Networks of Care & Vulnerability

NETWORKED IDENTITY: Networks of Care & Vulnerability !

!!!!!!!

Bonnie Stewart

University of Prince Edward Island

What do you want to be when you grow up?

h"p://www.flickr.com/photos/1nker-­‐tailor/8378048032/  

Wrong question.

!

What do you want to contribute?

Twitter = currently the most open network

Networked identities differ from roles

Always Multiple

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thuanygabriela/4754591985/

Always Hybrid

Always Connected

What are those connections made of?

SIGNALS

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tmesis/21126825/

Social networks are made of people. And signals.

Digital Communication Signals

• Persistant – automatically recorded & archived

• Replicable – can be duplicated with minimal cost & effort

• Scalable – can be amplified & go viral

• Searchable – automatically tagged with metadata - boyd (2010)

Vulnerabilities in how signals are shared

Context Collapse

…that awkward moment when you remember you friended your grandma on Facebook.

Or that your students – or your VP, or your new boss – follow you on Twitter.

Quantified self

“The internet is on principle a system that you reveal yourself to in order to fully

enjoy, which differentiates it from, say, a music player. It is a TV that watches you.”

- Edward Snowden, in The Washington Post 

Identity theft

(+ teasing from friends)

Vulnerabilities in how signals are heard

Technical + societal vulnerabilities + scale =

BOOM

h"p://www.flickr.com/photos/rowan72/8672846415/  

“You’re doing it wrong”

“The more dangerous social-web-fueled gamification of trolling is the unofficial troll/

hate leader-board. The attacks on you are often less about scoring points

against you than that they’re trying to out-do one another. They’re trying to

out-troll, out-hate, out-awful the other trolls.”

- Sierra (2014)

“You do not deserve attention”

“You do not deserve to live”

Platforms default to powerful voices

So, just stay home and hide?

Digital signals are basic communications, in our time.

‘He said, "I'm going to give you the same advice that I give to everyone else with this problem: Stop

using social media and get rid of your computer.”

Nicole replied that she wasn't the one who had a problem with the computer—it was Adam who had

that problem.’

- Beaumont (2014)

Resistance requires reconceptualization

Networked Identities l  Aware of being

watched

l  Aware of scale of attention

l  Build identity by repetition

l  Build ties by visible communications

h"p://www.flickr.com/photos/cambodia4kidsorg/10728008326  

Networks of Care

Hyperpersonal communications

Communications via limited-cues channels allows selective self-presentation and

increased sense of commonality without the interference of non-verbal cues, limited

cognitive resources, or temporal constraints.

Professional value

Learning value

Teaching value

Immersion value

Accountability value

Support value

Connection value

Recognition value

Visibility value

Caring value

Two sides of the attention economy

“The attention economy…isn't just about clicks and eyeballs, but also about the

ways in which we selectively tend towards each other, and tend each other's thoughts -- it's an economy of care, not just a map to

markets.”

- Bowles (2014)

A way to contribute and speak back

Networked contributions > individual

Be the signal you want to see in the world

• Signal intentionally • Signal to build up others, not just

yourself • Signal broadly • Signal patiently

• Signal what you want to contribute

Understanding networked identity signals = key literacy for

21st century citizens.

Thank you.

@bonstewart bstewart@upei.ca