Swedish student writing his thesis about people on the autism spectrum and their use of new media!

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Ayshe Mod

  • Check out this documentary if you haven't already...

    Citizenfour

  • You make a good point. Of course, some young people are savvy into how this monitoring is going on and so are becoming averse to doing ANYTHING controversial such as getting drunk, having a sexual relationship etc., because what if it comes up on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook... that in itself is worrying, in terms of how mentally messed up people may be becoming thanks to this technology.

  • A bit of each.  Plus, I just like to be anonymous.  If I ever became famous, I'd have to go into hiding.

    The way I see it is this...

    If the government announced one day that everyone in the country would henceforth be compelled by law to wear a device which not only allowed the authorities to know precisely whereabouts the wearer was at any given time, but also gave them access to each person's private details - personal contacts, financial status, interests, habits, family members, friends, medical history, food preferences, alcohol consumption, political affiliations, religious beliefs, etc - there would be a national outcry about invasion of privacy, breach of human rights, 'surveillance state', and so on.

    But what is a smart phone if not that device?  And the irony?  People love having them.  And they're even willing to pay high prices for the privilege!

    Classic, eh?  Dressing up a social monitoring and surveillance tool as a desirable consumer product and lifestyle choice.

    One of my memes...

  • The WWW is spilt into two - useful and downright evil 

    ...and that's before we even get to the Dark Web!

  • I see (= 

    Banksy - one of my favourites. 

    Being anonymous is crucial for you, I guess. Would you like to elaborate as to why that is? Bad experiences? General fear of being a part of a system that monitors you?

    All the best,

    Björn

  • Yep - cash flow for me. I have two online persona and one is - to pass on knowledge of Manna (Satori in surf) info as a job and the other is as an 'Artist' 

    No facebook and no personal stuff ever posted except on here - which does worry me a lot but out of desperation, im here as a certified freak. 

  • You won't find them. Anonymous . You'll have to guess!  One of them appeared on TV news once, which was unnerving!  All political.  None for any financial gain . I just put the stuff out there, like Banksy! 

  • Will most certainly do!

    And the reason for posting those memes is purely to take advantage of the current system and make money, like everyone else? There's no idea of social activism behind your postings? (Haven't seen them yet, so is just curious right now). Like you have message with your posts, somethings you want to say to the world/nt's/friends?

    Happy friday to you!

    / Björn

  • Hi Martian Tom! Thanks for your input!

    I find all your answers really interesting and they'll be very good thoughts to implement in my thesis. My initial thought was that many of the new forms of media could make it easier for people on the spectrum to represent themselves in a way that was impossible befor. And maybe that is true to an extent - but maybe the system is to capitalistic and marketized today, as many of you seems to think.

    So you're basically of the digital arenas all together? And the reason is mainly principal - you don't want to support these companies based on their values and goals?

    Do you feel there was a certain turning point in the time of all these new media?

    Thanks again, interesting and thoughtful comments!

    /Björn

  • The human body will need to evolve to accommodate perpetual smart phone usage.  Either that or the tech will need to evolve to free up the hands and eyes.  Implants at birth?  I wouldn't be surprised.  A wi-fi-accessible brain 24/7.  Read your emails during delta sleep.  Imagine the dream narratives...

  • Oh yeah - the whole world wants to surf, so they call it net surfing. 

    I only used the net for surf forecasts from 96 - 2005. 2005 I started making surf films so joined YouTube 

  • Same with me and my memes!

  • If you google my name - my pics come up controlled by me and no one else. I put them there to make money. Of course - it’s not even me, it’s the Masked me. 

  • All the NTs surf in crowds on beach breaks.

    Net-surf, too!

  • Yes - also I’m a natural disaster, or catastrophe. 

    NTs will run around screaming and die - even kill each other to survive (yuk) 

    In life or death situations for me time slows down and my mind suddenly becomes more efficient than ever. That’s why I can pass tests with ease. I’ve been there many times with my water sports - pushing boundaries to the limits, world firsts. I swim in places that would simply kill a normal person. I surf over jagged reefs with sharp metal spikes sticking up in places where you have to climb cliffs to get to them and a simple injury would be fatal. All the NTs surf in crowds on beach breaks. 

  • Came in on the first wave of 'new media'.  Had the internet 20 years ago.  In that time, I've had accounts on MySpace, Facebook (2), Instagram and Twitter and been very active on all of them.  I don't use a single one now.  I wouldn't on principle, even if they were useful to me in some way.  Which they'd long since ceased to be when I gave them up.  I no longer even use a smart phone.

    Only come here now.

    Never Google your name!  Paranoia runs deeps...

  • I would be really surprised if the NAS isn't selling access to this forum to mined and sifted for data to be sold. 

    If you think about every post you make, you leak a small amount of personal experience/data as you answer the topics and an algorithm can sew all that info together to build a picture of you.  The longer and more active you are on the forum, the more accurate that picture will be.

    Always remember - if it's provided for free then YOU are the product.

    The WWW has been taken over by the big money people.

  • Thanks Bjorn, I find learning/reading in bite sized chunks easier, especially when any stress/anxiety felt.  I learn by doing rather than reading so Forums/Wikipedia with the bite sized chunks easier.  The shame I find is that NT's do a lot and never involve the users as stakeholders in the design/layout which means there is so much that is overwhelming to me/us.

  • This is actually an interesting thought. Through the years of working with teenagers on the spectrum, I've been attending a lot of presentations with a swedish psychologist called Bo Hejlskov. He proposes that one possible step in the human evolution might be that people with neuropsychiatric variances "force" out the neurotypical genepool, since humanity needs solutions to major problems, which means a need for people to be totally focused on the problem at hand - something I've personally seen in many of the teenagers I work with. Focus, interest and creativity. 

    Interesting contribution to the discussion!

    / Björn