Thanks for Listening, by Molly Horan

This was a fun read. I appreciated Mia’s frustration with her friends for not heeding her advice, and enjoyed her solution, in the form of an anonymous social media account. Mia started out with good intentions, but it seemed as though, inevitably, her self-interests supplanted her altruism. I also read it with the cautionary idea that you aren’t necessarily as anonymous as you think you are online; Mia pretty much recognized every one of her friends who DM’d HereToHelp, in spite of the filters they used to mask their identities. I especially recommend this book for readers who enjoyed Love Letters for Joy by Melissa See and Dear Wendy by Ann Zhao.

SOLIS : Social Media Coordinator for 2023-2024

SOLIS elections closed on April 28, 2023, and I’ve been appointed for 2023-2024 to Social Media Coordinator. My appreciation to everyone who affirmed my place among the slate of officers. SOLIS is the Student Organization for Library and Information Services at the University of Central Missouri, and I’ve served in the role of Social Media Coordinator since October 2022.

Cyber-bullying: Lawsuit based on product liability

A man has filed a harassment lawsuit against the Grindr dating app (as reported via NBC News). The claim is based on consumer protection from dangerous or unsafe products.

Matthew Herrick is claiming that he was harassed via the Grindr app, through a former partner creating fake profiles that impersonated Herrick. “The alleged harassment continued for months, even after Herrick obtained a temporary restraining order against Grindr that required the company to disable the impersonating profiles.”

Online bullying is concerning to me, through direct experience. When I worked as a journalist, I was “trolled” by anonymous commenting. In my writings, I argued that comments should be tied to a registered account.

More recently, I became the unwilling audience to a campaign on Facebook to deliberately “shame” another person. I wondered then, and continue to wonder now, how we can move beyond an impulse to humiliate people and destroy their lives and careers?

Currently, people have little recourse if they’re subject to online bullying, because a “free-speech” law protects companies from liability for content that is posted by “third-parties.” But this could change if Herrick is successful with his lawsuit.

In the words of David Ingram, reporting for NBC News: “[Herrick’s] lawsuit alleges that the software developers who write code for Grindr have been negligent, producing an app that’s defective in its design and that is ‘fundamentally unsafe’ and ‘unreasonably dangerous’ — echoing language that’s more typically used in lawsuits about, say, a faulty kitchen appliance or a defective car part.”

Speaking as someone who strongly believes that bullying is not “free speech,” this case intrigues me for possibly holding companies responsible for abuses their platforms facilitate.

Facebook news, we have options for control

What do you think of Facebook’s decision to prioritize posts by friends and family in a user’s feed? Are you concerned, as Audrey Cooper is, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, that this emphasis will make it more difficult for users to be exposed to legitimate news, while biased, “fake news” posts that are shared by friends and family, will be given an advantage in the news feed?

Steve Buttry, my journalism mentor, dies at 62

Steve Buttry

My condolences to the family of Steve Buttry, who died Feb. 19 of pancreatic cancer at age 62. I met Steve when I worked in the newsroom of a California newspaper; his employer, Digital First Media (DFM), provided management services for the newspaper’s parent company.

Our newsroom was transitioning to a multi-platform publishing strategy that placed an emphasis on “digital first,” and Steve came to our newsroom during a tour of member newspapers to share resources and strategies, and also to bring back with him any challenges we might face at our stage of implementing.

Inbound Certification from Hubspot Academy

My attraction to the strategies of inbound and content marketing — of nurturing potential customers by creating interesting content instead of forcibly intruding on their time — led me to pursue Inbound Certification from HubSpot Academy.

‘Fake news’: library scholars urge ‘metaliteracy’

Information via Internet. Image created with Bitstrips

Implications for digital-literacy education, more critically important than ever: Citing the role of “fake news” in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, library and information science scholars Thomas P. Mackey and Trudi Jaccobson argue that it isn’t enough to be able to search and retrieve information from the online landscape. They advocate instead for what they term “metaliteracy,” an ability to make sense and critically evaluate this vast amount of information.

‘Weeding’ content, in-library and online

For the Content Marketing Institute, Jessica Coccimiglio suggests library professionals can teach content marketers about “weeding” — that is, about removing outdated content from a library’s (or website’s) collection.

NPR dropping comments from website

Effective Aug. 23, National Public Radio (NPR) is removing the “Comment” function from stories on its website.

UUA announces 2016-2017 ‘Common Read’

My earliest opportunity in library collection development was as volunteer administrator of a small lending library for a Unitarian Universalist (UU) church.

An important addition to the library’s collection was the Unitarian Universalist Association’s annual Common Read.

I have long appreciated the shared experience of reading a book in common and, since the program’s inception, I’ve closely followed — and publicized — each year’s announcement of the latest Common Read.

The program continues to resonate with me in my professional capacity as Religious Explorations administrative coordinator for a local UU church.

