I want to keep this post as short and simple as I can. I have something that has been bugging me lately, and I want to get it off my chest. I want to denounce the notion that Social Networks are a Petri dish of perversion, danger, and now as paths to suicide. Yes it is true that there are perverted and dangerous elements on the web, but this is because there are elements of danger and perversion within the human psyche. We are what is damaged not the tool that merely reflects our most base illnesses. We cannot continue to blame the tool that does nothing more than broadcasts who we are.
Yes there are people who use social networks to belittle and injure the insecure and most damaged among us, but some of us use these tools for so many other amazing things. Let me make a quick raw list of what else these networks can look like:
- I am currently involved in working with a teacher in Japan, to share my experiences of online branding and digital footprints. Her students have been researching my brand, Intrepid, to see who I am by what I share. They have emailed me their findings and the results are remarkable. I will Skype into their class next week and discuss their findings further. I will write a post about the whole experience when it is done.
- I am working with Alec Courosa, a professor I deeply admire and who I met for the first time in Shanghai a few weeks ago, by acting as a mentor for his graduate class of pre-service teachers. By sharing my knowledge I am also learning from the experience.
- Last week I had a Skype interview with Dean Shareski, another influential educator in the field. He wanted my thoughts for his K-12 Conference keynote after he read about my daughter’s story that was nominated for an Edublog award.
- I have meaningful conversations anytime of the day with hundreds of people worldwide through Twitter. They are constantly sharing their ideas about art, religion, politics, education and more.
- I have made great friends who I have never met. I know I have over fifty places I can stay anywhere in the world based on these relationships. I have contacts at over 30 international schools, which I look to for advice, contacts and more.
- I stay in touch with old friends through pictures, blogs, and Facebook. There is no such thing as goodbye anymore in the digital age.
- I have an audience of people who respect and listen to what I say. They put up with my rants and dare I say admire my voice
There are many other stories I could share, but I promised to keep this brief. In short, I am connected to a fluid diverse cyberworld of knowledge. Never before have we had the ability to be in so many places at once. Never before have we been allowed to share and communicate so easily. Never before have we had so much contact with so many people in so many places. We are truly moving toward a global community based on shared interests and a need to learn and grow.
Yes, there are those amongst us using these tools to spread insecurity and attack people’s need for acceptance, but that is an issue with humanity not the Internet. If we want people to stop killing themselves because they have been humiliated, then we need to look more closely at why being gay should be humiliating and celebrated. We need to teach people about civility and camaraderie and citizenship. The Internet is everything we are and nothing more. Each one of us is mere pixel in a much large picture. Instead of dismissing the entire image, we need to, each one of us, manage who we are and how we spread that voice. We need our voice to help and heal and connect. we need to find the voices that are acting differently and work to quiet them. This is nothing new. We have been dealing with the voices of shame, anger for far too long. I will leave you with this:
Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, “A fight is going on inside me… it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, …lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.””This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too”, he added. The Grandchildren thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”The old Cherokee simply replied… “The one you feed.”
This is the same fight we see on the Internet. Which wolf will you feed?
Very well said Jabiz. It’s almost a disservice to have the term “cyberbullying” floating around. Let’s just call it what it is: people being mean and disrespectful to one another, regardless of how that meanness or disrespect manifests itself. If it wasn’t Tyler Clementi’s sexual orientation, it would have been something else that caused those two to behave how they did. The tragedy is that Tyler committed suicide; by focusing on his sexual preferences we are, to an extent, ignoring the acts of Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei.
Nice to see your positive side coming out again. Great post.
To add to what you are saying, I have decided to do several things completely out of character for me because of my interactions online. I am now teaching a college level education class to pre-service teachers. While its name is Technology for Teachers I choose to teach about student learning instead. I am attending the #EdCampKC unconference in November. Since I have a slight (okay, maybe not so slight) social anxiety problem this is a pretty big deal. Without an agenda to follow I will be extremely stressed out, but I am going anyway. I was accepted to teach a workshop at METC in February. This is way out of my comfort zone as well. Presenting to teachers (at least ones I don’t know) is an extremely stressful idea, but one I am willing to make because of the message I will deliver.
