where's the privacy?

"Imagine you're in a giant room, a room so spacious it can comfortably hold more than a billion people. Despite its size, the room is ingeniously designed so everyone is in close proximity to everyone else. Thus any person in the room can easily walk over to any other person and tap him or her on the shoulder." 

-William Powers in Hamlet's Blackberry

 People are connected in unimaginable ways; social media sites only promote the efficiency of connectedness...but when do we draw a line between being connected and feeling like our privacy is being invaded?

I follow a site called Gymnastike, which gives information about the current happenings in the gymnastics world. Recently, the site posted an article about how coaches in college atmosphere are requiring their athletes to give them full access to their online information. The coaches work with an outside company, Varsity Monitor, and together make sure that the athletes are being "acceptable" through their social media sites. This is done in order to protect each university's image.

Should universities have access to its students' private information? Can it be required in such a manner?

Powers discusses how any person in the world is a "shoulder-tap away" from conversing, metaphorically referring to ease of access to a person through technology. The end of the prologue shows the main character escaping the room, after much struggle.

It seems as if NCAA athletes cannot escape the room, anymore.

HERE is a great article about the relationship between NCAA athletes and Facebook.

the joy of quiet

During my 10 minute walk to class today, I noticed that I kept busy by looking through my iPhone. I was texting, on Facebook/Twitter, checking the weather...nonstop activity! I didn't give my brain a moment of free time to think, relax or just be.

The Joy of Quiet by Pico Iyer expands upon the importance of silence in one's life. Between all the social media and constant news I receive straight to my mobile device, I am always connected to the daily happenings not only in the United States but also within other countries. Iyer concludes that time away from technology has made an impact on his life, as he aspired to cut out these distractions by moving to rural Japan.

The "quiet" or silence that Iyer enjoys away from technology brings me to analyze the reaction many Internet sites have taken to SOPA. Sites such as Google, Wikipedia and Reddit have taken a "silent" approach to protesting the current anti-piracy bills today (Wednesday, January 18, 2012) on their pages. I have attached images of each site, as they appear today. Through Google's logo of the day, Wikipedia's backout and Reddit's message to the general public, these sites have taken a peaceful and, what I believe, quiet approach to the controversial bill.

The connection I made between both the article and the SOPA protest is that "quiet" is such an effective way to make a statement. Both in one's life or through rebellion, silence speaks measures.