hope you guys enjoy the article! I also included the bibliography, which may be very helpful for our upcoming essays! 

Becci

 OCT 2010

Next Article: References for "Violent video games and young people" »

Blood and gore. Intense violence. Strong sexual content. Use of drugs. These are just a few of the phrases that the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) uses to describe the content of several games in the Grand Theft Auto series, one of the most popular video game series among teenagers. The Pew Research Center reported in 2008 that 97% of youths ages 12 to 17 played some type of video game, and that two-thirds of them played action and adventure games that tend to contain violent content. (Other research suggests that boys are more likely to use violent video games, and play them more frequently, than girls.) A separate analysis found that more than half of all video games rated by the ESRB contained violence, including more than 90% of those rated as appropriate for children 10 years or older.

Given how common these games are, it is small wonder that mental health clinicians often find themselves fielding questions from parents who are worried about the impact of violent video games on their children.

The view endorsed by organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) is that exposure to violent media (including video games) can contribute to real-life violent behavior and harm children in other ways. But other researchers have questioned the validity or applicability of much of the research supporting this view. They argue that most youths are not affected by violent video games. What both sides of this debate agree on is that it is possible for parents to take steps that limit the possible negative effects of video games.

Key points Much of the research on violent video game use relies on measures to assess aggression that don't correlate with real-world violence. Some studies are observational and don't prove cause and effect. Federal crime statistics suggest that serious violent crimes among youths have decreased since 1996, even as video game sales have soared. Parents can protect children from potential harm by limiting use of video games and taking other common-sense precautions.

One view

In its most recent policy statement on media violence, which includes discussion of video games as well as television, movies, and music, the AAP cites studies that link exposure to violence in the media with aggression and violent behavior in youths. The AAP policy describes violent video games as one of many influences on behavior, noting that many children's television shows and movies also contain violent scenes. But the authors believe that video games are particularly harmful because they are interactive and encourage role-playing. As such, the authors fear that these games may serve as virtual rehearsals for actual violence.

Both the AAP and AACAP reason that children learn by observing, mimicking, and adopting behaviors — a basic principle of social learning theory. These organizations express concern that exposure to aggressive behavior or violence in video games and other media may, over time, desensitize youths by numbing them emotionally, cause nightmares and sleep problems, impair school performance, and lead to aggressive behavior and bullying.

A 2001 report of the U.S. Surgeon General on the topic of youth violence made a similar judgment. Some meta-analyses of the literature — reviewing psychological research studies and large observational studies — have found an association between violent video games and increased aggressive thinking and behavior in youths. And some casual observers go further, assuming that tragic school shootings prove a link between such games and real-world aggression.

Video game use among American teens Source: PEW Internet & American Life Project, September 2008.

A more nuanced view

In recent years, however, other researchers have challenged the popular view that violent video games are harmful. Several of them contributed papers to a special issue of the Review of General Psychology, published in June 2010 by the American Psychological Association.

In one paper, Dr. Christopher Ferguson, a psychology professor at Texas A&M International University, argued that many studies on the issue of media violence rely on measures to assess aggression that don't correlate with real-world violence — and even more important, many are observational approaches that don't prove cause and effect. He also cited data from federal criminal justice agencies showing that serious violent crimes among youths have decreased since 1996, even as video game sales have soared.

Other researchers have challenged the association between violent video game use and school shootings, noting that most of the young perpetrators had personality traits, such as anger, psychosis, and aggression, that were apparent before the shootings and predisposed them to violence. These factors make it more difficult to accept the playing of violent games as an independent risk factor. A comprehensive report of targeted school violence commissioned by the U.S. Secret Service and Department of Education concluded that more than half of attackers demonstrated interest in violent media, including books, movies, or video games. However, the report cautioned that no particular behavior, including interest in violence, could be used to produce a "profile" of a likely shooter.

The U.S. Department of Justice has funded research at the Center for Mental Health and Media at Massachusetts General Hospital to better determine what impact video games have on young people. Although it is still in the preliminary stages, this research and several other studies suggest that a subset of youths may become more aggressive after playing violent video games. However, in the vast majority of cases, use of violent video games may be part of normal development, especially in boys — and a legitimate source of fun too. Given the likelihood of individual variability, it may be useful to consider the impact of video games within three broad domains: personality, situation, and motivation.

