Digital Dilemma, Human Archives

Mom Wisdom in the Digital Age

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I would imagine when my mom and grandmothers had young children, other moms acted as the source of truth. Or maybe a trusted professional such as a doctor or school teacher. The information may not have been high quality, or even accurate, but it was accomplished with a small amount of transactions. The limited supply meant people had to trust, seek out alternative options, or maybe even (gasp!) make connections with more people.

In those days, internet wasn’t around. Phone calls were expensive. Social media maybe existed in science fiction, but certainly not in real life. As for photos, those were also largely inaccessible. Most people didn’t have cameras. If they did, the camera needed to be focused manually and developing film took time. In short, nothing was instant.

Now we live in an abundance of information. Mom “wisdom” abounds in so many forms it’s hard to know which one to trust or seek out first. Moms these days can take their pick of following other moms on social media of their choice. They can join “mom” groups or search on the internet for millions of options about anything related to their kids. While there is “something for everyone”, it can be difficult to discern what that something should be, and even if it’s valuable. I mean, if it’s for your kid, you probably want something high quality, accurate, and reliable. It should also be instant and in bite-size amounts for easy consumption.

Not to mention, all these manicured postings depicting something unrealistic and unobtainable, have the potential to amplify competition and mom-shaming. It’s hard to know where to turn, who to trust, or a good starting place.

With mother’s day here, I would encourage the moms out there to get back to the basics when it comes to information sources. Start small and meaningful. Ask moms you know, including your own! They are a fountain of valuable wisdom and insights, ingenuity, crafty problem solving, and innovation. Mom hacks are real and often very useful. Even if you don’t agree with everything, it’s a solid starting point founded on something other than random internet searching.

You’re doing a great job! In fact, you’re probably doing a better job than you think. Now that’s something you won’t hear often from internet searches, but you can hear from real life connections.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Digital Dilemma, Digital Photos, Social Media

Ever Changing Definition of Privacy

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Cameras are pervasive. We carry them in our pockets. They’re posted to lamp posts and store fronts. Some people have them in and around their homes. Or attached to their doorbells. In some cases, they can be helpful. For example, the doorbell camera is useful for seeing who is at the door, or to view a package delivery. However, the more cameras we see around us, the more we normalize being on display 24/7.

Although I haven’t read about the impact of being around so many cameras non-stop, I believe this has altered our perception of privacy. Sometimes it feels as though there isn’t much left now that we can all be filmed anytime, anywhere, by anyone! Last year, on vacation, one of my family members started spontaneously dancing in front of a store to some music playing. I was enjoying the impromptu show. Then looked up to notice a stranger, stopped at a red light, whipping out his camera to film the dance moves, too. I immediately jumped in between to block the view.

The whole scene lasted only a few seconds, but left me feeling uncomfortable. All I kept thinking was that’s the kind of silly, random video that ends up on Tik Tok, Meta, or Instagram with some stupid caption. A random video of somebody having a bit of spontaneous fun, forever captured on the internet. Honestly, the sort of thing that doesn’t need recording.

I also kept thinking, there’s no way for us to protect ourselves from this happening. Anybody could take a picture of anyone without warning at a good time or at the worst time. We’re powerless to do anything about that. I always felt upset when my friends posted pictures of me on social media, even if they didn’t tag me. But then again, how could I ask them not to, especially if it was a group photo. It’s awkward to never be in group photos. Even avoiding group photos isn’t a guarantee your image won’t end up posted somewhere you don’t want it.

I don’t see there’s anyway to stop people from taking photos of what and who they want, when they want. But I do see future opportunities with AI to automatically start blurring people. Or maybe because it keeps happening all the time, people like me will normalize it and stop feeling so creeped out.

Digital Dilemma, Facebook, Social Media, True Confessions

The Creep of Apps

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I have to confess that I’ve been using Facebook (FB) marketplace for about a year. It started out innocently. In an effort to reduce waste and cut down on costs, marketplace offered a way to purchase second-hand goods. I also post things for sale on marketplace. The sale process can be a bit tedious, especially if an item is popular, or unpopular. Also, a lot of people are flakey and noncommittal about following through on buying.

At first I felt weird using marketplace. Initially, I resisted and tried to buy and sell on other sites. But in the end, I gave in. Marketplace is one of the most widely used and popular apps. It offers a wealth of options and is viewed by many. Sometimes things sell the same day I post. Usually I can find something I want to buy within a few weeks. All in all, it was working out pretty well until the process changed.

Even though I relented to use FB marketplace, I refused to download the app. Instead I logged in to my account through a web browser. When I started to sell and buy things, marketplace forced me to download the Messenger app to communicate with other sellers and buyers. It just wasn’t possible to receive messages through the web-based version. I begrudgingly downloaded the app, grumbling, but still accepting the change because of the benefits. Recently, things changed again.

Until a couple of weeks ago, I could always post things to sell through the web-based version. However, the last time I went to post a sale item, marketplace denied the request. A prompt appeared asking me if I wanted to post through the app or “Not Now”. I selected “Not Now” but wasn’t able to complete the draft sale posting I was working on. After several futile rounds, Meta won, and I downloaded the app to continue the sale postings. Even so, the postings still didn’t work the same.

In the web-based version, marketplace automatically suggested other-related groups for the posting to reach a broader audience. However, in the app, posting in other groups isn’t an option, unless I decide to also share my sale postings with my friends. I’m still using it to post things for sale, but now exploring other options that don’t continually force me to use a service a certain way.

