LIS 768 01: Reflecting on My Social Media Break

                                                              Introduction

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    Hello, Readers! For this final blog post, after spending the past several weeks exploring different trends and research in social media and emerging technology, I wanted to share with you, Readers, a small experiment I conducted over the past couple of days. For the past 48 hours, throughout the entirety of April 26th-27^th, I took… a sabbatical from all my personal social media accounts and apps! Gasp! Cue the shock and awe from the audience! In seriousness, I wanted to write about my sabbatical, then to share with you my thoughts and feelings about the experience, as I felt it was a fitting final post to my blog after spending the past few months discussing the impact, both positive and negative, of modern technology and the internet in society, influencing everyday lives. I wanted take this time over the past two days to reflect more deeply on how social media personally impacts my life, my relationship to it and how it felt to not use it recreationally for a couple of days, outside of necessary internet connection and email for completing my schoolwork. I selected this personal challenge as it made me stop and think about how much social media people must use each day for either entertainment, communications or work tasks without even realizing how much time they spend on it, myself included.

                                                     My Thoughts

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    Ordinarily, when not in class, I, like many, many people I assume, enjoy posting and scrolling endlessly through feeds through a variety of social media platforms for recreational fun each day in my downtime when not needing to complete personal responsibilities or household tasks I enjoy using sites such as Pinterest for moodboards, browsing their collections of art and fashion, looking at Instagram for neat photography projects and updates from creators I follow, and I love to lurk on Tumblr, Bluesky and Reddit for fandoms of my favorite shows, movies and books. I enjoy YouTube for cute puppy and kitten videos, while occasionally looking over at TikTok for fun comedy skits and animated videos. I also still use Facebook for keeping in touch with my family and friends; with it being the very first social media site I joined back in junior high with my friends, I still have some nostalgia for it, despite the cringe from looking at my old posts from years past. I like to think of myself as not having an addiction to social media, as I feel as though I have a balance of using the internet for both work and recreational purposes. However, when looking back at the different sites and apps I use everyday whenever I need a break from my studies or just want to decompose after a long day, it’s undeniable I do use a lot of sites.

                                                         Conclusion

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    When I took my small sabbatical for two days, I have to admit, it was more difficult than I had anticipated. While I have been busy with my coursework for finals, out of habit, when on a break, I would reach for my phone or have to stop myself from clicking on social media tabs on my computer, it’s almost like instinct or a knee-jerk reaction to turn on social media platforms when relaxing in my personal life. It’s honestly surprising to stop and really reflect on how often I just browse and scroll through social media so often without considering it. By the second day, it was easier though, to go for my social media accounts when I was looking for entertainment, spending time with my family, playing with my dog, doing household chores and just doing non-social media activities helped with the social media sabbatical. While I have gone back to using social media again, I think this was a good experience for me, as I think reminds me to take breaks now and again from social media for my well-being. Would I recommend other people, such as you, Readers, take your own social media sabbatical for a day or two> I would. I think its good for everyone to just unplug once in a while, either to go outside or just find another, non-internet activity and hobby to do in one’s spare time. I think we, as a society, spend so much time with electronics, the internet and social media, we forget at times how beneficial it can be to just step back and take breaks for our mental health and well-being as individuals. Ideally, a balance with screen-time should be strived towards, even if it seems difficult at times.

LIS 768 01: The Value of Media Literacy

                                                        Introduction

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    Hello, Readers! Have you ever stopped to think about how much media that we, as individuals, observe and absorb in our everyday lives? Have you considered the impact of utilizing media literacy skills in our engagement with entertainment and information sharing habits in society, whether as students, workers or patrons? Former professor of English at the University of Toronto, Marshall McLuhan, is known for coining the phrase “the medium is the message,” meaning that the technology in which we receive a message is just as important to influencing our opinions and perspective as the message itself. In our modern digital era, we are able to have a wide variety of information, entertainment and communications delivered to us on our devices almost within minutes, if not seconds of searching our inquiries online or texting our messages to friends on phones. With each passing year, technology continues to advance with new upgrades, the mediums in which we watch, interface and browse media broadens with each tech advancement.  From newspapers and billboard advertisements, to radio broadcasts to television and film to  the internet and social media, there are numerous methods of obtaining entertainment and information in the modern day, and while it is fortunate to live in a time with high-speed connections and instant results, the quick exchange of information and messages that can spread like wildfire within seconds,  makes it all the more valuable to develop media literacy skills in the 21^st century for younger generations. Whether or not we actively choose to engage with different forms of media, we will still observe and absorb the messaging in the media which is found throughout our society. Even if we only passively interact with modern media, modern entertainment, advertisements and their messaging still have significant influence on individuals, such as influencing our opinions and actions towards other people or groups of people different from ourselves, affecting our self-images, our biases, and can lead to the harmful spread of misinformation when media literacy skills are not developed and practiced by members of society.

