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 [...]
Screen time & Screen fatigue: Let’s get serious!
While our presence online is escalating, we start realizing not only the advantages but also the effects of screen booming. In the last few years, the time we spent in front of the screen increased dramatically. Are you curious about the icing on the cake? COVID-19! Social distancing and isolation pushed us even more towards devices. A report from Ofcom’s “Online Nation” mentions that in 2020 the time UK adults spent online is more than three and a half hours daily which equals an increase of one-fifth in three years (Bradshaw, 2021). In the [...]
Paulo Freire: Beyond adult literacy
By Venício Arthur de Lima, UnB Professor, and Marco Antonio Rodrigues Dias, UnB Professor and Member of the EAVI Advisory Committee Recently, the International Journal of Education (CIEPS-Alliance Sorbonne Université) published a dossier on the great figures who have had a profound influence on education at all times and on all continents. Under the coordination of Professor Jean-Marie De Ketelle, from the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, studies on the work of Confuncius, Piaget, Maria Montessori, Grundtvig, Lev Vygotsky, John Dewey, Freud, Plato, Averroes (Avicenna), Ibn Khaldün, Rousseau, Condorcet, and Ferry were published. [...]
A forced detox : FB outage stories
Facebook and its family of apps, such as Instagram and WhatsApp, were down for several hours during Monday evening, illustrating how dependent the world has become on these platforms. All over the world, people use these platforms to communicate with friends and family, get informed and distribute their own messages, and promote their work. An outage like that is unusual, and we can say that the impact was severe. How did you feel? How did you spend your evening without these platforms? Here are some confessions of this forced detox! [...]
Filter bubbles: No, thanks!
It is easy to acquire the impression that you are getting the same information as everyone else on the internet. However, every time you get online, algorithms record the things you search for, save data from the sites you visit and what you prefer to click on. These algorithms show you material based on what they believe you will enjoy and they will keep doing this until they are only showing you things you will likely consume. It sounds pretty good, right? Who would not like a little bit of personalisation in their everyday [...]
Social Media and Gender: A Tricky Combination
Media have inundated our lives. The Internet is the dominant source of information and social media is the main communication channel. In Europe, more than 50% of the European people used social media in 2016. In 2020, 94% of the adults in Iceland used their social networks. These numbers reveal the position of social media in the tangible world and at the same time, they highlight the differences between the genders in the digital one (Statista, 2021). However, are these two worlds that different? Are they connected or do they overlap? Brook Duffy, associate [...]
Brexit: the loss of the audio-visual market on the EU soil
Brexit is a fraught issue beset by ongoing uncertainties. It seems no part of the UK’s international and domestic life has been left untouched, the self-inflicted blow to the UK’s hard power has come hand in hand with a depletion in its soft power in the form of its cultural exports – namely its audiovisual media services industry. The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (“the Deal”) and Northern Ireland Protocol were finalised over Christmas of 2020 and came into force just a few days later, consists of three pillars – a Free Trade Agreement, a [...]
Media in the global learning crises and pandemia
By Tapio Varis, Professor Emeritus To be published in 2021 by “Media. Information. Communication” (MIC), Moscow Pedagogical State University, http://mic.org.ru/en/ The world is facing serious socio-economic impact as the consequence of the pandemic. The global situation is also challenging the media and communication systems. The United Nations has warned of education catastrophe and recommends that preventing a learning crisis from becoming a generational catastrophe requires urgent action from all: “Education is not only a fundamental human right. It is an enabling right with direct impact on the realization of all other human rights. [...]
Press Freedom: One of the pillars for democratic societies
Nowadays, the media play a vital role in our everyday lives. Technological advances and progress have brought new media usage to the fore and have given a new meaning to "freedom of speech." Through social media, everyone can express his/her opinion regarding several subjects without second thoughts. However, according to some, the new era of social media has brought some new doubts: does freedom of speech have ethical and political boundaries? How can the ability to express our opinion relate to the spread of false information that “harms” rather than inform citizens and, thus, [...]
