'Offlining' on Holidays

I found this article on CNN.com about a website promoting 'offlining.' Basically the goal of this website was to try to get people to put down their phones, computers, and other technologies and enjoy their Thanksgiving with their family. The website included a virtual pledge that people could sign, and e-cards that you could send to friends and family to try and get them to participate as well. This is the article if you want to read it:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/web/11/24/offline.thanksgiving/index.html

I thought it was really interesting. I mean is it really asking that much that we not use technology for one day when you are supposed to be enjoying time with your family and giving thanks for everything you have? But how many of us actually put down our cell phones for the whole day or didn't check anything online? I know that I used my phone much less than I do on a normal day, but I did use it. I think maybe it is a good idea to promote 'offlining,' just for the few major holidays there are in a year; with the exception of talking to family members who aren't there. That is a legitimate reason for using technology on a holiday in my opinion. But I do think that disconnecting ourselves from technology might make holidays better. It is annoying to have people constantly texting, tweeting, and checking their facebook when you're trying to have a nice meal or family time. Reading this article made me think about trying to do that for Christmas.

Stressed? Need a Release? Blog

So for this semester had to try a new technology, and I decided to blog my life in my online diary titled Emergence of Immersion. It’s been a rocky road and it was there that I chronicled my life, my thoughts, poetry and events. I used my blog this semester as my release and it time that I really valued. I found this interesting article and it made me contemplate how long wills the blog go. 
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/57652/why_we_love_to_blog_blogging_as_therapy_pg2.html?cat=72

It’s interesting to me just how many themes blogs can have. From College Drama to Career Fields to Parenting.... I love that my online diary will follow me through my life.
But the article brings an interesting point. Does having a blog that others can read and comment make one take a closer look at themselves. Does it make you question your choices in life, once you’re written these things down?

I say it does. After I wrote many blogs, I thought... "Hmm Brittany you did a really good job on that" or "Brittany why are you so upset over such a small thing?"

I’m curious of your opinion....

Cyber Monday

I recently heard about a new version of Black Friday shopping, online! It's called Cyber Mondays and it is increasing exponentially in popularity.

Paypal which is an online paying service reported a 297% increase in mobile payment amount on this Thanksgiving Day versus last year's.

This Cyber Monday is internet merchants' big sale event distributing free shipping, captivating discounts, even free gift cards or whatever they can do to get the attention of online consumers.

Considering that Cyber Monday is the first working day after Thanksgiving, many consumers will be purchasing items at work from their offices. The article states that the National Retail Federation estimates 70.1 million people will continue doing their holiday shopping online on Cyber Monday from their office.

Check out the article at http://money.cnn.com/2010/11/26/news/economy/cyber_monday_next/index.htm?hpt=C2

I also just got an iPhone over break and I have been downloading applications that my friends have told me about. Many of them are now free or cheaper due to after-Thanksgiving-discounts. Certainly my friends pointed out that even more apps will be available at a discount, tomorrow on Cyber Monday.

I find this potentially revolutionary. I feel like more and more aspects of our lives are being transferred to cyberspace. As well as shopping for anything imaginable, which is readily available with a click of a button and some personal credit card information of course.

The article states that the majority of online shoppers are men or young adults, with that in mind, do you guys think the future of shopping is online?

How much more beneficial is it for the consumer to shop online?

Magazines??

I found a magazine while I was looking around Barnes and Noble today all about Artful Blogging! I had no idea there were magazines dedicated to blogging, did you?!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

More interesting Cybertherapy stuff

One of my fellow SL colleagues sent me this link to an interesting article about cybertherapy:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/science/23avatar.html?_r=4&ref=technology

Looks like if you plan to be a therapist or counselor, cybertherapy is definitely something you should know about.

The article talks about some really interesting studies, including some by Yee and Bailenson that we read for the class.