                             The Five Competencies of Renee Hobbs

    Earlier this week, I studied the work of media literacy expert and advocate Renee Hobbs, who stated that there are five competencies that all students should know regarding media literacy:

1. Access: The first step, in which students need to be able to effectively locate and identify relevant information to the task in which they are engaged.

2. Analyze: That students need to be able to examine the messages and information they receive from digital or other forms of media, reflecting that students need to be consumers and conveyors of digital and media messaging.

3. Create: Students need to not only consume media but also be content creators themselves.

4. Reflect: Students need to reflect on the messaging of digital and media they share with others, reflecting on the impact their created or exchanged content has on the lives of other people.

5. Act: Students need to “act,” connect to the world around themselves and collaborate with others., learning to develop integrity and accountability for themselves, their actions and the media they create and/0r share with other people.

    Whereas each step of Hobbs’ five competencies is valuable for forming media literacy skills as a developing student, I feel the steps of “access” and “reflect” are the two must valuable of the five competencies; as its vital for youth to have access to credible, valid sources of information that should not be denied to them and their education, while its just as important to pause and reflect upon the potential impact of how we use modern technology, the influence of our words or actions through said technology from the perspective of students who are vital to learning proper media literacy for the future. I feel that these particular steps of Hobbs’s five competencies connect back to the words and philosophy of McLuhan's "The Medium is the Message," as they reflect McLuhan’s belief that the technological devices from which news and entertainment are received by individuals, the ability to access and reflect upon their impact, are key components to developing media literacy and how individuals perceive and utilize information in the modern age.

                                                   My Thoughts

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    I believe that developing skills in media literacy is incredibly important for youth, especially in our modern-day world where factually incorrect articles, AI generated results and algorithms are just a click of the mouse or tap of the screen away from easily misleading students and patrons to the wrong sources in their search of valid, trusted resources and information sources. While it is important for children and teens to be educated about media literacy, it is a skill that people of all ages can benefit from in their daily lives as they analyze the media and advertising messages that they take in each day. As modern society continues to create different platforms for entertainment, communication and learning on electronic devices, with information and messages spreading far quicker and further than in past generations, it becomes increasingly vital for people across age groups to develop media literacy. The development of media literacy, especially for today’s youth, is significantly valuable as skillsets in the 21^st century and its seemingly endless stream of media and advertisements from various angles as media literacy encourages individuals to raise their self-awareness of the media they consume, to differentiate between true news and what is fake or clickbait titles, further develop their critical-thinking skills as well develop their empathyfor other people, to deepen our understanding of media’s messaging, how our own biases are formed and to practice reducing them, recognizing how our words can impact others and the world around ourselves on an individual level or at a larger scale.

 

LIS 768 01: Learning About CIPA and COPPA

                                                                  Introduction

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    Hello, Readers! As someone working to become a public librarian, I strive to learn what I can to become a responsible librarian leader someday, such as creating a positive, welcoming and safe environment within the walls of the library institution for all potential patrons to explore. This includes keeping myself up to date on modern library policies and federal laws which affect patrons across different age groups, such as teenagers and young children. This week I wanted to share with you what I’ve been learning about federal laws regarding the privacy and protection of children in regard to internet usage and online data, as well as share with you my reflections on the laws and my thoughts on how well I personally feel the laws protect youth in these modern times where technology always seems to be upgrading adapting into new shapes and forms every day.

                                        What are CIPA and COPPA?

