This from the nytimes bits blog. Facebook is attempting to clarify their privacy settings. Now when you post something, you’ll have the option to choose who sees each particular post – the public, friends, or custom made (spherical-shaped) groups. The changes are supposed to roll out on Thursday.
In other news, nothing much else has changed about Facebook and they still make money off the data they keep from spying on their users.
Posted in ConnectUpdates, PublishUpdates
Lately, many people have been writing about the naming policies of social networks. This is because Google+ requires its users to use their real names in their profiles. Facebook does too.
Online, our names are tightly and persistently coupled with our actions. Pseudonyms put a measure of distance between our identity online and our real identity. For some, this is necessary and desired. And as Alex Madrigal, writing for The Atlantic argues the policy of using real names online is actually a revolutionary concept.
danah boyd writes that real name policies on social networks are an abuse of power. The people who most heavily rely on pseudonyms in online spaces are those who are most marginalized by systems of power. Having a pseudonym is important for many people and many reasons.
Even if pseudonyms are allowed, however, we are still identifiable by other means. We do not control the data gathered from the services we use. And what we share and with whom we share it can be used to identify us in surprising ways. As Eben Moglen, law professor and Chairman of the Software Freedom Law Center, brilliantly describes, having privacy is more than just keeping one single thing about us a secret – whether it’s our name, our location or even our sexual orientation:
“[The] problem is all the stuff that’s the cruft, the data dandruff of life, that we don’t think of as secret in any way but which aggregates to stuff that we don’t want anybody to know about us. Which aggregates, in fact, not just to stuff we don’t want people to know but to predictive models about us that we would be very creeped out could exist at all.”
This is not to say anonymity (and pseudonymity) are a lost cause and not worth fighting for. Far from it. Perhaps though, we’re missing a larger picture. The way our Internet is structured – with all of our data concentrated in virtualized servers owned by companies offering client minions like us “free” services – means that, ultimately, pseudonym or not, Facebook and Google still own us (and know who we are).
Posted in ConnectUpdates, ProtectUpdates, PublishUpdates, Uncategorized, Updates
Tagged facebook, google, Pseudonyms, social networks
In 2009, 45 percent of employers were using social media to screen applicants, according to a CareerBuilder survey. That number has likely increased since.
An interesting infographic in The Atlantic describes what employers find objectionable about a potential hire’s use of social media:
Along with aspects employers liked to see:
Posted in ConnectUpdates, PublishUpdates, Uncategorized, Updates, WorkUpdates
Therese Fowler’s third novel Exposure blends a Romeo and Juliet inspired love story with a modern day high school drama, complete with Facebook and sexting. The well-written, fast-paced novel tells the story of two high school teenagers, Anthony and Amelia. Both attend an expensive private school in North Carolina. Both are madly in love with each other. Both hide their relationship from friends and especially Amelia’s father, Harlan, a strict, self-made millionaire car dealer, who would flip if he knew his daughter was dating anyone, let alone, Anthony, the son of Spanish teacher and single mother Kim.
Everything is going okay for the pair as they eagerly await graduation from high school and Amelia’s 18th birthday, after which they are free to be together openly, to move to New York together and to study theatre at university. But things soon take a turn for the worse when Amelia and Anthony trade naked pictures of each other via text message. Harlan discovers the photos on her daughter’s laptop, calls the cops, and uses his power and influence to turn local law enforcement, the national media and a zealous prosecutor on Anthony. The plot hinges on Amelia’s age. Because she is 17, Anthony faces child pornography charges and serious jail time from their “sexting”.
The central premise of the novel – that an underaged teen could face child pornography charges for sending photos to their boyfriend or girlfriend – stems from an actual experience of Fowler’s when her then 19-year-old son had been arrested on a misdemeanour charge for emailing nude photos of himself to a 16-year-old female friend. Told from the perspective of all the characters involved, the story is an entertaining read even if the ending is a bit far-fetched. It also serves as a cautionary tale to underaged teens thinking of sending sexually-explicit images of themselves online or by phone.
A law in Missouri was recently passed that makes it illegal for teachers to be “friends” with students on any social networking site that allows private communication. Here’s the complete story from NPR news. The larger bill was passed with great support because it was designed to protect children from predatory teachers.
But as one teacher points out, a teacher’s job is to reach out to students and that means going where they are. Today, students do not use email as much and have instead turned to social networking sites to communicate. Instead of protecting children, the new law may be hurting them by limiting a students ability to contact teachers if they need help.
Posted in ConnectUpdates, LearnUpdates, ProtectUpdates, Uncategorized, Updates
Apparently, it’s not Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace that get most job candidates in trouble. According to Max Drucker, CEO of Social Intelligence, only about one-third of the incriminating web content comes from those platforms. Drucker’s company contracts with employers to scope out job candidates online and reports back any positive or negative info the company can legally use.
Rather it’s deep Web searches that reveal comments on blogs and posts on Tumblr, Yahoo user groups, e-commerce sites, bulletin boards and Craigslist, that get most people in trouble. Also photos and videos that people post – or find themselves tagged in – on Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Picasa, Yfrog and Photobucket.
“We also see flagrant displays of weapons. And we see a lot of illegal activity. Lots and lots of pictures of drug use,” Mr. Drucker is quoted as saying in a recent article in the New York Times.
Yet another reason to think before you ink.