Social Media Isolation Project

I found this article on CNN and I couldn't believe someone did this!
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/11/22/social.media.isolation.project/index.html

The 2 people involved in doing this are quick to say that they aren't anti-technology but they just want to spark conversation the impact technology has on the human life. I think it is really interesting and it does provoke a lot of thought--just as our class does.

This girl is living inside of a glass "store", with no privacy except for the bathroom for 30 days! The glass is supposed to represent the computer screen and how we are living behind social media. It also is supposed to show how easily accessible we are on a 24/7 basis with our cell phones, Facebook, Twitter, etc. She has a large screen computer where she updates her Facebook, Twitter, blog, and skypes--there is also a projector set up so that anyone walking by can see as she updates online. She is now on her 23rd day so she doesn't have much longer to go but she says it is taking a toll on her. You can read her day to day updates on her blog she created about this project:  http://www.publicisolationproject.com/blog/


While most  people do not stay inside 30 days or more without leaving their homes, glued to the computer screen (she's obviously just trying to make a point), it does raise questions about the lack of life outside of the social media bubble. Do you think social media has us caught in a bubble with no way out? 

Fighting, Facebook, and Fame

One more entry in the "this class seems to follow me wherever I go" category!

Bristol and Willow Palin get into a Facebook flame war with some posters who don't like their current reality TV show:

http://www.slate.com/id/2275272/

As the author of this article points out, this certainly shows how quickly something can go from an exchange of (fairly mild) insults ("your TV show is no good") to full-on nasty name-calling. And of course, if you're a public figure, everyone sees it.

The grown-up in me has to wonder: why didn't they just delete the comments about the show and then block the people from posting again? The whole fight wouldn't have happened. Also, maybe they shouldn't have open Facebook profiles!

Tweeting about Tigers

In case all the non-tweeters out there are wondering what kinds of things celebrities or public figures might tweet about, I saw this interesting example today:

http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/17/leo-dicaprio-saving-tigers-one-tweet-at-a-time/?hpt=Sbin

Since Leonardo DiCaprio is an "ambassador" for World Wildlife Fund, he decided to use Twitter to publicize the plight of tigers. Interesting! Twitter is certainly an interesting way for public figures to put out information about their causes or interests. I'm sure plenty of non-famous people use it in similar ways. Anyone ever tweeted about a cause they wanted to bring attention to?

Marriage and Facebook!

In class we've talked quite a bit about Facebook and we also talked about establishing relationships through online dating. One thing that we didn't really talk about was the effect that Facebook can have on relationships after they've been established. I also thought this was relevant since we have a couple classmates heading for marriage in the near future!

I found this article on Google News... 
Click here to read

In the article, a minister recommends to all of the married couples of his church that they should cancel their Facebook accounts. He says he has seen many issues caused in relationships because of Facebook.

These problems often stem from little things such as adding an ex as a friend.

He has also suggested sharing passwords with your spouse, which I assume was suggested under the assumption that then there will be no secrets.

I'm just curious to see what you all think about this. I've definitely heard of situations where people have seen things on Facebook and gotten upset and it ends up causing a big fight. Deleting Facebook could be an easy way to avoid potentially bad situations.

Personally, I think that Facebook has many benefits for its users and people shouldn't have to give those benefits up just because their partner feels insecure. I feel like if you don't hide anything and have open communication about things that bother you on Facebook, then the problems can be easily resolved. Facebook is just another social situation that married couples can be a part of. You don't stop going out in public when you get married just because there are other people that your spouse could "check out" (and we've all heard stories of that turning into fights as well).

I'm not really sure how I feel about the sharing passwords situation. On the one hand, it seems like a violation of privacy, but on the other hand, you shouldn't have anything to hide.

So, what do you guys think? Are there other problems that having Facebook could cause?

Ashley or Rachel...will you delete your Facebook after you're married or will you just work through any problems that may arise?

Violent Video Games - again

Over the weekend, I started seeing this new commercial for "Call of Duty: Black Ops":

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pblj3JHF-Jo

It's called "There's a soldier in all of us" and shows "ordinary" people, including some kids, basically shooting up a place. (No one actually is shown dying in the video.) The soundtrack is the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" (lyrics: "War, children, is just a shot away"). To make it even more appealing (I guess) some of the people in the video are celebrities.

