Dangers of New Media

While the many forms of new media are very helpful and have positive effects on society, there are dangers that come along with them. One of the biggest dangers, I think, is cyber-stalking. It’s pretty scary to think that this actually happens. I think cyber-stalking is one of the biggest dangers of new media because it can start out just talking to someone on the internet through social media or cyber-dating. It can also start through “sexting”. You can be talking to someone on the internet who seems like a nice person but if you haven’t met them in person you really don’t know who they are. They can become obsessed with you through what they see on the internet, or what you send to them. People have ways of finding out information about you that you may have never given them personally, like your phone number or where you live. This can happen if you put that information on your Facebook or twitter, or if you have your location services turned on on your cell phone. In Los Angeles, California a woman accepted a friend request of someone she did not know on Facebook and he wound up stalking her through her posts; “If she posted she'd be attending a party, Becky says Pashayan would show up.” I don’t think cyber-stalking is something that can be solved and totally eliminated. However, I do think there are steps people can take to help prevent it from happening to them. The article I mentioned earlier, it listed some things you can do: don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know, be cautious about what you put on your social media sites, limit who can see your profile, block people who are bothering you. You can also turn off your location services on your phone and not put your personal information like your phone number, city, and address on media sites, and don’t talk to people you don’t know. Another thing to keep in mind: People on social media do not need to know everywhere you go.

Works Cited

Silva, Gina. "Facebook Cyberstalking: The Dark Side Of Social Media." - Los Angeles Local News. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. <http://www.myfoxla.com/story/24044124/facebook-cyberstalking-the-dark-side-of-social-media>.

Blog Project

There are many positive and negative effects of the Internet and new media that everyone should be aware of:

1)    Employers and colleges look at social media sites. Whether you’re just applying for the job or you already have it, employers look at employees Facebooks, twitters, etc. to see if they hired the right person. If you post a status or make a tweet about how much you hate your boss chances are your boss might find out. If your co-workers see it they can tell your boss or if your boss decides to check up on you they’ll see it themselves. Colleges and universities also look at applicants’ social media sites while considering who to accept. According to the Huffington Post an 18 year old guard at the Buckingham Palace was fired because of a Facebook post he made about Kate Middleton. The post, which was later deleted, read "Hur and william drove past me on friday n all a got was a sh***y wave while she looked the opposite way from me, stupid stuck up cow am I not good enough for them! posh bitch am totally with u on this 1 who reely gives a f about hur."

2)   There is An Infinite Amount of Information at our Fingertips. Almost everything you could ever want to know can be found on the Internet. If you’re feeling too lazy to go to the library and search through a book you can just Google something. You can also go on twitter and search for something through hashtags. For example, if you wanted to find out information about the Boston Bruins you can go on twitter and search the hashtag “#BostonBruins” or “#Bruins” and see tweets about the team.

3)   Just because it’s on the Internet Doesn’t Mean it’s True. People tend to believe everything they read on the Internet and social media sites, which leads to the spread of misinformation. Students depend on the Internet for their research and schoolwork but don’t often dig deep enough to find credible information. Googling something and going with the first website you find isn’t always the smartest choice. If you want to know something you need to take the time to do an accurate search for information. Another effect of this is that once misleading information is posted, because of new media sites like twitter and reddit, this information can be spread in a matter of minutes. For example, as stated on USA Today, last April at the bombing during the Boston Marathon a crowdsourcing group looked at photos released by the FBI of a possible suspect via Reddit. They found a photo of a man who seemed to be the man in the FBI photos. The man these Reddit members were accusing was Sunil Tripathi, a 22 year old Brown student who was missing. Tripathi ultimately was not the bomber and was found dead in the river. However, the misleading information caused his family and friends a lot of emotional trauma and caused the public to personify and innocent man as a terrorist.

4)   Cyberbullying. With the increasing use of new media comes the increase in “cyberbullying”. People tease and taunt others over the Internet through social media sites like Facebook and twitter. Cyberbullying is common among teens, who feel more comfortable and powerful hiding behind their computer screen to bully someone. People post awful pictures or start fights through comments or tweets. According to the National Crime Prevention Center over 40% of teenagers with Internet access have reported being bullied online over the past year.

5)   Using Your Phone to Access the Internet Can Give Out Your Location. A lot of people use their smartphones to go on the Internet these days, but what most of these people don’t realize is that their phone has a location service. On the iPhone, for example, if you go into your privacy settings you will see something that says ‘Location Services’ and you can choose to turn it on or off. When you first purchase your phone the location service is automatically turned on and most people are unaware of this. So when you tweet something or post something on Facebook, the post will say where you are. You can choose what apps you want to allow to know your location, such as the weather. This way the weather will be accurate for the area you are in. But you can turn off the location services for Facebook, twitter, Instagram, etc. According to the CBS Philly website, their news station did an experiment to show just how accurate these location services are. Diana Rocco sent out a few tweets from different areas and Amanda, the producer, could pinpoint her exact location down to the address. When Diana tweeted from a coffee shop, Amanda pinpointed her location at 20^th and Callowhill, which is exactly where Diana was.

