TLDR 171

Change is a State of Mind

Published: 2018-10-26 • 📧 Newsletter

Welcome to Issue 171. Change is a state of mind.

TL;DR is a weekly review of things that I think you should be reading. A primer of some of the cool things that happened…but you may have missed.

This week I created the following:

Why people troll others online - I've been doing some deep reading and research around trolling and harmful behaviors online. This post unpacks what is meant by trolling in digital spaces.

• What is Digital Literacy: Documenting instructional technology use at the College of Charleston - I gave a talk on our recent research at meeting of the SC EdTech Conference 2018. We're submitting the first paper on this in the coming week.
• How to write a clear, concise, research question - I was interviewed by Leigh Hall for her YouTube channel. Take a look if you're interested.

🔖 Key Takeaways

• Digital Mindfulness Question: Hyperconnected frenetic lives demand asking whether true mindfulness is possible or if constant connectivity fundamentally prevents it.
• Workplace Digital Literacy: From entry-level to executive every role requires creating consuming and communicating digital content as core competency not optional skill.
• Content Moderation Dangers: EFF argues corporate speech police responding to hate speech threatens internet's promise of anonymous connection and democratic participation.
• Networked Youth Fragility: Tufekci and Jenkins examine whether social media still enables youth-led change or if platform dynamics now undermine movement sustainability.
• Self-Renewal Practice: Covey's sharpen-the-saw philosophy demands intentional renewal across physical spiritual mental and social domains preventing burnout.

📺 Watch

The School of Life: Commenting in Digital Spaces

This video from The School of Life provides some commentary about leaving comments in digital spaces.

📚 Read

Digital Mindfulness: Can It Exist?

This post from Aaron Davis documents some of the challenges and opportunities in our frenetic, highly connected lives. What is "digital mindfulness" and is it a possibility?

You can read my response to Aaron's post here.

From Entry-Level to Executive, Today's Jobs Demand Digital Literacy

To better understand the central role of digital literacy in the workplace, Education Week took a deep look at four occupations in the Christiana Care Health System.

"The ability to create digital content, consume it, act on it, communicate it, share it, find it—all that is tied to patient care," Jasani said. "Those skills are emphasized more as one rises up the career ladder."

Digital literacy isn't specialized technical skill but fundamental workplace competency spanning all roles and levels.

Corporate Speech Police Are Not the Answer to Online Hate

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) with a repudiation of the recommendations made this week by a coalition of civil rights and public interest groups. The recommendations suggest policies they believe Internet intermediaries should adopt to try to address hate online.

"…the Internet still represents and embodies an extraordinary idea: that anyone with a computing device can connect with the world, anonymously or not, to tell their story, organize, educate and learn"

EFF warns that empowering platforms as content arbiters threatens internet's democratic promise even when addressing genuine harms.

Do We Still Believe That Networked Youth Can Change the World?

I'm currently reading Twitter and Tear Gas by Zeynep Tufekci. It's a fascinating read that is making me question a lot of my thinking about these digital, social spaces.

While I was reading this text, an interesting publication on activism and social networks by Henry Jenkins, Esra'a Al Shafei, and James Gee popped into my stream. It is helping to add some context to what I'm reading and thinking about.

The full PDF is available here.

Sharpen the Saw

In my "to do" list I try to make room for a section I title "Sharpen the Saw." This is a section in which I document "things I'd like to do at some point." It's a collection of ideas for blog posts, websites to check out, books to read, etc.

This post from Brett and Kate McKay dives into some of the guidance from Stephen Covey's book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. They suggest that when it comes to our personal lives, we should focus on four domains: physical, spiritual, mental, and social/emotional.

How do you "sharpen your saw"?

🔨 Do

Tsundoku: The Art of Unread Books

I was an English major in my undergraduate studies. As a result, I have a large collection of books at home. As I'm writing this week's newsletter, I'm inundated by a growing library in my office as well. Many of these books I haven't read…but they're still here…for some reason. :)

Apparently, many readers buy books with every intention of reading them only to let them linger on the shelf. Statistician Nassim Nicholas Taleb believes surrounding ourselves with unread books enriches our lives as they remind us of all we don't know. The Japanese call this practice tsundoku, and it may provide lasting benefits.

What do you think?

🤔 Consider

"Confidence is knowing who you are and not changing it a bit because of someone's version of reality is not your reality." — Shannon L. Alder

Change being a state of mind means maintaining self-knowledge amid pressure to conform to others' versions of reality. Digital mindfulness requires choosing your relationship to technology rather than accepting default connectivity. Workplace digital literacy is mindset not just skillset. EFF defending internet's promise requires resisting easy solutions. Networked youth changing the world demands belief in possibility despite platform constraints. Sharpening your saw means choosing renewal over relentless productivity. Tsundoku embraces not-knowing as enrichment. Confidence comes from internal clarity not external validation.

🔗 Navigation

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🌱 Connected Concepts:

• Digital Mindfulness — Aaron Davis questions whether true mindfulness is possible in hyperconnected lives where constant connectivity may fundamentally prevent present-moment awareness in Digital Wellbeing.
• Content Moderation Debate — EFF argues corporate speech police responding to online hate threatens internet's democratic promise of anonymous connection and free expression in Platform Governance.
• Networked Youth Activism — Zeynep Tufekci Henry Jenkins examine whether social media still enables youth-led change or if platform dynamics undermine movement sustainability in Social Movements.
• Self-Renewal Practice — Stephen Covey sharpen-the-saw philosophy demands intentional renewal across physical spiritual mental and social domains preventing burnout in Personal Development.
• Tsundoku Practice — Nassim Taleb argues surrounding ourselves with unread books enriches lives by reminding us of all we don't know embracing not-knowing as feature in Epistemology.

Part of the 📧 Newsletter archive documenting digital literacy and technology.