Privacy & Confidentiality

As if identity theft wasn’t an issue already, new media is like identity theft on steroids. New media makes communication and collaboration faster, but with this faster transfer of this “good” information, there comes the faster and easier transfer of the information you’d prefer to keep private.

I think a lot of the responsibility is on the user. The user needs to be more aware of what they are putting on the web. For example, a lot of social networking sites give user's the option of certain privacy settings; It is then the user's responsibility to select the best options depending on the amount of information they want to share with basically...the whole world!

On the other hand, for those users who do take precaution in what they post online, there are people who use new media unethically. For example businesses prey on potential hires, specifically looking for "dirt" and invade their privacy. Also, cyber criminals prey and hack into sites gathering information on their victims to steal their identity. There needs to be stronger internet policies that prevent this negative transfer of information and protect users.

I do believe that privacy and confidentiality in new media is certainly an issues. However, I am firm believer that is a joint responsibility of the user and new media information policy creators.

Advice to Baruch College

I must say, I think Baruch in recent years have been trying more and more to include new media to improve the experience of its students. Besides Blackboard (which is a great tool), Baruch also posts updates on Facebook and Twitter. 

I would certainly advise Baruch to include more online classes in their curriculum. As a student who is taking 5 classes and working over 30 hours a week, I found it extremely helpful that one of my classes was available online. This class proved that blogging can be a great way to interact with students and classmates and I think it would be essential in helping students become more "internet savvy". Yes Baruch does provide a similar forum with Blackboard, however blogs allow for better customization and interaction from a wider range of students.

In addition, something I've heard being discussed by the current USG is a potential Student Government app. This made me think of the creation of a Baruch app. As the popularity of smartphones increase, I think it would be very exciting to have a Baruch application that informed students of all the important events and dates for registration, club events, etc. Rather than students having to go on the Baruch website or read through countless emails, important dates would be easily accessible on their smartphone.

Movie Bonus: The Social Network

The Social Network was certainly entertaining! It was very interesting to literally watch the creation of one of the biggest raves of today's society, Facebook. For the whole time I sat in the theatre, I couldn't stop thinking to myself "Why didn't I come up with this idea?"

The movie touched on a lot of interesting topics, including intellectual property and friendship. It really sparked my interest in intellectual property and understanding what it is. It just reinforced how secretive we have to be in today's world, especially with our ideas and potential business ventures.

The quote featured on the movie banner said, "You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies". This was certainly evident throughout the whole movie: Though Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) would get more successful in terms of Facebook, he did so at the expense of his relationships including his girlfriend and best friend. The friendship theme really stood out to me, because I'm a firm believer of the cliche, "Never forget where you came from." It was interesting to see what success and money can potentially do to a great friendship. I found it very symbolic when the movie ended with Mark requesting his ex-girlfriend. It made you wonder, "Is fame and fortune worth losing those you care for?" Ideally of course, there was another way, and Mark could have certainly been successful without hurting his relationships in the process.

Nonetheless it was a great movie with good acting! I think it is certainly a must-see for today's generation!

Twitter v. Blackboard Discussion

One of the major differences with Twitter discussions and that of Blackboard, is the amount of words you can use to express your idea. Each tweet allows a maximim amount of 160 characters, whereas on Blackboard you are not limited.

With Twitter, responding to someone's tweet is time sensitive, because withouth a retweet it is hard to follow a discussion. However, on Blackboard, your response is easy to follow, because it creates a thread under the original post.

Twitter significantly differs from an in-class discussion, because it is much easier to express thoughts in person rather than through text. Also, just like Blackboard, with an in class discussion, you need not express your thoughts in such a concise manner as twitter requires.

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds are used widely in both personal life and in businesses. For personal reasons, virtual worlds have been used in online gaming, socializing, or just "living". Also, in the current economic crisis, corporations are all finding ways to cut down cost. As a growing technology, virtual worlds, are another way that individuals can be brought together for conferences and seminars without actually having to be there. Featured in Mark Tutton's article, "According to Linden Lab, creators of Second Life, more than 1,400 organizations--including large companies, educational institutions, government agencies and even the U.S. military--use Second Life to hold meetings, conduct training and prototype new technologies more efficiently."

As with other new media technologies, virtual worlds limit the face to face interation, which can potentially become harmful to humans. In "Going to the virtual office in Second Life," "Kahai says that lack of human contact can also lead to feelings of isolation." He then goes on to say "that virtual worlds such as Second Life can help by recreating the water-cooler experience." By this he is referring to the idea that virtual worlds should create a place for "ad-hoc" conversations where co-workers discuss other things that would have at a conventional workplace.

