The Machine is (US)ing US

This really pertains to computer and cyber ethics. The traditionalists will say that the Machine is not using us in the sense that copyright, privacy etc. as issues all existed before technology got to where is has gotten to today and wherever it is leading everybody to. The only difference now I may say is that the Machine has set a more convenient platform on which these issues use to spread more and more. “The machine is (US)ing US” sounds frightening and something to be afraid of but I personally do not agree with that. We have all very well embraced this technology but our morals play majority of the role as to if it is using us or vice versa.

I feel like “We are using the machine” instead in the sense that if we look at previous stories of cyber bullying such as the case for Megan Meier who died of suicide by hanging three weeks before her 14^th birthday was attributed through the social networking website Myspace. Did technology kill her? Well, my opinion is that this is more of a moral than a technology issue. Technology is doing a lot of great things to this world and as to why a minor of 14 years old should be socializing on websites through the Internet is a question we should ask the parents or guardians. I personally believe that if we should have boundaries morally as to what age in this case, we should be let to visit certain websites or what to and what not to use the Internet for then incidents like this wouldn’t have happened.

Another example is when we can give feedbacks on certain websites as to whether we like it or not. Hulu or Netflix for instance could recommend what to watch to viewers simply because these viewers have told the system what they are interested in and what they are not. So now, who is “using” the Machine?