Although I'm typically not disturbed by viewing violent video games, for some reason I found this commercial disturbing, and I'm not totally sure why. Anyone have any thoughts? Maybe because I can tell the game is a game, while the commercial is live action? Maybe it is the commercial's similarity to many actual real (and tragic) events, where an "ordinary" person gets a weapon, goes somewhere, and starts shooting lots of people? This scenario somehow seems different than when soldiers are shooting.

The "Super-Logoff" on Facebook

I was looking around CNN, and found this article about privacy settings on Facebook. It talks about the idea of a "super-logoff". Instead of just simply logging off when you're done, people have started deactivating their accounts when they're not on the site. When you deactivate your account, it not only logs you out but keeps people from looking at or posting anything on your profile. All your settings stay the same. You have the same friends, wall posts, pictures and so on, but no one is able to look at them when you're not logged in. This setting is becoming popular for those privacy-conscious users because it gives them ultimate control of their privacy settings on Facebook.

But why "super-logoff"? I've heard of a few of my friends who have deactivated their accounts for potential job opportunities. In this case, I understand the effort because it takes away the possibility of an employer seeing any pictures of information that could give you a bad reputation. I've even talked to some friends who have made "fake" accounts, with a profile that consists of only information that employers would be interested in. But otherwise, I'm not sure I see the point. The idea of Facebook is to connect with people in the sense that you share your information whenever and with whoever you want to see it. If you aren't comfortable with this, and do not want people looking at your profile when you're not logged in, what's the point? This article says that young adults like us are more active with their privacy settings. They understand that their information is public, and take the necessary precautions to keep certain things private. But for those users who aren't comfortable with keeping their information public at all, why bother with the "super-logoff"?

A lot of people commented on this article and here's one that I thought made a pretty good point:

"The best way to super log off is to not log in in the first place. I mean you either want to share your stuff or you don't".

If some people are so concerned with keeping their information public, and feel the need to "super-logoff" every day, what's the point in having a Facebook in the first place? What do you guys think?

Here's a link to the article if anyone wants to read it:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/11/12/facebook.superlogoff/index.html

Amazon Pedophile Controversy

Have you guys heard about the latest going on with Amazon? Apparently people are in uproar about "pro-pedophilia" items including videos and books listed for sale on their site. These are guide books about "how to" be a pedophile. And then videos that are considered obscene. This video ( http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2010/11/13/ac.amazon.problem.cnn?iref=allsearch ) on the CNN website discusses the issue about whether or not this is illegal based on its content. And is it right to have a book advising people how to be a pedophile? One woman interviewed said that this is basically teaching people how to molest children.

I was really interested in this because currently in my abnormal psychology class we are studying sexual disorders and pedophilia is one we are studying.

Also- the "child advocate" that was interviewed discussed how "the law and culture need to catch up with technology." We need to keep up with the times of the Internet... she commented that it used to be hard to get child pornography but now it is being made and available on the Internet to those that are looking for it...

So what do you guys think about this? It is kind of different that what we have been talking about in class but interesting to me that it was related to my abnormal psych. class and that once again people may not realize the consequences of putting these things on the Internet. It is a false belief that what you do on your computer is private. Once the Internet is involved, it becomes public. Should Amazon remove these things on their site?

Hacking and Sextortion

Okay, so I "liked" the FBI on Facebook and this entry popped up the other day and I think it's pretty relevant to our class. This highlights some of the scarier things that can happen to people online. We've talked about cyberbullying but there are worse things that can happen to someone online.


Click here to read the article



Basically what happened was that a hacker got viruses into people's computers that allowed him to see everything and use their webcams to watch them. 


Here are some quotes from the article that I found particularly disturbing.


