Human-Machine Interaction

Does technology make us dumber?

Fisher, Marc. Better to Zap One TV Than to Curse the Din.
Noguchi, Yuki. Life and Romance in 160 Characters or Less.
Sellers, Frances Stead. Gr8 Bks in 120 Chrtrs or Less.
Sunstein, Cass R. A Brave New Wikiworld.
Aratani, Lori. Teens Can Multitask, But What Are the Costs?
Cole, David. Laptops vs. Learning.
McManus, Jeanne. The Tedium Is the Message.
Nozzi, Dom. Why We Twitter.
Gerson, Michael. Dont Let Texting Get U :-(
Crain, Caleb. Twilight of the Books. (from the New Yorker, December 24 &
31, 2007)

New articles on this question for 2010:

McCrummen, Stephanie. The (Murky) Writing on the Wall in High-tech
Classrooms. (June 11, 2010)
Howard, Jennifer. Upgrading Our Phones, Downgrading Our Brains. (July
18, 2010).
Marcus, Ruth. Our Gadgets, Ourselves. (June 9, 2010)
Rosenwald, Michael S. Obsessed With Smartphones, Oblivious to the Here
and Now. (February 22, 2010).
Hesse, Monica. Your Dullest Details, Now Part of History. (May 6, 2010)
Birnbaum, Michael. Prince Georges Schools: Turn Off the Cell and Tune In.
(June 19, 2010).
DeVise, Daniel. Web of Diversions Evicts Laptops from Lecture Halls.
(March 9, 2010).

New articles for 2011:

Petri, Alexandra. Google Has Our Backs and Our Brains. (July 16, 2011)
Williams, Chris. In Defense of a Life Without Gadgets. (May 21, 2011)
Kang, Cecilia. First Step. First Word. First App? Some Doubt, Some Tout
Benefits of Mobile Games, Activities for Very Young. (November 18, 2011)

Does technology contribute to social isolation and

declining social skills? Especially for the young, does it
make long-time social problems like bullying and sexual
harassment worse?
Moreno, Sylvia. Mouse Click Brings Home the Thrill of the Hunt.
Payne, January W. Distress on Speed Dial.
Vargas, Jose Antonio. Virtual Reality Prepares Soldiers for Real War.
Vargas, Jose Antonio. IM Someone: The Online Popularity Test.
Bahrampour, Tara. Message Is Clear in N. Va.: IM Threats Can Bring Teens
Trouble in an Instant.
Marcus, Ruth. IMS: Whats a Mother to Do?
Kinzie, Susan, and Yuki Noguchi. In Online Social Club, Sharing is the Point
Until it Goes Too Far.
Nakashima, Ellen. Harsh Words Die Hard on the Web.
Jenkins, Chris L. Stalkers Go High Tech to Intimidate Victims.
Vedantam, Shankar. Social Isolation Growing in U.S., Study Finds.
Jones, Tamara. A Deadly Web of Deceit.
Surdin, Ashley. In Several States, a Push to Stem Cyber-Bullying.
Rucker, Philip. Tougher Policy on Bullying Proposed.

New articles on this question for 2009 and 2010:

Parker, Kathleen. Shock Waves from the Google Bombs. (August 26, 2009)

Parker, Kathleen. A Miscarriage of Propriety. (October 7, 2009)

Hesse, Monica. Your Dullest Details, Now Part of History. (May 6, 2010)
Marcus, Ruth. Our Gadgets, Ourselves. (June 9, 2010)
Rosenwald, Michael. Obsessed With Smartphones, Oblivious to the Here
and Now. (February 22, 2010)
McCarthy, Ellen. Online Datings Small-Talk Surrogates. (June 1, 2010)
Shapira, Ian. For Millennials, Love Is Never Asking Them To Call You Back.
(August 8, 2010)
Hesse, Monica. Status Symbol: Look at Facebook Now. (July 23, 2010)
Rosenwald, Michael S. In the Virtual World, Making Actual Millions. (March
8, 2010)

New articles on this question for 2011:

Kang, Cecilia. First Step. First Word. First App? Some Doubt, Some Tout
Benefits of Mobile Games, Activities for Very Young. (November 18, 2011)
Layton, Lyndsey, and Emma Brown. Virtual Schools Expand Territory: Va.s
K12 Is Pioneer Of Academic Model with Uncertain Results. (November 27,
2011)
Niiler, Eric. What Sort of Person Are You? Facebook Profiles Offer Clues.
(July 19, 2011)
Marcus, Ruth. Hey, Emma, # Civilitypls. (November 30, 2011)
Rosen, Jeffrey. In Defense of Extreme Self-Exposure Online.
Petri, Alexandra. Statue Update: Green. (August 6, 2011)
Cohen, Richard. Victim of a Digital Mob. (July 12, 2011)

Does technology threaten privacy and/or create new

avenues for crime?
Mallaby, Sebastian. Looking Back at Big Brother.

