Overdaft Fees

“Despite the new opt-in rule, overdraft fees continue to be a costly pain in the neck for millions of Americans.”(Daily Finance, 2011)

Have you ever experienced overdraft fees? Has the two dollar cup of coffee cost you thirty five dollars in overdraft fees. Well that is all a thing of the past, because of the new regulations set forth by federal regulators right…wrong. "It is exceedingly difficult for the average consumer to find the basic information needed to either select a checking account or to responsibly manage the one they currently have,"(Daily Finance, 2011) said Shelley A. Hearne, managing director of The Pew Health Group. You can still be on the hook for over draft fees and not know it; you need to read the fine print and ask questions. Did you know that overdraft fees could be assessed to your account? How you may be wondering it works like this; if you had an auto debit coming out every month as a reoccurring payment even if you did not opt-in you could still be charged I bet you didn’t that. consumers are ill informed and they need to take some responsibility for their actions. They don’t care about the fine print and expect there errors to be returned to them no questions asked.

Banks are in it to make money just like any other business that is what consumers fail to understand. The services that the bank provides you cost money: online banking, customer service centers, branches, printed material…etc. Banks need to charge you fees to pay for these services and still make a profit. That is where overdraft fees come in. Consumers need to educate themselves and be responsible for monitoring their accounts the banks will not do it for you.

NANCE-NASH, SHERYL. (2011). Bank overdraft fees still plague american consumers. Retrieved from http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/05/13/bank-overdraft-fees-still-plague-american-consumers/

Jerry B

Addicted to Cyber Social Networks, I Was !!!

I've heard this over and over again; the first step on the road to recovery is admitting you have a problem.  Okay, so I didn't think anything was wrong with it, I wouldn't call it an addiction, that is such a strong word.  I mean so what, who isn't Linkedin to  Facebook thru Twitter and StumbleUpon and Friendster  or too, hey its Myspace to do what I want Digg it.  So what if I check it once and hour, who doesn't, status update please, I picture, a link, tweet,  tweet  ta leet. So what if I have more Facebook friends than real friends, and I spend more time on Twitter than in sunlight, don't we all spend more time working on LinkedIn profile than doing actual work, I not the only one!  Regardless of your excuse, this is not okay. Okay, Okay well maybe I do have a problem, but I am not alone.

Andrew Eisner, Retrevo's director of Community and Content, noted in a blog post that the recent survey of 1,000 Americans showed that many people appear to be obsessed with trading information with their friends, family and co-workers.

The Retrevo Gadgetology study shows that 48% of those polled say they update Facebook or Twitter during the night or as soon as they wake up. And 19% of people under the age of 25 say they update Facebook or Twitter anytime they happen to wake up during the night; 11% over the age of 25 say they do the same thing.
The study also noted that 42% check Facebook or Twitter first thing in the morning, with 28% of iPhone users saying they do it before they even get out of bed.

"Among social media users, it appears almost half are so involved with Facebook and Twitter that they check in the first thing in the morning," said Eisner in the report. "With 16% of social media users saying this is how they get their morning news, could we be witnessing the first signs of social media services beginning to replace Good Morning America as the source for what's going on in the world?"
In fact, 54% of those polled said they get their morning news fix by logging onto Facebook and Twitter.
People seem so into their personal tech that they don't mind being interrupted from dinner, during a trip to the bathroom or even during sex. The study found that 40% of respondents don't mind being interrupted by a text message; 32% said interrupting a meal for a message is OK, while 7% said they'd even check a message during an intimate moment. Eleven percent of those under the age of 25 would interrupt sex for a message, and 24% under 25 would answer a message in the bathroom.

My, next word was Rehab; I admitted I have a problem next the solution.  I realized  that these sites are in place for me  to use, not abuse.  They are tools, not a way of life.  And if  I was using the tool for anything other than it’s intended use, It was a waste time.  But their is hope for you too I beat this addiction, and use these tools the way they were intended.

1.  Prioritize - Use these tools only when your work has been done, or during down time
2. Remove the Cell phone Apps – You don’t really need Facebook or Twitter on your phone. Hard One!!
3. Monitor Your Time Online – The easiest way to make sure you aren’t wasting time in any one place is to monitor your time, time yourself.
4. Spend More Time With Close Friends and Family – Most important one.... Sometimes were so caught up we forget the ones we hurt the most..

It wasn't easy but it was worth it... Free your mind and the rest will follow.  


http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9172378/Social_networking_addicts_updating_from_bed_bathroom
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/social-networking/information/social-networking-sites-addictive.htm

Chris Fluellen

Identity Theft, Are you who you say you are?

