The story of Yik Yak, an anonymous gossip app that went horribly wrong, is actually nothing new. Yik Yak has been used to bully people, not to help them connect with each other. But so were many other social networking tools. Even the most famous and well-established ones, like Facebook, have been notoriously unable to stop online harassment. Worse than that, they are sometimes unwilling to. It’s not our problem, they proclaim. The platform we provide is neutral, and what people do with it is entirely up to them.
In my opinion, the morale of this story is simple. Technology is not a solution. When we bring in new technology, we are responsible for teaching people how to use it ethically, and for monitoring their activities. The latter task is for creators of digital platforms to handle; the first one is for media and digital literacy educators. And, since new media and digital tools pop up every day (Yik Yak, for example), these educators definitely have a lot to do. The importance of their work cannot be underestimated. Only if we teach people how to use technology in responsible ways, it can be really used to connect us.
In my opinion, the morale of this story is simple. Technology is not a solution. When we bring in new technology, we are responsible for teaching people how to use it ethically, and for monitoring their activities. The latter task is for creators of digital platforms to handle; the first one is for media and digital literacy educators. And, since new media and digital tools pop up every day (Yik Yak, for example), these educators definitely have a lot to do. The importance of their work cannot be underestimated. Only if we teach people how to use technology in responsible ways, it can be really used to connect us.
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