It seems that almost everyone nowadays either has a Twitter account or is vehemetly against them. News organizations have them, companies and non-profits have them, famous and not-so-famous people have them, but what is Twitter and should you get an account as well?
Before you go and sign up for anything I always recommend reading up about it so you have a good understanding of what it is you're getting into. In this case, Twitter is another social networking site that lets you keep up with what people around you are doing, similar to Facebook, but each post is limited to 140 characters. Characters are things you type into the message, including spaces, punctuation, numbers and letters. For example, "I got 3 new hats!" is seventeen characters long.
This limitation keeps things short and sweet, allowing you read more, less detailed, information quicker. While everyone's Twitter habits are different, most people follow ("follow" is the Twitter version of Facebook's "friend" status.) a combination of the aforementioned "Twitterers". Much like Facebook, this makes it easy for information to travel quickly to many people. A humorous example of this was made by a web comic called XKCD. (Click here to see it.)
Practical Tip of the Day:
Just like Facebook, you want to look at the privacy settings in your Twitter account, especially if you're using your real name. If you don't have your privacy settings set up properly, everything you "tweet" will be viewable to the world and will come up if someone looks you up in Google.
Showing posts with label privacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label privacy. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
Special Edition: What is CISPA?
Today Congress passed bill H.R. 3523, even while President Obama has promised to veto it. Being called the "Son-of-SOPA," H.R. 3523 is the new-big-and-scary-Internet-bill. H.R. 3523, AKA the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA for short) is remarkably like SOPA, but has some key differences.
While both bills would negatively affect the Internet and America's culture as a whole, CISPA focuses more on personal information and your ISP (Internet Service Provider). In short, the bill would allow your ISP (the company you pay to access the Internet) to monitor everything you do on the Internet, without your knowing, consent, or court order. Why would they do that? The bill says it would be to look for "potential threats" it would then report to the government. One of the criticisms of this is that the language is vague in what it is considered a threat. Another is that it would mean that everything you do, every blog you read, every email you read or send, every Facebook post, every picture on the Internet will be monitored and scanned to see if it mentions any trigger words.
Once your ISP knows what you're doing online, they can then share that information- including all your personal information as well like your name and address with other ISPs and the government. There is no way to opt out of this, and the ISPs will be granted immunity from privacy lawsuits. This law will supersede any and all privacy agreements you make with the ISP or any websites you visit.
Practical Tip of the Day:
Even though the bill has passed the House, it still has to pass the Senate and not be veto'ed by the President. You can find your elected officials by your zip code on this website, and can contact them in whichever means is most convenient for you. You can also see how your representative voted on this webpage.
While both bills would negatively affect the Internet and America's culture as a whole, CISPA focuses more on personal information and your ISP (Internet Service Provider). In short, the bill would allow your ISP (the company you pay to access the Internet) to monitor everything you do on the Internet, without your knowing, consent, or court order. Why would they do that? The bill says it would be to look for "potential threats" it would then report to the government. One of the criticisms of this is that the language is vague in what it is considered a threat. Another is that it would mean that everything you do, every blog you read, every email you read or send, every Facebook post, every picture on the Internet will be monitored and scanned to see if it mentions any trigger words.
Once your ISP knows what you're doing online, they can then share that information- including all your personal information as well like your name and address with other ISPs and the government. There is no way to opt out of this, and the ISPs will be granted immunity from privacy lawsuits. This law will supersede any and all privacy agreements you make with the ISP or any websites you visit.
Practical Tip of the Day:
Even though the bill has passed the House, it still has to pass the Senate and not be veto'ed by the President. You can find your elected officials by your zip code on this website, and can contact them in whichever means is most convenient for you. You can also see how your representative voted on this webpage.
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.)
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