Around the Corner - MGuhlin.net
In order to get to the wall I had to click on something that says I'm 18 or older. So, sorry, but no. No way would I boycott this site. Far as I'm concerned, if the creator tells me up front that the application is not for kids, they've done their job. Ignore disclaimers at your peril. I'm not interested in the content you describe, but neither am I offended. It's not society's job to make only content that is presentable to children. Imagine only being able to see G rated movies? There are a lot of users out there, and they each have rights to content that is appropriate for them. Of course, since the site is not that amazingly wonderful anyway, even if the images were totally G rated, I see it as a novelty site rather than something really valuable. So, I won't be spending any time there. But I do spend time at youtube and occasionally flickr. I'm definitely not boycotting either. Long live the rights of adults to their own taste.
Whatever. The reality is that Bloglines WILL be blocked in K-12 schools, and rightly so...it's display of images is as ADULT as Flickr. As such, by K-12 schools' reasoning, worth blocking in K-12.
Wow Miguel...a boycott of Bloglines, as well as Flickr, Blogspot, YouTube, and Blip??? I'm not quite sure of your tone in this post.
I think I'm going to sleep on this one and write more tomorrow...though I now have to consider which aggregator to recommend to teachers at my workshop on Thursday.
Brian Grenier
http://bumpontheblog.etowns.net
I moved to Google Reader because of Bloglines written words...I see it was a prudent move. I have not had any problems at Google Reader.
Seriously? I've written a bit on my blog about the balance between safety and access, between protection and education. I think schools are erring far to the side of caution and, through our fear and "head-in-the-sand" approach, are abdicating our responsibility to successfully prepare and educate students. We therefore fail them now and set them up for further failure in the future. (The New York Times was just reporting on the results of this failure, actually ...)
I don't advocate improper material in the classroom, but how can we teach students to safely but effectively use emerging technologies if we just run around blocking them all? We need to teach and model safe, effective use. We need to lead in knowledge, confidence, and hope ... not hide in ignorance, fear, and despair.
I can guarantee a child's safety by locking them up for 18 years, but I don't recommend that approach ... and what would they do when they were released?
On a tangent: this country's hyper-sensitivity to nudity seems absurd to me, and ignorantly prudish to most of the rest of the world. Decapitations, pools of blood, serial killers, machine-guns and torture? All fine for primetime viewing. A bare breast!? God forbid!
I would recommend Google Reader over Bloglines to anybody, and not just because of the absence of a dynamically generated picture collage. Google Reader just seems to work so much more intuitively, and I'm able to scan through several blog posts with a minimum amount of effort. I can quickly save and share the ones I like the most.
Eric, you just totally made my day with that comment... 'twas spot on in every way!
We need more parents like you. We need more politicians like you. Dangit, we need more Americans like you! 
Here's my forum post on Bloglines:
To Whom It May Concern:
I'm disappointed, even angered, by Bloglines.com's decision to put the Image Wall up. Angered because I've recommended the tool to K-12 educators everywhere. The Bloglines Image Wall converts a great tool that can be used by teachers, administrators, and students in grades K-12 into a tool that must be banned. It is a tool that must be banned because of the Image Wall.
Two cycles of the Image Wall resulted in displays of images that are adult in nature. Can you imagine anyone accidentally clicking past the disclaimer, then finding those images? And, what happens if those images are stored on the computer?
As an administrator, I can not in good conscience refer educators, their students, and parents to use Bloglines if I know inappropriate images will appear. It is disappointing to see Bloglines take this path. I honestly don't see the real benefit to the Image Wall. If one wants pictures of all sorts, one goes to Flickr (which, by the way, is already on the banned list in many school districts everywhere).
Does Bloglines hope to join that long list of web sites inaccessible by educators and their students?
The Julie Amero case--the substitute teacher who was convicted of accessing porn on a school computer, even though in all likelihood it was spyware gone wild--is fresh on educators minds. Do you honestly think any teacher would use a resource--like Bloglines has become--that has inappropriate images on it?
I'm am truly disappointed that Bloglines has implemented the Image Wall with little discussion with its education users. I urge you to drop it, otherwise I will have little choice but to continue in my boycott of Bloglines.com.