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    The two federal laws I will discuss with you today, Readers, known as the Children’s Internet Protection Act, otherwise known as CIPA, and the Children’s Online PrivacyProtection Act, otherwise known as COPPA. As home computers with internet connection became more commonplace and the digital era rose in the dawn of the 21^st century, CIPA was enacted by Congress in the year 2000 for the purpose of protecting children from having access to obscene or potentially harmful online content. Updated with modern times in 2011 by the FCC, the CIPA requires schools and libraries who receive discounts for internet access and connection through the E-rate program to meet certain standards for the protection of the institutions’ respective students and young patrons; such as public institutions to have protective systems in place that black or otherwise flitter out age-inappropriate material and harmful content on computers accessible by children, as well as requiring educators to have internet safety policies that included technological protection, such monitoring children’s online activity, and to educate their young students about the safety rules, discuss what is appropriate online behavior and educate children about the dangers of talking to strangers in online chat spaces. Whereas COPPA is a law passed in the year 1998, with the purpose of protecting young children under the age of thirteen from online dangers and to protect the privacy of Children’s personal information. The passing of COPPA, enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, gave greater control of children’s personal information that could be potentially used or stolen online back to the children’s parents and guardians. COPPA required websites and apps marketed towards child audiences, or general ages websites which could potentially collect personal data from child users, to provide clear privacy policies and terms of service to the website’s userbase, as well as requiring websites to acquire consent from the parents of children in valid, signed parental forms in order to collect data or use personal information belonging to younger web users under the age of thirteen-years-old. These regulations from the two respective laws were created with the intent of keeping children safe from online dangers, keeping personal data of youth from being misused, and to create protective systems in place so that children could be shielded from harmful content online as time passed and the internet became more and more integrated into the daily lives of everyone, including the nation’s youth.

                                                 My Thoughts

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    Ultimately, after reflecting over the regulations of both federal laws, I feel that CIPA and COPPA’s guidelines are both needed and each create significant good in modern society in order to help ensure the safety, support and education of children about online etiquette and learning how to avoid dangerous or otherwise age-inappropriate content. However, as time moves forward, technology continues to advance and be further integrated into different corners of society, and thus, young children will continue to engage with technology at home, school and in public spaces, it will be increasingly difficult for CIPA and COPPA to protect children from everything that’s online. I feel there are ways in which the laws can continued to be revised and updated to further protect children, such as greater measurements to protecting the data of children at ages thirteen and above by COPPA for example, and I feel that for the children in the world who want to sneak their way past security measures to play age-inappropriate games, enter chat rooms or watch older-rated movies, they will find a way to lie their ways across lines. I think no matter what the laws and regulations in place, there will always be young individuals who lie about their age and sneak to play or watch mature material behind their parents’ back. While many young individuals may follow the rules their parents and educators explain to them about internet safety, it is difficult for the law to account for the youth who will simply choose to lie when entering birthdates into streaming services and entering adult spaces online, despite the barriers put in place to keep them out. In spite the difficulties of protecting all people under the law, I think the laws of CIPA and COPPA are still very important, as the laws provide measurements and guidelines to parents who want to keep their children safe from online harm. I feel that at the end of the day, protecting children is a collaborative effort by parents, educators and the laws of the government to ensure the safety and well-being of children across the nation.

 

LIS 768 01: Reflecting on Digital Tattoos and Data Analysis

 

                                              Introduction

A Photo of Me! Image Source: Personal Photos of Lizzy Prain.

    Hello, Readers! Have you ever looked back at old posts you made out of a sense of nostalgia for old memories, or maybe “What was I thinking?” Every day, many of us use the internet in some shape or form, with more and more household tasks, socialization and games taking place more often online than in past generations, having a presence online to some degree can likely feel second nature to many individuals who require electronic devices and an internet connection in their daily lives. It may even be difficult to remember a time when our lives weren’t updated and posted online. Because of the ubiquity of the internet in many of our individual lives, it can be easy not give a second thought to our presence online, what we search, and what we post; but even if we simply just forget what we put on the internet, everything that was posted about ourselves can still traced back to us in one way or another, even years down the line, especially if the information we share is personal data such as names, schools or connections to hometowns and family members. When we leave information and evidence of our presence on online spaces, this is what is known as having a digital tattoo, otherwise known as leaving digital footprints.

