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How can social media increase my digital literacy ?

1. enables us to communicate effectively and navigate the digital world responsibly

2. makes us think critically about what we are seeing online

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How social media increases our digital literacy  

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How social media increases our digital literacy  

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1. easy access to information

2. communication and collaboration

3. employment opportunities

4. improved learner engagement and participation

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Week 2 - Social media, communication and micro-influencers 

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Week 2 - Social media, communication and micro-influencers 

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Micro-influencers

I found the article published by Forbes on how micro-influencers actually have a bigger impact on consumer decision making than that of influencers with millions of followers. This idea was surprising to be at first as you would presume the best marketing strategy for businesses would be to aim for the biggest celebrities/influencers with the biggest following to promote their brand. Research has shown that this is no the case, as influencers with a smaller audience often have much more engagement with their followers, such as replying to comments, doing livestream Q and A's and posting 'relatable' content. This results in the consumer feeling like they can relate to the influencer and be more inclined to try products and brands that they are promoting.

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Alix Earle is one of Tik Tok's over night sensations as she began with a relatively small following where she posted makeup videos where she chatted to her followers about her daily life, sometimes including funny story times while sharing her favourite beauty products. I myself was influenced by the brands she mentioned and even bought quite a few products that she mentioned. As she was very active on her account, posting almost everyday, she quickly accumulated millions of followers. She became so popular as people felt her content was both interesting and relatable, but after she became more known I think she lost that element of normality that people enjoyed. Now her content is much more curated and filled with paid partnerships and feels a lot less natural. I'm much less inclined to watch her videos as I feel like they are all just an advertisements for various brands.

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Marta Bustillo - digital literacy skills 

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Marta Bustillo - digital literacy skills 

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How to make the right decisions when evaluating websites by asking yourself the following questions :

1. Authority - is the author clearly identified or is the organisation a credible source ? could the content be biased ?

2. Accuracy - is the author qualified to write about this topic ? does the information contain errors ?

3. Objectivity - what is the purpose of the site ?

4. Content - is the content presented in a professional manner ?

5. Currency - does the website have up to date content ?

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Gymshark is an excellent example of the importance of online collaborations for brand growth. They make use of excellent marketing strategies by creating partnerships with popular fitness influencers and athletes. This involves the influencer posting videos/photos of them wearing the brand as well as having personal promotional codes for the viewers to use to get a percentage off their purchase. Not only does this strategy allow the brand to reach many demographics, it also increases brand visibility and allows for a much bigger online presence.

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Week 3 - Collaborative Information Generation 

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Week 3 - Collaborative Information Generation 

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The power of content creator collaborative content

Collaborative content refers to content that is created by two or more individuals or organisations with an online presence. The aim of this content is to expand reach and grow your online presence by essentially being promoted on another creators platform. This is an excellent tactic to gain more followers by collaborating with creators with similar content to your own. It is also very effective for business owners or to spread a message you are passionate about.

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Week 4 - Managing information in social media 

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Week 4 - Managing information in social media 

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should we save everything ?

I tend to save all of my content in fear I might regret deleting it for whatever reason. Hoarding all of this content is in most cases very unnecessary as I highly doubt I will need some of my first year college assignments in the future. Although I know it is a complete waste of storage, I can't bring myself to delete many of the files saves to my laptop.

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This is content is temporary material that uses shock factor to gain attention from online users. Many content creators use this tactic to gain traction online and to stay relevant. There are constantly new viral challenges circulating the internet and participating in these allows creators to increase their content volume and reach wider audiences.

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The Cinnamon Challenge ... by GloZell and her Big Behind Earrings

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Before this module, I had never heard of this app and was pleasantly surprised with what it has to offer. Pocket makes it possible to to save, manage and read articles that are of interest to you at a later date. You can also customise your account to your liking with features allowing you to change the background and font sizes to allow for an easier read. The app also makes it easy to share content to friends or family by text, email and other social media platforms. The discovery page offers many new articles that may be of interest to you, covering a range of topics. On the discovery page, I found a few articles that

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An Ivy League School Announces Its First AI Degree

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An Ivy League School Announces Its First AI Degree

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The first article I came upon that was of interest to me was about a college in Pennsylvania USA, that has recently announced that it will be offering its first degree in Artificial intelligence. Students will soon be able to study for a Bachelor of Science degree in Artificial Intelligence and will be able to use the skills learnt throughout the course to gain employment in AI companies working on new technologies.

