TT#1 "Siri, Google Cassandra Wilson."

  If you google my name, a very talented and beautiful jazz singer will appear. I'm both sad and relieved.

    I've had Facebook for nearly 15 years and Instagram for nearly 10, but you can't find them by searching my name (I use my cat's name as my surname). Either way, it seems as though an online presence is expected if not demanded so as mentioned in my previous post, it's time to get serious. As a requirement for my Internet for Educators class, I had to join Twitter, and I was pleasantly surprised by how useful it is. I was particularly delighted to follow my favourite authors and Educational Leaders, and although I'm hesitant to make any posts just yet, I have retweeted several. I can see myself becoming more active on this platform simply for the diversity of information. I'm going to tinker around on it more and do another blog I think! ^ . ^

       I have a 13-year-old cousin who is glued to her phone, although she doesn't use Facebook because that's for "old people". I'm as offended as you are. Anyway, recently I got a follow request on Instagram from her username followed by the word "spam". As I'm Facetiming her I open up the profile and see that it is not private (meaning I did not have to request to follow) and yet there were hundreds of pictures of her and her friends. When asked what the account was and why it wasn't private, she said that people have been creating spam accounts so they can upload multiple times a day without overloading someone's newsfeed, and it was not private so she could get more followers. These fricken kids. I must have told her a million times before this about being safe online. Instead of another lecture from her teacher/cousin I simply said "hmm, I get more followers when I'm private because then people can't just creep, they have to actually follow...". Low and behold her account is now private. Of course, this was only a temporary solution. I was trying to remember how my parents or teachers approached the subject and I couldn't remember. I think I learned to keep everything private (secured privacy settings) after reading horror stories about teens who were subjected to either online bullies or predators. I hadn't considered keeping it private for professionalism until University. Since beginning this blog post I have discovered various resources for approaching the subject with teens because I think it is important and quickly becoming the new way of life. On safeteen.ca for example, there is a multitude of resources. One I found particularly interesting was CommonSenseMedia.org. Here I discovered a blog/newsletter that keeps adults up to date on current internet trends, in addition to providing tips for educating youth on internet safety, including digital identities.

(* ´ο`*)

See ya, Space Cowboys

Lady C