If you've spent any notable time on the internet, you've probably run into this term if not the actual thing- "trolls." No, we're not talking about the dolls from the 80's, the thing from nursery rhymes, or even the things that will try to eat Bilbo Baggins in the upcoming movie The Hobbit. Internet trolls have been around since the internet began, and the likelihood of them going away is somewhere between zero and not-a-chance. Here's how you can identify a troll and how to respond to them:
Wikipedia defines internet trolls as "someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as a forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion." In short, trolls are people who are intentionally annoying at best and downright discriminatory at worst.
Why do they do it? For fun. Yes, these people are like the two-year old who plays the "I'm not touching you!" game with their older sister just to annoy her. Some will argue that people who post sexist, racist, or other "-ist"type comments aren't trolls because they're assumably posting from legitimate feelings and not just for fun, it is impossible to know the true reason someone will troll (yes, it's a verb as well as a noun) and therefore people who make these comments are generally put in the same group as all the other trolls.
What is one to do when encountered with an internet troll? Well, you have options. Some people choose to engage the person in conversation. I generally recommend against this as it just leads to frustration and nothing else to show for your efforts. Others will just ignore the person and continue the conversation with other people. This works well though the troll will sometimes get another member of the conversation trapped in conversation. The recommended method is to either block or report the person. Many places on the internet have "anti-trolling" measures in place that allow a person to either report a troll (and thereby have them removed from the site permanently) or block them (they maintain their membership, but you no longer see any of their comments).
Practical Tip of the Day:
When using a site like Facebook, the easiest way to avoid trolls is to simply increase your privacy settings so only your friends and family can interact with you. You can access your privacy settings on Facebook by clicking the downwards pointing triangle in the top-right corner of the webpage and then selecting "Privacy Settings." Once there, you'll have many options to help you get your account as buttoned up as you'd like.
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Showing posts with label facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label facebook. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
What iOS Apps Should All Small Business Owners Have?
It seems nearly impossible to run a small business without technology nowadays, and smartphones and tablets have gained a firm foothold in this market. When speaking with small business owners, they almost always ask which apps I consider “must haves.” Here are the top three iOS (meaning for Apple products) apps I recommend for people either running or looking to start a small business:
iWork/Quickoffice Pro- Every small business owner needs to look at and sometimes edit documents. Be it text documents, spreadsheets or presentations, being able to view and change them on the go is very helpful. If you own a Mac and use iWork, using the iWork apps will make for a seamless document transition between your iPhone/iPad and your Mac. If you use Microsoft Office either on the Mac or Windows machine, Quickoffice Pro will offer a similar experience for your Office documents.
TurboScan- Are you currently using your device’s camera to take pictures of documents? With TurboScan, you can turn those photos into multipage PDFs that you can then either save or email. That means you could take pictures of your receipts while you’re away on a business trip, turn them into a single PDF and email them to your secretary or simply keep them on your device for your records.
Square Card Reader- If you do any sales, either products or services, the Square Card Reader is highly recommended because it allows you scan credit cards and have the funds transferred right into your account. Now, as a quick side note here, Square makes their money on the 2.75% fee on every charge you make on their app, but they do also give you a free credit card scanner when you download their free app. Yes, a free scanner for downloading their free app.
Practical Tip of the Day:
Looking to connect with other professionals you know in a forum more formal than Facebook or Twitter? LinkedIn is a website that allows professionals to connect, keep in contact with each other and even offer referrals to each other. LinkedIn, in addition to their website also have a free app.
If you'd like more information about these apps and how to utilize them in your business, feel free to contact me at www.TechKNOWLEDGEyToday.com and I'd be more than happy to help walk you through the decision. You can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates and periodic tips and tricks to help you with the technology you use daily.
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TechKNOWLEDGEy Today was founded on the idea that through better understanding of technology you can empower people to better their lives more than they ever thought possible. It is with this in mind that we strive to better our communities through the services we offer.
We provide personalized group or individual training on technology in your home or office. Specializing in Apple products like the iPhone, iPad and Mac, we offer purchasing and implementation consultations, software training and instruction on computing basics like the Internet, email and smartphones.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
What is Social Media?
It's difficult to watch the news or read the papers or magazines nowadays without coming across the odd phrase "Social Media". We know what "social" means; To me it conjures up memories of ice cream and talking with friends. "Media" is usually used to refer to the TV networks, newspapers and other things we read and watch. At first it would seem odd that media could be social in and of itself. Yes, we talk about media, but actually interacting with your media is something new born from the Internet. Well, sort of.