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At the University of Pennsylvania, undergraduate students in its school of engineering will soon be able to study for a bachelor of science degree in artificial intelligence.

What can one do with an AI degree? The University of Pennsylvania students will be able to apply the skills they learn in school to build responsible AI tools, develop materials for emerging chips and hardware, and create AI-driven breakthroughs in healthcare through new antibiotics, among other things.

Generative AI technology, which is essentially algorithms that can create new content, is transforming every aspect of life, producing an "urgent need" for AI engineers who understand the principles of AI and how to apply them in a responsible and ethical way, the school in a press release.

The undergraduate program offers coursework in topics including machine learning, computing algorithms, data analytics, and advanced robotics. in "AI Ethics" and "Trustworthy AI" are also on the slate.

The rapid development of AI has raised plenty of concerns about how the technology is deployed, including the lack of transparency in developing large language models, the private and personal data used in building AI tools, and the known bias problems in algorithmic decision-making. The program, it seems, plans to take them head-on.

The AI degree gives a window into signs of a changing labor market

The reality is also that AI is changing the labor market, and future generations of students will be entering a job market of new opportunities.

"We are training students for jobs that don't yet exist in fields that may be completely new or revolutionized by the time they graduate," said Robert Ghrist, associate dean of undergraduate education at Penn Engineering, in a statement.

At the same time, AI talent is scarce. Workers with AI skills command high salaries: OpenAI engineers, for instance, reportedly make upwards of $800,000.

The University of Pennsylvania's AI undergraduate program will begin this fall. It's also not the only US college to have an AI program for undergrads. Carnegie Mellon and Purdue University also offer bachelor's degrees in artificial intelligence.

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existential risk from artificial general intelligence

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An Ivy League school just announced its first AI degree

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It's a sign of the times. At the same time, AI talent is scarce

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Link to my Pocket account !!

https://getpocket.com/saves?src=navbar

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Week 5 (asynchronous) - Visualising Information Through Social Media 

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Week 5 (asynchronous) - Visualising Information Through Social Media 

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PINTEREST -

Unlike Pocket, Pinterest was not new to me before starting this module. It is actually one of my most frequently used online platforms. I can spend hours scrolling through the abundance of content that is curated for my specific interests. One of Pinterests best features is the how it requires you to choose the categories that are of interest to you when setting up your account. This allows for content that you will most likely enjoy to show up on your home page. This makes for a much easier and enjoyable experience when using the app as most of the content shown to you will be specific to the categories you chose. Pinterest allows users to collect, store and share their findings in an easy and organised way. It allows you to create boards in your profile, separating your saved posts containing recipes, workouts, makeup, nail and fashion inspiration, keeping everything visually pleasing and easy to access.

POCKET -

Pocket, on the other hand was completely new to me and I was interested to see what it had to offer. It is a social bookmarking app for storing, sharing and discovering articles online. It allows users to save an article to their laptop for later reading. Pocket allows to users a more personalised reading experience by taking into account user activity and recommending articles based on previous saves and allowing you to adjust text size for the best reading experience. Pocket also removes unrelated content and leaves the relevant text. Overall I was pleasantly surprised by this platform as I was came across many articles that were of interest to me and save to read at a later date and was recommended many other articles based on the ones I saved to my account.

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One of my favourite apps for ideas and inspiration !

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 My Map Mashup of My Favourite Restaurants in My Area 

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 My Map Mashup of My Favourite Restaurants in My Area 

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I decided to make a map mashup of my favourite restaurants in my area. I am lucky enough to be living in an area with an abundance of options for places to eat out. These are just some of my favourites and there are many more that I have yet to try !

I used the Google maps guide to create my map mashup and it was and it was an efficient way of compiling all my favourite restaurants and pin pointing them on a map of my area.

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how do you present information visually now ?

how will you present information in the future ?

how are tasks in your E-Portfolio work helping you to think creatively about presenting information visually ?

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Learning outcomes :

To consider the potential of social media in the workplace

To consider digital strategy in the workplace context

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The Importance of Online Reputation Management 

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The Importance of Online Reputation Management 

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Every online action you take has consequences and shape how you are perceived online. There is this false idea that once we click delete on a photo, video or comment posted on an online platform, that it is gone forever, but the unfortunate reality is that once something its posted publicly online, there is no way to erase it completely. Your digital footprint can affect your reputation both online and offline and can influence how colleagues perceive you personally and professionally. When posting online, we must consider the potential consequences it can have on us when searching for employment opportunities.