6)   Once You Post Something it’s on the Internet Forever. Even if you deleted it, it’s still out there somewhere. Also, posting something and then deleting it soon after doesn’t mean that no one saw it. Once you post something, like a picture, someone can see it and save it. A very common thing to do these days it screenshot pictures from the Internet, ultimately saving them to our phones. These pictures can be sent all over the world via different media sites. An article posted in the Huntsville Times in Huntsville, Alabama states that there are constant advances in recovery software meaning photos never truly get deleted from phones, cameras, and computers.

7)   “Catfish”. On the Internet a ‘catfish’ is defined as: To pretend to be someone you're not online by posting false information, such as someone else's pictures, on social media sites usually with the intention of getting someone to fall in love with you (Catfish: The TV Show). This happens quite frequently. In 2010 Nev Schulman made a documentary film called “Catfish” about falling in love with a woman over the internet who was lying about who she was. He then started a TV show spinoff about other people who have internet relationships with people they have never actually met. Nev helps these people finally meet the person they fell in love with online and see if they actually are who they say they are. More often than not, they aren’t. People make fake profiles, with fake information and fake pictures. Internet users really have to be careful about who they are talking to online.

8)   Too Much Reliance on the Internet. Imagine a day when the Internet stopped working. You can’t, or don’t want to. What would you do? Talk to people face to face? Go outside? You wouldn’t be able to watch TV or update your Facebook status. Many businesses and jobs rely on the Internet as well so what would happen if the Internet wasn’t working? My job completely relies on technology and computers so without the Internet it would make it impossible for my department at ShopRite to do anything. BBC asked the public if they thought people rely on the Internet too much and even they agreed. “Asking if we can live without it is as complex as asking if we could have lived without the industrial revolution”, said Andrew McKillican from the UK. Relying on the Internet too much could lead to utter chaos if it were to stop working, even just temporarily.

9)   Online Shopping. For anyone who loves to shop online shopping is a wonderful thing. It makes it easy to purchase things that you couldn’t find in the store or things that aren’t even sold in stores. You can even order groceries online and have them delivered to your house. This is very helpful for the elderly, people with kids, or people who don’t have time to grocery shop. Online shopping also allows for pre-ordering items before they are even released. Music can also be purchased online now through things like iTunes. You no longer have to go to the store to even get a CD. “We don’t need to bother with opening hours, pushy sales staff, parking, traffic and the hundred other problems that accompany any shopping trip. The process can take as long as you like – or be over in a matter of minutes. You can buy from anywhere in the world”, says Chris Nickson of A Technology Society.

10)  Taking Online Classes. Online schooling is becoming increasingly popular in this day and age. Adults who never went to college or who want to go back and take some more classes but don’t have time because of work or families can now go to college online. Obtaining a college degree online is something that people years ago would have never thought would be possible. Even teens and young adults who are working a lot but still want to take classes should take advantage of this opportunity. It is a great advancement for people who want to get a degree but don’t have time to attend school. SCCC even offers online classes, as do many community colleges. A study reported in The Boston Globe showed that students who take online classes do just as well as students taught in the classroom. It also showed that the online students actually learned faster. The study also showed that online classes are suitable for a wide variety of students.

Works Cited

"CHILD'S PLAY AND CRAZY WOMEN-WHY BULLYING ONLY HURTS THE VICTIM." : CYBER BULLYING STATISTICS THAT MAY SHOCK YOU. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. <http://childsplayandcrazywomen.blogspot.com/2012/03/cyber-bullying-statistics-that-may.html>.

"Catfish: The TV Show." (Series). N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. <http://www.mtv.com/shows/catfish/>.

"Do We Rely Too Much On Computers?." BBC News. BBC, 4 Dec. 2000. Web. 28 Mar. 2014. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/703939.stm>.

Emerson, Ramona. "13 Controversial Facebook Firings: Palace Guards, Doctors, Teachers And More." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 17 Oct. 2011. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/17/facebook-firings_n_1003789.html>.

"Everything posted online is there forever, even after it's been deleted." The Huntsville Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. <http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/03/everything_posted_online_is_th.html>.

"Has Online Shopping Made Life Easier?." Has Online Shopping Made Life Easier?. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2014. <http://www.atechnologysociety.co.uk/has-online-shopping-made-life-easier.html>.

"Metro." BostonGlobe.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. <http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/05/21/findings-give-boost-online-classes/qtokLQeQZvE85EMzSBG6PM/story.html>.

Rocco, Diana. "Tracking Your Moves Through Social Media." CBS Philly. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. <http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/12/06/tracking-your-moves-through-social-media/>.

Stanglin, Doug. "Student Wrongly Tied to Boston Bombing Found Dead." USA TODAY. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2013. <http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/04/25/boston-bombing-social-media-student-brown-university-reddit/2112309/>.

MLA formatting by BibMe.org.

