Guest Blog Post: Anonymous Advocacy: Keeping You and Your Data Safe at Protests
Guest Post by Kylla Castillo Being able to safely protest for causes you care about is an essential pillar of democracy, but in the age of mass surveillance and data collection, protestors need to be more diligent than ever to protect themselves when exercising this essential right. Due to those risks, this article will share […]
UBC Streeters Video: Where Do You Find Information?
Video credit: UBC Streeters: Where Do You Find Information? – posted by The Digital Tattoo Project YouTube On this episode of UBC Streeters, we interviewed Gen Z UBC students to find out how they find information online. This was a follow-up to our interview with Dr. Sinnamon, where we discussed whether Google is losing its grip […]
Is Google Losing Its Grip on Gen Z?
“People are hardwired to appreciate other human beings as sources of information.” Are young people more inclined to use TikTok or Instagram to search for information? In a 2022 article from TechCrunch, Google observed that search behaviours of younger users differs from older groups, with young users wanting “more immersive” content discovery. Some outcry about this […]
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 […]
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