Why I Distanced Myself From Social Media and Never Looked Back
When my friends hear that I am taking a break from social media, they usually show a surprised face and ask, “Why?” Like a lot of people, I used to check my social media feeds whenever I had a spare moment: when I woke up in the morning, when I had meals alone, when I […]
Alone Together: The Paradox of Loneliness in the Age of Social Media
Loneliness is universal—we all have experiences where we yearn for connection with others. Momentary loneliness is normal, but feeling chronically lonely can negatively impact mental and physical health. According to a study conducted by the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2020, young adults of university age were the hardest hit by loneliness from the […]
Falling for Fake News is Easier Than We Think
In the past few years, misinformation has been running more rampant than ever. From politics to Covid-19, fake news is ever-present online, particularly on social media. It’s easy to brush this aside: “I would never fall for these lies”, we may think. However, studies on the psychology of truth and belief suggest something different. Namely, […]
Poverty and Privacy: An Inverse Relationship (Part 2)
If you haven’t already, you may want to read part 1 of this series first. In the first part of this series, we discussed the ways in which people experiencing poverty are subjected to higher levels of surveillance, especially in a work context. We also explored the idea that wealth, while not necessarily decreasing how […]
Poverty and Privacy: An Inverse Relationship (Part 1)
We are living in an era where privacy has become less and less of a given: the default is now surveillance. From doorbell cameras to smart assistants, TikTok to Google calendar, we’re constantly being monitored and tracked. However, there are some groups who are afforded more privacy—who can buy more privacy—than the rest of the […]
New to Digital Tattoo? Start Here!
As students and faculty are returning to campus, our use of online technology is increasing—from connecting to peers on social media, to using platforms such as Canvas and Google Workspace for coursework. Though we use these tools frequently, how often do we think about our privacy on these platforms, or our digital identity online? That’s […]
Does BeReal Curate Inauthentic “Authenticity”?
The first time I encountered BeReal, I was on a bus going to downtown Vancouver. I noticed a woman sitting in front of me take a photo of herself, and then angle her phone to quickly take a photo out the window. At first I was confused as to what she was doing. A couple […]
We’ve Updated Our Reference Style!
We have made some changes to how we reference sources in our articles. Formerly, we used hyperlinked footnote numbers in brackets, as well as a reference list at the bottom of the page. We found this was not the most accessible way to reference sources online—footnotes are not ideal for screen readers. An example of […]
A New Frontier for Art: AI Image Generators
When you think of creating art, you may picture someone delicately painting a portrait on a canvas, or perhaps someone snapping photos of a sunset. You probably don’t think of artificial intelligence creating a “psychedelic pencil sketch of karl marx eating ice cream” or a photorealistic image of a “gaming chair as a toilet”. With […]
Is the Price of Convenience a Loss of Privacy?
Connected objects and devices (aka the Internet of Things) are on the rise.[1] You probably have encountered an IoT object if you own a smartwatch or fitness tracker, or have a smart assistant like a Google Home. While these can be helpful gadgets, we suggest making some considerations before purchasing a smart object—check out what […]
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