Most kids nowadays only vaguly remember the time of pen pals. You would receive a letter in the mail (yes, REAL MAIL!), you'd read it, and you'd write a letter back (yes, with pen and paper!) to the person and have a conversation that way. If you take that concept and make it electronic, it becomes email. ("Email" literally means "electronic mail". See the post last week for a refresher on email.) Social media takes that concept and amplifies it.
Social media mixes messages sent between two people to messages sent to whole groups of people. If I want to share a picture of my daughter, instead of printing it out and paying postage to mail it to everyone, or sending it in an email that has everyone's email addresses in it, I can post it to a social media outlet like Facebook. (In this post I'll be using Facebook as the main example since it's the most commonly used method at this point in time.) By posting it in one place, all my friends and family can see the photo, and even talk about it.
Social media isn't for everyone. If you're a private person, you might not want to join a social site like Facebook since it involves sharing a lot of personal information just to get in, and then makes it very easy to share too much with too many people. Ever say something you regretted? Ever say something you regetted to every friend and family member you know? Quite a difference!
That being said, being able to see what your old friend from high school is doing in their daily life makes it easier to catch up with them and stay connected with them in ways that a telephone conversation, letter, or even a coffee date never could. Your friends and family can post whatever they want, and it will show up for you to see and comment on if you want. In short, social media is a very easy way to stay connected with a lot of people very easily.
Practical Tip of the Day:
When talking over the internet, whether it's via email, Facebook, blogs, or anything else, make sure you only say and share things you want the whole world to know about you. Don't just think of the whole world, though. Think of your kids, boss, pastor, parents, coworkers, etc. Some of the biggest scandals nowadays come from people in high positions violating this rule and having conversations or pictures they thought were private shared with the world!
Most kids nowadays only vaguly remember the time of pen pals. You would receive a letter in the mail (yes, REAL MAIL!), you'd read it, and you'd write a letter back (yes, with pen and paper!) to the person and have a conversation that way. If you take that concept and make it electronic, it becomes email. ("Email" literally means "electronic mail". See the post last week for a refresher on email.) Social media takes that concept and amplifies it.
Social media mixes messages sent between two people to messages sent to whole groups of people. If I want to share a picture of my daughter, instead of printing it out and paying postage to mail it to everyone, or sending it in an email that has everyone's email addresses in it, I can post it to a social media outlet like Facebook. (In this post I'll be using Facebook as the main example since it's the most commonly used method at this point in time.) By posting it in one place, all my friends and family can see the photo, and even talk about it.
Social media isn't for everyone. If you're a private person, you might not want to join a social site like Facebook since it involves sharing a lot of personal information just to get in, and then makes it very easy to share too much with too many people. Ever say something you regretted? Ever say something you regetted to every friend and family member you know? Quite a difference!
That being said, being able to see what your old friend from high school is doing in their daily life makes it easier to catch up with them and stay connected with them in ways that a telephone conversation, letter, or even a coffee date never could. Your friends and family can post whatever they want, and it will show up for you to see and comment on if you want. In short, social media is a very easy way to stay connected with a lot of people very easily.
Practical Tip of the Day:
When talking over the internet, whether it's via email, Facebook, blogs, or anything else, make sure you only say and share things you want the whole world to know about you. Don't just think of the whole world, though. Think of your kids, boss, pastor, parents, coworkers, etc. Some of the biggest scandals nowadays come from people in high positions violating this rule and having conversations or pictures they thought were private shared with the world!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Is Facebook Replacing Email?
As we discussed previously, Facebook is a kind of social media, (Click here if you don't know what social media is.) and email is a type of one-to-one communication very similar to regular paper-and-ink mail. (Click here if you don't know what email is.) How then could something so private as email be being replaced by something as open as Facebook?
A study of teens preferred methods of communication (source) shows that email use is declining in many demographics that grew up with computers. SMS messaging (AKA "texting") and IMs ("Instant Messages") are growing in popularity as more people have devices that can access the Internet whenever they want. I know I might have lost some of you with talking about texting and IMing, but don't worry. Here's a 15-second explanation for purposes of this article. I'll start working on full-length articles explaining them individually right after this!
SMS and MMS messages are either words (SMS) or pictures/videos (MMS) that are sent between cell phones over the cell phone towers. They do not require the Internet, and messages can wait in an inbox for the recipient to read them.
IMs are most commonly used between computers and/or cell phones. They require the Internet, can carry words or pictures, and are usually used as a more conversational alternative to emails. They require both users to be active at the same time- there is no "inbox" like email for messages to wait.
So why are more and more people using SMS and IM instead of email? I think (though no one knows for sure) that it's very similar to why people started having phone conversations instead of writing letter back when telephones started becoming more popular. It just feels more natural to have a conversation than to write a long letter, send it, wait for a response, and then reply back. SMS and IMs give the instant gratification and conversational feel that people enjoy.