Posted in ConnectUpdates, ProtectUpdates, Uncategorized, Updates, WorkUpdates
Tagged job, social networks, startup, Work
Last month, Pew Research Center released a report titled Social Networking Sites and Our Lives. How do social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Twitter affect our relationships? Do they isolate us? Or are there benefits associated with being connected to others online through social networks? These are the questions the study sought to answer.
The answers are interesting and worth a look. Here are some of the conclusions drawn from the telephone survey of some 2,000 Americans conducted in late fall of 2010:
The findings from the Pew Research survey suggests that, rather than isolating and truncating meaningful human relationships, online social networks might do the opposite – and not just in a “I now have 523 friends” kind of way.
This increased connection and trust from social networks, offers an interesting contrast to a study conducted by Sherry Turkle, MIT social psychologist. Her new book, Alone Together is based on reviews of other studies and interviews with 300 children and 150 adults. It argues almost the exact opposite of the Pew study. People who devote significant time to their online connections are more isolated than ever in their non-virtual lives, leading to emotional disconnection, mental fatigue and anxiety.
“The most dramatic change is our ability to be ‘elsewhere’ at any point in time,” Turkle says. “To sidestep what is difficult, what is hard in a personal interaction and go to another place where it does not have to be dealt with.”
What then, to make of these conflicting reports?
The two studies, one from Pew, the other Turkle’s, seem to describe two sides of a single coin, which for me isn’t surprising when I consider my own use of social networks. I can sense feelings of social connectedness both online and off and of isolation as well. Sometimes, at the same time. I suppose the ability to be ‘elsewhere’, an affordance of online social networks, can be a blessing and a curse. Depending, of course, on where one happens to be at the moment and the possible alternatives.
If you’ve ever Googled yourself, searched pipl.com or scoped out MIT’s Personas than it’s likely you’ve come across some interesting results – Since when is my MySpace profile from high school the only proof of my existence online? Who’s this B-list celebrity with my same name and an arrest record? Where’s the blog that I update regularly?
Keeping tabs on your online identity is a good practice. Remembering to periodically enter search terms about yourself can feel tedious though. Not to mention narcissistic. Enter “Me on the Web” from Google.
This new service, available to anyone with a Google account, can alert you when your personal information is published online. It’s similar to setting a Google alert with your name as a search term. “Me on the Web” allows for as many search terms as you like – your name, phone number, address, anything. When new content about you is posted online, you can choose to be alerted by email as it happens, or once a day or week. Then it’s up to you what to do about it. Google offers tips for managing your online reputation and removing unwanted content from the web.
Exploring Google+, the just released social networking service from Google is like walking through an unfinished house. The frame is there but it’s missing the people and pictures on the walls that make it a home. As the invites roll out and more people sign up though, that’s sure to change. Still, even just the basic frame of the social network is enough to indicate that Google may have created something that can finally hold its own against Facebook.
Here’s a + review and a - one.
Google+, while similar in many respects to Facebook, offers important differences that could appeal to users wary of sharing too much of their information online. The service allows you to organize your friends, acquaintances, colleagues and family members in separate social spheres. It then gives you control over which content is shared with whom. Your contacts don’t see which social “circle” of yours they’ve been placed in, so the focus is more on the actual communication and sharing happening in your circles and less on the conversations that you are not involved in directly. At least that’s what I extrapolate from the brief time I spent playing around with the service last night.
For a brief tour of the Google+ project, check out the video below, Adria Richards’ first look at Google+.
The technology is only half the picture. And how or whether people actually use the circles, hangout, and sparks features remains to be seen. For me though, I appreciate a social network that accommodates the various flavours of human relationships I encounter in my daily life – beyond the simple, and now meaningless, online brand of “friend”. With the status out of the way, the emphasis is on the interaction. As one review eloquently put it, it seems less “‘Love me! Love me!’ and more ‘People I love: Let’s chill.’” Whether Google+ lives up to this ideal remains to be seen.
Every social networking service is what you make of it and I imagine both the engineering of the site and the personalities who use it make all the difference. Still I am excited and optimistic about Google’s latest contribution to the social media landscape.
Long live our benevolent corporate overlords!
Posted in ConnectUpdates, Social Networks, Updates
Tagged facebook, google, privacy, social_network
This summer UBC IT services will be switching student email away from NetInfo/Interchange email. Instead, UBC will offer two new optional services – an alias email address and a mailbox service hosted by an external provider. Which provider UBC will work with is not known at this point. The change comes at a time when many universities across Canada have switched to cloud-based email services hosted by Google, Microsoft or Zimbra/Scalar – an email solution hosted in Canada.
The reasons for the switch? Cloud-based email services are cheaper and more convenient, with fewer university resources devoted to maintaining and upgrading email servers and software. The email services also come with useful contacts, and calendaring systems, supporting a range of devices from desktops to smartphones. And unlike a standard gmail account, the service offered by to the university does not permit advertising or data mining of student information by the company.
Another perk is that with the switch, which applies only to students not faculty and staff, students will be able to keep their UBC email address for life.
In light of these changes, here are some important points to keep in mind (some courtesy of the University of Alberta, which is switching to gmail):
Despite these cautions, email is a fantastic tool, one that can facilitate communication and enhance learning at the university.
Posted in ConnectUpdates, LearnUpdates, ProtectUpdates, PublishUpdates, Updates
Tagged cloud computing, email, software as service, UBC
