Facebook Cyberstalking

When reading the article Facebook Prank Backfires on Two Preteen Girls I was shocked. Two girls aged 11 and 12 obtained the Facebook password of a classmate and posted sexually explicit content on her profile. The girls are being charged with cyberstalking and first-degree computer trespassing. I thought with all of the publicity about cyberbullying, kids would know better than to attack other kids online. However, what I am surprised by most is how young these girls are. They must be in sixth grade. It makes me sad that even young girls feel they must bully others.

The article doesn’t talk about how Facebook played into the girls being charged. This is the first case I have heard about with cyberbullying using Facebook as the medium. A few years back, Myspace was a popular cyberbullying site.

I am glad that these girls will be taught a lesson. However, in the end they are just kids. One has to consider how much punishment is too much. I think that the parents of these girls also need to reassess their parenting style because at 11 and 12, kids should not be hacking into another person’s social media site to post inappropriate information. I guess in the age of the Internet, being 12 is a lot different than when I was that age.

If you would like to check out the article you can find it here: http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-prank-backfires-on-two-preteen-girls-2011-04

The World-Wide Web

I found The World-Wide Web article very interesting. I still find it so fascinating that the Internet became popular not that long ago. This article was written in 1994 and the World-Wide Web has come so far since then. First of all, we don’t even refer to it as the World-Wide Web anymore. Secondly, the Internet has grown larger than I think anyone anticipated. I for one don’t know what I would do without Google, let alone the Internet.

This article discussed a few main ideas. The first one talks about what the World-Wide Web is. When the article talked about Gopher and WAIS, I had never heard of those Internet services before. The World-Wide Web definitely outlasted them.

The article also talked about where W3 is going. I find this interesting because of course we already know where it went. However, the Internet is still growing and expanding so I think it will be interesting to see where we go from here.

I am not the most technologically savvy person so I liked learning about what some of the Internet lingo meant. The term that I found most interesting was HTML. I had no idea that it meant Hypertext Markup Language. Overall, the article was very informative. I feel like I understand the evolution of the Internet a little bit more now.

A Virtual Death and A Real Dilemma

I found A Virtual Death and A Real Dilemma a very interesting article. I still can’t believe that someone would make up a virtual cancer patient. We all know that the web is place where we can take on different identities, but in my opinion, adopting the identity of a terminally ill teenager just seems wrong.

The article brings up some interesting ideas about online communities. The article states, “in online and offline contexts alike, the true test of a community is not how it manages during times of harmony, but how it confronts crisis.” I find this very interesting. It is very true. You can also tell a person’s character based upon how they react in adverse situations.

I learned about assessment signals and conventional signals. Assessment signals are difficult to fake and can usually be considered trustworthy sources, whereas conventional signals are much easier to fake and therefore have less credibility.

Being a part of an online community takes trust. The story about Kaycee Swenson should be used as a lesson to not believe everything you read online. However, I don’t think that people should not believe anything they read. I think that just being cautious is the safest way to go about conducting yourself and getting involved on the Internet.

Facebook is a Helpful Tool for the Elderly

I found this article incredibly interesting. My grandmother has Alzheimer’s so memory loss is a common topic in my household. I find it very interesting that using Facebook can possibly stave off memory loss. I guess this makes sense because when you are stimulating your brain and keeping it engaged, it should work better. This article stated that in a study, the elderly people using Facebook demonstrated better cognition and were more on the ball.

Something that I found very interesting is that over 1.5 million seniors have a Facebook profile. I find this statistic very surprising. My grandfather can’t even input new numbers into his cell phone. With all of this new technology, I think it is great that people are finding ways to keep the elderly more engaged. I also think social networking sites are a great tool for the elderly to stay in touch with family members that may not live close. In any event, if the elderly are willing to try Facebook, and even gain something from it health wise, I think we should all encourage our grandparents to consider it.

If you would like to read the article you can find it here: http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-helps-stave-off-memory-loss-in-elderly-2011-04

The End of Books

I found The End of Books, very interesting. I am one of those people that is fighting against getting a Kindle. I like reading books the old fashion way. I like the way turning the page feels. I love going to the book store and seeing what new books are on display. Sadly, I think that the old way of reading is on its way out the door. Technology has come along and made reading paper novels a thing of the past. Bookstores are filing for bankruptcy because people can now download books onto their personal reading devices.

This article addresses something similar to what I am talking about. The article talks about hypertext. The way it is explained is that people can go in and change the story as they go along. I had never heard of this before. I think that it is an interesting concept, however, not something that I would want to do. I found the example about all the different bartenders interesting, if not a little disturbing.

I guess hypertext is a way for people to really let their imaginations run wild. It is a very interesting idea and something that I might try once, however I am not sure how much I would enjoy it. I think I will stick to the plain old paperback books that I have grown up with.

Blogging: self presentation and privacy

I enjoyed reading the article Blogging: self presentation and privacy. Privacy is something that I am always aware of when writing anything whether that is a blog post or simply an email. At a very young age, my mom told me to never write something down that I didn’t want around forever. With the Internet, even if you try to delete something, once it is out there, it may never truly be deleted.

This article talks about the issue of privacy while blogging. The article stated that there were three types of privacy: informational, accessibility, and expressive. I found expressive to be the most interesting because it talks about how when people know they don’t have any privacy they behave differently. They don’t share as much about themselves. While blogging, I fall into this privacy category. I try to provide personal details, however not too much. I am constantly thinking about who has access to what I am saying. Like one of the participants stated, it’s possible for employers to read what you write. We can relate this back to Facebook. When I was working on journal 4, I learned that some companies look at Facebook profiles when deciding on potential employees. With the Internet making everyone so accessible, it is important to always be aware of what you write down because you never know who is going to read it.

Facebook Terror Alerts

If you would like to check out the article, you can find it here: http://www.allfacebook.com/government-to-issue-terror-alerts-on-facebook-2011-04