Have you ever had you identity stolen or the internet? If not you are one of the lucky few,  people who conduct business on the internet and has not in one way shape or form as the identity stolen.  It happen more often than you think and on websites we trust and is often underestimated and misunderstood by many people who take the most severe safety measures to guard privacy and safety on the Net.
Although statistically this type of identity theft occurs less frequently than other types, it is perhaps the type of ID fraud that we should be most aware of. Most people are not aware of how and when their ID was stolen but, based on these statics we can lower or prevent our ID from being stolen by taken a few precautions of the things we do with are personal information.
With internet identity theft we don't have to wait for a thief to physically steal our information. Instead, we may unwittingly hand over the information ourselves.
Information about us can be stolen by computer criminals from the databases of banks, retailers, ISPs and data clearinghouses.
However, that not the way most thieves get or information we give it to them without even knowing that we are doing it.  You know how they do, Lying of course, or should I say Phishing click here, put your information there. You think it’s your bank, your Paypal account, and just like that they have you and your information. 

based on Internet id theft statistics from a survey of 5000 U.S. adult Internet users, Gartner estimated that...

• 57 million adults have experienced a phishing attack
• 1.78 million adults could have fallen victim to the scams
• The cost of phishing... 1.2 billion dollars!

Sometime valuable that I learned in all this is that genuine companies will never ask for your personal information in this method. But, not knowing I took the bate because the emails and pop-ups look like they really come from the company indicated.

Not just with banks and but people as well. I received and email to me and this personal was talking to me like they knew me. I mean this person was typing me a 4 page letter and I was going to respond to say I think you have the wrong person. But then I thought of the time when someone spoofed my account and was sending out body part enlargement emails to everyone in my address book FROM ME.  My friends and family were like what is this crap your sending me. I said it not me, well its from you, they would say. But it really wasn't me if this has ever happened to you, whether you received one of those emails from someone you know or you were a victim you no my frustration.  So now my question is when I on, Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, or Yahoo or Hotmail.  Are you who you say you are? Well my answer is this you can Never be too careful!

 

 

http://www.guard-privacy-and-online-security.com
http://www.pcworld.com/article/116163/phishing_scam_reports_jump.html

Chris Fluellen

Protecting the Public or Violation of Freedom of Speech?

"Can you imagine what the police forces of our country would do with the power to shut down cell phone service at will?" asked a member of the public directed at the board of BART in San Francisco, CA. This question was asked after cell phone service to the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) was cut off in an attempt to squelch protests in the BART stations.

Is this a violation of free speech or is it a legally acceptable solution to ensure public safety? It is a tough call that the courts will ultimately have to decide but it raises a lot questions we should all take seriously.

If the government is allowed to shutdown cell phone service then why would they not be able to moderate your FaceBook postings or perhaps this blog article? Why not be able to censor the entire Internet and control results from search engines such as Yahoo or Google? This is how China operates, if they do not want a piece of information to get to its citizens they block it.

This may seem like a far stretch but I believe it is a slippery slope that we need to be very careful how we navigate. The underlying question is "How much control does the government have to control information in order to keep the citizens safe?". While I don't believe we will be living in 1984 by George Orwell, but I do believe we need to be careful.




References

BART's Cell-Service Cuts: Not Egypt, But Not Quite America Either. (2011). Retrieved August 2011, from The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/08/barts-cell-service-cuts-not-egypt-but-not-quite-america-either/244161/

VoIP…the New Frontier in Gaming?

“Online systems are a complex and moving target as social architectures and interfaces change and new community and entertainment forms emerge.”  (Williams, Caplan, & Xiong, 2007)

In the world of Massively Multiplayer Online-Role Playing Games (MMORPG) being able to communicate to others in the game is a necessity. In the past the only way to accomplish this was to use the chat feature. Every communication had to be typed into the game, and you would wait for a response. During critical moments in the game, when every second counts, this can take too long to be effective. So along comes VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) for the gamers. This technology allows players to communicate via voice during game play. It has greatly increased response time during those critical moments, which makes the game much more enjoyable.