Personality. Two psychologists, Dr. Patrick Markey of Villanova University and Dr. Charlotte Markey of Rutgers University, have presented evidence that some children may become more aggressive as a result of watching and playing violent video games, but that most are not affected. After reviewing the research, they concluded that the combination of three personality traits might be most likely to make an individual act and think aggressively after playing a violent video game. The three traits they identified were high neuroticism (prone to anger and depression, highly emotional, and easily upset), disagreeableness (cold, indifferent to other people), and low levels of conscientiousness (prone to acting without thinking, failing to deliver on promises, breaking rules).

Situation. Dr. Cheryl Olson, cofounder of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Mental Health and Media, led a study of 1,254 students in public schools (most were ages 12 to 14) in South Carolina and Pennsylvania. The researchers found that certain situations increased exposure to violent video games — such as locating game consoles and computers in children's bedrooms, and allowing older siblings to share games with younger ones. In this study, children who played video games often with older siblings were twice as likely as other children to play mature-rated games (considered suitable for ages 17 and older).

Motivation. In a three-year study, a team led by Dr. Mizuko Ito, a cultural anthropologist at the University of California, Irvine, both interviewed and observed the online behavior of 800 youths. The researchers concluded that video game play and other online activities have become so ubiquitous among young people that they have altered how young people socialize and learn.

Although adults tend to view video games as isolating and antisocial, other studies found that most young respondents described the games as fun, exciting, something to counter boredom, and something to do with friends. For many youths, violent content is not the main draw. Boys in particular are motivated to play video games in order to compete and win. Seen in this context, use of violent video games may be similar to the type of rough-housing play that boys engage in as part of normal development. Video games offer one more outlet for the competition for status or to establish a pecking order.

What parents can do

Parents can protect their children from potential harm from video games by following a few commonsense strategies — particularly if they are concerned that their children might be vulnerable to the effects of violent content. These simple precautions may help:

• Check the ESRB rating to better understand what type of content a video game has.
• Play video games with children to better understand the content, and how children react.
• Place video consoles and computers in common areas of the home, rather than in children's bedrooms.
• Set limits on the amount of time youths can play these games. The AAP recommends two hours or less of total screen time per day, including television, computers, and video games.
• Encourage participation in sports or school activities in which youths can interact with peers in person rather than online.

Video games share much in common with other pursuits that are enjoyable and rewarding, but may become hazardous in certain contexts. Parents can best protect their children by remaining engaged with them and providing limits and guidance as necessary.

American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Children and Video Games: Playing with Violence(Facts for Families, updated Aug. 2006).

American Academy of Pediatrics. "Policy Statement — Media Violence," Pediatrics (Nov. 2009): Vol. 124, No. 5, pp. 1495–503.

Anderson CA, et al. "Violent Video Game Effects on Aggression, Empathy, and Prosocial Behavior in Eastern and Western Countries: A Meta-Analytic Review," Psychological Bulletin (March 2010): Vol. 136, No. 2, pp. 151–73.

Ferguson CJ. "Blazing Angels or Resident Evil? Can Violent Video Games Be a Force for Good?" Review of General Psychology (June 2010): Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 68–81.

Ito M, et al. Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project (The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, 2008).

Lenhart A, et al. Teens, Video Games, and Civics (Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2008).

Markey PM, et al. "Vulnerability to Violent Video Games: A Review and Integration of Personality Research,"Review of General Psychology (June 2010): Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 82–91.

Olson CK. "Children's Motivations for Video Game Play in the Context of Normal Development," Review of General Psychology (June 2010): Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 180–87.

Olson CK, et al. "Factors Correlated with Violent Video Game Use by Adolescent Boys and Girls," Journal of Adolescent Health (July 2007): Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 77–83.

For more references, please see www.health.harvard.edu/mentalextra.

Hannahs diary (summary)

Anyone fancy becoming a 100% posthuman???

There is also a really interesting article by a guy called Gabriel Rothblatt  who is an ambassador

for some funky corporation.  http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/5671 

The movie Surrogates sounds interesting which Gabriel mentions, so in the name of research I' m now going to check it out!!! Has anyone seen it, Bruce Willis is in it.

