This week we are learning about cyber sleuthing. My volunteer for this project was Austin Kearns and so we are going to try and find some information that he may not know is out there for EVERYONE to see.
first off, He is a professional American baseball player, you can see this here: 
I’m just kidding!
What I have actually researched was austin kearns from regina. This helped to narrow down my search a little bit. This project is funny because I have two boys and I feel like on a really boring week I will try this activity with my sons to see what they are doing online publicly and to make sure they are safe. #protectiveparentvibes
Of course, we have Austin’s blog that is made public, you can find his blog here if you would like to check out his chess journey or personal blog: https://edusites.uregina.ca/austinkearns/
I was able to find his facebook which is private, and only discloses his workplace, keep up the great work at ford lincoln Austin! He also has some photos that look like they are throwback photos, so can see, like many of us, the hairstyle phases that Austin went through, and I respect that. Please let me know if anyone sees my old photo’s because these will be under extreme scrutiny if so…let me tell you one time…we will not talk about the justin bieber and myself any longer. I also had public access to his Instagram and could see his music life, fitness life, hair life and his social and family endeavors. o Austin is comfortable with his public social media presence on Instagram. He also has a vsco, which all the kids seem to be using these days, even though i am probably still considered a young adult, and one can see austin’s snippets of his social and family life on there, so he seems to have a strong photography presence online. Also, I see your anime pictures and references, i am an anime geek as well, so cheers to that!
So this is the most information i was able to pry from my partner. Thanks Austin for being my research subject for this weeks blog.
A final note on the reprecussions of a social media post. I took some time to review this TedTalk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAIP6fI0NAI which about the effects of a social media post and the negative reprecussions. The speaker discusses the original intent of twitter, as a “radical de-shaming” where fellow followers and tweeters could echoe the commonalities of those around them. When you are given the power of a social media outlet, especially those that are celebrities and well-known names, they put themselves out there for an opportunity to be scrutinized. And people had decided to “get them”, he calls it the “democratization of justice”. The original spaces between those of hierarchy, or fame, were going to be reduced, “hierarchy would be leveled out”. When one puts out there life and mistakes publicly, now everyone has a response and opinion into the matter. One cannot just simply apologize for their accounts, you have thousands of critics ready to post their takes, and one can never feel fully protected or free from scrutiny. A simple tweet fractures the boundaries between online and reality, and can have negative effects on your real life activities. Their is no boundary between the online world and the real world, one is under scrutiny in both.
The final message is, be careful out there folks. our online presence can say a lot about who we are, and what we represent, and can effect out personal and professional lives. Let us become aware of our digital literacy and be safe.
Cheers to another week!
