Digital citizenship and social movements: patterns and responsibilities – EAVI Conversations
Conclusions drawn from the discussion with Stacey Featherstone and Athina Karatzogianni – 7th of December (EAVI Conversations 2021) Conversations on digital citizenship are never predictable, as citizens’ rights and duties are many and the variables influencing their direct participation are countless. For the session with Prof. Athina Kataztogianni (Prof of Media and Communication at the University of Leicester) and Stacey Featherstone (Public Policy Manager at Meta), the focus has been the use of social media to foster digital citizenship and social movements. Digital citizenship shifted from being just about digital skills, to encompass also [...]
Climate change and social inequality – EAVI Conversations
Conclusions drawn from the discussion with Kristy Drutman – 2nd of December (EAVI Conversations 2021) Whenever we think about climate change we imagine natural disasters, temperatures and sea levels rise. The general discourse also focuses sometimes on its impact on humanity in the future, but rarely is mentioned that climate injustice is affecting more certain categories than others. Wealth and social inequalities are some of the causes leading low-income individuals and minorities (just to name a few) to be greatly affected by global warming and whatever comes with it. Kristy Drutman, the speaker in [...]
Activism: internet as a public space – EAVI Conversations
Conclusions drawn from the discussion with Diletta Bellotti – 1st of December (EAVI Conversations 2021) “Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct, or intervene in social, political, economic, or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good.”[1] Numerous are definitions on the internet, but this is one of the few giving emphases to the concepts of change and the common good; aspects also highlighted by our host Diletta Bellotti, a human rights advocate and activist. After her session, we can probably rephrase the definition of [...]
Media literacy for all – EAVI Conversations
Conclusions drawn from the discussion with Alexandre Le Voci Sayad – 30th of November (EAVI Conversations 2021) Some topics are so complex that we cannot look at them from just one side. Therefore, we should take a multidisciplinary approach to tackle an issue or understand it better from different angles. Similarly, media literacy is a subject requiring a multidisciplinary approach to be fully comprehensible. In which way should we talk about media literacy for people to receive and understand our message? Teachers have an important role to play in this. They can use [...]
Trust in the media: demographic and geographical differences – EAVI Conversations
Conclusions drawn from the discussion with Prof. Tapio Varis and Dr. Mohamed El-Guindy – 23rd of November (EAVI Conversations 2021) Trust is a really complicated word to be defined, especially when it comes to media, as it encompasses psychological, political and emotional factors. Moreover, as different studies and research show, trust in the media may vary not only according to the demographics but also to the geographical area. We explored this matter in one of our sessions with Prof. Tapio Varis and Dr Mohamed El-Guindy, experts respectively in Europe and the Middle East. [...]
AI for good – EAVI Conversations
Conclusions drawn from the discussion with Letitia Parcalabescu – 18th of November (EAVI Conversations 2021) Futuristic movies generally depict technology as an independent entity from humankind, able to make decisions and ultimately have the capacity to rule the world and the universe. Whether it will go this way or not, if we allowed ourselves the possibility to just look at the present, we would notice that, despite its name, AI is not more intelligent than us, notwithstanding the alarmistic discussions about it. Our speaker Letitia Parcalabescu affirmed that “If intelligence has something to [...]
Information disorder- let’s take it seriously! – EAVI Conversations
Conclusions drawn from the discussion with Claire Wardle – 16th of November (EAVI Conversations 2021) If you were to hear bits and pieces of Claire Wardle’s session and come across her statement that disinformation is not an issue anymore, you could be bewildered. After all, is it not something we should all be concerned about? It definitely is, but the object of this worry shouldn’t be disinformation per se, in the sense of deliberately false or harmful content. Platforms have been increasing controls and improving their policies and rules, therefore deceitful, fraudulent, and violent [...]
What has an elephant to do with our social media use? – EAVI Conversations
Conclusions drawn from the discussion with Yannis Sarakatsanis – 11th of November (EAVI Conversations 2021) Social media are versatile channels, although in the eyes of most of us entertainment is their main purpose. Our guest, Yannis Sarakatsanis, was able to use amusement for higher reasons. He started his YouTube channel in 2020, willing to describe current issues, breaking them down and analysing them in a funny and easy way, understandable to the general public. He is one of the few who made media literacy accessible to everyone! The key to his success? As he put it: “People [...]
From Facebook to Tik Tok: How social media platforms are evolving
Social media are evolving with vigorous rhythm. The human hunger for communication and the development of technology are vital contributors to the establishment of the digital world. But let’s start from the beginning! What is social media? ‘It is a computer-based technology that facilitates the sharing of ideas, thoughts, and information through the building of virtual networks and communities’ (Dollarhide, 2021). Social media are part of our everyday life as they are easily accessible through mobile phones. In 2021, 78% of the people globally are accessing social media platforms from their mobile phones (Brian, [...]
Are we living in an AI trial period? – EAVI Conversations
Conclusions drawn from the discussion with Lee Hibbard – 9th of November (EAVI Conversations 2021) Artificial Intelligence is not a simple topic to address, neither its' meaning nor its implications. That is why, when it comes to its definition, most users are puzzled. No wonder that only 15% of the event participants were confident about what AI entails. Despite its large use, people are not aware of how it works. As Lee Hibbard put it: “If we don’t know what AI is, maybe we don’t know it”. The overall feeling around AI is [...]