"The hacker knew every move the unsuspecting victim made. He controlled her computer webcam and microphone. He could see her in her bedroom, hear her conversations, knew every keystroke she made online. And he threatened to expose her secrets unless she bowed to his demands"


--It is too scary to think of someone being able to watch what you're doing from your computer. In my room, my computer is set up right across from my bed. If someone hacked my computer they could creep on me while I'm sleeping. The FBI recommends turning off your computer when it's not in use or covering your webcam. I used to think people who covered their webcams were just being paranoid, but now I'll probably start doing it too. 


"After the hacker infected one computer, he used a popular social networking site—and a technique called “spear phishing”—to spread the virus"


--Ever gotten a spam message on Facebook? I'm sure you knew that clicking the link could cause a virus, but did you ever consider that it could let a hacker be able to see every move you make?


"In several instances, the hacker posed online as a young woman’s friend or sister and sent messages with attachments asking if the victim wanted to see a scary video. Because the messages appeared to be from a trusted source, the victims usually didn’t think twice about opening the attachment. When they did, the virus secretly installed itself, and the hacker had total control over their computers—including all files and folders, webcams, and microphones."


--This is just scary! My roommate sends me links to videos all the time. I would never question a link coming from her screen name.


"“And this guy was no computer genius,” Agent Kirkpatrick said. 'Anybody could do what he did just by watching an online video and following the directions.'"


--This is also scary. The fact that it's so easy! Crazy!


Alright, so sorry to get all dark and gloomy on you guys, but I just thought this scenario was too scary! Clearly there's a very dark side to the internet that we haven't touched on.


What do you guys think about all of this? Is there anything we can do to stop it? 


Maybe we should be working on more stringent security devices for computers that can better detect this hacking and stop it. 


I just think it's all very disturbing and I'm interested in hearing your opinions!

too much texting?

Just found this on CNN... hypertexting or sending more than 120 messages in a day is linked with health risks.

Check it out:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/11/10/hyper.texting.teens/index.html?npt=NP1

Want to be A Star! YouTube is the way to roll!

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/rise_of_an_internet_star_parla.php

I came across this article and thought it was really interesting how YouTube has become such a phenomenon in our day and age. Daily new stars are born just from posting videos of themselves in funny situations.  And it’s amazing to me how one video can gain a multitude of hits --- and from there a star is born!

For example have you seen the Antoine Dodson video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzNhaLUT520  (( If Not Please Click the Link))

He was on the news for saving his sister from a rapist. A group auto tuned his video and TA-DA a star was born. Antoine can be seen at award shows (BET Hip Hop Awards) – he has his own milkshake, and I phone Application, Barbie Doll, T- Shirt Line,  and he even had Halloween costumes!

Or Starlet takes a tumble – she now has a record deal!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIwTYL1fwJk&feature=related

Doesn’t this make you want to buy a video camera and tape the funny things your friends do?

I say try it.  You never know whose watching!

Cyberbullying..not just for teenagers

I know we have been discussing Cyberbullying a fair amount and I too am extremely interested in this area of Cyberpsych and I happened to come across this article entitle "Cyberbullying Goes to College" on Boston University's website.
http://www.bu.edu/today/2009/04/21/cyberbullying-goes-college

This article really brings awareness to the various populations affected by cyberbullying. It is not just younger adolescents who are committing and suffering from this online abuse. In my opinion, I think this article strongly captures many of the issues associated with this problem. I think it is extremely relevant to our discussions and to us as college students and professors because it focuses on cyberbullying in this type of atmosphere. The article talks about why some people may not think its happening as much in college and among older adults, and goes on to say that its because we are often less likely to come forward and talk about it, and try and deal with it in other ways. Its also hard because, as I am sure many of you have heard of, sites like juicycampus, ratemyprofessor and variations of these gossip sites are all to available and popular among our peers in college and schools nationwide. These sites have turned into nightmares for many students and professors and allow anyone to continue to fuel this cyberbullying movement. Luckily, some sites have been taken down off the net, but many individuals still suffer from the online insults/attacks.