None of these things would have happened if not for the kindness, patience, and encouragement I would have been happy to stay in my classroom, doing what I do with my students. Thanks for being a part of my growth.
It is a learning curve for sure, and I think it is ironic that social networks the poster child for anti-social behavior are giving you confidence to be more social.
I consider all of you my colleagues. You have contributed more to my personal, philosophical and professional growth than any board or employer mandated PD. Moreover, I have come to regard you as friends and allies in a shared vision of a more creative, agile, equitable and meaningful concept of education (though education is less my focus/interest than learning – beyond skooly or institutationl boundaries).
Many years ago I took a political philosophy course with a professor who had participated in the Velvet Revolution. He told the class about having to meet in bathrooms to distribute hand-made pamphlets to share news, information and ideas under the radar. Vaclav Havel insisted that people behave “as if” change had already occurred. To live and communicate “As if” the freedoms and goals had been achieved. To do so, would be an act of revolutionary courage. Throughout history, ordinary people (like Rosa Parks, for example) have done nothing more than to act “as if” the freedom and change they envisioned was already present. I see the same thing happening now in education. Innovative teachers and thinkers aren’t waiting around for power holders to grant them permission to do things in new ways. They’re just doing it.
This is not to say that many, many of our colleagues face very real and costly risks for attempting to bring about change that involves rule breaking. Some folks are stuck in boards where they have to smuggle youtube videos into their classrooms in hopes that they won’t get “caught” for using copyrighted material – though their boards demand total engagement and success without the tools or resources learners that actually engage today’s learners. Those of us who have the freedom and privilege to challenge outdated norms – or do original pedagogy – are in a great position to model what it means to act “as if” all of our colleagues had the same right.
Thanks for leading the way Jabiz.
What an amazing comment, Melanie.
I am humbled and thankful, you continually choose to engage in my world.
Well said.
How many children have committed suicide after being bullied in real life? I don’t believe the internet has somehow brought out the evil in people that would otherwise be kind and compassionate in real life. You said it perfectly – it is who we are and nothing more. As Clint hinted, cyberbullying isn’t any different from regular bullying. It’s human cruelty in a virtual form and unless we address it where it starts we won’t see a change.
My heart is breaking this week for the families of those children.
Meant to add: my comment above was focused on Jabiz’s initial, positive, focus re; all he’s benefited from (and how that echoes my own experiences). As always, he leaves the moral panics and crisis to those who profit from a culture of fear 🙂
Random Thought on Branding:
I know this will sound odd, but why is it important to engage in branding? I deliberately chose to be John Spencer online, sometimes changing between different names in the process. I tried out branding a bit with Indie Teacher, but fell back to John Spencer after awhile. Branding just didn’t fit with me for some reason. I can’t explain why. Perhaps it’s hurt me in the long run. John Spencer is such a common name. My blog looks far from professional. I don’t do a great job distinguishing between the personal and professional. My tagline is pretty self-depricating. I don’t speak at conferences and I’m not in too many collaborative projects. Still, I end up with a decent number of subscribers and the numbers steadily grow.
I guess I just wonder if maybe the reason people end up sticking with my blog is because they get to know me. And I have a hunch that the same is true of your readers. I wonder if the whole you might be more important than the branding associated with you. I also wonder if you ever feel stifled by the branding you’ve created. In other words, do you ever have days when “intrepid” just doesn’t seem to be who you are?
Sorry for the bullet form response but here goes:
Why is it important to engage in branding?
It is not. You are right. The term branding is a misnomer I think. I have used it because that is what the project in Japan is calling it; I agree that expressing the whole me is a much more important act than creating a brand. As for feeling stifled by the brand, I feel that Intrepid is constantly changing. Like me it is in flux, evolving and growing. I started it when I was new to the game and afraid to expose myself on the web. While I feel much of what I say, do, or share on the web is a benign peaceful act toward change, many consider my thoughts as radical. The R word can be a kiss of death for most teachers, so I was being cautious, but as I gain confidence I am moving toward being more myself online. My new website being called jabizraisdana.com is evidence of that.