In addition, virtual worlds foster creativity because anything is possible. In reality, people have limitations on what they can do and create, however on the web, you are free to create and be whatever person you want to be. As mentioned by Ruth La Fela, avatars are not bound by real-life contraints. “It’s the newest manifestation of how people live vicariously: if I can’t afford a Bentley, my avatar can.”

In Ruth La Ferla's NY Times article, Dam Jansen states “A year or two ago virtual goods were a quirky little corner of the online world. Now it’s mainstream.” This is certainly true, and I doubt it is the end of virtual worlds. Could virtual worlds be the new spin on regular social networking sites as we know today? I think so! As time progresses, I am sure the regular 2D sites such as Facebook will become a thing of the pass, and social networking will have a 3D twist where users will be able to connect on a more interactive level.

Sources:

Going to the Virtual Office in Second Life, CNN.com: Nov 5, 2009 http://www.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/11/05/second.life.virtual.collaboration/index.html

No Budget, No Boundaries: It’s the Real You by RUTH LA FERLA, the New York Times, Oct 22, 2009 p. E1. Available at:http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/fashion/22Avatar.html

Social Networking

When one thinks of social networking, the first thing that usually comes to mind is connecting with people on a personal level; but what about the use social networking sites for professional purposes? As social networking evolves, more and more corporations are incorporating it into their business practices. Frank Langfitt opens his article, “Professional recruiters have started hunting for job candidates using social networking technology—like the kind found on the popular sites MySpace and Facebook.” Besides the recruitment and hiring process, social networking technology is also used by business for marketing and advertisement.

The benefits of social networking include faster communication and the maintenance of large number of relationships/networks without having to connect with people individually. However, as with every other technology, there are negative effects to social networking. Privacy is a widely discussed issue with social networking. Lance Hoffman, Professor of Computer Science at George Washington University stated that “by giving up such information as their name, birth date, and a list of their network of friends, users are revealing far more than they know. Third-party applications, he argued, can take that data outside of the friendly confines of a social networking site and combine it with data from other sources to piece together enough information to steal a person's identity.”

In the future it would be interesting if based on your browsing history, social networking sites automatically matched you with people around the world with similar interest. However, in terms of the overall evolution of social networking technology, I am hoping that it will have its limits. It would be very harmful if social networking started to eliminate face to face interactions on a larger scale.

Sources:
Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting by Frank Langfitt, NPR, March 16, 2008. available from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6522523&sc=emaf

Knowledge@Wharton, "Leaving 'Friendprints': How Online Social Networks Are Redefining Privacy and Personal Security http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2262

Check Out Social Networking Sites

Facebook, Myspace, Friendster, and Hi5 are four different social networking sites; however, they all have the same general purpose of connecting people.

Myspace is where I had my first real “social network” experience. Myspace allows for the most customization of the four sites. While I used Myspace, I was able to use HTML codes to design my background, add music, change the layout of my profile, color scheme, etc.

In terms of the general idea, Hi5 is similar to MySpace. Though it does not allow for as much design customization as Myspace, you still have the option to change your profile background and the general layout of your page. Even though I already had a Myspace and preferred it, I decided to create a Hi5 account because it was the most widely used social networking site in Jamaica at the time. It was through Hi5 that I had the chance to reconnect with many of my friends and classmates from Jamaica, who had not been on Myspace.

Personally, Myspace and Hi5 served for more personal reasons. I would only use Myspace for business purposes if I was in the entertainment industry or something of that nature.

Friendster is the only social network out of the four that I had not used. It terms of customization, it is most similar to Hi5. Its only real area of customization is choosing a background. Friendster did not really appeal me. Just as Myspace and Hi5, I would only use Friendster for personal purposes.

As stated on its homepage, “Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life.”

Facebook is the most widely used of the four and is also the one that I prefer and use regularly. Unlike Myspace, Hi5, and Friendster, Facebook does not have any profile customization features. The color scheme and theme of all user profiles are the same. Because of Facebook’s design, it can serve for both personal and business purposes. It is “fun” enough to interact playfully with friends and family but it is also professional enough to be used to maintain business networks.

Besides the extensive customization features, Facebook does not lack anything in comparison to the other three sites. I still kept my account on Myspace and Hi5 active, but I almost never visit them because the majority (if not all) the people I connected with on those sites now have a Facebook. I do however check the sites periodically to see if any old friends are attempting to reach me.

See the sites for yourself:

Facebook

MySpace



Hi5

Friendster