Your Digital Fingerprints

The Internet seems so anonymous. Who can tell that it was you browsing that adult entertainment website or that you are actually HottChevy126? But with increasing accuracy, advertisers know. And they know even if you and your neighbor use the same type of computer on the same network. NPR reports.

Questions...

•What makes your computer yours? How could you pick out your computer from a pile of similar-looking computers?

•What topics do you browse online?

•How is targeted advertising good for you? How is it bad for you?

•How can digital fingerprinting be used to exploit your weaknesses or problems?

•Do you think this is an invasion of privacy? Why or why not?

F for Fake

The great (albeit flawed) filmmaker Orson Welles made a documentary about fraud and fakery entitled "F for Fake." Maybe Welles was ahead of his time, because today we have difficulty telling fake news from actual news. We will discuss the graphic posted above.

In response to concerns that it is a leading disseminator of fake news, Facebook has recently implemented modest changes in what you see on your news feed, how to report suspected fake news, and warnings before sharing items. CNET reports.

Questions...

•Why does news have to be grounded in fact? Why not simply have news that is entertaining?

•Why do you think fake news is a bigger problem than it was 20 years ago?

•What are some news sources you trust? Are those news sources always accurate?

•Who is the source of the graphic posted above? What do you think of the source?

•What do you think of Facebook's changes to its news feed?

Money Bowl

A Super Bowl halftime ad cost $5 million for 30 seconds in 2017. This cost doubles for a one-minute ad, and it doesn't include (considerable) production costs. Companies willingly pay these prices, however, to reach the largest audience of the year. Let's look at several of this year's top ads, as ranked by ET Online.

Questions...

•What is the demographic targeted by this ad? What is the psychographic?

•What is the dreamlife created around this product?

•How do the visuals help create this dreamlife?

•How does the music help create this dreamlife?

•What does the ad have to say about the objective features of the product?