Week 3- Media Sharing

Media Sharing... well I guess I never really thought of the idea of Facebook, Snapfish, and Flickr with the title of media sharing. However, that's exactly what it is (I kind of had a DUH! moment there). I've used these websites for quite a while and just kind of thought they were a good way to connect with friends. Much easier than attempting to print out a million pictures and deliver them, or getting those phone calls that drag on and on from friends, when all you really want to find out was what's new. I guess that makes me more of a digital native than I thought. Now, the term doesn't strictly apply to me, because we didn't get computers in our school till sixth grade, but I guess I've been using them for most of my life. Wow, I never really thought of it that way.

Anyway, back to media sharing, I think the idea of media sharing is great. The ability to catch up with people, share photos, and just peek in to see what's going on in their lives is great. It's not invasive and you don't have to get caught on the phone for an hour when you really just wanted to see how they're doing. However, like everything on the Internet, I think it's great with moderation. People who use web cams and document every iota of their lives open up some dangerous doors. For example, I'm listening to a book right now (I download as many books as I can on Audible and listen to them while I do things around the house or walk. It makes chores so much more enjoyable!) called Roadside Crosses. In the story, one of the recurring themes is that the killer is able to track down his victims and know their greatest fear from the information they post on the web. Although I recognize that this is a fictional book, it does have a point that we need to be careful what we post on the web. Actually an interesting side note with this book is that the killer is tracking people through a blog.

Although I really enjoy media sharing, it's something that isn't possible within our school. I would love to be able to use it, for example if I were to have students take pictures at home, upload them to snapfish and then have them use them in a project. However, sadly this is not a possibility; these media sharing sites have been blocked by our tech coordinator. Now, I understand why, but I wish we could find a way to use them, they would add so much and provide accessibility to our projects.