Until now, I have been an ardent supporter of Bloglines. Google Reader, as a nice a tool as it is, just doesn't feel right. I can live with that. But the Image Wall is something that, as an educator, I cannot tolerate or recommend.
Best wishes,
Miguel Guhlin
Around the Corner-MGuhlin.net
http://www.mguhlin.net
It's unfortunate that bloglines, a service developed specifically for the K-12 education market, forces users to look at the image wall. I just visited bloglines for the first time in a long while (I moved to Google Reader), and was shocked I only had to click a button to see the image wall. It would have been much more convenient if they had made me write an essay on my understanding of their TOS, then wait for a panel of leading educators to grade it, before letting me see the image wall. How utterly irresponsible of them.
If we want the filth to stop, should we allow the pornographers and those with filthy mouths to push us out? Or should we overwhelm them with ethical thinking and integrity? I just found filth on technorati and pray none of the kids that have been shown technoratie will see it. It's OUR internet and they are the minority. Shouldn't we be more militant?
Bloglines.com had potential to be used in every classroom because it allowed the user control over the content it displayed.
With the Image Wall, the content appears regardless of what the user's preferences are. Will Bloglines add a checkbox option that turns ON the Education version of its service?
Folks, it is time that educators who are wanting to foster digital citizenship and literacy stand up for what they believe in. I believe that the resources we use in K-12 education should be free from pornography (hard or soft), and that web-based service providers allow education users--at registration--to eliminate inappropriate content.
Consider it an opt-in choice...I opt-in for appropriate K-12 education Web 2.0 services. I choose not to use--boycott--services that display inappropriate images merely to increase click-throughs.
Boycott Bloglines...until they remove the Image Wall or offer educators an opt-in for educationally appropriate content.
I don't care what you use at home. But in K-12 classrooms, I just can't see exposing 3rd graders to the Image Wall [of Porn] because we need an RSS aggregator.
Alternatives?
1) Google Reader
2) NetVibes
3) Client-based RSS aggregators
If the Bloglines Image Wall of Porn is still up by day's end, I know what recommendation I'll be making to the appropriate authorities in K-12 education.
Choose to protect our children, opt-in for appropriate education resources...and those won't include Bloglines.
It's not a difficult decision to make. As digital citizens, it's time to take our street corners back, to paint over the wall of shame, and ultimately, to demand its demolition.
Join me...Boycott Bloglines and other web services in K-12 education that feature inappropriate content until they provide educators and students with opt-in to service without porn.
Take care,
Miguel Guhlin
Around the Corner-MGuhlin.net
http://www.mguhlin.net
Eric Hoefler, you hit the nail on the head.
My response would be too long and contains too many links. I've posted a reply on my blog for anyone that would be interested in reading: http://sicheiiyazhi.com/2007/02/...-bloglines-ban/
Thanks
PS - Mrs. Durff ... I understand your concern. However, it seems to me that militant-ism is one of the current problems of this nation, along with a serious lack of balanced, considered, informed discussion of important issues. (I'm only speaking generally, of course.)
Obviously feelings are running high...I think however that we need to step back for a minute and put this in perspective. It is not about censorship or hiding our heads in the sand BUT rather (in my opinion) it is about the fact that in my K-8 setting there are good alternatives that do not make it quite so easy for the students to make the wrong choice. They are young and just learning... Yes we are teaching them about responsible and ethical use, yes we are giving them a lot access but since in this case I have many viable alternatives I am going with Google reader.
You still have the "subscribe with Bloglines" link on your home page, however.
Jeremy, is the Bloglines Image Wall something you would use in K-12 classroom?
If the answer is NO, then join me in boycotting the use of Bloglines in K-12...if you want to use it at home, that's your business (and mine, too).
If the answer is YES, then know that I would affirm any network administrator who blocked the use of Bloglines in schools today (as I affirm the blocking of Flickr, YouTube, and other services that host inappropriate media).
Isn't it time we stood up and asked, "You know, how much longer will we have to wade through 'the filth' to use tools that our students need to survive in a flat world?"
I also ask, "Why can't Bloglines, Flickr, YouTube add a preference/checkbox that limits content for education use?" Is such a feature difficult to implement?