Spring Cleaning

Spring has Sprung… Kind of

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We cheered on Groundhog Day when the groundhog didn’t see her shadow. This signals the arrival of an early spring. Right around the time when we would have been expecting early signs of spring, we had snowfall instead. I dusted off the sleds and we hit the slopes. We got in a few runs before muddy earth and new shoots of grass started to appear in the tracks. It did feel like early spring, kind of. Except we hadn’t really had winter yet so it felt weird to welcome spring.

The effects of climate change are real. It’s hard to know how to dress anymore. Or what we should keep to prepare for, basically, anything to come our way. This added a new dimension to my normally, energizing spring cleaning. Last month, I was ready to swap out the boots and snowgear for sunscreen, broad-brimmed hats, and sandals. Luckily something distracted me. Shortly after the snowstorm came.

We have a bin in the entryway for seasonal outdoor gear. However, with all the strange weather, the bin accumulated something for every season. It’s got tick spray, winter gloves, sun hats, cold weather hats, sunscreen, and sunglasses. Even now that the temperature seems like it will stay above double digits (which in Canada means it’s at least 50 degrees, for my American readers), I’m still torn about removing the cold weather clothes. My winter coat is already in the closet. Once that goes in, I refuse to take it out again until fall. But that doesn’t stop me from layering up.

All of this impacts my approach to spring cleaning. I find I’m hesitating and waffling more about what to keep or toss. I feel confused about what to store for next winter or leave out for another random springtime snow storm! Added to my climate-change induced indecision are leftovers from the pandemic. I’ve been steadily weeding clothes out the last few years. Sometimes it feels as though I haven’t purged enough. Then a strange weather event happens. The whole time I’m hoping I didn’t purge the one thing, that I almost never wear but hang on to, “just in case.” As I go through my closets now, I’m mindful of different things, such as durability and versatility, things I might not have considered just a few years ago.

Digital Dilemma

Expanded Scope of Security

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Advancements in technology have also brought about advanced abilities to track, locate, and monitor. The capabilities are there, but sometimes the controls are lacking. Often overlooked are the policies and controls surrounding who has access to the information and the impacts of these features. The scope of security for the information collected through these means should extend to all areas, even physical.

Some weeks ago I heard a news story about the improved tracking technologies on cars. It was one of many stories I’ve heard recently about the impacts of tracking car movements has on drivers. In this particular story, a woman had left an abusive relationship. She took the car, even though her ex-husband had purchased it. In time, she realized her ex-husband kept “running” into her because he tracked the car’s movements through a phone app. Even worse, the woman wasn’t able to disable this feature for her ex-husband. Even though she had documentation from the court proceedings to verify she was now the owner. To the car dealership, the ex-husband was still the “legal” owner of the car. Eventually she paid a mechanic to remove the wiring to permanent disable the feature.

While hearing this story, I kept wondering where are the policies for these types of scenarios to protect people in cyberspace and in real space. I’m usually focused on how big companies take our data and use it for all kinds of reasons related to advertising and marketing. Sometimes I forget about individuals using it. One of the worst parts to me is how difficult it can be to discover these features. Or to learn about them and figure out which data is being collected, tracked, and unintentionally shared. Even worse, some of these features can be incredibly challenging to disable.

I hope as law makers scramble to catch up with policies and controls, they consider the implications in both cyberspace and real space. The challenges are real. Frankly, it shouldn’t be so hard for us to be in control of data about us.

Human Archives

In the Path of Totality

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Being on the path of totality for today’s solar eclipse felt grandiose and tiny all at the same moment. In fact, thinking about how to summarize the event, it needs more than just one word. Much like the name “totality” implies, the day felt like a sum of many small and big parts all work working together.

First of all, the weather was a big factor. Yesterday, the sun winked brightly at us through a cloudless, spring-blue sky. Today we woke up to clouds. Lots of them. And a dismal 60-80% chance of complete overcast during the eclipse time. A few patches of blue opened up in the morning, only to be quickly replaced by thicker, darker looking clouds. By the time the eclipse started, I sat feeling a little deflated on the couch. The live coverage of the eclipse in other, sunnier places didn’t improve my mood. I reached over and sullenly ate the “full sun” cookie on my eclipse cookie display.

About 20 minutes into our eclipse time, my mom went out to check. She ran back in reporting she could see it. We sprang into action and relocated to the backyard to watch. The sky remained cloudy, but sunny enough to watch the whole thing. Even enough to experience the temporary darkening and silence for our 50ish seconds of totality. As a special treat, the sun came out to stay for the rest of the afternoon.

The moments leading up to, and after, totality also exemplified small and big working together. Watching the moon creep across the sun’s path, everything felt like it was in slow motion. Staring at the sun, it seemed as though nothing was moving. Though I knew earth, moon, and sun were all moving fast. Faster than I could even imagine. Except during the event, it felt as though time had slowed down. We had time to breathe, walk around, check the pinhole viewer, and then gaze up with our eclipse glasses to see another small slice of the sun covered. Long after totality, we sat watching until the last tiny slice of the moon moved across.

Significant hype and expectations surrounded the event. This also felt like another example of totality. Regardless of how big media and crowds made the eclipse, I felt tiny watching this incredible event. An event shared by millions of people live, and many more through televised coverage.