Okay, watched the film, here is a brief review, contains plot spoilers!!! The film is about a surrogate inventor who has a change of heart about the program he invented as he feels he is responsible for the death of humankind. He created the program to help disabled people (like himself) lead a normal life. This is a sideline feature as the film focuses on the operator/surrogate binary and how society has adapted to living live through a machine. The operators (humans) don't need to leave their homes as they wear special glasses (Google glasses perhaps) in a comatose state to live their lives through their surrogates.  Security and privacy ceases to exist as surveillance is available to the authorities via codes to download minds of the surrogates. Every surrogate is slim young and attractive despite their operative appearance. There is a sub group who are against the surrogate program and refuse to engage with it. They are the human collation society who live separately with no modern resources from the rest of society. Although they and society acknowledge one another there is high animosity  as the human collation want to see the demise of the surrogates to enable the democracy of humanity. What struck me about this group was the hierarchy order that was imposed with a leader and class system. I guess some traits of humanity will never be obliterated. Despite the dubious story line, I found the graphics and evolvement  of the human species as a non emotional and social entity quite enthralling. I could picture quite clearly how society today could end up as a world like Surrogates tomorrow minus the plot. I could think of worst ways to spend 90 minutes.

Check it out at: putlocker.bz/watch-surrogates-online-free-putlocker.html 

Tracei x

Group meeting 10\04\14

Today we arranged the planning of our event next week verified the date and have managed to be able to get an extra hour on the event.This will give us time to have a practice run of all our stations and prepare the room for the event.Were all aware of the  strategy we are going whether we use digital media or not to represent each of our fields we've focused and have done research on.We know what everyone should be bringing in in terms of refreshments as i cant cook ill buy junk food.We had a productive meeting in the courtyard today with amazing weather.
See you Monday guys

ASK.FM

Hannah Smith death: Ask.fm 'to help police inquiry' 

The death of 14-year-old Hannah Smith has sparked calls for stricter controls on websites used by children.

This clearly shows that children are not safe as abuse is so easily reflected online.This ask.fm is a tool used to ask people on social networks questions anonymously.Thus people are vulnerable and tragic as it the words have got to this girl and made her take her own life.

This just emphasises the fact that safety is not monitored enough or emphasized.The security needs to be raised on this as lives are at risk.This is just one case. 

Safety

Durham university have conducted a study where they have come up with the conclusion that parents should encourage children to safely use digital media.This is interesting as there have been many cases where children and teenagers have been vulnerable due to social media.

This is an extract of the article:
'Parents need to understand the realities of the internet to help their children to use digital technology responsibly and safely, according to a researcher at Durham University.
The advice features in a new book, Raising Children in a Digital Age, by Dr Bex Lewis, which will be published later this month (Friday, February 21).
Dr Lewis, a Research Fellow in Social Media and Online Learning, has written the book in response to parents’ worries about children’s activities on the internet, in relation to social media, gaming sites and the availability of online pornography.
Publication of Raising Children in a Digital Age will follow today’s Safer Internet Day (Tuesday, February 11) which promotes safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially amongst children and young people across the world.'

https://www.dur.ac.uk/news/newsitem/?itemno=20073

Safety

My focus will be on the safety of digital media this involves our phones and social media.The question how safe is it with an increase in the younger generation using social media where they are exposed to all sorts. This article below

• From the American Academy of Pediatrics

Clinical Report

The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families

1. Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe, MD,
2. Kathleen Clarke-Pearson, MD,
3. Council on Communications and Media
4. 
   Using social media Web sites is among the most common activity of today's children and adolescents. Any Web site that allows social interaction is considered a social media site, including social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter; gaming sites and virtual worlds such as Club Penguin, Second Life, and the Sims; video sites such as YouTube; and blogs. Such sites offer today's youth a portal for entertainment and communication and have grown exponentially in recent years. For this reason, it is important that parents become aware of the nature of social media sites, given that not all of them are healthy environments for children and adolescents. Pediatricians are in a unique position to help families understand these sites and to encourage healthy use and urge parents to monitor for potential problems with cyberbullying, “Facebook depression,” sexting, and exposure to inappropriate content.  

Livvys detox diary

Tracei's Detox Diary

Digital Awareness Poster

Rebecca's Digital Detox Diary

Planning Group Meeting 08/04/2014

Hey Guys,

So, for all of you that were not at the meeting, these are the things that we discussed and that we decided upon:

Our event will be happening on 17th of April in Room 143 RHB from 4-6 (we have changed the location since Room 300 appeared to be slightly too big and is more difficult to find, also we have the room from 3pm onwards to have enough time to set everything up.)

• I will create a flyer and set up a Facebook event for the Intervention. I will make all of you who are on Facebook administrators of it so you can invite your friends as well. Also tell your friends about it now so we reach the largest audience possible. 