Although voice chat can be a great benefit to the gaming world, it has also been a hindrance to some. When a player is communicating through text only, they can keep their identity anonymous, their background, their gender, and their age. The second you get on voice chat, it doesn’t take very long to figure out a few of these things. In most cases it does not seem to become a problem; usually a player is talking to other players they have played with before. They know they can play well, and that is all that matters in the game. However, this is not always the case. I have played World of Warcraft (WoW) for about a year now, I am a level 77 Human Warlock. I spend hours doing quests, helping other players, raiding, and doing dungeons. I never have a problem grouping with other players to complete a quest, or to run a dungeon. That is, until I get on voice chat, and they hear my voice. First it’s shock, “You’re a girl!” Then they want to treat me like I have never played before, even if I have just saved their butt! Now, I’m not saying this happens all the time, but more times than not.

Communicating through voice chat is a huge benefit to online play, but it does come with its drawbacks, as I have previously explained. In the article Can You Hear Me Now? Voice and Online Community, the study revealed that voice communication increased response time, and allowed for a better play experience. It also showed that the majority of the players in the study knew each other from outside the game. This leads me to believe that they are so excepting of others even when they can hear them, because they already know who they are. I also think that allowing other players to know your gender is a bigger problem for women, than it is for men. Even though there are huge numbers of women players, it always takes them by surprise when they find out they are playing with a “girl!” One study discovered the following statistics on players gender and age.

“From the survey data, the average age of the WoW player is 28.3 (SD = 8.4). 84% of players are male. 16% are female. Female players are significantly older (M = 32.5, SD = 10.0) than male players (M = 28.0, SD = 8.4). On average, they spend 22.7 (SD = 14.1) hours per week playing WoW. There are no gender differences in hours played per week.”  (WoW Basic Demographics, 2006)

In the end, I believe VoIP in the gaming community has increased game playing pleasure. There are drawbacks, but I think those will be overcome in the future.

Works Cited

Williams, D., Caplan, S., & Xiong, L. (2007). Can You Hear Me Now? The Impact of Voice. Human Communication Research , 427-449.

WoW Basic Demographics. (2006). Retrieved August 2011, from The Daedalus Gateway: http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001365.php

 By Jennifer D.

Identity and Trusting issues with Online Dating

Online dating and communicating over the internet or web has become increasingly popular. Web based matchmaking has become a big business, with industries sales totaling over $500 million since the late 1990’s to around 2006. People have a chance to build an establishing relationship before they actually meet in person. Online dating has achieved overwhelming commercial success, then, it is important to determine how they have overcome challenges in developing online trust. Social networks are now bigger than ever and do pose certain risks regarding user safety, online stalkers and identity mistrust.

“According to Schouten (1991), identity is the cognitive and affective understanding of who and what we are”.” Others believe our identities are shaped by who we think we are and how others perceive us. Online dating limits the face to face interaction; therefore we may alter who we really are. We can describe ourselves they way we want to be instead of the way we actually are. “The most common accusations included misrepresentations about physical appearance (86%), relationship goals (49%), age (46%), income (45%), and marital status (40%).” Trust is valued high in interpersonal relationships. Relationships between friends, lovers, siblings, husband and wives, parents and children, mentors and students are predicated on trust. One dating site Match.com establishes a climate of trust and familiarity among its members. Members create their identities within guidelines. Profiles include information on personality, physical appearance, demographics and ideal romantic partner. Online daters then can respond to people with similar interest to what they are looking for in a partner. They can respond with positive or negative feedback. They can narrow down their choices and get to know the other personal through asking them additional questions. Match.com may be one of the more successful and trustworthy websites, because you have to pay to become a member. If one has to pay they may be less likely to mislead with their information. The online profile becomes a vehicle for creating a “marketable” identity for meeting potential romantic partners on the internet.

The difference with online dating and face to face dating can only be with face to face you can see if you are attracted to the person and if you are talking to the opposite sex partner. With online dating you learn one’s personality first and their true appearance later. In an online relationship one could be lying about their age, race, sex and physical appearance. The main challenge for the site, however, is in ensuring that these identities and characteristics will be recognized online and deemed trustworthy by other members. This is one type of trust building strategy employed by online dating services. They rely on building trust among members by highlighting their similarities, by matching them with one another. If members perceive one another to be similar in physical appearance, attitudes, and values, they may be able to form stereotyped expectations regarding behavior. Online daters do not necessarily need to have an overwhelming or absolute sense of trust in one another; they only need to possess a trusting attitude, enough to continue corresponding and eventually meet face-to-face. The online dating website merely serves as a reliable introduction mechanism

Commercial dating services have successfully designed a system that allows for
the co-creation of identity and trust online. Through the rhetorical construction of the
member profile using the language of the dominant ideological perspective, the websites
are able to build and establish trust in a comfortable, familiar environment. It works!
The romantic relationship, regarded as one of the most intimate and private of
relationships and one which depends heavily on trust. It is successfully being sold online to 17 millions of people each year. There can still be some trust issues and danger issues with online dating, but finding a trustworthy dating website may be the key.

http://web.ebscohost.com.dml.regis.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&hid=19&sid=3eb1f0cd-37cb-4132-90dd-9017114f6064%40sessionmgr10

Rachel odom

Facebook Invasion

"Whether we like it or not, the battle over privacy has already been fought. Facebook won" (“Why We'll Never Escape Facebook,” 2010).

