Category: Blogs | Social Networks | New Media
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The ‘Senior Companion’ | Immortal Cyborgs for the Lonely Elderly
When you get old, do you think you’ll be lonely? Do you think you’ll want someone to talk to and reminisce with? Naturally, someone has come up with a technological solution… the ‘Senior Companion.’ Very interesting piece in this month’s Prospect. The ‘Senior Companion’ is a ‘a conversational agent designed to interact with a person…
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The Social Network | Taking Facebook into Public Ownership
I went to see The Social Network the other night, and have been mulling on it since. I have to say, I didn’t really fancy the thought of going to see a film about Facebook, but the reviews have been very good, and I’m a fan of Aaron Sorkin. It’s actually very funny, and very…
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Social Media and the Illusion of Action
Excellent time at Apple 8 last night. Dr Luke Bretherton gave a very very good presentation on the place of social media in political action, framing it in terms of the co-evolutionary history of technology and political engagement/communication. The audio and slides should be up this evening. One of the most interesting points was about…
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The Problem with Digital Culture [2] : Information Obesity
I posted some thoughts on Friday about the problem of information coming too quickly for us to reflectively process it – and turn information into useful knowledge and wisdom. The analogy I used there was of a conveyor belt. When it runs slowly the packets come off at a speed that allows us to sort…
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The Problem with Digital Culture [1]: Too Much, Too Fast
I’ve been reading The Shallows – How the Internet is Changing How We Think, Read and Remember and led a discussion about the effects of digital culture on our brains for our 6th Form yesterday. It was actually a very interest debate, which took in the printing press, Shakespeare, violence, gaming and, most importantly, speed…
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Apple 8 – Social Media and Social Action – 13th October
Connected to the previous post about Gladwell’s article on ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted,’ I’m really excited about the next Apple event, which is coming up on 13th October. Dr Luke Bretherton will be leading a discussion on social media and social action, asking whether Facebook and Twitter have anything to add to community…