The full schedule for this course will be available later today.
For Friday, you need to read the following articles:
Kee Hinckley: “On Pseudonymity, Privacy, and Responsibility on Google+”
Eric Pfanner: “Naming Names on the Internet”
Both of these authors are dealing specifically with the issue of Google’s new “real names” policy for Google+, and you can read more about that issue here, if you’re unfamiliar with it. I’m assigning these readings because the issue of pseudonymous vs. “real” identities is more broadly relevant, and applies to the work you’ll do at the UW, and at any other educational institution you attend.
Please consider the following questions as you read; and be ready to reference specific statements from each of these articles in class on Friday.
1. What is a real identity? What information has to be given to make an identity real? What information is not important to a real identity?
2. What about political identity? How might we define that? What information is required, and what information might be considered irrelevant?
3. What differences do you see in the way that Hinckley and Pfanner make their points? If these readings are examples of the genre of blog post and newspaper article, what similarities and differences can you observe?
4. What is your experience of reading these articles like? Is one easier than the other? Do you tend to put more credibility in one than the other? Why? What stands out to you about each author’s approach?
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