Web 2.0 is about participation, about conversation...let's have one.
I'm writing this at 20:25 GMT +2, and it looks like the image wall is down. Maybe we can see if Bloglines apologizes and we find a way forward. After all, this too can be an opportunity to model to our students how we deal with serious issues in the social web. btw in my first (and only) 2 minutes checking out the image wall earlier, I caught a photo that was clearly x rated, and not benign nudity.
Miguel,
Thanks for your comment on my blog. I wasn't sure whether to respond there or here ... so I picked here.
You said: "Isn’t it in Bloglines.com’s best interests to provide education-friendly features, rather than immediately put itself on the banned list because of those features?"
And I think that's about right. I think your clarification--that you're asking for "opt-in" or "opt-out" abilities--is a helpful move. (As I mentioned, I think it's what StumbleUpon does right. You have to really choose to see inappropriate material before they'll let you stumble-upon it.)
Dealing with these issues in education makes for a tough road forward, but one that I think is worth the continued effort.
Thanks for the discussion.
Just checked again and the image wall is running again.
Miguel,
I, too, was disappointed when I went to the Image Wall. After reading through the various responses, I can understand when people are saying we need to teach the students to make good choices and that by limiting their access, we limit the ability to teach. However, I don't see this particular point as being limiting. I see it as something most parents would do. Why tempt people to make a mistake? So we can say that we knew they would do it? The whole idea here is that in a K - 12 context, we want students to have access to material and information without overt temptation of the type of material that is presented on the Image Wall. I will be advising people to use Google Reader, which I swithced to weeks ago, and edublogs. As for the rights of adults, I think that we sometimes use that so that we don't have to take a stand and we can hope someone else will make a stand. It's not the showing of a breast that is offensive but the display of various sexual acts that I find offensive. So Miguel, I will support your boycott. As an administrator I will support a blockage of bloglines as long as they have the wall.
I guess I don't see the problem: the Image Wall is just one of many features at Bloglines that aren't useful for educators.
Before you get to the Image Wall there is a page that makes it pretty clear this is going to be a waste of time.
So why waste time? What's the problem?
I ignore Bloglines playlist feature because it seems silly.
I ignore the Image Wall because it's a waste of time, more than anything else.
And who has time to waste?
Of course, students can and do waste their time with all kinds of junk online, and it is our job as educators to give them something WORTHWHILE to do - something they will value more than all the time-wasting junk on the Internet.
Bloglines allows me to give me students all kinds of worthwhile things to do - they blog, they subscribe to each other's blog, they read all kinds of useful feeds related to the subject matter in the class.
The Internet in general, the blogosphere in particular, is filled with gems and with junk. I don't feel like it's my job to filter out the junk; but I do want to show my students where to find gems of real value to them, and Bloglines is a great way to do that.
Google Reader does not have a publishing component; if Google Reader were integrated with Blogger.com that would be super. But it's not.
Meanwhile, I've got work to do as a teacher, and my students have lots of reading and writing to do... they are too busy creating their own image-illustrated posts to waste their time with random junk at Bloglines's Image Wall.
So: back to work!
I understand where you are coming from, Miguel, and I agree that the image wall is offensive. I would not take students to that page, nor will I visit it again myself. Of course, I had never seen it until reading your post made me curious.
However, isn't the "opt-in" button you are requesting the "agree" button? As soon as you click that, you have opted in. As an administrator, you can block the image wall...I know, that has been suggested before, but hear me out.
There are schools in my area that block Google because of inappropriate images. So doesn't that mean Google should also be boycotted? And if Google is boycotted, that rules out Google Reader as a viable aggregator, doesn't it? There are surely users of Google Reader who use it for inappropriate feeds.
Several years ago some students in our area were doing social studies reports on the presidency. When searching for current information on President Clinton, more sites than not were blocked. Why? It was shortly after the Monica Lewinsky scandal...you can guess the reason.
My point is this: the inappropriate content was on Bloglines long before now. It has just been brought to our attention through the image wall.