•  Everyone should prepare two questions for a Digital Questionnare regarding their specific digital topic and send them to Anthony until Thursday so he can put them all together. 

• The Event will be called 'Digital Awareness'. In order to maintain a balance between the negative and positive impacts of digital devices on our everyday lives. We will have a seperated area in the room which will be digital free. The rest of the room will have different small 'stations' where people can engage with different mini interventions regarding different topics. Every one of us needs to think of a way to critically engage the public with their specific area of concern. This can include using digital devices as a means as well, as long as it is outside the 'digital free' zone. Please think of your specific station until this thursday (10th of April) and sort out the logistics. 

• For the digital free space, we thought it would be nice to have some snacks so we set up a list of who is going to bring what: Tracei (Juice), Becci (Cake), Anthony (Cup Cakes), Elettra (Pretzels), Hannah (Crisps), the people that have not yet chosen what to bring, please figure that out until thursday as well. 

I hope I have covered everything that we spoke of in the meeting, if I have forgotten anything, just post it in the comment section below! Our next meeting to discuss specifics and continue with the planning of the event will be this thursday the 10th of April at 2 pm at the loafers cafe as usually! See you guys there! x 

P.S: For those of you who have documented their digital detox by keeping a diary of some sort please upload the results as soon as possible so we can see what kind of impact it had on each person! :)

Event booked : 4-6pm RHB 300 15th April

Room booked. See you all tomorrow for meeting attempt two. Please make the effort to come if you want to contribute 

 Hey guys,
I was just on my way to work today, when I came across this advertisement by TFL London, I had actually never realized how well it fits in the context of our digital detox. 20 years ago, such a poster would not have made any sense because people actually paid attention to their surroundings. This is a very good example of how the digital changes our every day lifes in respect to how it creates new situations and potentially new dangers due to a different point of attention.

Donna Haraway, the cyborg

Hi,

Another author D. Haraway discusses human body and the embodiment  technology - Technology and the Body.

“A cyborg is a cybernetic organism, a hybrid of machine and organism, a creature of social reality as well as a creature of fiction. Social reality is lived social relations, our most important political construction, a world-changing fiction.”

Haraway discusses power and oppression as the cyborg manifestations through biotechnology becomes part of our everyday, especially in relation to scientific culture. For the human to become better, fitter, more dynamic and stronger requires additional technological advancement. Oscar Pistorius, 'blade runner' is an example of this. Only with technological intervention can the body be viewed as superior in longevity and performance. 

Tracei

Governance and the internet

The internet, and its benefits, are crystallised for us all to see. From easy access to educational tools, a simple and more effective social life, and the endless hours of enjoyment via TV etc, global citizens of differing classes, culture and ideology meet on the extravagant plains of the world wide web. Infinite in it's size and thus infinite in its possibilities, the evolution of the web in the 30 or so years since its inception has been staggering, evolving further than all nations states envisaged. The hallowed position that the internet now holds in all of our lives, accessed via mobile phones on the go or as an avenue to present ones opinion on a large range of subjects, it would be foolish not to think that society itself has evolved, or is simply beginning its evolution, in wake of this unparalleled and thus relatively unknown invention.

I came across a news article a few weeks ago, in which a young 15 year old girl had committed suicide after posting self-harm pictures on her blog via Tumblr. Despite the relevant forewarning that all was not right, the aforementioned pictures published on her account weeks before the suicide itself, no action was taken to censor the images under obscenity laws, or worse still no medical help given. In a recent interview, David Cameron insisted that more effort was needed on the part of these international .com corporations to govern their websites to ensure that they are safe to use for the younger and more easily moulded generations (http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/23/tallulah-internet-suicide-blogs).

A few days after the release of this article, another article pertaining to this subject of privacy and governance on the internet caught my eye. Tim Berners-Lee, one of the architects of the internet as we know it today, accepted the critique that the it was ungoverned and to a point, unsafe for some users. He called for a 'Magna Carta' of the internet, global in it reach, that set outs rule and regulations for the use of the internet be it by business, customer, or passive surfer (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26540635). In terms of our event, the encouragement of thought on the digitalised future in a digital-free pace, this idea of a 'Magna Carta' could be used as an element to gather discussion and physical evidence for our future reflective essays. If we were to provide a large piece of paper/Cardboard, label it appropriately as a prototype 'Magna Carta' and allow for visitors to our event and those that pass it afterwards to leave their thoughts as to which areas of concern need addressed, be it privacy etc, and also any ideas that they have for improvement, we would be increasing the range of people who could contribute and doing something incredibly topical at the same time.