It is hard to remember a time when I actually had to talk to someone in person to be informed of what they are doing, what they are eating, where they are at, who they are dating, what they "like", who their friends are, etc... All of that information and much, much more is only a Facebook login away. People are seemingly becoming more open with the personal information they place on the Internet, especially social networking sites, like Facebook. According to recently released research by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, only one-third of Internet users worry about how much information is available about them online (“Why We'll Never Escape Facebook,” 2010). Facebook is taking full advantage of user openness and using it to increase profits from advertising. The company's goal is to expand the range of information you're sharing and get you to share a lot more of it, and it obvious that they are succeeding (“Friends Without Borders,” 2010). If users are in complete control of what information they choose to share on Facebook, why are many users outraged with the way Facebook is marketing their information?

According to recent studies, there are now 25 billion bits of information, from web links to photo albums, shared on the site each month (“Why We'll Never Escape Facebook,” 2010). What exactly does Facebook do with all of this information? Unfortunately, no one really knows. According to James Cowan's article in Canadian Business (2010), "While Facebook doesn't sell users' information to advertisers, it remains unclear what happens to the personal data harvested by the dozens of games, quizzes, personality tests and other time wasters that clutter Facebook." Facebook's privacy policy is rather lengthy and complex, and often times changes without warning its users. Facebook is infamous for implementing programs such as instant personalization, OpenGraph, and Beacon without prior notification to its users (“Why We'll Never Escape Facebook,” 2010). These programs pull user information from various websites that people view or purchase from and use it for advertisement purposes. According to James Cowan, "The company thrives on advertising revenue, on pooling users' information and using that data to target ads at very specific demographics" (“Why We'll Never Escape Facebook,” 2010).

When I login into my Facebook account, my News Feed shows me what my friends "like" and my sidebar is constantly displaying advertisements of products that I have either researched online or products related to those items. This is one example of the data mining that the organization participates in. Some people have shown much frustration to this "invasion" of privacy, but having a Facebook account is strictly voluntary, so why not just delete the Facebook account? It is not quite that easy to pull the plug, even when your privacy is at stake, because people have become emotionally invested and attached to Facebook. Facebook should be more considerate when it comes to warning users when they are making privacy policy changes; however, users must remember that Facebook is a free, use at your own risk social networking site. If users do not like how Facebook is using the information they disclose, they probably should not be using this site at all.


References

Why We'll Never Escape Facebook. (2010). Canadian Business , 83(10), 28-32. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.dml.regis.edu/ehost/detail?vid=14&hid=126&sid=c5e9ea72-7ff8-4d47-b541-4b6b9f88a750%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=51549933

Friends Without Borders. (2010). TIME, 175(21), 32-38. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.dml.regis.edu/ehost/detail?vid=14&hid=126&sid=c5e9ea72-7ff8-4d47-b541-4b6b9f88a750%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=50833790

Reana P.

Phishing

“Phishing is a ruse designed to gain sensitive information from an intended victim by way of e-mail and Web pages or letters that appear to be from genuine businesses, that command the potential victim to supply information to prevent an account from being closed, or as part of a promotion or give-away called a gimmie.” (Workman 2008)
As Workman states above, phishing is a ruse to obtain information or money from unsuspecting people. We have all seen this type of scam in the junk folder of our email. These kinds of emails are the ones asking for money to be sent to Nigeria or an from your bank asking you to confirm some piece of information. The term has been around for several years but it is growing in popularity and in everyday language. It has also grown in its sophistication; it is a science that can be quite fruitful if you are good. It is always a good idea to be vigilant and skeptical of anyone asking for any piece of information.
It can be easy to fall prey to some of these as they are getting more and more convincing every day. When in doubt, doubt even more. It is recommended that you do not click on the links provided in emails but instead enter them in manually to avoid spoofing a link. As we learned in the 6.2 assignment we can add any name to the link we create. We can create the link name as www.mosttrustedsiteever.com but set the link (a href=) to www.givemeyourcreditcard.com.


