I've been trying to work through some ideas on how fear operates in a networked society. At Webstock in New Zealand, I gave a talk called "Culture of Fear + Attention Economy = ?!?!" Building on this, I gave a talk at SXSW called "The Power of Fear in Networked Publics." While my thinking in …
Month: March 2012
Doubting the Impossible: Mike Daisey, the Pragmatists, and Networked Ways of Knowing
Mike Daisey lied to us – but how much you think he lied depends on how you think about ‘truth’. Some background: in his one-man show ‘The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,’ and a highly popular This American Life episode, Daisey tells several stories about how Apple manufactures products in China. He presents …
Reflecting on Dharun Ravi’s conviction
On Friday, Dharun Ravi - the Rutgers student whose roommate Tyler Clementi killed himself - was found guilty of privacy invasion, tampering with evidence, and bias intimidation (a hate crime). When John Palfrey and I wrote about this case three weeks ago, I was really hopeful that the court proceedings would give clarity and relieve …
The Power of Youth: How Invisible Children Orchestrated Kony 2012
To many people unfamiliar with Invisible Children, the Kony 2012 campaign looked like a brilliant example of "viral" media spread. The center of the campaign is a compelling 30-minute film where a father talks to his son about the evil practices of the Ugandan war lord Joseph Kony. The father makes it clear that his …
Continue reading The Power of Youth: How Invisible Children Orchestrated Kony 2012
A Message to the “First Responders” in Gay Kids’ Lives: Why We Need to Ditch the Politics of Blame, Stop Talking About “Cyberbullying,” and Move Toward Sharing Responsibility for the Loss of Tyler Clementi
2 March 2012 A Message to the “First Responders” in Gay Kids’ Lives: Why We Need to Ditch the Politics of Blame, Stop Talking About “Cyberbullying,” and Move Toward Sharing Responsibility for the Loss of Tyler Clementi By Mary L. GrayCross posted on HuffingtonPost; maryLgray.org; Cultural Digitally Senior Researcher Microsoft Research New England, Cambridge, MAAssociate Professor of …