Brrism10 takes place on 17th June at the
Pervasive Media Studio and we've got some interesting social media related topics to discuss. As usual we're using our short presentation/long
discussion format (5 minutes from each of the presenters followed by a 45 minute "open space" style discussion where you are free to join whatever groups you are interested in). The speakers are listed below.
(For meeting time/venue details, and to sign up for a free ticket, please go along to the
EventBrite Page.)
Privacy and Social Media
Personal privacy and social networks are not mutually exclusive but they certainly make unlikely bedfellows, especially in light of the recent Facebook uproar. The problem is, there are so many competing - and conflicting - interests that muddy the waters. Social networking companies like Facebook, Google, and Flickr want to turn a profit; Advertisers, employers, government and myriad others want as much information as possible about individuals and their activities; Libraries and archives want to collect information about social networks use for future study; And then there's the individual, people like you and me, who just want free access to social media tools and, at the same time, keep certain parts of our lives secret.
These competing interests raise interesting questions. Can the law provide a privacy framework which meets the aspirations of such interest groups, yet protects privacy for individuals in specific contexts? Is a privacy scheme that requires understanding of a 5,830 word policy (interpreted via a 45,000 word FAQ), and the click through of over 50 privacy buttons, with more than 170 options, the best way to enable the average person to limit access to personal information? Or is it all a storm in a teacup to the congenitally open Facebook generation.
Andrew is Reader in IT Law in the
School of Law and Department of Computer Science at the
University of Bristol, where he is the Director of the cross-disciplinary
Centre for IT & Law. His areas of research include data privacy, intellectual property, cybercrime and e-commerce. Recent projects include work on Privacy Impact Assessments in the
UK (Information Commissioner's Office); archiving of personal digital archives (British Library); and privacy in cloud computing (HP Labs). He is personally agnostic about adopting social networking technologies, but on utility rather than privacy grounds, as he
does read their privacy policies. He will admit, if pressured, to being on
LinkedIn.
Social Media Inside
Social Media on the Inside: It looks like Social Media isn't a flash-in-the-pan and is here to stay. Could you imagine a world without Facebook, Twitter or Brrism? Could you go back to just email? Most organisations are considering what Social Media means to them. Some are banning access to Facebook from their infrastructure whilst others are developing sophisticated social intra- and extranets. What is a social intranet or extranet? How would you justify spending your organisation's money on such an initiative (particularly in the current climate)? Where's the return? What might it look like? What are some of the technical choices? Who is the Stig? As is Brrism tradition, the plan is to put up some slides, demo. some stuff and kick-off a debate.
Ever since graduating in 1989, John has been working in the IT industry and has loved (mostly) every minute of it. He wrote his first piece of code in 1983 on the BBC Micro. It drew a bunch of coloured triangles and from that moment on he was hooked. Over time, the coloured triangles turned into enterprise applications for a range of companies including British Aerospace, EDS & Sema Group. In the summer of 2008 he co-founded Surevine, specialising in enhancing communities and unleashing people power within organisations, typically using Social Media. The advent of Social Media, Mobile Computing (including the iPad), Cloud Computing and Geolocation means John is more excited than ever to be in the IT industry and truly believes we ain't seen nothing yet.
Anywhere, Anytime Access
We love using social media on the move - but what's the best way to do it? What phone do you buy, what apps do you run? Not as simple as you might think because they're not really phones - they're actually tiny computers and so its not just about buying the best phone but working out what "app story" you're buying into. Sam Machin will be asking: Apple, Android or other - who's going to win and in what timeframe. And, once you've decided that, what's the best app to use for Twitter, geo-location and many more. Sam doesn't have all the answers to these questions by the way - but as per Brrism's user generated content model he'll be facilitating discussion to allow you to discover the answers yourself.
Sam Machin has worked in the Mobile industry for 12 years, most of that time has been spent at the convergence point of mobile and the Internet. After seeing far too many false starts he has a real hope that the truly mobile Internet is here. He likes to think of himself as a 'well rounded geek' he writes occasional code mostly in python and even more rarely blogs about the mobile industry. You can also follow him on twitter. 
