“Do we want to live our digital lives being constantly tracked? Do we want our legally tracked digital data sold and possibly used in ways that harm instead of support us? “
ESTEE BECK, “Breaking up with Facebook: Untethering from the Ideological Freight of Online Surveillance”
In completing this assignment, I discovered more about Prof. Teaff and Prof. Abdoney than I ever imagined. After scouring through Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, the W&L faculty, and other sites, I conjure a character sketch of each:
Florida native Mary Abdoney is a published author with her works focusing information literacy. This, among, German, education, stem, and various social sciences like anthropology and gender studies compose some of her key interests. In pursuing these interests, Prof. Abdoney studied at University of Florida and University of South Florida, where she received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts, respectively. Since graduating, she has been employed as a librarian at Eckerd College and, most recently, Washington & Lee University. Additionally, she is a member of the American Library Association as well as the Virginia Library Association. Professional life aside, Prof. Abdoney keeps a regularly updated blog site on her career, family life, hobbies, and general thoughts. She often posts on Twitter and Instagram where people vibrant pictures of cats and crafts. She also makes really good cupcakes that should brought to class one day.
Hailing from the great city of Columbus, Ohio is “quiet & quirky” Elizabeth Anne “EAT” Teaff. Like, her colleague, Prof. Teaff is also a librarian at Washington & Lee University where she has worked for almost eighteen years now. She was previously employed at Rockbridge Regional Library followed Virginia Military Institute. Prior to her move to Lexington, Prof. Teaff earned her Bachelor of Arts at SUNY in New York. A few years later, she earned her Master of Arts at the University of South Carolina. Judging by her professional interest in the arts—performing and visual—and subjects like religion and philosophy, one can guess that Professor. Teaff is an expressive, creative critical thinker. This suspicion is only reinforced by the accounts she follows on Instagram, many of which are artistic, or history related. Professor. Teaff, herself, posts earthy pictures of plants with the occasional appearance of her cat. Outside of that, not much personal information is shared through social media, however, we know that Prof. Teaff was born on June 17th which makes her a Gemini and almost a Cancer.
Based on the articles “Experimental Evidence of Massive-Scale Emotional Contagion through Social Networks” and “Breaking Up with Facebook” it is understood that social media tracks user interaction to cultivate a feed that best reflects one’s interests and includes predatory ads. For both professors, I would expect posts or ads about books, feline friends, and the Rockbridge area to appear. I would also expect items regarding childcare or early education to appear more often on Abdoney’s feed over Teaff’s. What I do not expect is anything sports related unless there is a historical or social implication. For example, an article about Kaepernick scoring a winning touchdown versus an article about his peaceful protest.
In completing this assignment, I experienced a whirlwind of emotion. At first, it was chill just scrolling through the W&L site and finding career-related information, which is completely understandable, but once I got to LinkedIn things got a bit creepy. First, I was denied access because I do not have an account, but I was easily able to get around that. Then, I was able to find Prof. Teaff’s birthday and through TruePeopleSearch I was able so much more personal information. Moreover, the idea of trying to figure out someone’s entire biography, including political ties, likes, dislikes, education, address, etc., through the internet is normal now. I know so many girls who stalk their crushes using Zillow. For those reasons, I don’t want my personal information published. Currently, not much about me can be found and I strive to keep it that way.
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