Sorry if I am going on and on, but I feel like this is such a eye-opening article that all of us should read. The part that really hit home for me was hearing the stories from professors and college students who have had their own struggles with this. University administrations and faculty are having to spend a lot of time and energy trying to figure out how to deal with these horror stories. And as much as its easy to think that you can choose to ignore whats being said online, it often is brought up and discussed in daily life apart from online. In a way, its almost impossible to escape the bullying because you still have to hear about it.

Another interesting issue that this article discusses is that while there are many online organizations devoted to raising awareness about cyberbullying and attemtping to prevent and stop it, its still difficult to eradicate this when it is still a new concept and our legal system is trying to figure out how exactly to handle these cases and offenses. Its a completely new type of "crime" if you want to call it that.

Lastly, I think the reason I am most upset by this new type of bullying is because at twenty-one years old I would like to think that most people this age and older know the difference between what is right and wrong, what is acceptable and just flat out cruel and malicious. But, it appears that many dont, or at least choose to ignore it. Society almost expects and accepts this type of behavior and sites continue to keep promoting this and allow for this type of outlet and bashing to occur.

I am curious to hear everyones thoughts on this article or just input in general!?! Anything that was surprising to you?

Cyber Hooligans

I read this article written by a guy who writes a weekly column on social networking and it was pretty interesting. The article centers around the most recent big-time sporting event--the World Series and the Giants' win. There was a lot of celebrating going on in San Francisco but apparently it quickly turned to rioting. People are now blaming it on social networking sites such as Twitter because most of these riotous incidents were captured via video, pictures, and simply talked about all over the Internet.

 People are claiming that those who documented these incidents were encouraging the behavior shown by crazed fans...what do you think? I think Cashmore makes a good point when he says, "The use of the term "cyber" is perhaps the first red flag. Not only is "cyberspace" a wildly outdated term, but headlines alerting us to a new technological threat by way of the "cyber-" prefix invariably turn out to be little more than scaremongering....If the bullying took place via letters sent in the mail, would we see headlines decrying the "letter bullying" trend?" 


Do you think that social networking sites are a reason for concern in regards to incidents like this one? Could the mere act of posting a status as to what's going on at a riot (comparable to just simply reporting news) really encourage people to act on what they are seeing because it's on Facebook or Twitter? I don't think so at all. 


http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/11/04/cashmore.cyber.hooligans/index.html 

Cyberbullying Research Center

Out of all the discussions we have been having in class I found cyberbullying to be one of the most interesting because of how it relates to so many people I know, including myself. I never really heard the term “cyberbullying” until this class and after reading about it and talking about it in class I decided to look more into the topic. To my surprise, I found an official Cyberbullying Research Center website filled with a variety of information about cyberbullying ranging from how to identify, prevent and respond to cyberbullying, to reports of actual experiences, resources, publications and even a blog! On their home page they state that they are “dedicated to providing up-to-date information about the nature, extent, causes, and consequences of cyberbullying among adolescents.” They define cyberbullying as "willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices."

This is such a vast problem that it is affecting schools all over the nation and even in other industrialized countries such as the U.K and New Zealand. I read an article that came out today on cyberbullying crackdown in schools across America. They explain that county council officers are working diligently with schools to attack the cyberbullying problem because it can cause devastating effects especially in teenagers. They state that “nationally, an alarming 22% of secondary school pupils say they have suffered cyber bullying. While 33% of 9-19 year-olds using the internet once a week receive unwanted or nasty comments from someone they don't know.” What do you guys think about this? Do you think the amount of cyberbullying in this age group will increase in the next few years? Can schools actually help with this internet problem?

Another interesting article I read was about a radio station in New Zealand reporting that a phone company known as Vodafone is trying to combat the cyberbullying problem too. Vodafone told the radio station that they receive complains of “up to 6, 000 calls about text-bullying every year”! Their technique to get rid of cyberbullying starts with allowing customers to block messages and pictures from up to 20 different numbers for free. Do you think this will work? Should we start using a technique like this in the U.S? What other techniques can you think of that may help control this issue?