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Week 7 - Synchronous week - Video Communication 

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Week 7 - Synchronous week - Video Communication 

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Creating my short video with Screencast-O-Matic

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Creating my short video with Screencast-O-Matic

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pre-production :

scripting, storyboarding

royalty free visuals and sound

production :

lighting, sound, location

takes

time needed

equipment

advanced tricks

postproduction :

editing

effects

upload to social media

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first I watched the screencast videos on brightspace to familiarise myself with screencast

I then decided to make my video on creating a Pinterest account, keeping in mind that the video had to be no more than 30 seconds

I wrote a script to make it easier for me to record

I needed to do quite a few takes as I kept tripping over my words

I cut down the video as it was too long

Added music

uploaded it to my Youtube account and added it to my Padlet

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Week 8 - Social Media U. (Asynchronous Week)

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Week 8 - Social Media U. (Asynchronous Week)

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This week, our learning outcomes were to explore the application of social media to our learning in university and to add our thoughts to the class pallet.

I definitely make use of social media as a tool in making my college assignments easier to compete. I had not fully thought the benefits of social media in my academic life and actually how much I make use of them for a variety of reasons. Social media is extremely beneficial for collaborative work when completing group projects. It makes the whole process much easier and allows me to work much more effectively with group members. Social media is also useful for visual aids when setting out to complete an assignment. I have never thought to use Pinterest as a tool in college, but it can be very helpful in brainstorming ideas and encouraging me to think more creatively. Social media is also very important for finding future employment opportunities. It allows for the perfect platform to showcase academic achievements and put myself out there and network with potential employers. I will be creating a Linked In for this module and I'm interested to see the job opportunities that may be of interest to me in the future and how the platform may benefit me down the line.

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Linked In is a digital platform that allows users to create a professional profile that acts as an online resume. It is a place where we can showcase our skills and achievements, educational background and interests with other users in the hopes of connecting with industry professionals and potential employers by sending connection requests. Forming these connections are very useful for gaining employment opportunities and networking with people with similar employment goals. It also contains a job search feature which makes searching for specific roles much easier.

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Before setting up my Linked In profile I watched the three videos available on brightspace to familiarise myself on hoe to market myself effectively. I then updated my CV with all of my work experience so far. I added a photo of myself and then began searching employment opportunities on the job search feature. I was pleasantly surprised with the vast amount of roles that were of interest to me and found the job search feature very effective in allowing me to quickly come across employers and professionals that would be beneficial to me to connect with. I ended up inviting five people to my profile that were currently employed in my areas of interest. Finally, I linked my Linked In profile to my padlet.

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This video shows someone exploring and filming abandoned buildings in Dublin. In the caption she states how she believes the 'no trespassing ' signs are no more than guidelines and not actual rules that need to abided by. She justifies her trespassing by expressing how she is intrigued by these buildings and if nothing is stopping her from entering she will do just that. This video raises the question of whether this is ethical behaviour to be posting on social media. On the one hand, it could potentially give the wrong idea to young audiences about the severity of trespassing and on the other hand, it showcases some beautiful historic sites in Dublin.

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NO TRESPASSING: Get Out! | Urban Exploring in Derelict Dublin

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These principles are what we should all consider when using any social media platform to ensure they are being used in a safe and ethical manner :

1. Transparency - individuals should be transparent about their identity and interests while engaging with others on social media platforms

2. Respect - users of social media platforms should respect the privacy, dignity and rights of others and should avoid engaging in derogatory and abusive behaviour

3. Responsibility - users should take full responsibility for the content they share and ensure that is accurate, truthful and not misleading

4. Authenticity - users of social media platforms should be authentic and avoid engaging in behaviour that is deceitful or manipulative

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You and Social Media - An Ethical Relationship ?

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You and Social Media - An Ethical Relationship ?

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1. How do you approach social media platforms ?

I approach most social media platforms with an awareness of the vast amount of fake and misleading content that it is flooded with. I ensure to be critical of what I see and do further research if I am unsure of the content. Many posts on social media are posted with the soul purpose of creating a shock factor to gain views and followers and is often untrue or misleading to users.

