I know numerous individuals who have gotten story ideas from their surroundings. During the holiday season, before COVID-19 hit, my family and I would go to the mall to complete last-minute Christmas shopping but also to watch individuals scatter around. Often, we begin to create life stories for the individuals we see and add to it action by action. This reminded me of the Exquisite Corpse Game. I must admit that I had to take a peek at the story, and I realized that I share some of the same sentiments as my peers. In regards to my Vocaroo file, it includes sounds from COVID-19 testing. Every week Kean University provides COVID testing to residential students, and I facilitate the check-in process. The link to my Vocaroo file is included below, along with my Daily Create “You in a painting.”
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Knowing that I had to listen to a podcast this week made me a tad bit nervous. I am one that likes to read rather than listening. Often times I caught myself thinking of other tasks that needed to be completed while even leaving the podcast to play while going to complete them. Needless to say, I had to sit down and read the transcript.
In “The Internet of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” Dana Boyd highlights a lot of conversations that many have once had, but also conversations that others have neglected through the years. It comes to no surprise that Boyd discusses the positives of the internet, which are the lifelong connections that individuals make. The internet is a space that permits one to learn about themselves and others as well. Children meet individuals online that let them know that they are not alone. This ties into Boyd’s statement, “They need that network because, at some point, they’re not going to want to talk to you about something. You can’t do it all yourself, and we do a disservice to our children by assuming that you can.” I believe this is something that many parents forget. There are conversations that children may not want to have with their parents, whether that stems from a bad relationship, judgment, or embarrassment. Broadening children’s environment to provide them with individuals they trust and are comfortable with is significant, but there is also a downfall to this. My mother has always been protective over my sister and me simply because you will never know anyone’s true intentions. It is disheartening to say that there are individuals who intentionally hurt others, especially those who may be oblivious. Boyd struck me when mentioning that the internet brings out everyone’s flaws. Who someone is over the internet may be how they appear on a day-to-day basis. Bullying and racists comments happen every second online and offline. As many benefits as the internet may bring, there are also downfalls, and I do not blame my mother for always wanting to protect me… even now at twenty-two years old.
“Digital Detox #1: Welcome to the Show” touches on the lack of privacy individuals have while in a pandemic. I have seen a tremendous amount of videos, Tik Tok videos to be exact, of students going through lengthy steps to confirm that they are not cheating to then record the students while taking the exam. I understand that everything is virtual now, and students have ways of gaining access to answers, but where was this face-to-face instruction was held? Where was this when take-home tests were assigned?