If you guys would like to look more into it, the website is http://www.cyberbullying.us/

The articles can be found by scrolling down the page to “latest cyberbullying headlines” or click here http://www.fleetwoodtoday.co.uk/news/cyber_bullying_crackdown_in_schools_1_2737413

And

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/61347/cyber-safety-organisaton-advoctes-text-blocking

Anonymity? Does it really matter?

I feel as though we have all been discussing a lot of what has been going on with emails, texts, etc. And last class, to me at least, really hit home. We talked about cyberbullying and the drastic effects it sometimes can have on an individuals life. This kills me! I have been cyberbullied before, as you all know, and I realize because of my personality and the person I am, it didn't really effect me too much. I mean sure I cried and was hurt and really upset about it because I thought these people were my friends, but I didn't think it was bad enough to take my own life. I wanted to see what you all thought about this recent trend of cyberbullying. The guy at Rutgers knew that it was his roommate who was posting details of his intimate life, and I knew the people posting the bad things about me. Do you think that has something to do with the severity of the situation? Do you think it would have made a difference if it had been a stranger? We always talk about how having a sense of anonymity can allow a person to feel as though they can do whatever they want because no one will find out, but is that really true?  I don't think so. I think that being online is and has its own way of being anonymous. Meaning, by just being online, you can be a different person. Take me for example, my blog has a picture of me, and is by me, but it is by a much more open person, than who I am in "real life."  I even just used the word "real life" which would make online a "fake life." I believe that being online, in any situation, because everything is so public and accessible, that it becomes this alternate you. Does that make sense? I really want your opinions on this. I knew who the people were who said the bad things about me, and yet it was different. In "real life" they talked to me and acted like they loved me, but then they got together on this "online (fake) life" and were completely cruel and acted the opposite. Why do you think that is?

They see me trollin'

Our discussion today about cyberbullying and how it's so easy to mess with people from behind a computer made me want to share some fun facts. First, there are people that bully others over the internet for the sole purpose of entertainment. Typically they are referred to as trolls, and exist to cause havoc and mayhem.

my reliable source of urbandictionary defines a troll as:
One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument.

there are more definitions if you want to get a better idea - http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=troll

Sometimes it involves a person creating a fake facebook page and stirring up trouble with people they actually know or just random people, usually with the knowledge that people will argue about just about anything on the internet. Typically these posts create massive arguments that leaves the troll laughing at the mayhem he/she has caused. I mentioned this in class but here's an example - imagine you're a big Heath Ledger fan, and you see or hear someone say: "I can't believe Keith Ledger won an Oscar for The Black Night, I mean Jack Nicholas was a much better Riddler, and he's a golf legend!" -note the incorrect information and misspelling. Any responses correcting the information or becoming upset are considered to have been trolled. Once you have some experience with trolling, it usually becomes easy to detect, in which people will advise you to "do not feed the troll"

Examples:

Ralph Pootawn from SL (disclaimer - naked avatars in mature situations)
http://ralphplsgo.com/index.htm

Tommy B. - a classic example of facebook trolling with a fake account (language)
http://www.facebooktroll.com/

Advice on how to troll Yahoo answers
http://regretfulmorning.com/2009/05/if-youre-going-to-troll-yahoo-answers-do-it-right/

more examples of trolling attempts (language)
http://artoftrolling.memebase.com/

Pic is generally accepted as what trolls look like in the act

Violent Video Games and Children

Since we've been discussing the impact of violent video games on aggressive behavior, I thought you guys might enjoy reading this article:
http://www.slate.com/id/2272879/
The author is discussing whether the Supreme Court will or should limit the sale of violent video games to minors, and specifically discusses the meta-analyses by Anderson et al and by Ferguson on this topic (the ones I asked you guys to skim for class). Just goes to show the VERY real-world implications of this type of research.