UOIT researcher appears in documentary about digital life

Dr. Isabel Pedersen, Tier 2 Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Digital Life, Media and Culture, was recently featured in a TVO documentary entitled Life After Digital. The one-hour special explores ways digital technology has changed human life in the last few years. Specifically, it focuses on the consequences that have arisen from the hundreds of billions of personal images shared online since the dawn of the digital age.

Dr. Pedersen discussed participatory media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram, where the audience plays an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating content. She noted that participatory media seems to be mandatory in today’s network culture; however, users haven’t had time to sort out their values about online participation. She also talked about online social media as a form of autobiography, where users disclose their life stories by posting status updates, photos and other content.

The documentary premiered on October 15. It re-aired on October 19, 20 and 23.

As a follow-up to the documentary, Dr. Pedersen also appeared as a guest on TVO’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin on October 16. The discussion, entitled Our Digital Lives, explored the good, bad and unintended consequences of living life online.