Guest Post: What’s in My “Stream”?: Critical Knowledge for the Spotify User
What’s in My “Stream”?: Critical Knowledge for the Spotify User by Sam Davidson With 286 million users, Spotify is the world’s most popular music streaming platform, and there’s a good chance that you use it for your music listening needs [1]. What we don’t often consider when we’re putting in our earbuds is that Spotify […]
Guest Post: The Many Sides of Being Social
The Many Sides of Being Social by Alannah Berson In 2014, several drag queens found themselves locked out of their Facebook accounts because their names weren’t “authentic”. [1] The accounts had been flagged after Facebook instituted a “Real Name” policy that limits what types of usernames are allowed on the site and seeks to tie […]
Guest Post: Checking our Online Behaviour for Digital Blackface
Checking our Online Behaviour for Digital Blackface by Estelle Frank In today’s digital age, we have more tools at our disposal to express ourselves virtually than ever before. From memes to GIFS to emojis to Bitmojis, visual representations of the emotion we may want to convey online is easily done on messaging or social media […]
How to Protect Your Digital Identity Based on Your Zodiac Sign
We all can do more to protect ourselves online, but sometimes it can be difficult to know where to start. To help you out, we’ve come up with simple steps each Zodiac sign can take to increase their online safety. Let us know if your sign’s advice speaks to you, and let us know how […]
From Student to Teacher: Becoming a Professional
To access the case studies, as well as the resources that can be used to guide decision-making, visit our Case Studies for Student Teachers page. Before I became a graduate student at UBC, I was a teacher candidate preparing to take on the role of a professional educator. Like all of my peers transitioning into the […]
Digital Identity Digest (September)
Facebook is changing the way that WhatsApp works When Facebook purchased WhatsApp in 2014, there was a promise that the privacy of the popular messaging application’s millions of users’ wouldn’t be affected. That’s all changed with its new Terms of Service. The move is part of WhatsApp’s plan to monetize, and involves sharing phone numbers and analytical […]
How We Grieve Online
Anthony Moukarzel’s Facebook page is more active than most. Almost every day he receives messages from family members and friends, or is tagged in photos. But Anthony has not changed his profile picture in five years, or ever uploaded a cover photo. This is because in July 2010 he died in a tragic car […]
Love Apptually: Dating in the Age of Big Data
Valentine’s day is upon us, and romance is in the air – or at least, flashing across your smartphone screen. Digital technologies have infiltrated just about every aspect of our lives – including matters of the heart. Apps like Tinder have drastically transformed the ways that we connect, form social bonds, and fall in love. […]
Google+ : Facebook :: ____ : ____
Exploring Google+, the just released social networking service from Google is like walking through an unfinished house. The frame is there but it’s missing the people and pictures on the walls that make it a home. As the invites roll out and more people sign up though, that’s sure to change. Still, even just the […]
The Best Social Media Statistics for 2011
Over at Ragan’s PR daily, Adam Vincenzini has released an interesting collection of social media statistics for this year. Among my favorites: 80% of internet users participate in groups, compared with 56% of non-internet users. Moreover, social media users are even more likely to be active: 82% of social network users and 85% of Twitter […]
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