New-Media Literacies. Being literate in a real-world sense means being able to read and write using the media forms of the day, whatever they may be. For centuries, consuming and producing words through reading and writing and, to a lesser extent, listening and speaking were sufficient. But because of inexpensive, easy-to-use, and widely available new tools, literacy now requires being conversant with new forms of media as well as text, including sound, graphics, and moving images. In addition, it demands the ability to integrate these new media forms into a single narrative, or “media collage,” such as a Web page, blog, or digital story.
The nature of literacy has changed in another respect as well. Since the advent of the Web, expression has shifted toward including social, rather than strictly individual, kinds of communication. As our students migrate to new media, we must blend the essential aspects of more traditional media with the offerings of new forms of media. From Read-Only to Write-Possible. Principles for a New Media Literacy – Center for Citizen Media. (This is an HTML reprint of an essay (PDF) of the same title, recently published as part of the Media Re:public project at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. I’m posting it here with some links to source material that don’t appear in the PDF version.) Media are becoming democratized. Digital media tools, increasingly cheap and ubiquitous, have spawned a massive amount of creation at all levels, most notably from the ranks of the grassroots in contrast to traditional, one-to-many publications and broadcasts.
The networks that made this possible have provided vast access to what people have created — potentially a global audience for anyone’s creation. But the expanding and diversifying media ecosystem poses some difficult challenges alongside the unquestioned benefits. How we live, work, and govern ourselves in a digital age depends in significant ways on the answers. Issues of Credibility Trust and credibility are not new to the Digital Age. 1. 2. 3. 4. Why Wikipedia Should Be Trusted As A Breaking News Source. Most any journalism professor, upon mention of Wikipedia, will immediately launch into a rant about how the massively collaborative online encyclopedia can't be trusted. It can, you see, be edited and altered by absolutely anyone at any moment. But how much less trustworthy is the site for breaking news than the plethora of blogs and other online news sources?
Even Moka Pantages, the communications officer for the WikiMedia Foundation, said she agreed with this sentiment when she spoke this morning at the South By South West festival in Austin, at a panel entitled "Process Journalism: Getting It First, While Getting It Right". Here's the thing - we have to say that everything she said before answering this question seems to say otherwise. Update: We got a chance to sit and chat with Moka Pantages today and she took a moment to clarify that she was specifically referring to students using and quoting Wikipedia in research papers. Tackling Real-Time Content The Newsroom Moves Online. Web Illiteracy: How Much Is Your Fault? Students Use Wikipedia Early and Often - Wired Campus - The Chro. More than half of college students frequently or always consult Wikipedia for course-related research, according to a report published in First Monday, an online, peer-reviewed journal.
Only 22 percent of respondents to the survey said they rarely or never use Wikipedia. The study is based on responses from 2,318 students and qualitative data from 86 who participated in focus groups. The most common reason that students reported using Wikipedia was to obtain background information or a summary about a topic and to get started with research. Only 16 percent of survey respondents said they used Wikipedia because of its wiki capabilities.
Students were far more likely to use Wikipedia at the very begining or near the begining of research than at the end of the process. The study also examined which students were most likely to use Wikipedia. Those majoring in architecture, engineering, or science were likelier than others to do so. Return to Top. CHART OF THE DAY: Fact-Checking And Copy-Editing Don't Happen As. Facebook Privacy Blunder Is Boon for Berkeley Legal Scholar - Wi. A notorious Facebook blunder has become a boon for online-privacy advocates. To settle a lawsuit alleging privacy violations, the social-networking giant is pledging to invest $6-million to start a grant-making foundation focused on promoting online privacy, according to a settlement made public this week. Chris Hoofnagle, director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology’s information-privacy programs, will be one of the new foundation’s three board members.
Mr. Hoofnagle wouldn’t get specific about the foundation’s plans, because the board hasn’t met yet. But he expressed excitment about the windfall to support “pro-consumer privacy work.” “I’m particularly interested in supporting groups with a strong record on consumer-privacy issues, and those who need resources to create usable privacy-enhancing technologies,” he said in an e-mail message to Wired Campus. The lawsuit stemmed from Facebook’s Beacon behavior-tracking technology.
The company eventually discontinued Beacon. GoodWork. In Defense of Facebook. The Social Analyst is a weekly column by Mashable Co-Editor Ben Parr, where he digs into social media trends and how they are affecting companies in the space. All eyes are on Facebook. Ever since Facebook revealed Facebook Open Graph, the world's largest social network has been getting hammered by tech pundits, mainstream media and its users.
Facebook's used to this type of uproar after it changes something, but in my time tracking Facebook, I've never seen anything like this. Not even the Facebook News Feed fiasco of 2006 had U.S. Senate scrutiny. Facebook Open Graph has clearly struck a nerve with a lot of people. Is Facebook betraying its users, though? The central problem is that people believe that Facebook and the web in general should be able to protect the information we post online. True: Facebook Should Have Communicated Better The media and some of Facebook's users haven't fallen in line, though. Clearly Facebook screwed up.
Mark, better late than never. The Truth About the Web.