TLDR 84

Too Long; Didn't Read Issue 84

Published: 2017-02-10 • 📧 Newsletter

Welcome to the 83rd issue of the TL;DR Newsletter. We dig in to the intersections between education, technology, & literacy. Thanks for joining us.

This week's issue is all about facts and emotions. Perhaps the real key is to identify ways to make me feel something if you want me to understand.

This week I shared the following:

• How to register a domain and host your own website - Over the coming weeks, I will post a series of guides and tutorials to help you build up a domain of your own. This first post discusses exactly what is meant by "domains" and "hosting" as we get started.
• Building a domain of your own: Installing WordPress - This post discusses some of the specifics to get you up and running as your host your own WordPress website.

Feel free to share this with someone that you believe would benefit. Please subscribe to this newsletter to make the world a better place. :)

Send me feedback or questions at hello@wiobyrne.com. You can review archives of the newsletter. Check out TL;DR on Medium. Connect with me on Instagram and Snapchat.

🔖 Key Takeaways

• Sometimes We All Need Help: Every person has a wonderful narrative or story to tell. The problem is that some people have challenges with turning their real date into interest, attraction, and charisma. Sometimes we all need help in learning how to tell our story.
• The Most Interesting Result to Me: On average, they provided a name 56% of the time. But...they were far more able to do so when that link came directly from a news organization. The most interesting result to me was that participants indicated that they checked and could recall a news source's name when it came directly from that organization.
• We Must Consider: Complicating this is the fact that you may not even know this is happening. You will need to actively push your way out of this bubble if you hope to expand your horizons. We must consider the fact that these technologies are actively trying to limit the information we gather and what we may learn.
• We're Playing Directly: Holiday indicates that what Yiannopoulos and his group are doing is straight out of the playbook that he has designed for others. As such, we're playing directly into his hands.
• Perhaps We Need to Identify: With this post, I'm beginning to think that as we battle to make our points heard and possibly fight for our "facts"...we also need to identify ways to inject emotion. Perhaps we need to identify ways to tell our stories and not make them boring.
• What This Requires: What most likely is happening is that technology and automation will continue to make most jobs obsolete. What this requires is someone to write the code and maintain those functions to make that technology operate.

📺 Watch

How to not be boring

Another great video from the School of Life channel.

The video makes the point that just as no flower, tree, or riverbend is boring...we must also consider that no person is really boring. Every person has a wonderful narrative or story to tell. The problem is that some people have challenges with turning their real date into interest, attraction, and charisma.

Sometimes we all need help in learning how to tell our story.

📚 Read

How Americans encounter, recall and act upon digital news

A research report from the Pew Research Center looking at the "fractured" attention spans of American adults as it relates to news gathering functions. The study followed more than 2,000 adults from Feb. 24 to March 1, 2016 to see how they gather news online. Participants were asked twice a day to indicate if and where they gathered news that day.

Not surprisingly, results suggest that social media and direct visits to news websites provide the key interactions with information sources.

The most interesting result to me was that participants indicated that they checked and could recall a news source's name. Of the individuals who said they followed a link to a news story, they were asked if they could write down the name of the news outlet they landed on. On average, they provided a name 56% of the time. But...they were far more able to do so when that link came directly from a news organization. They had challenges, or could not indicate the source when the information came through social media. They would indicate the source as "Facebook" or that a friend sent it to them.

Code-dependent: Pros and cons of the algorithm age

This report from the Pew Research Center helps explain some of the current work happening in what they identify as the "algorithm age."

They indicate:

Algorithms are aimed at optimizing everything. They can save lives, make things easier and conquer chaos. Still, experts worry they can also put too much control in the hands of corporations and governments, perpetuate bias, create filter bubbles, cut choices, creativity and serendipity, and could result in greater unemployment.

This means that what you read and share online, may (or may not) be viewed by individuals based on rules set up by algorithms. As an example, look at the first story about news and social media. Chances are the social media feed that I read, is totally different than the social media feed that you're reading. Complicating this is the fact that you may not even know this is happening. You will need to actively push your way out of this bubble if you hope to expand your horizons.

