I swear, talking is the best way to learn! Just discussing topics and sharing different opinions and viewpoints helps to embed anything that I am learning into my brain. We have been doing exactly this in Dissecting the Internet.
This past Tuesday, we discussed articles that we read about a site called 4Chan. This site allows users to have complete anonymity, unlike sites like Twitter or Facebook. Obviously, complete online anonymity is rare these days, and Facebook creator Mark Zuckerburg believes that it is not a good thing. Instead, Zuckerburg believes in almost complete transparency. These two contradicting opinions were the basis of our classes conversation, which turned into somewhat of a debate: Complete Anonymity vs. Complete Transparency.
If I had to pick a side, I would lean more to the transparency side, even though I think complete transparency is pushing the boundaries. Anonymity worries me because I feel that if people need anonymity online, it is because they want to post stuff that they would be ashamed to take credit for. People post so many unnecessary, derogatory, and vulgar things online, and if they would be forced to take credit for what they post, it would cut back on a lot of these things. Internet users will want to take credit for things they are proud of.
Then, on Thursday, we had a "Facebook Good vs. Facebook Bad" debate. I was assigned to argue the "Facebook Good" side. Unfortunately, my debate group lost by three votes; however, I think everyone got a lot out of the argument, which is the important thing. The debate honestly got a little more heated than I thought it would, especially since the debaters didn't even get to pick the side they wanted to be on or actually believed in!
This week discussing Privacy vs. Anonymity was really productive, and it is a topic I have enjoyed discussing!
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