Is Facebook replacing email? Not entirely, and not yet. I think "replacing" is a bit of an alarmist phrase, but I would say that people are shifting to more conversational methods for their day-to-day lives.
Practical Tip of the Day:
Not sure if you should send someone a message via email, text or social media? The general rule of thumb I use is that emails are good for long dialogs. For example, if you subscribe to this blog via email, you'll receive a message that tells you there's new post, and gives you more information. If you need to tell someone a message that isn't very private (if you don't care if others read it), and isn't very long, social media is good for that. If you have a short but private message, texting might be the way to go. (Note: Yes, I know phones work for talking too, but I'm only discussing written media right now. If you have something personal or private to tell someone in-person or phone conversations are considered the best form of communication in modern etiquette.)
A study of teens preferred methods of communication (source) shows that email use is declining in many demographics that grew up with computers. SMS messaging (AKA "texting") and IMs ("Instant Messages") are growing in popularity as more people have devices that can access the Internet whenever they want. I know I might have lost some of you with talking about texting and IMing, but don't worry. Here's a 15-second explanation for purposes of this article. I'll start working on full-length articles explaining them individually right after this!
SMS and MMS messages are either words (SMS) or pictures/videos (MMS) that are sent between cell phones over the cell phone towers. They do not require the Internet, and messages can wait in an inbox for the recipient to read them.
IMs are most commonly used between computers and/or cell phones. They require the Internet, can carry words or pictures, and are usually used as a more conversational alternative to emails. They require both users to be active at the same time- there is no "inbox" like email for messages to wait.
So why are more and more people using SMS and IM instead of email? I think (though no one knows for sure) that it's very similar to why people started having phone conversations instead of writing letter back when telephones started becoming more popular. It just feels more natural to have a conversation than to write a long letter, send it, wait for a response, and then reply back. SMS and IMs give the instant gratification and conversational feel that people enjoy.
Is Facebook replacing email? Not entirely, and not yet. I think "replacing" is a bit of an alarmist phrase, but I would say that people are shifting to more conversational methods for their day-to-day lives.
Practical Tip of the Day:
Not sure if you should send someone a message via email, text or social media? The general rule of thumb I use is that emails are good for long dialogs. For example, if you subscribe to this blog via email, you'll receive a message that tells you there's new post, and gives you more information. If you need to tell someone a message that isn't very private (if you don't care if others read it), and isn't very long, social media is good for that. If you have a short but private message, texting might be the way to go. (Note: Yes, I know phones work for talking too, but I'm only discussing written media right now. If you have something personal or private to tell someone in-person or phone conversations are considered the best form of communication in modern etiquette.)
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Special Edition: What is SOPA?
When you can count your page views on one hand, and you get three people asking for a particular topic, you're inclined to oblige. That being said, today's topic is bit more complex than I'd normally cover, but I feel fairly confident that I can explain this in a way everyone can understand.
SOPA- A.K.A. the "Stop Online Piracy Act" hopes to spur innovation and entrepenuership by preventing people from steal other people's copyrighted material. Sounds good, right? I'm a fan of new things, and I'm not a fan of people stealing things. The problem lies in how they do it though.
SOPA's original form (by the time this is read it's possible that it's been amended, so bear that in mind) contains language that would allow the US Department of Justice or the copyright holder to seek court orders that would:
A. Stop payment to the websites from any or all advertisements
B. Shut the website down temporarily.
C. Bar search engines from linking to the website.
D. All of the above.
Still doesn't sound too bad though, right? If a website is redistributing stolen goods it deserves to be shut down and punished, right? Well, here's the catch- the wording allows those things to happen not only to websites that knowingly do that, but also to websites who are unaware of it, or aren't actually doing anything wrong at all! Now, at this point you might be inclined to consider this "spin" by the liberal media or whatnot, but hang in there with me.
It does actually state that the above penalties can be enforced as soon as the alleged victim issues a complaint regardless of whether or not the claim turns out to be true. This would mean that YouTube would be down while it's under investigation if a teenage girl singing a Brittany Spears song counts as copyright infringement. It would mean that if ever someone posted a picture of a Coke can on Facebook it would also go down. Google would most likely cease to exist, or, if it did, it would be censored from every webpage that may-or-may-not potentially have copyrighted material.
If you hear your techie friends ranting about SOPA, you now know why. It is seen in the tech community as the largest threat to Internet censorship yet, and the Internet is the largest example of America's right to Freedom of Speech. When the Internet begins to become censored it will be viewed as the largest infringement of civil liberties yet.
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