We must consider the fact that these technologies are actively trying to limit the information we gather and what we may learn.

I helped create the Milo trolling playbook. You should stop playing right into it

Very intriguing piece from Ryan Holiday in the New York Observer. Holiday is a very intriguing person that writes about meditation, Stoicism, and media. He is very influential as a strategist, author, and director of marketing for a number of large firms.

In this piece he discusses the "playbook" for manipulating the media...and possibly manipulating you.

He discusses the current firestorm around Milo Yiannopoulos and the recent riots in Berkeley. Holiday indicates that what Yiannopoulos and his group are doing is straight out of the playbook that he has designed for others. As such, we're playing directly into his hands.

It's time to give up on facts

As of the date of publication of this week's TL:DR, we're quickly coming up on one month of the Trump Presidency. Whether you are in support, or against the policies of this administration, you have had to deal with the challenges of "alternative facts" and questions about the media.

In these discussions, we often come back to trying to combat possible fictions with the cold light of truth and fact. But, as we've discussed in plenty of issues of TL;DR, it's nearly impossible to consider facts when our brains tune in to emotion first. We've also discussed the role of emotion and feelings in teaching and learning in this newsletter. We understand that emotion many times trumps (no pun intended...I think :) ) people's sense of reality.

With this post, I'm beginning to think that as we battle to make our points heard and possibly fight for our "facts"...we also need to identify ways to inject emotion. Perhaps we need to identify ways to tell our stories and not make them boring.

The next big blue-collar job is coding

Clive Thompson in Wired Magazine positing that the next step in identifying new jobs for future workers may come in the form of cadres of coders.

We often think that jobs in each of our local area are lost to workers in other countries. What most likely is happening is that technology and automation will continue to make most jobs obsolete. What this requires is someone to write the code and maintain those functions to make that technology operate.

As indicated in the piece, coding and programming doesn't always mean that we need "superstar" heroes that will create the next great social network or hack into government databases. What we will need are legions of coders that can oversee parts of the web and simply make sure things operate as planned.

🔨 Do

Strawberry heart bark

Valentine's Day is coming up soon. Yes, this is most likely a tradition created to get us to buy more greeting cards for others. But, the world needs a little more love right now. <3

Take a little time and melt up a treat for you and those near you. Turn on some music, turn off the news and make something.

Send a bag of these to your neighbor, the mail carrier, or your local political figure. Pay it forward.

🤔 Consider

"The path of least resistance is a terrible teacher." — Ryan Holiday

🔗 Navigation

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🌱 Connected Concepts:

• How Not to be Boring — School of Life video every person has wonderful narrative, problem is some people have challenges with turning real date into interest attraction charisma sometimes we all need help telling our story.
• Americans and Digital News — Pew Research Center fractured attention spans news gathering functions, most interesting result participants could recall news source name when it came directly from organization challenges when through social media.
• Pew Research Center — Followed more than 2,000 adults see how they gather news online, social media and direct visits to news websites provide key interactions with information sources.
• Algorithm Age — Code-dependent pros and cons algorithms aimed at optimizing everything, can save lives but also put too much control perpetuate bias create filter bubbles we must consider technologies actively trying to limit information.
• Ryan Holiday — I helped create Milo trolling playbook New York Observer, writes about meditation Stoicism and media discusses playbook for manipulating media we're playing directly into his hands.
• Milo Yiannopoulos — Current firestorm around recent riots in Berkeley, what Yiannopoulos and his group are doing is straight out of the playbook Holiday designed for others.
• Facts vs Emotions — It's time to give up on facts emotion many times trumps people's sense of reality, I'm beginning to think we also need to identify ways to inject emotion tell our stories not make them boring.
• Coding as Blue Collar Job — Clive Thompson next big blue-collar job Wired Magazine, technology and automation will make most jobs obsolete what this requires is someone to write code and maintain functions legions of coders oversee parts of web.

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