                                     What are Digital Tattoos?

    In the great big spiderweb that is the modern internet, digital tattoos are the threads of silk with which we weave, leaving our interconnecting history, data and presence as individuals through what we post about ourselves. Although commonly called “footprints,” digital tattoos are much more like ink tattoos marked on one’s body, they created as an expression of individual beliefs, love, passions, and self-identity, and are incredibly difficult to removed, if not outright permanent for everyone to see for the rest of time. Just as ink tattoos in real life that are difficult to remove, digital tattoos are elements of what we post that stay online after we move on from a site or social media platform. The traces of our personal data and identity over the years, across different sites and online apps become connectable pieces which form a collection of information about ourselves as individuals through our activities and interactions in online spaces. 

                                              My Data Analysis

A Photo of My Puppy-Dog! Image Source: Personal Photos of Lizzy Prain 

    It's important to always be mindful of what personal information we share when we post online, as we may never know what others may do with our data without our consent nor can we be sure that something is completely wiped off the internet if we should choose to delete a post at a later date. However, learning more about digital tattoos and looking back on old posts don’t have to be a negative experience; instead, data analysis of our social media platforms can be an opportunity to be self-reflective and examine more deeply how we as individuals grow and change over the years when reviewing older posts and updates, taking time to reflect on how we change as people each day without even realizing it, as well as see evidence of how we express ourselves and show traits of our personalities or preferences thought our posting habits on different platforms.

    When I look back upon and reflect over the last twenty-five posts I made on my personal Facebook, what first comes to mind is that I enjoy sharing and creating posts that make me happy or share thoughts or memes with my friends and family that I think they’ll find fun as well. Reflecting over my last post, I share primarily posts about my pet dog who I love with my whole heart, share memes about my favorite movies and shows or inside jokes with my friends, or share photography, artwork and cute puppy videos I enjoy and what to share with the people in my personal life. Overall, I realized that based on the last several weeks I posted on social media sites, such as on Facebook for example, I find that I enjoy cultivating a positive space for myself and my friends online, where I can create or share cute, fun and happy posts. While I have other platforms such as Pinterest for art and fashion moodboards, and that I am a lurker on sites such as Tumblr, Bluesky and Reddit for my favorite fandoms, I felt like sharing my impression of my Facebook page, as it is the social media account that I’ve had the longest, having created it back in junior high. It’s interesting (and a bit cringy) to look back at the post I first made on Facebook as a shy teenager. They were mostly experimental posts trying to figure out the site, wanting to play farming games and giving the gift of digital sheep to friends, or minor updates about my day, such as about school. When looking at my more recent posts, I’m a little more bolder now, I feel my updates reflect my interests and humor developing and maturing as I entered adulthood into the present day. I still post silly, fun and cute things online, but now with slightly more sophistication! I will occasionally share about my school or work experiences, and chime in on serious topics in society with my friends, but overall, I notice that I most often like to share and happy moments from my life online. I suppose I feel because the world has enough negatively as it is, I like to spread positively in my personal corner of the internet with the people I care about through my posts.  

                                                Conclusion

"It doesn't matter to you if you get heads or tails, you just don't like to flip all the time." Image source.

    As the sands of time continue to pass, and the internet remains a ubiquitous resource in our society, digital tattoos will remain as permanent reminders and snapshots of our lives. Much like a difficult-to-remove ink tattoo on skin, digital tattoos reflect choices and information about ourselves that cannot be easily erased. It is important to be mindful when deciding what personal information to share online, to be vulnerable and reveal parts of ourselves to a vast sea of strangers online can come with more risks and long-term consequences if not careful, more dangerous than it may seem in the modern landscape of social media where it seems everyone shares every moment, fact and secret of their daily lives through post updates or livestreaming. However, while being safe and responsible with sharing personal data is always important, digital tattoos can also be a source of nostalgia, as it may lead you back to old memories across the web. You may discover how much you’ve changed over the years or find old accomplishments and hobbies that may have been forgotten long ago. The web itself is not an entirely positive or negative tool, it depends on how we use it and the experience we cultivate for ourselves. Just like with choosing a new ink tattoo, when it comes to digital tattoos when we post online, it’s valuable to take a second and think whether or not we would be comfortable with the information we post today remaining on the internet ten or twenty years from now.

