Social Smarts: Privacy, the Internet and YOU! (Graphic Novel)

 Recently, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada released a very helpful Graphic Novel that outlines how you can be safe on the internet, using social media and still maintain your privacy!  This graphic novel outlines the potential pitfalls, risks and behaviour online that is not safe, and should be avoided at all costs!  The graphic novel, “Social Smarts: Privacy, the Internet and YOU!” can be downloaded as a PDF document, or you can visit their site to watch a video, or look at other resources like teaching guidebooks for educators and parents!  Some of the best tips from this graphic novel are:

• Locking down your social media accounts so that only pre-approved real-life friends can see your information and activity
• Be aware of when other people might be taking your photo, and ask them to not post it online, or tag you in any photos. (be sure to look at your settings and dis-allow anyone to ‘tag’ you)
• Don’t “leave yourself logged in” to any computers, or smartphones that don’t have a password.  Anyone can use the computer/smartphone to pretend to be you!  Always have a password on your smartphone and never “remember my password”!
• When playing games online, don’t share personal information over your headset, you are speaking to anyone else in the game and they can hear everything you say!
• Remember that all your activity online, when you “like” something, or your “check-in” some place, this information is collected and stored by companies to profile you and sell you things!
• If you are using some network or service online that is free, you must remember that you are not a customer, you are a product and are being used by the company or service to make money!
• Remember that its OK to turn off your smartphone, or step away from the computer to make connections in real-life and to talk and build relationships with the people around you all day long!

Please, watch this excellent video below to learn more, and to check out the Graphic Novel as soon as you can!

Who does “Google” think you are?

We have all been warned that our Social Media profiles and online activities through sites like Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus keep track of where we go, what we look at, what we click on, and who we interact with, but its easy to dismiss this “profiling” when it is not very apparent or visible.  Ever wondered why that advertising on your Google search was targeted at exactly the things you like and buy?

Have you ever wondered what kind of “profile” google has created about you?  Well you can  see your advertising “Catagories” and your assumed “Demographics” by clicking on this link:

http://t.co/hSxzJaPf

Its a very insightful experience to say the least.  Now, in order to deconstruct what these “Categories” and “Demographics” are saying, let me share my “profile” for you to see:

Click on image to “embiggen”

As you can see from this image, Google has correctly identified me as a “Male” and although I won’t turn 35 until later this year, they were pretty close to my current age.  Google definitely figured out exactly where I live in the world, and is thus able to target advertising directly at me from local companies in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

The “Categories” that Google has identified as my “key interests” are very insightful!  I think that they have created an accurate ‘picture’ of what I am most interested in, and what topics I am most likely to engage in online.  You can see that I like Movies, Online Video, K-12 Education, Technology, People and Society, and Libraries!  If you knew me in person, you would most definitely agree with this online google “profile”.

What is helpful to note, is that by accessing your own Google Profile, you can “Remove or Edit” any of these categories or demographics at anytime, if you knew about it!  So, please, get informed about your online Google Profile!  If you want to learn more about maintaining your online privacy, there are many other tools and strategies that you can employ to keep yourself from being “targeted” through strategies like google page.    Please see this page to learn how to “Opt out of Everything Online” to remove any profiles or targeted advertising!

Stay informed, and stay in control of your online identity!

Students WANT Social Media!

There is no doubt that Social Media is quickly embedding itself into all aspects of our 21st century lives.  We are increasingly looking at new ways of connecting online, using technology to bridge time and distance that keeps up apart.  This is no different in Schools, where students are desperate to find and use Social Media tools, and to further develop their skills and knowledge on how to best use these new tools and communication avenues.  Many of the tools we explore help students search, find, connect, produce and then share their experiences, knowledge and understanding! So why not at school?

The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) is described as “an educational leadership organization dedicated to advancing best practices and policies for the success of each learner. Our 150,000 members in more than 145 countries are professional educators from all levels and subject areas––superintendents, supervisors, principals, teachers, professors of education, and school board members.” They have produced this amazing infographic that outlines the many different ways that Students want to, and already are, using Social Media! (click to embiggen)

An introduction to Google Plus!

Have you heard about Google Plus?

Google Plus is a new Social Networking tool that the engineers at Google have put together!  It was designed from the ground up to be more secure, private, and easy to use and share your stuff through!  While it has been in “Invite-Only” mode for the last 2 months, they just opened it up for anyone and everyone to sign up. (http://plus.google.com to sign up)

Why should you check out a new social network?  Whats wrong with the ones you use now? (Facebook / Twitter) Well, Google Plus (or G+) is meant to keep your private info, well, private!  You have to actively choose to share your information or posts.  You can connect with lots and lots of people *(like on twitter), but they don’t automatically get access to your private posts or photos that you share only with friends and family.  It is also easily intergrated into other google services, like Gmail, or Gdocs, or Gcalendar.  So, if you are already a Google user, than Google Plus will fit right in.  If you are interested, I highly recommend you check out this short video introduction I made to see how it basically works and how you can start building your circles!