2. Do you view some as more or less ethical than others ?

I think most social media platforms are as unethical as each other for the most part. Some have more severe forms of security measures such as monitoring content closely and allowing users to report content they believe to be unethical for further investigation.

3. What is your practice for maintaining an ethical interaction with social media ?

I try to follow the key principles of social media ethics when using any social media platform ; transparency, respect, responsibility, authenticity

4. What do you hope to do better in future to promote a high standard of ethics in your interactions with social media ?

I hope to be more vigilant with the implementation of the key principles stated above and to make sure that I don't share any content that I am not sure of to avoid the spread of misinformation

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E-Tutorials : About and Troubleshooting 

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E-Tutorials : About and Troubleshooting 

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1. Foundational Social Media Analytics for Research

social data is data found in online social activities that is posted publicly eg. textual data, network data, mobile and location data

search engine data can be used in product analysis and development, social selling

social analytics is the science of extracting valuable hidden insights from the vast amounts of semistructured and unstructured social media data

Buffer allows internet users to gather counts of likes, shares across different social media platforms

2. Data Visualisation for Novice Researchers

visualising refers to ways of organising and presenting data

when presenting data we must consider our audience, tell a story, choose appropriate visuals, use colour to focus your audience on your message, avoid using too much text

an infographic is a visual representation of information and graphics you have collected

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E-tutorial --> Data Visualisation for Novice Researchers 

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E-tutorial --> Data Visualisation for Novice Researchers 

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E-tutorial --> Foundational Social Media Analytics for Research 

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E-tutorial --> Foundational Social Media Analytics for Research 

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Week 10 - What's Trending Now in Social Media ? (Asynchronous Week)

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Week 10 - What's Trending Now in Social Media ? (Asynchronous Week)

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Learning Outcome -> To identify social and technological trends using social media

From my reading of 'Top 10 social media trends in 2023' I found that there may be a shift towards a more privacy focused experience when using social media platforms with much more clarity on what data is being collected from third party entities. This will have an impact on how brands market themselves on social media. There may also be less filtering of content on social media allowing for increased freedom of speech. This change will allow more freedom of speech to users, but also may contribute to internet trolling if there is not some form of regulation. Brands may change their marketing strategy of influencer endorsements to promote their brand, instead they will broadcast their content between community members.

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What do you think will be a key trend in social media this year ? 

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What do you think will be a key trend in social media this year ? 

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I think TikTok will continue to be extremely popular among internet users of all ages with its perfectly curated algorithms and bite sized content that allows for a quick dopamine hit as users scroll from video to video. It is currently one of the most widely-used social media apps today and continues to experience explosive growth. TikTok's popularity mainly comes from its short video format, engaging content and easy to use editing tools allowing users to part take in various trends and challenges that are constantly circulating the app, keeping users engaged and coming back for more. It will also continue to be a very popular marketing platform for businesses, allowing them to reach target audiences through algorithms and advertise their brand in a quick and inexpensive manner.

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Privacy concerns and interaction with activity tracking technologies :

Wearable technology devices such as fitness trackers and smart watches have grown considerably in popularity in recent years. Although they offer useful benefits, using sensors and monitors to help people achieve their fitness goals, they also can invade the privacy of users. These devices require individuals to provide a lot of personal information to get the most out of what they offer. The data they capture includes :

weight, blood pressure, heart and lung function and sleep patterns

calories burned

steps taken

location data through GPS

fitness goals and progress

distance travelled

By using these devices, you are allowing much of your personal data to be collected and given to third party companies, sometimes without proper consent due to users not being fully aware of this collection.

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An interesting article on the risks associated with the use of tech wearables

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1. To consider the future role of social media in society

AI technology will continue to enhance features of social media platforms

Brands will make use of AI tool to create a more personalised experience for consumers

Brands will increasingly use content creators to reach their target audiences

2. Reflect on how we will use and will not use social media in our digital lives

I have recently deleted Instagram as I found my feed was full of ads. They also removed the ability for posts to appear on your feed chronologically, meaning I had to scroll past the many paid advertisement posts to get to my friends posts. This was not the case when I first downloaded the app years ago when my feed only showed users that i follow.