Via congregation blog, post to social media and MailChimp email campaign, I had occasion this week to publicize the 2016-2017 Common Read: The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, Fusion Politics, and the Rise of a New Justice Movement, by The Rev. Dr. William Barber II and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove.

The Common Read selection committee believes this is a moment for UUs to answer a call by Rev. Barber, to build and sustain a movement for justice for all people. A discussion guide for the book will be available by Oct. 1.

‘Ignore,’ ‘Unfollow’ and ‘Unfriend’

Was that upsetting post in your newsfeed simply motivated by carelessness, or was it a “clear and intentional” message of hate from one of your connections on Facebook? Does this person regularly act in ways that conflict with your values? The Cyberbullying Research Center offers its recommendations for managing Facebook connections during conflicted times — specifically when it’s best to just “Ignore” or “Unfollow” irritating posts and when “Ignore” and “Unfollow” simply aren’t enough and it’s time to “Unfriend.”

Facebook ‘lists’ override algorithm

Cartoon image created with Bitstrips

I’ve been interested for awhile in sharing my thoughts about the Facebook “Echo Chamber,” the tendency for Facebook to more-often display things that readers’ friends “liked” or shared, or posts that are similar to those that the reader has already engaged with.

I want to promote actively shaping what you encounter in your Facebook timeline, instead of simply passively accepting whatever Facebook shows to you.

Professional communication and editing

My part-time work for a local church includes posts to social media, “MailChimp” email campaigns and updates to the church blog. The spirit of connecting people with information and resources infuses my work with the church, and is consistent with my work in the field of library service.

‘Superman, Before Truth’: Academic guide

For those library personnel who work with young adults, I want to share a free reading and discussion guide for Superman, Vol. 1, Before Truth, a D.C. Comics publication authored by Gene Luen Yang (National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and National Book Award nominee).

You may wish to share this resource with educators at your schools.

Before Truth deals with the issue of online privacy versus public sharing, as Superman receives anonymous text messages from someone who has discovered his secret identity as newspaper reporter Clark Kent.

LinkedIn ProFinder locates freelance candidates

Setting aside the hyperbole of the headline (with media coverage by the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times and Dallas Morning News, it simply isn’t true that “nobody” noticed LinkedIn’s entry into the “freelancer-for-hire” marketplace), John Nemo offers an interesting analysis of the new LinkedIn ProFinder.

‘Superman: Before Truth’

The implications of Internet privacy versus purposeful online “branding” have made regular appearances on my blog, especially during an assignment for a course in Internet ethics, to argue that people do not need a right to privacy to discharge their rights as citizens.

With this course assignment behind me, I read Superman Vol. 1: Before Truth by Gene Luen Yang (DC Entertainment, April 2016).

It fascinated me to observe the iconic character of Superman wrestle with online privacy versus public sharing. Especially compelling were the far greater repercussions that could result from such a decision, than the average person’s lapse into over-sharing.

‘Hogwarts’ cardigan featured on Ravelry

My “Hogwarts” crocheted cardigan, completed in 2007, is now a featured photo on the Ravelry page for “Oversized Nubby Cardigan,” a pattern by Melissa Leapman.

(For those readers unfamiliar with either Ravelry or “Hogwarts,” Ravelry is a social network for people who knit and crochet, and “Hogwarts” is the name of the school in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, fantasy books for youths or teens that were adapted into films).

Leapman’s pattern was published in Crochet With Style (Taunton Press, 2000), and I crocheted this sweater with Lion Brand “Wool-Ease” worsted-weight yarn.

While Leapman’s pattern was not originally a “Hogwarts” cardigan, I used the colors of House Gryffindor (one of four “houses” within Hogwarts) as a substitute for the dark- and light-gray striped cardigan that was Leapman’s original design. From Lion Brand, these are No. 152: Oxford Grey, No. 138: Cranberry and No. 171: Gold.

‘Beating the Workplace Bully’

My interest in strategies to combat bullying — from being a survivor in childhood — led me to Beating the Workplace Bully by Lynne Curry (AMACOM Books, Jan. 13, 2016).

Drawing upon her experience as a workplace coach as well as past experience as a target, Curry identifies seven workplace bully types, their motivations and mindset. She also addresses strategies for dealing with each bully type.

The dynamics between bully and target that are addressed in this book include supervisor to subordinate, subordinate to supervisor and bullying between workplace colleagues.

‘Peeple’ app, now ‘100-percent opt-in’

Cartoon image created with Bitstrips

As a survivor of bullying, I reacted with concern when I learned about the “Peeple” app, particularly that people could be added without their consent and subjected to negative ratings.

‘So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed’

An attempt at shaming directed against a stranger that showed up in my Facebook newsfeed led me to read Jon Ronson’s book, So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed (Riverhead Books, 2015).

I felt bad for the person depicted in the photo in my Facebook newsfeed. She made a poor decision in the past and attempted to put it behind her.

The photo campaign was an attempt to force this incident to the top of search results again, and I was profoundly disappointed that anyone I knew would choose to participate. Even worse, the campaign against this person is not an isolated case.