Category Archives: Social Media

Vindicated

Back in the Dark Ages, talking with a friend on the phone required me to use a landline, which meant being in the kitchen because the phone there had a 20-foot chord that allowed me to pace as I spoke. … Continue reading

Posted in Social Media | 15 Comments

What’s Real?

Imagine a classroom where a student gets so sucked into Mech Arena that he doesn’t hear the teacher ask him a question. What’s more real to the student: the classroom, where he’s surrounded by other members of his own species, … Continue reading

Posted in Ethics, Science, Social Media | 14 Comments

Seeking Organizational Advice

Next week, I plan to order 15 new podcasting mics for students in the podcasting course to use. This will address the biggest criticism of the course from last year: that I had way too few mics to accommodate the … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Social Media | 19 Comments

Balances of Power

Students have watched closely as Russia invaded a neighbor in a manner every bit as brazen as the start of the world’s last thirty-year war, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. Some have worried whether or not other nations will be pulled … Continue reading

Posted in National Politics, Social Media | 7 Comments

Doing vs. Having

American literature students who have read Thoreau generally remember two things about Walden: that Thoreau spent $28.125 building his cabin, and that he deemed the four necessaries of life to be food, fuel, shelter, and clothing. Cell phones did not … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Social Media | 18 Comments

You Have the Right to Stay Silent

Last month, a tenured professor of English I know posted the following comment on the social media page of an elected official who wanted public input on Covid-19 vaccination policies. “At this point, as vicious as it sounds,” she wrote, … Continue reading

Posted in Politics, Pop Culture, Science, Social Media | 22 Comments

Where Do We Go From Here?

In this evening’s 60 Minutes interview, former president Barak Obama pushed back against the notion that politicians and social media are solely to blame for the bitterness displayed during the recent election cycle. I think he’s being too nice. Once … Continue reading

Posted in Politics, Social Media | 17 Comments

The Internet and Privacy

Earlier this week, Congress sent to Pres. Trump a bill that would allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to sell data regarding users’ searches and browsing history to third-party advertisers. This made me wonder, once again, what expectations computer users should … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in National Politics, Pop Culture, Social Media | 38 Comments

Help me help us

So. . .I’m curious. . .if you all could redesign the MSMS website, what would you want it to look like? How could you make sure that the site’s content remains strong? Are there school websites that you think are … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Education, Social Media | 30 Comments

One More Quick Thought about Yesterday

Would all Americans have been better served if our media outlets focused more on reporting the news than on editorializing it? Continue reading

Posted in Social Media, Uncategorized | 27 Comments