LIS 768 01: Understanding Acceptable Use Policies

                                                                          Introduction

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    Hello, Readers! Have you ever stopped to think about how much we rely on technology and electronic devices in our modern world? I imagine many of us use email, text messaging systems, Google, YouTube and TikTok throughout each day on our phones, tablets or personal computers without really giving them a second thought. In the digital age, we have household chores, shopping, work responsibilities, and educational modules in addition to recreational fun all stored on our devices, that it would be easy to feel as though society itself could not or would not function as it does without our electronic resources nearby. Because technology plays such an integral role in many of our lives and different corners of the world, important policies, such as the Acceptable Use Policy, otherwise known as AUP, exists to ensure that technology in institutions of society are used by workers, educators or students with responsibility, care and respect for the tech resources shared by members of a community. While it may seem like terms that don’t have significant importance at a glance, the AUP is a guideline which help not only protect the best interests of societal institutions, such as a library or school, but policy guidelines which are put into place to protect patrons and students who use electronic resources. A school’s AUP guidelines are intended to keep students safe online, as recognizing the importance of students having access to digital resources, knowledge and services through the school’s systems in an engaging learning environment, ideally with the strive to balance protecting students from harmful content while acknowledging students’ own agency and responsibility when using school resources independently.

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                         Reflecting on my University's APU Policy

    As a student, I rely on the digital resources and services made available through my university, such as the libraries’ computer systems, virtual student lounges, forums, emails and class messaging systems. The AUP of my university is in place to ensure my security safety as a student enrolled in the institution, as well as to ensure that I and other students like me are using the resources provided by the university for their intended purposes. Reflecting over my school’s AUP policy, there is emphasis in the wording of the university’s AUP section of school policies on providing both the student body and the facility members with access to educational materials and computing resources, with the institution highlighting respect to students’ independence, accountability as adults and right to privacy when using the university’s electronic resources, stating that “This policy is intended to encourage, rather than discourage, the use of computing resources at Dominican University by providing a framework for acceptable use” (Dominican University, 2025). There is a list of offenses that qualify as violations of the policy by students’ misuse of the computing resources provided by the school, such as using tech to cause harm to others, breaking laws of the nation or otherwise illegal activity that violates school codes, committing fraudulent or malicious actions, and abusing data collection or the communication systems of the school, amongst the examples. Whereas there are sections of the policy dedicated to what students are not allowed to do with the available resources of the university, the overall tone and wording of the policy itself leans towards encouragement of students’ educational growth and trust in the autonomy of the students to use the technology of the school with responsibility, maturity and respect for the intended purpose of the resources. Within the summary of what defines acceptable use of computing resources and services by the university’s terms, the policy page states that “Computing resources at Dominican University are provided for legitimate educational and business purposes. Limited personal use of computing resources by students, staff, and faculty is permissible if it does not violate this policy or other University policies, or otherwise interfere with the legitimate education and business purposes of Dominican University” (Dominican University, 2025). Through both APU guidelines and individual research and responsibility, electronic users can remain prepared, educated, safe and secure when using the digital resources of their community’s digital resources.

                                                    Conclusion

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    When reflecting upon the purposes of an AUP in our schools or places of work, rather than be dismissive of its value, its important to be mindful of the policy’s purpose in public institutions, keeping students, their educators, patrons and staff workers digitally protected when engaging with electronic resources or services belonging within a given university. Reviewing AUP guidelines as a student is an opportunity to reflect on individual responsibility, not only in meeting the expectations of one’s school, library or work environment when using their tech, but it is an opportunity to be reflective on steps to keep ourselves safe when online from security threats or protecting ourselves by learning the signs of potential phishing scams. It is important for individuals living in the digital era, such as you Readers, whether you are employed on staff in a library, an educator, or a student, to continue to practice mindfulness and research methods of staying secure from threats online, whether it is keeping your devices’ web protection up to date, or keeping your Wi-Fi protected when away from home, and to stay wary and vigilant of suspicious emails from unknown or otherwise malicious links in your messages.