McClurg, Andrew J. Online Lessons on Unprotected Sex.

Marcus, Ruth. IMS: Whats a Mother to Do?
Kinzie, Susan, and Yuki Noguchi. In Online Social Club, Sharing Is the Point
Until It Goes Too Far.
Oldenburg, Don. Sign Here to Give Away Your Signature.
Mohammad, Arshad. Record Fine for Data Breach. (Scrapbook contains
other articles of this type, on breaches of online security)
Nakashima, Ellen. Doctors Rated but Cant Get a Second Opinion.
Nakashima, Ellen. Harsh Words Die Hard on the Web.
Jenkins, Chris L. Stalkers Go High Tech to Intimidate Victims.
Nakashima, Ellen. Enjoying Technologys Conveniences But Not Escaping Its
Watchful Eyes.

New articles on this question for 2010 and 2009:

Cha, Ariana Eunjung. When Web Sites See Alland Tell All Too. (May 29,
2010)
Barnes, Robert. Company Cell? Your Boss Can Eavesdrop, Justices Say.
(June 18, 2010)
Shin, Annys. From YouTube to Your Local Court. (June 16, 2010)
Parker, Kathleen. Shock Waves from the Google Bombs. (August 26, 2009)
Cha, Ariana Eunjung. An Online Army and Its Hive Mind. (August 10, 2010)
Zuckerberg, Mark. A New Page in Facebook Privacy. (May 24, 2010)

New articles on this question for 2011:

Shachtman, Noah. The Real Online Threat: Cybercrime. (July 24, 2011)
Nakashima, Ellen. Social Media Monitoring Concerns Civil Libertarians.
(Jan 14, 2012)
Kang, Cecilia. Google to Track Users across All Its Sites. (Jan 25, 2012)

Niiler, Eric. What Sort of Person Are You? Facebook Profiles Offer Clues.
(July 19, 2011)

Are online political campaigns good or bad for democracy?

Also, how have online news and opinion websites affected
our political climate? Have they been good or bad for
public debate?
Cha, Ariana Eunjung. Websites Let People Take News into Their Own
Hands.
Jordan, Mary. Going Mobile: Text Messages Guide Filipino Protesters.
Cody, Edward. Text Messages Giving Voice to the Chinese.
Harris, John F. New Media Weapon in New World of Politics.
Teachout, Zephyr, and Tim Wu. YouTube? Its So Yesterday.
Vargas, Antonio Jose. Meet the OPOs.
Miroff, Nick. Muscling a Web Site into a Social Movement.
Prior, Markus. The Real Media Divide.
Vargas, Jose Antonio. The Debates New Face.
Hart, Kim. Sites to Behold: White House Rolls Out Online Initiatives.

New articles on how technology has changed politics here

and abroad:
Wikihype. (editorial from the Washington Post) (July 22, 2010)
Ignatius, David. An Online Road to Freedom. (April 18, 2010)
Cohen, Richard. Googles Lonely Stand. (March 30, 2010)
Eltahawy, Mona. In Egypt, Twitter Trumps Torture. (August 7, 2010)
Kang, Cecilia. Google Hedges Its Bets on Openness. (August 10, 2010)

New articles on how technology is changing politics for

2011:

Petri, Alexandra. We Hold These Tweets to be Self-Evident. (July 23, 2011)

Fisher, Marc. All the News that Confirms Your Views. (Jan 21, 2012)
Mui, Ylan Q. Empowering the People, Click by Click: With Online Petitions
on Issues from Bullying to Bank Fees, Change.org Has Become One of the
Nations Most Influential Sites. (Jan 24, 2012)

New issue for 2012: Proposed Regulation of the Internet

(SOPA & PIPA)
Fahrenthold, David A. Web Sites Go Dark to Highlight Protest. (Jan 18,
2012)
MacKinnon, Rebecca. Why Doesnt Washington Understand the Internet?
(Jan 22, 2012)

Another new issue for 2012: What will happen if all our
new gadgets overload the available bandwidth? Sooner or
later well reach a limit we cant contend with. Then how
will we prioritize and/or compromise?
Farhi, Paul. Siris Dirty Little Secret. (Jan 27, 2012)