How Social Media gets to know you
Ever notice how if you search for tacos on your computer or phone suddenly you see tacos everywhere you go online? Instagram shows photos of tantalizing taco platters, Facebook feeds you ads for taco restaurants, Pinterest suggests taco recipes, YouTube recommends videos of celebrities making tacos and Tik Tok sends you clips of people reacting to biting into a taco garnished with ghost peppers.
Just how did all these sites know you were interested in tacos anyway?
Who tracks you and how do they do it
There are several ways that your online activity may be tracked:
- Websites download cookies, or small bits of data, to your internet browsers which track your online activity.
- Your phone's GPS tracks your physical location.
- Your internet service provider can see everything you do online.
- Many phone apps track your physical location, can download files, take photos and video, even read your text messages and call log.
Fake News. It's Your Fault
Books on Social Media @ UA-PTC Libraries
LikeWar by
Named a Best Book of the Year By Amazon andForeign AffairsMagazine Through the weaponization of social media, the internet is changing war and politics, just as war and politics are changing the internet. Terrorists livestream their attacks, "Twitter wars" produce realâe'world casualties, and viral misinformation alters not just the result of battles, but the very fate of nations. War, tech, and politics have blurred into a new kind of battle space that plays out on our smartphones. P. W. Singer and Emerson Brooking tackle the mindâe'bending questions that arise when war goes online and the online world goes to war. Delving into the web's darkest corners,LikeWar outlines a radical new paradigm for understanding and defending against the unprecedented threats of our networked world.
Call Number: Ottenheimer - North Library 2nd Floor Circulation Shelves and Ottenheimer - South Library HM742 .S574 2018ISBN: 9781328695741
Digital vertigo how today's online social revolution is dividing, diminishing, and disorienting us by
A simple idea of architecture -- Let's get nacked -- Visibility is a trap -- Digital vertigo -- The cult of the social -- The age of the great exhibition -- The age of the great exhibitionism -- The best picture of 2011.
In "Digital Vertigo", Andrew Keen presents today's social media revolution as the most wrenching cultural transformation since the Industrial Revolution. Fusing a fast-paced historical narrative with front-line stories from today's online networking revolution and critiques of "social" companies like Groupon, Zynga and LinkedIn, Keen argues that the social media transformation is weakening, disorienting and dividing us rather than establishing the dawn of a new egalitarian and communal age. The tragic paradox of life in the social media age, Keen says, is the incompatibility between our internet longings for community and friendship and our equally powerful desire for online individual freedom. By exposing the shallow core of social networks, Andrew Keen shows us that the more electronically connected we become, the lonelier and less powerful we seem to be. Praise for "The Cult of the Amateur": "A shrewdly argued jeremiad against the digerati effort to dethrone cultural and political gatekeepers and replace experts with 'the wisdom of the crowd'. Keen writes with acuity and passion". ("New York Times"). "A staggering new book by Andrew Keen. He is an English-born digital media entrepreneur and Silicon Valley insider who really knows his stuff and he writes with the passion of a man who can at last see the dangers he has helped unleash. His book will come as a real shock to many. It certainly did to me". (A N Wilson, "The Daily Mail").
Call Number: KindleISBN: 9781780338408
Think Before You Like by
Guy P. Harrison, an upbeat advocate of scientific literacy and positive skepticism, demonstrates how critical thinking can enhance the benefits of social media while giving users the skills to guard against its dangers. Social media has more than two billion users and continues to grow. Its widespread appeal as a means of staying in touch with friends and keeping up with daily news masks some serious pitfalls-misinformation, pseudoscience, fraud, propaganda, and irrational beliefs, for example, presented in an attractive, easy-to-share form. This book will teach you how to resist the psychological and behavioral manipulation of social media and avoid the mistakes that millions have already made and now regret. Harrison presents scientific studies that show why your subconscious mind loves social media and how that can work against your ability to critically evaluate information. Among other things, social media reinforces your biases, clouds your judgment with images that leave a false impression, and fills your brain with anecdotes that become cheap substitutes for objective data. The very nature of the technology keeps you in a bubble; by tracking your preferences it sends only filtered newsfeeds, so that you rarely see anything that might challenge your set notions. Harrison explores the implications of having digital "friends" and the effects on mood, self-esteem, and the cultivation of friendship in the real world. He discusses how social media affects attention spans and the ability to consider issues in depth. And he suggests ways to protect yourself against privacy invasion, cyberstalking, biased misinformation, catfishing, trolls, misuse of photos, and the confusion over fake news versus credible journalism.
Call Number: Ottenheimer - North Library 2nd Floor Circulation Shelves HM742 .H378 2017ISBN: 9781633883512
The art of invisibility : the world's most famous hacker teaches you how to be safe in the age of Big Brother and big data by
Your every step online is being tracked and stored, and your identity literally stolen. Big companies and big governments want to know and exploit what you do, and privacy is a luxury few can afford or understand...Kevin Mitnick uses true-life stories to show exactly what is happening without your knowledge, teaching you "the art of invisibility"--online and real-world tactics to protect you and your family, using easy step-by-step instructions. Reading this book, you will learn everything from password protection and smart Wi-Fi usage to advanced techniques designed to maximize your anonymity. Kevin Mitnick knows exactly how vulnerabilities can be exploited and just what to do to prevent that from happening.
