While the internet offers us an amazing platform to share information and communicate with friends, are we paying enough attention to the information we are sharing and how easy it is anyone access this(sometimes private) information?
Today I am going to demonstrate this notion by cyber-stalking one of my professors, Mary Abdoney. So without further ado…
Family Life: Mary Abdoney married Ned Norland on September 29, 2012, who is also a part of the WLU faculty as a member of the IT department so it was only fitting that their wedding was held at the castle house at WLU. Before tying the knot, they take turns commuting to and from Lexington and Chapel Hill to be with each other on weekends. A little over two years after the wedding, Abdoney became pregnant and, 9 months later, gave birth to her son Emmett, who now attends the Woods Creek Montessori.
College Life: Abdoney graduated from the University of Florida in 1999, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology. During her time in Gainesville, she was a member of the Alpha Xi Delta sorority. Abdoney continued her education at the University of South Florida where she earned a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science.
Political Views: It didn’t take long, after scrolling over Abdoney’s facebook and twitter feed, to determine that her political views slant on the side of liberal. She has a clear distaste for patriarchy and is a proud supporter of LGBTQ pride. Abdoney is also passionate about gender discrimination in the field of Librarianship. She has first-hand experience with being “mommy tracked” and feels that, since pregnancy and childcare are primarily thrust upon the mothers, women are being held back.
Fun Facts: -Likes drinking sparkling white wine(especially Cava) -knows how to play the violin and cello, but, its been a while so she may be a little rusty -she loves gardening, and dedicated the summer of 2010 to a moderately successful vegetable garden -used to be a ballerina, and performed in three productions with the Tampa Ballet
Based off of Abdoney’s social media presence, I would assume that the algorithmic filters feed her a lot of political content(mostly liberal-leaning). I would also expect there to be a good amount of content related to the world of academia, librarianship specifically.
Would I, after completing this activity, change my online habits?
To put it simply, not really. The reason is that all of the things that I share on the internet are things that I am purposefully trying to share with the world and use to promote myself. While I was creating a twitter account, I did notice that they asked for permission to collect data on you so that you can enjoy a “personalized” experience. This reminded me of “The You Loop” and how they offer you a “personalized experience” to collect data on you that they can turn around and sell to other businesses. So I guess that if I would change anything it would be to pay more attention to the fine print and make sure uncheck the box asking to collect data on me.
Here are timelines for Mary Abdoney(top) and Elizabeth Teaff(bottom) who teaches the DCI 180 course in tandem with Abdoney.