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Many TikTok users have expressed concern regarding threats to their data privacy. Most concerns surround 'what data does TikTok collect ?' and 'does TikTok steal your information ?'. Like many other platforms, TikTok collects a lot of information about its users, and uses it to build up a profile of you for ad targeting purposes. There have been many allegations of misuse of user data as well as sharing user data to third party developers without consent. The CEO, Shouzi Chew denied these allegations and many remain unsure about the

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Article I came across about TikTok being fined for violating children's privacy on the app.

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Ireland's data regulator has slapped a €345 million fine on TikTok for violating children's privacy on its video-sharing app, after finding adults could enable direct messages for certain teenagers with whom they had no family connection.

The case against the Chinese-owned tech giant also showed how TikTok's "family pairing" feature could link children's accounts to "unverified" adults who were not their parents or guardians.

"The decision further details that non-child users had the power to enable direct messages for child users above the age of 16, thereby making this feature less strict for the child user," said the office of Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) Helen Dixon.

In an investigation raising serious concerns over an app used by more than a billion people, TikTok was reprimanded for multiple breaches of EU data law in relation to teenagers and criticised for failing to protect preteens.

TikTok has been growing rapidly after the three-minute limit on viral dance videos, comedy skits and lip-sync routines proved a worldwide hit.

But in a case highlighting "risks" to TikTok's young users, Ms Dixon examined how children signed up to the app "in such a manner that their accounts were set to public by default" on the system.

[ Who's afraid of TikTok? 'The main concern should be about privacy more generally' ]

"This also meant that, for example, videos that were posted to child users' accounts were public by default, comments were enabled publicly by default, the Duet and Stitch features were enabled by default," Ms Dixon's office said. These two features allow users to incorporate videos from other creators into their posts.

The decision also said the company "did not properly take into account" the risks posed to children under 13 who gained access to the app by the default account setting, allowing anyone on or off TikTok to view content they posted.

Ms Dixon initiated a "large-scale" investigation two years ago into TikTok, which employs 3,000 people in Ireland. The inquiry centred on EU law breaches in July-December 2020, although TikTok said it cut the offending features long ago.

The Irish regulator has issued "an order requiring [TikTok Technology Ltd] to bring its processing into compliance by taking the action specified within a period of three months from the date on which the DPC's decision is notified" to the company, which happened on September 1st.

The ruling met a frosty response from TikTok. "We respectfully disagree with the decision, particularly the level of the fine imposed," the company said in a Friday statement from its London office.

"The DPC's criticisms are focused on features and settings that were in place three years ago, and that we made changes to well before the investigation even began, such as setting all under-16 accounts to private by default."

TikTok's spokesman said "we are evaluating our next steps" when asked whether it would appeal the DPC ruling in the High Court.

In addition to the fine for eight breaches of European law over children's data, TikTok is under separate DPC investigation for personal data transfers to China in a case examining whether it met legal requirements for transfers to third countries.

Ms Dixon has sweeping powers under Europe's general data protection regulation (GDPR) to supervise the pan-European operations of large tech groups such as TikTok that have their EU headquarters in Ireland.

The TikTok fine follows a succession of huge GDPR penalties against Facebook owner Meta and its subsidiaries, which now total some €2.5 billion. Meta has appealed such rulings.

[ GDPR complaints system is an unfair burden on Ireland and a weakness for Europe ]

When it was introduced five years ago, the GDPR regime was billed as a significant step in the drive to control how businesses exploit consumers' personal information, although critics say enforcement should be sharper and swifter.

Penalties proposed by the Irish regulator must be approved by fellow regulators who sit with her in the Brussels-based European Data Protection Board.

Just as many of Ms Dixon's draft rulings against Meta were challenged in the European board, the sanction against TikTok met resistance and was settled only after a dispute resolution procedure.

The objectors in this case were Italy's national regulator and two regional German bodies, although Ms Dixon's office said there was "broad consensus" on her original proposal.

The European board directed Ms Dixon to amend the draft decision to include a new GDPR infringement of the principle of fairness and to extend a compliance order on TikTok processing to embrace that finding.

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TikTok fined €345m by Ireland's data regulator for violating children's privacy

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Data Protection Commissioner's case highlights 'risks' to Chinese-owned tech giant's young users

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I really enjoyed making my 'DigiLife' infographic and found the E-tutorial on 'Data Visualisation for Novice Researchers' quite helpful to effectively present my data. My aim was to avoid overcrowding my infographic with too much text, while also getting my point across. I made use of the tools offered by Piktochart by using colours and images to make it visually appealing and engaging to the reader.