I hope everyone's Detoxes were productive, and I'll see you all on Monday :).

How We Became Post Human by N. Katherine Hayles

Hi,

The premise of the book centers on the modern day post human and how society has evolved into this current state. Many within the molecular biology (explores the structure and function of DNA and RNA- genetic information) field feel we are currently in. Even though at present it feels it is not a question of how to avoid becoming post-human, but how far with this phenomenon will go, Hayles feels that the human as a independent being can survive this total evolution due to the body and information not being able to continue without the other, as well as interaction being taken to curb this onslaught of technological input to improve and shape our very being as humans.

Post human unites the human mind/conciseness within a variant of encapsulation. What type of material is not of importance, what is of value is the information - the mind, which contains the coded information that can be transferable from one existence to another.

This came about through three waves.

The first wave in the 1945 - 1960 was founded by Norbert Wiener (mathematician) and his associates in the molecular biology field (genetic information centering on the structure and function of DNA/RNA) The beginning of seeing information within the human mind/body as a coded system which can be transferred from one place to another (think Star Trek) with the aid of technology.  The main objective at this time was to use technology to enhance the behavior of the body. This is now seen as the first stage of  posthuman development.


The second wave |(1960 - 1980) brought the human mind and its closed reproducing system  into the closed system of the machine. Instead of the human being on the outside of technology systems, they can become a part of it  via reflexivity.  This would enable the mind as an reproducing organism being able to come to conclusions based on the whole of reality construction, not just on the mechanics of how technology systems are supposed to operate. These theories were being produced by Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela. These theories did not dismiss the body

The present wave of the posthuman is of  virility, the 'evolving' and emerging reality of technology with the human consciousness. The natural progression of utilizing the mind with technology so the body slowly becomes a object rather than a subject. As Hayles states :   "Just because information has lost its body does not mean that humans and the world have lost theirs."


Tracei x

HI,

The detox is over, thank bl***y ***. I missed the internet, being able to converse. Having this  choice taken away was not pleasant for me. It was like living in my everyday bubble with no concept of agency and how to remedy it.

Have great weekend, c u ALL  on Mon at 2

Tracei x

Group Meeting 31st of March

Hey Guys,

So this is what we came up with at our group meeting today:
Tomorrow our digital detox starts and we will not be communicating digitally until Friday.
The digital free time will be from tuesday the 1st of April from the time we wake up, until Friday the 4th of April 6 pm. Within this time we will attempt to abstain from the digital devices we have decided upon in our personal manifestos. In order to document the process we will each keep a handwritten daily journal in which we reflect upon our experiences and assess the advantages and disadvantages of the digital age. We will also utilize this time to research our specific issue area in relation to digital devices further we will attempt to each gather ideas and concepts for our final event which will be held on the 15th of April. We will have our next group meeting on Monday the 7th of April at 2 pm to put together the journal and discuss the event.
Good luck with the abstanation, see you guys next monday!

Becci

P.S. If you cannot make it for any reason, please let me know via text over the weekend!

Moving forward

Team. Great meeting today. Amazing energy and collaboration. 

We've evolved from our original idea of then negative impacts of 'Digital Detoxing'.

Our Digital Detox is scheduled for TUES-FRIDAY next week. 

Our event is scheduled for 15th April 2014 (subject to  date-change if problematic))

We will give a presentation to our class tomorrow (FRIDAY)

We've had a stance change. Rather than looking at the entire negatives of DIGITAL DETOX, we're making our intervention more expansive. We want to take the POWER BACK FROM SOCIAL MEDIA. We want to look at the power of the digitalized future. What is a Digital Detox in a Digitalized Future. 

We assigned different areas of research for each person. By opening up different debates we want to look at the reactions to Technology from a Social, Political, Economical (and so on) perspective. 

Megan will be exploring 'Employment'
Livvy will be exploring 'Relationships'
Tracei will be exploring 'Post-Human'
Anthony will be exploring 'Privacy'
Becks will be exploring 'Violence'
Elecctra will be exploring 'De-centralization'
Hannah - TBC


PLEASE ADD WHATEVER NECESSARY TO THIS POST! too much love x