Reading through Micheal Caulfields blog about the 4 moves to fact checking is something I have become accustomed to as a researcher on traditional knowledge for my community. There are many posts on the web that list citations and references that take you to a previous newspaper article when researching indigenous traditional knowledge. When checking the source of old news articles it will often reference a book however the book lists no reference. I’ve been fortunate to be able to work with scholars that have taught me about credible sources. It takes a lot of time and digging to get to the truth. It’s a good reminder to ensure any statement I make that could effect rights and title are backed by scholarly information.
Who’s tracking me on the Internet
After installing Firefox and Lightbeam, I decided to search on Firefox some of my most favorite websites that I typically visit. The most shocking of all was the Province paper. Daily I visit this site for news updates and I was blown away with how I was being tracked. The screen literally lite up! There were about 100 sites that I did not visit that was tracking me from looking at this one site. It’s a scary concept to think that monitoring something so simple like the news leaves all of these bread crumbs on the web. I’m usually fairly good about deleting my cookies every so often as my settings are set to delete only when I click delete cookies. I will be changing my settings rather quickly!
Reputation on the Internet
Have you ever witnessed or experienced negative fallout for something you or someone else said online?
In response to the question, have I ever witnessed or experienced negative fallout for something I said or someone else said on line, my example involves two people that I brought together for a dinner party.
I have an acquaintance that is a staunch right wing politician. He has some very radical opinions on things at times. Another acquaintance is quite the opposite and needless to say it didn’t take long for the bantering back and forth. For anonominity I will refer to her as Ms. Left and him as Mr. Right (no pun intended). Their spirited discussions were very intense and somehow they ended up on the topic of the Nazi’s. This discussion did not did end at the dinner table as Ms. Left the following day, decided to forward some information to “educate” her new friend Mr. Right. She had been talking about the Holocaust in school and was discussing and sharing information with her Instructor and classmates online, including in email. Unfortunately when she forwarded the email from her class studies she included the entire classroom email list including the Instructor’s. Well Mr. Right could not help himself and thought he had the opportunity to “educate the students” on his views. Ms. Left was mortified that her classmates would even think she was associating with someone like Mr. Right.
It gets better…Mr. Right was arguing that the Holocaust did not happen and that what the Nazi’s did was good (Crazy, yes I know, even crazier that I know someone like this but hey we can’t pick our family). Mr. Right ridiculed the Instructor for not teaching the students the right history (see there was a reason why I called him Mr. Right!). Meanwhile a few days prior, this same Instructor had his car egged in the parking lot and had filed a report with the police. While talking with the police they asked the Instructor if he had any enemies that might do such a thing. The Instructor could not think of someone then suddenly looking at Mr. Right’s response he thought, “It’s Mr. Right! He must have egged my car”. The Instructor immediately called police to report the incident and shared the email. The police followed with a polite call to Mr. Right, to ask him in future to use restraint in sharing his opinions when using email.
To this day Mr. Right still thinks he is right. He believed that if someone sends an email out and the addresses are free for the viewing, he has the right to send them a message. Mr. Right’s opinion was that Ms. Left should have blind cc’d the other students and instructor or removed the emails all together. Mr. Right continued for weeks to send email’s with content from his favorite blogs.
I thought back and wished I never had that dinner party and felt somewhat responsible for what had happened. In follow up unfortunately I can no longer have the two in the same room together.
Have you ever witnessed or experienced the public shaming a person or organizations for something that they said online?
I am an indigenous person working for my community and I am regularly saddened to read the comments attached to news stories associated with Indigenous people. Often I read about how Indigenous people are getting a free ride and money from the government. Another one that kills me is when there are comments that say the war was won a long time ago. What war I ponder! It’s heartbreaking to read the terrible prejudices.
I’ve learned that with the web and social media it has become a place that folks can hide behind and reveal their inner most ideas and thoughts. It’s a very powerful tool that unfortunately can be used for good as well as bad.
What strategies will you employ to ensure that you don’t become a participant or victim of the Internet Rage Machine?
My career started at the beginning of the internet age and so writing emails was fairly new in the business sector. I was fortunate to have a terrific mentor whom instilled in me to always be careful what I put in writing. This is something I have practiced in life as well as work. When it comes to social media I stop to think about how something might affect my reputation. I also ensure that I share positive stories on the web and so that if someone were to google me they will find me to be a person of good judgement and character. While I say this it is important to note that creating fake news also becomes obvious. It’s not about creating a fake profile but about living life as a good person. In my culture we are thought to live by the 7 laws of life – health, happiness, generations, generosity, humbleness, forgiveness and understanding. I have learned by holding myself to this standard in anything that I do has provided excellent guidance whether in a social setting or on the web.
Narrating U
While determining the structure for my blog, I was a little confused on what content I should be entering. I reflected over a cup of tea, looking out the window at the Headstart children enjoying the day. I often when faced with a difficult leadership decision find myself looking outside my office window and thinking about how my decision might impact their future. I decided the structure should reflect my journey towards becoming a stronger leader and mentor to my community.
I first thought of structuring the site based on course names but then considered the value of this format and what my blog might look like, long after I graduated. I then thought more about what I wanted to achieve and decided that I would like my page to be is functional, and possibly utilize it long after graduation.
You see I have an opportunity to give back to my community and set my organization up for long term success. The current organization started under my leadership and will continue to be here long past when I’m gone. I thought about how in my community cultural teachings we are here and working for the next 7 generations and how my work could have an impact on our future leaders. I therefore decided the best structure was to mimic the core competencies of the course because this reflects why I’m here and that is to be a better and stronger leader. I want to take part in reconciliation and the best legacy I can leave behind is a strong leadership structure for future leaders to learn from. I can’t think of a more rewarding way to finish my career. But for now I’m still young and have lots of work to accomplish yet!
Hay čxʷ q̓ə
Hay čxʷ q̓ə, my name is Brenda Fernie and I am a Kwantlen First Nation member and reside in Surrey, BC. I work for the economic arm of my nation called Seyem’ Qwantlen. My role in my community is Vice-President of the business group, where I oversee 160 employees.
I am a direct descendant of Grand Chief Wattlekainum, whom met Simon Fraser’s expedition in New Westminster in 1808. Wattlekainum and the Kwantlen people relocated to Fort Langley, BC to seek protection with the Hudson’s Bay company from island nations.
My mother carries Wattlekainum’s daughters name qweylseyt, whom married James Ralph Elkins, an American Indian from Missouri. Together they had a daughter whom married William Henry Emptage Junior where they settled and had children at the site of Trinity Western University, in Langley, BC. William Henry Emptage Junior’s mother was the daughter of a Musqueam Chief with a traditional name of Mooskum Poki (Point family). The Emptage family were homesteaders at Trinity Western and the site remained with the family for a number of generations.
I am honored to be enrolled at Trinity Western, a site my grandmother was born at and called home. I hope to make my ancestors proud by putting reconciliation into action and achieving my Master’s Degree with Trinity Western.
All my relations,
Brenda Fernie