I am proud of Intrepid. It is a like having a superhero costume. It allows me to be a more vocal version of myself. As anyone who has met me can attest to I am actually a pretty mellow humble guy. I am soft spoken and try to listen more than I speak, but Intrepid allows me the freedom to share every aspect of who I am.
You asked, “do you ever have days when “intrepid” just doesn’t seem to be who you are?”
Not really because I am continuously negotiating a balance between the two. I work hard to make sure that Intrepid displays the latest me. Sure my mistakes and fetal thoughts are documented, but in the end I hope that my work will be seen as a whole.
I don’t think speaking at conferences or collaborative projects are as important as solid honest blogging. That is why I respect your blog so much. I think we both see the world in very similar ways. I jut posted those examples because it feels good to have my ideas recognized on so many levels, but really my work on my blog is what matters most to me.
I couldn’t agree more when you say, “The reason people end up sticking with my blog is because they get to know me. And I have a hunch that the same is true of your readers.”
I just see Intrepid as a way I can allow people the most ways to know me. My favorite Elliot Smith line is, “Because I tore my own insides out.”
I have put it all out there. Call it what ever you will. names are just labels. It is all tied together. It is not up to me, what people will choose to use to connect to. Those who get me, know that there is little difference between Intrepid and Jabiz
@Clint and @Mary Watch Pump Up the Volume. It has me thinking a lot about these issues of alienation, bullying and how technology has nothing to do with it.
Below is a comment I left on a blog post inspired by this one
http://accessibleenlightenment.blogspot.com/2010/10/dont-blame-medium.html
Hi Jennifer,
You are asking some great questions. Unfortunately, I think we are still in the process of answering them. Courses like the one you are taking and conversations like the ones we are having on these blogs will help us get closer to some answers. You are right when you say that, “need to educate people on how to use these tools of social networking. I think part of this education must be centered around safeguards, security and etiquette, especially when it comes to children.”
But the point of my post, was that we also need to spend time educating people on how to talk about the real issues: alienation, humiliation, and shame caused by society for people who don’t fit in. Why do we allow society to treat people who are different so cruelly? Forget about the tools; let’s look at how we can create a society that celebrates diversity instead of lashing out bullying its members. There is this great scene from Pump Up the Volume that conveys what I mean about this point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSzz-t7ywVM
As for your other points:
The dilemma with this is that we do not want to scare people away from being open and sharing. How do we do this?
I think that creating an environment like I mentioned above is a great first step. People are afraid to be open because they do not want to be judged or bullied.
You asked, “Is there a way to be open with information about ourselves and not fall victim to the bullies and predators?”
I have been doing this for a while now, and I am pretty open and I have yet to met a bully or a predator. I think if we teach people to act responsibly and with confidence, all the while knowing what to do if they are made to feel uncomfortable is crucial
I know that some may say that it is necessary to maintain anonymity. But does being purely anonymous deter from creating meaningful connections that will last?
I don’t believe in anonymity. It is the easy way out. Hope that helps. Thanks for the conversation.
I loved what you said and all of it is the TRUTH. It is easier for most people to say that there is to much violence, or swearing, bewildering, or hatred, but it takes a more enlightened person to see past those faults of being human and actually doing something good. The internet has been and will be a wonderful tool for many years to come, but what amazes me is the closeness, the friendships, and the appetite to learn that has come from it and this is what makes the internet a wonderful tool. This tool is used for the most part for the betterment of the Human race as a whole and it pains me to think of it as all bad. Also 100% of us are a mere drop of water in the ocean, but it is the drops that when put together make us what and who we are. I am glad for this technology and will use it when I begin my teaching in the next year or so, for the possibilities are endless with it. I’m a student a the University of South Alabama in EDM310 this semester. My blog site is http://cooperphillipedm310.blogspot.com/ please hit me up if you have any comments.
Again very interesting post.
Sincerely,
Phillip C.
Hi Philip,
Thanks for stopping by and offering your ideas. I agree that we must actively work to spread the positive work people are doing online, or else people will be afraid to express themselves at all.
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