Media Literacy Week: Protecting and empowering students in the digital age
Guest blog by Patricia Kosseim, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario
Guest blog: How YouTube Watches Us
The YouTube video “Ultimate Dog Tease” has jumped from 15 million to 37 million views since the beginning of May 2011. The “JK Wedding Entrance Dance” has hit 67 million views since it was launched on YouTube. These two videos have more followers than some TV shows. They're fun, they're silly and, like YouTube as a medium, they are worth celebrating.
Taking the Wheel
I’ve recently become the chauffeur for my son and his group of friends, as they go to for a weekly gaming afternoon/hangout at one boy’s house. It’s clear that my role as the driver is to be invisible – they talk and goof around with each other in the car as if I’m not there, and if I do interject in their conversation, there’s a moment when they all freeze, confused as to where this voice from above came from, before ignoring it and carrying on. I’m there to hover on the outside, not to get involved.
Filters, social media, our kids and ourselves
A few years ago, I mostly stopped using filters on my Instagram photos and stories. I had been using ones that weren’t intentionally changing the way I looked - or at least, I wasn’t trying too hard for that. I was selecting ones that bettered my lighting or made me look less tired.
Younger siblings and social media rules
Our youngest daughter, who is in Grade Seven this year, is moving up the social media ladder.
She has her own tablet to use on the Wi-Fi at home and recently got her own Instagram account. She’s really loving the ability to share pics with her friends and chat with them online – especially because her two older siblings have been Instagramming and texting for at least three years now.
Good Role Models Onscreen
Recently our youngest, who is 14, decided she wanted to watch Keeping Up with The Kardashians.
Diversity and Inclusion Online, Media Literacy Week 2017
Cyberbullying tweets from the President of the United States. Sexism in Silicon Valley. Fake news from social media feeds fuelling online hate.
It’s been a rough year so far on the digital media landscape.
Living Your Life Online
This past December, my two daughters and I fell down the BTS rabbit hole.
BTS is a Korean K-Pop band that has been slowly taking over the universe since 2013. Their music can be heard worldwide, and in recent years they’ve made appearances on American late-night talk shows and on the American charts, while selling millions of records internationally.
The COVID-19 Letdown
I feel like I should knock wood when I say this, but it feels like maybe, someday, this lockdown might be over.
We’re still in rocky days as I write this, with active cases not dropping off as much as we all would like, and shops and attractions not as open as we would hope. But the vaccine is getting out there, albeit slowly, and some of the people we know have even received it already. Progress is being made, and we can start to dream of a time when life opens up again and we feel safer and more able to do the things we love to do.