ISSUES

Chapter 3

The most prominent attribute of a hypermedia environment is its navigational competency. Users have the agency to choose the material they want to learn and in what sequence (Scheiter and Gerjets, 2007). However, in more elaborate environments, the user can also be directed by the environment itself. For instance, the designer of the environment may decide that there is more important information that the user needs to read and know and thus, place clues in the form of buttons or highlighted words to direct the user’s attention (Wright, 1991). This can be problematic for the user particularly if their agenda is hidden and unwarranted.

The freedom provided by a hypermedia environment encourages users to access information by following their interest. However, this interest may change according to the context provided by the environment. That is, “learners may form transient browsing goals that guide their information utilization behaviour” (Scheiter and Gerjets, 2007). Many of us may relate to this when we are online with a specific task in mind and end up with twenty tabs open, none of which are related to your goal!

Here is a satirical take on this problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe-zq4bFPFU

Some may perceive the distractions that the hypermedia environment engenders as a simple inconvenience. However, the ease of navigation and the freedom provided on the Web can lead to a digital footprint that users may find themselves tripping over. Lanchester (2006, as cited in Cope & Kalantzis, 2009, p. 173) laments “the disturbing new possibilities for the invasion of privacy, cynically targeted advertising and control over knowledge sources and media.”
 

Tech titans, Facebook and Google, are masters at capturing our digital trails and harvesting our personal information. Dwyer (2011) describes this information as “product” as it gets analyzed, tagged and sold to serve these companies’ personal interests. In this digital age, many of us spend countless hours devoted to our devices. The threat to our privacy has never been greater as everything and everyone is continuously connected. The Web’s system of hyperlinked media stays remarkably interconnected and communicates clearly between its many constituent parts. One hyperlink clicked in a Web browser can lead you to a YouTube video as easily as it can display a BuzzFeed listicle. As users get caught up in the never-ending Web vortex, Google’s dominant search algorithm begins to pick up clues about who the user is, what websites they view, and what they search for. This information is then utilized to create what is called “contextual ads.” You may be searching for the latest smartphones one day and find ads on phone plans follow you later in the day. You may even be reading news on a site about a topic completely separate, and Google will continue to send you these ads. Curious to see the advertisement profile that Google has compiled for you?

Click on this link to see your own data: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated