Blog Post #2
Preamble
Coming about finding an expert on anonymous posting apps or anonymity was a bit of a struggle for me. I was not sure who would qualify as an expert or what types of adjacent people would have credible opinions on the topic of cyber anonymity. However, I currently have two interviews by people I would consider experts, both with very fascinating takes on the topic of digital anonymity, speech action dichotomy, first amendment law, and corporate censorship.
Expert Introduction - Joe Maronski
My first expert interview was with Joe Maronski. Maronski is a High Point University student majoring in Journalism and Political Science with a minor in Italian studies, but he also is a certified QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) instructor where through his organization he is able to assist those who may be in need of help due to suicidal ideation. He also does work with the Trevor Project an organization that offers a confidential call service for LGBT+ youth struggling with suicidal thoughts or crisis situations. While this is not the same as anonymity I do believe that confidentiality and anonymity offer the same protection from social consequences that allows people to feel more comfortable to speak freely. As he deals in confidential personal conversations with frequency, I thought he would be a great person to ask about cyber anonymity and the pros and cons of it.
You can listen to the full interview here
Expert Introduction - Professor Dean Smith
Dean Smith is a professor at High Point University in the School of Communications because he is a First Amendment Law and History enthusiast. I have been a student in his class for the past two semesters (Media Law & Literacy and Media Law and Ethics). As I further my discussion to talk about how to make anonymous posting apps a safer place, I wanted to speak to him about ethical censorship, our first amendment right to free speech, and the pros and cons of the apps themselves censoring what people can post versus letting social response and repercussions handle offensive content.
You can listen to the full interview here
Technical Skill Development
Through the readings and watchings of the articles and videos we were intended to watch through the course of the past two weeks, I learned some more efficient keyboard short cuts to edit audio with more efficiency. Previously I was using 'I' and 'o' to selects a section to delete when I needed to break up a recording but now I have learned the clicking 'R' and the clicking on the audio recording where I want a break will do that much more efficiently, then click 'V' to click and drag them around. (Move, Razor, Slip and Time Selection Tools in Audition - Mike Russell)
You can listen to my edited video with Joe Maronski here.
I am continuing to work on editing my second professional interview, but when it is done, it shall be uploaded here.
The Story Arc
The story arc I am following I do believe is pretty clear. I begin with an anecdote; a story about a college student who takes his life due to cyberbullying. This is followed by a conversation on the ease in which cyberbullying has progressed with the rise of anonymous posting media. Next is a conversation with my college peers about their view on anonymous posting media and then rounds itself out with experts talking about why anonymous posting appeals to people and a legal and ethics study of the implications of anonymous posting media and the discourse as to why here in America it is so hard to gatekeep or censor the content on it. The conversation begins wondering how to make the internet a safer place and by the end of it we have come no closer to solving the issue at hand but do have a better understanding as to why the internet quite literally can't be both an ethical and safe place.
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