I'm not suggesting we should bury our heads in the sand and do nothing. If boycotting is what you want to do, that is your choice. I'm just saying that, unfortunately, inappropriate content is everywhere...and while we do need to exercise caution in what we make available to our students, we also need to teach responsibility, as several others have stated.
By the way...you may want to re-read Jeremy's post. I think he is saying that YOU still have the Subscribe with Bloglines button on the Around the Corner home page. Just a suggestion, but if you intend to boycott Bloglines, maybe you should take it off.
You really don't quite go far enough in protecting us innocents, Miguel. Google image search - ban it! Web browsers - ban them! Libraries have tons of filth - keep the young'ns out! Cable TV - gone! Magazines - absolutely verboten!
I think it is best for all concerned we just keep kids locked in a closet with the lights off until they are 21.
Get over it, Miguel. We are all in Postman's One Big Room. http://doug-johnson.squarespace....e-big-
room.html
Thanks for the interesting perspective.
Doug
Heather, thanks for your comments.
Your point regarding inappropriate content available via Google is well-taken. In many districts, Google IS blocked. In mine, it is not...however, images.google.com IS blocked. I agree we should educate our children about what is inappropriate, but I do not believe they should live cheek-n-jowl with it in the tools they use. In every instance, my children and I want the power of choice to NOT have to pass the Adult XXX Video store on the way to school. We have to do that in the "real world," but why must we allow it in the brave new world of the Read/Write Web?
The opt-in button is one that I click on when I create my Bloglines account. That "checkbox" eliminates features that Bloglines KNOWS have adult content. If the user subscribes to inappropriate RSS feeds, that's different than the Image Wall. In the case of Bloglines being used in K-12 by teachers/students, it is unlikely that subscription to inappropriate content RSS feeds would occur. However, the Image Wall ENSURES that inappropriate content will be available, a click away. The opt-in button would allow users to decide, no, I don't want inappropriate content on my Bloglines account at all...it gives the user back control over what they see.
Since I use Thingamablog, I will have to reupload my entire site (several thousand web pages). Since that can take some time, I will probably let the computer do that while I sleep. However, note that my boycott is focused on use of Bloglines in K-12 settings. My blog is not intended for use in K-12 settings, even though it's mostly about education topics and issues. I see no problems with leaving the button there for others to see. However, unlike Bloglines.com, I am willing to remove the image of Bloglines.com from my web site as a symbol of what is inappropriate in K-12 education.
Thanks again for your comment!
Doug, it's funny you write that. Have you read Gary Stager's post on the American Library Association (ALA) ban of the Australian book for fifth grade readers that uses sex words? Read:
http://www.districtadministratio...no&
postid=18412
Are you a more enlightened librarian than your brethren?
;->
Miguel
The arrogance of some on this board beggars belief. They are under the illusion that Bloglines was conceived for them. News just in - its a free service for anyone to use.
Regarding the Imagewall, the content is wholly appropriate for an unmoderated feed - if you don't like it, don't use it.
If you don't want youngsters using it, ban them from the internet - there are plenty of other (unblocked) sites that have unsavory content.
Actually, come to think of it, many adult educators/parents should be banned from the internet for incompetence - allowing juveniles access is akin to giving them a loaded gun - anything could happen. If the "responsible" adult doesn't monitor the child's online behaviour, the child could end up literally anywhere. No different from allowing a child to wander onto a major road. If the child is injured, its not the driver's fault, its the fault of those who let it happen.
Anyway, these days, youngsters are far more competent than many adults at finding their way round restrictions imposed on them. If you think Imagewall is bad, you really haven't a clue about what is going on in the real world that you're supposed to be preparing your students for. Children's language on social networks like Bebo/Myspace is disgusting but most adults have no idea about this virtual world.
Educate yourselves so you can guide your students so they can deal with reality when the need arises.
And calling for a Bloglines boycott is symptomatic of a spoilt child who doesn't know how to deal with the real world but just wants to cover his own embarrassment for recommending a site who's content has changed - news just in: the internet is constantly changing.
Grow up and learn to adapt. If you don't want to, there's always the off button...
Fred, thanks for your comments. Bloglines apparently decided that it DID have some responsibility, and listened to the complaints from its users.
Kudos to them for their willingness to listen to people taking their digital neighborhoods back.
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