two food for thought items

[coffeejunkii]

there's been some talk around lj about google+'s enforcement of "real names". while i think everyone on my flist understands why that's a horrible idea for running a social network site, this post by danah boyd is still a nice read (and a good reminder that many people think online pseudonyms are dangerous and weird and everyone should be using

Comments

[coffeejunkii]

i don't think pointing this out is anti-western at all. it's all about the kinds of stories we tell each other about how the world looks to us. i had a discussion about this series of photos with friends, too, which forced me to articulate my concerns more clearly. i realized that what bothers me the most is that the photos perpetuate who we think of as rich and poor. this includes areas within the united states, because, as one friend pointed out, there are images of a girl in appalachia in this series, so it's not just about the west vs. the rest. but we already have a firm image of appalachia as a poor region, so this photo doesn't help to disrupt our ideas of who counts as rich and poor