Blocked!

A few weeks ago, the Toronto District School Board (aka"The Public Board") had to block access to Instagram, Snapchat and Netflix because their networks couldn't handle it.  It is no surprise when their tech head says that access and use of those services are mostly recreational (for fun).  If students and teachers wish to use those sites, they will have to rely on their own data plans.  This block is temporary and will end on June 30.

This poses a few questions which I would like you to answer in your blog.

1. Knowing that the internet is a valuable research tool, do you think students and teachers should be allowed to access sites and services that are purely recreational? Why?
2. If our school board blocked those services and sites do you think the students in our school be more productive? Less productive? No change? Explain your answer.
3. After reading the article. After thinking about and answering the previous questions; you most likely have an opinion about this situation.  Look at some of the comments at the bottom of the article. Which one really resonates to you, either positively or negatively. How would you respond to that comment?

Twitter Wars - How Far is Too Far?

Twitter is one of those things that you really need to use carefully. You can share experiences, thoughts and ideas with anyone who stumbles upon your hashtags and handles. BUT those shared thoughts and ideas can lead to all-out confrontations with random people who think differently than you. Make an enemy IRL and it is 100% certain you will be trolled on social media and you either block them and forget about it or you fight back. Most of the time, people choose to fight back and that's when war happens.

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Wars on Twitter have been raging on since it's very beginning. It is impossible to avoid. The world is filled with people of different beliefs, upbringings, personal preferences, and unfortunately - prejudices.

Some Twitter wars are entertaining because of the sheer stupidity of how they started. You can Google "Celebrity Twitter Wars" and be greeted with dozens of arguments. My personal favourite is the Wendy's Vs. McDonald's Twitter war...which is practically one-sided because McDonald's do not defend themselves and the person running Wendy's Twitter account is pure savage. He/she even roasts people coming to the aid of McDonald's.

Sidenote: Watch the movie called "The Founder". It is about the expansion of the McDonald's empire and is really well done.

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Then there are Twitter exchanges that have gone so far that they have to be resolved in an actual court of law. The following article is about a Toronto woman and man getting into a heated battle online and it turning into a legal battle. It's a tale of respect, stalkerism, anger, and harassment.​

Once you have finished reading the second article, post a response in your blog. In your response, answer the following questions:

1. How did this make you feel?

2. Who do you think is right/wrong? Why?

3. Do you think actions/posts/tweets done online/social media should be punishable by law?