Positive and Negative Effects of Facebook

One of the positive effects of Facebook would be that it benefits businesses. According to Marketing Jive it’s a great way to promote business since so many people use Facebook and news travels very fast. By having a Facebook page, a business can also gain so many customers. People can find business or companies through their friends pages as well. If someone likes a businesses page or posts about a business all of their friends have access to that post and will therefore be aware of the company. They can find this company on Facebook and learn more about it. Costumers can learn about promotions and sales or deals also. Businesses can use Facebook to view feedback from their costumers and see what demographic their business is most appealing to.

Another positive effect of Facebook, according to Longwood University, is that it’s a good way for students to connect with each other. After all, that’s what Facebook was originally designed for. Students can talk to each other over Facebook and also promote school events. Sororities and fraternities always host charity events or mixers and Facebook is an easy and effective way to spread the word about these things to other students. School clubs can also utilize Facebook to gain members and promote themselves. 

A negative effect of Facebook on society would be that it can actually make people feel bad about themselves. According to a TIME magazine article titled “Why Facebook Makes You Feel Bad About Yourself”, going on Facebook can trigger feelings of jealousy and loneliness. Scrolling through pictures and statuses and seeing people having more fun than you or seeing people on vacation gets other people literally upset. Girls and women tend to feel worse about their appearance as well. If you look on Facebook and see that all of your friends went out without you can also cause people to feel bad about themselves. 

Another negative effect of Facebook is that it can be very distracting. People feel the need to update their Facebook status multiple times a day instead of do schoolwork or other important things. Sometimes people just go on Facebook because they are bored in class or at work. Half of the students who bring laptops to school are going on Facebook during class. This isn’t just a problem with teenagers, it is happening with adults as well. They go on Facebook at work and during meetings or are too distracted with it to help their kids with homework. 

Overall I don’t think the negatives outweigh the positives. If people are getting that upset about what they see on Facebook they can simply deactivate it. If you are too attached to it to delete it you are way too invested in it for your own good. If it’s too much of a distraction for you, you can take the app off of your phone or try to have some self control. People try to blame Facebook for their problems instead of taking responsibility. Facebook is a good way to promote business, music, clubs, etc., and enable communication. If someone doesn’t like it they don’t need to get a Facebook. 

http://www.marketing-jive.com/2007/09/11-business-benefits-of-using-facebook.html

http://www.longwood.edu/health/14875.htm

http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/24/why-facebook-makes-you-feel-bad-about-yourself/

http://www.homebiz.bukiki.com/positive-negative-effects-facebook-our-society/#axzz2uxaAWU2N

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Internet

One thing I see as an advantage of the Internet is having quick and easy access to information. If you need to know something you can just look it up on the Internet rather than going through books to find it. Especially if it’s just a simple question, like what year a band formed, you can Google it instead of going out and finding a book for only one simple question. Basically anything you want or need to know can be found on the Internet.

Another advantage of the Internet is that it’s an easy way to keep in touch with family and friends. A lot of people have family members or friends who they don’t get to see often. The Internet helps people keep in touch through different forms of social media or Email. More and more people are joining Facebook, adults included, providing a way to communicate not only by messaging but also posting pictures to keep people updated.

The Internet is also a good way to keep up with current news. News channels like CBS, ABC, and CNN all have their own website with videos and articles about current news. If you miss the news on television, you can just go on the Internet to see what you missed. The Huffington Post and Buzzfeed are also good sites that keep people updated on world news, with several new articles posted every day. You can even download news station apps on your cell phone, along with Huffington Post and Buzzfeed apps.      

A disadvantage of the Internet would be that it has a lot of misleading of false information. Not all Internet sources are credible, accurate, and reliable. Anyone can make a website on the Internet and put false information on it. If you’re not careful about where you search for things, you could wind up with the wrong information. This is especially dangerous for students trying to write papers and study for tests. Finding false information can affect their grade as well as their own intelligence; believing the false information they found is actually true. If people always believe that what they see and read on the Internet is true it can lead to a generation of people who don’t search to find accurate information.

Another disadvantage of the Internet is not remembering information. Knowing that certain information is readily available on the Internet means that most people will be less likely to actually remember the information. This in turn can cause people to be less intelligent and rely on the Internet to tell them everything they need to know. People get lazy when they know they can use the Internet for almost every question they have. In July 2011, New York Times Magazine talked about a study done by Betsy Sparrow to find out whether or not people are likely to remember information they knew they could access on the Internet. The participants of the study looked up certain facts on the Internet and were later asked to recall the facts. The results showed that the participants didn’t make an effort to remember the information because they knew they could look it up again.

The Internet also makes certain people more socially withdrawn. A lot of kids and teenagers sit at home on their computers when they’re not at school either playing games or going on social media sites. People talk over the computer rather than calling each other on the phone or seeing each other face to face. Since many cell phones now provide Internet access, people play on their phones all day. You can go to a restaurant and observe an entire table on their phones instead of having conversation.

Mini Blog Assignment

I have created this blog for this class. I hope to get a better understanding of what exactly blogging is and how to use a blog. I also hope to learn more about people's ideas of how new media has positively and negatively affected the world. 

hello

new blog