Call Number: Ottenheimer - North Library 2nd Floor Circulation Shelves & Ottenheimer - South Library TK5105.875.I57 M58 2017ISBN: 9780316380508
Understanding Digital Tracking
What is done with this information?
Most tracking is done so that your online activity can be used for targeted advertising. That's the reason that you might suddenly see lots of ads for taco restaurants if you search for tacos.
These records of your online activity can also be used to influence the information that you see online. For example, if you searched the internet for information on COVID-19 for a research paper, you might suddenly see information about resources for COVID-19 patients in your social media feeds, even when you search for unrelated topics.
Why should I care that I'm being tracked online?
Social media sites work to keep you engaged so they can sell advertising. To do this they will track what you are interested in and show you more things that are similar to what you have already searched. That may be fine for tacos and shoes, but what about false or harmful information?
Internet searches on the topic of COVID-19 might turn up information that is both true and false. Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference, especially with a topic like COVID-19 where the facts are changing quickly due to scientific experiments, medical breakthroughs and changes in the virus itself. When we are uncertain about what is true and false, we are more likely to pay attention to those sources that feed our confirmation bias.
How to stop tracking on your computer
- Use privacy plug-ins or extensions in your browser.
- Adjust cookie settings in your browser.
- Set your browser to start in private mode.
- Change your browser's default search engine to one that does not track your activity, then use it.
- Opt out of sharing data on all online services that you subscribe to such as Facebook, Google, and Instagram.
- Use a browser that does not track your online activity.
How to stop tracking on your phone
- Turn off the phone's location tracking.
- Turn off location tracking in apps.
- Limit ad tracking on your phone.
- Use a private browser on your phone.
- Search in private in Chrome, Firefox Android, Firefox iOS , or Safari.
Librarian
Confirmation Bias
eBooks on Social Media @ UA-PTC Libraries
The Smart Girl's Guide to Privacy by
The whirlwind of social media, online dating, and mobile apps can make life a dream or a nightmare. For every trustworthy website, there are countless jerks, bullies, and scam artists who want to harvest your personal information for their own purposes. But you can fight back, right now. In The Smart Girl s Guide to Privacy, award-winning author and investigative journalist Violet Blue shows you how women are targeted online and how to keep yourself safe. Blue s practical, user-friendly advice will teach you how to: Delete personal content from websites Use website and browser privacy controls effectively Recover from and prevent identity theft Figure out where the law protects you and where it doesn t Set up safe online profiles Remove yourself from people-finder websites Even if your privacy has already been compromised, don t panic. It s not too late to take control. Let The Smart Girl s Guide to Privacy help you cut through the confusion and start protecting your online life
Call Number: Online e-book. Click title to access.ISBN: 1593276486
Privacy in the Modern Age by
The threats to privacy are well known: the National Security Agency tracks our phone calls; Google records where we go online and how we set our thermostats; Facebook changes our privacy settings when it wishes; Target gets hacked and loses control of our credit card information; our medical records are available for sale to strangers; our children are fingerprinted and their every test score saved for posterity; and small robots patrol our schoolyards and drones may soon fill our skies. The contributors to this anthology don’t simply describe these problems or warn about the loss of privacy--they propose solutions. They look closely at business practices, public policy, and technology design, and ask, "Should this continue? Is there a better approach?” They take seriously the dictum of Thomas Edison: "What one creates with his hand, he should control with his head.” It’s a new approach to the privacy debate, one that assumes privacy is worth protecting, that there are solutions to be found, and that the future is not yet known. This volume will be an essential reference for policy makers and researchers, journalists and scholars, and others looking for answers to one of the biggest challenges of our modern day. The premise is clear: there’s a problem--let’s find a solution.
Call Number: Online e-book. Click title to access.ISBN: 1620971089
Digital Literacy for Dummies by
Develop and implement essential computer technology--with confidence Do you want to develop an understanding of technology to enhance your education, career, or personal life, but feel inhibited by your digital literacy? Fear not! Written in plain English and absent of undecipherable high-tech jargon, Digital Literacy For Dummies makes it easy to get a grip on computer basics, the Internet, the Cloud, browsing the web, productivity programs and applications for school and the workplace, computer security and privacy, the latest in digital lifestyle topics, and so much more. Walks you through the basics of developing essential computer technology skills Shows you how to gain the digital literacy skills required to succeed in education, at home, and in the workforce Explains how the use of smartphones and digital cameras contribute to digital literacy With the introduction of 3G and 4G services in emerging countries like India, worldwide Internet usage is increasing exponentially. With this technological growth comes an opportunity for people of all ages and from all walks of life to learn new skills to keep them ahead of the curve. Packed with easy-to-follow explanations and seasoned with a bit of humor and fun, Digital Literacy For Dummies makes it easy and accessible for anyone to harness the power of technology to remain relevant in school or at work.
Call Number: Online e-book. Click title to access.ISBN: 1118963075
