New Perspectives-Module 5
This module of New Perspectives goes over feeds, newsgroups, podcasts, mailing lists, chat, blogs, social networks, microblogs and more. In general, it is about “user-generated” content on the internet. Though the framing of “user generated” is quite interesting given that to me, everyone and everything on the internet would be user generated be it a corporation or an individual. This type of content is probably what makes the internet itself what it is and shapes its identity.
The module talks about podcasts and blogs for a period in the 5.1 section of the module. I used to view blogs all the time in the car, on the bus or in general when I have free time. I remember not being very interested in the idea of podcasts much when I was young however as I wondered why exactly I would just listen to two people talking about a subject without any music or anything, though I once did have a project with my sister in middle school in which we had to do a podcast together. This would change once I started working at my first job. Being that we’re not allowed to look at our phones on the ground floor but we can have one earbud in, I listen to podcasts pretty much every single day I work-usually on Spotify but occasionally with YouTube.
Online messaging and social networks are another subject discussed in the module. For most of my life I’ve just used SMS messaging to text my family and used social media for friends and strangers, but after a while I ended up downloading sites like Discord and Instagram. I had Snapchat for a short time as well. Instagram can be quite useful at times for instant messaging and Discord is great for school clubs, friend groups, etc. The module discusses microblogging and Twitter, though I personally was never very big on the idea of only being able to express your thoughts in such a small character limit. As a result I’ve only ever used Twitter for news.
Last discussed is online reputation. There has been a lot of talk about “cancel culture” amongst some on the internet. I would say the book is correct in saying you cannot always take back what you say online. Whilst there are certainly cases in which the idea of a mob collectively going after someone with little or no evidence applies, I think one should have the freedom of speech to say what they want yet also have the freedom to be attacked if they say something offensive or hurtful. In many cases it is right to criticize someone online. Besides this, the internet is an ecosystem as large as the real world and as such there will be groups of people who continue to support and subscribe to the target’s line of thinking.