References
Workman, M. (2008). Wisecrackers: a theory-grounded investigation of phishing and pretext social engineering threats to information security. Journal of the American Society for Information Science & Technology, 59(4), 662-674. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Chris V.

Lack of Privacy

Lack of Privacy
“This erosion of anonymity is a product of pervasive social media services, cheap cell phone cameras, free photo and video Web hosts, and perhaps most importantly of all a change in people’s views about what ought to be public and what ought to be private” (Olson 2011).

The privacy that we once had, and what we should still have today doesn’t really exist. Once something is posted online, it is there forever. “The Internet has a permanent memory. Once something is tweeted, posted or photographed and placed online, you can remove yourself and your company from every social media site on the Web — but others will still have the goods and can repost them at any time” (Olson 2011).

Information that we do place online can be misinterpreted and can hurt your personal reputation or the reputation of the company you work for. So it is important to place the exact same story or information on all social media sites so you don’t give room for misinterpretation. Also, some people don’t care about keeping things private, so if you say something or do something, you never know, it might end up online one day.

If something is private, you should make sure that it remains private. It is important to realize that not everything needs to be posted online, because if you think someone won’t see it or find out, you are wrong.

Olson, Curtiss. (2011, August 4). Communication has changed - are you ready?. http://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/Tactics/Articles/view/9329/1034/Bonus_online_articl _Communication_has_changed_Are

Alyssa S.

The Digital Dilemma

“It seems that as soon as equipment for and books on cyberspace, digital culture, and technology are published, they are outdated.” (Heather L. Hundley, 2005)

How true this statement is; how many times have we seen this with new technology. Technology moves at such a fierce pace that publishers can’t keep up with the escalated change. Look at the facts about digital communication culture: Facebook comes 2004 followed by Twitter in 2006-7 and now Google+. Now let us move at a quicker pace if the earlier was not fast enough. I will look at computer culture with Intel Co. as an example. Intel releases there i3, i5, i7 chips for faster computer processing in 2009 and just a year later manufactures their second generation chips. I cannot see how educators can keep up with the ever changing speed at which today’s technology changes. I believe that is why books for technology classes can change so quickly from semester to semester.
I believe that technology has moved to a pace that cannot be captured in stander book form for publishers to produce. We need to find new ways capture new information and deliver it for consumption and education; maybe a new digital way to quickly gather information will be more productive. The new direction in cloud services could be the new way to access and teach students.


Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media; Mar2005, Vol. 49 Issue 1, p147-152, 6p

http://web.ebscohost.com.dml.regis.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f732a1b7-7ba9-49c2-8660-0a495db87ada%40sessionmgr14&vid=9&hid=25

Jerry B

Do Not Track

In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal. Sen. John Kerry told the Senate Commerce Committee,” Modern technology allows private entities to observe the activity of Americans on a scale that is unimaginable, and there is no general law governing the collection and use of that data”. (Privacy Measure Draws Support, Jennifer Valentino-Devries 2011). Anyone logging online and surfing the net should be aware of the data mining and tracking practices of businesses and corporations in cyberspace. In a bipartisan effort Senators McCain and Kerry are working on a privacy bill of rights, the bill labeled the Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act of 2011, would impose new rules on companies that gather personal data. The US has laws to protect only certain types of data such as health care and personal finances unlike the European Union Directive on Data Protection which states that personal information cannot be collected without a consumer’s permission, and they have the right to review the data and correct inaccuracies. Drawing from the ideas in the European Union Directive Washington should compile legislation that will insure the same protection without overstepping the bounds of government intrusion as well as allowing free enterprise to work.

Every American should have the right to browse the internet without fear of having their every click being tracked, saved and sold to the highest bidder. This is why I would support The Do-Not- Track-Online Act of 2011 which could be an amendment to the Kerry –McCain bill consequently forcing companies to respect a consumer’s decision to opt out of data collection. With the Federal Trade Commission creating and implementing a Do Not Track mechanism, it will be similar to the Do Not Call list that prevents telemarketers from contacting consumers that have opted out of data collection with one request. Even though many popular web browser companies have now included Do Not Track features on their browsers these privacy laws are necessary to insure that companies online abide by a consumers request to not be tracked. I support any legislation that protects the privacy of consumers in cyberspace from the abuses of companies that collect and sell personal information for profit even though the advertising industry claims that this could cause major damage to their industry. A balanced approach with a law similar to the European Privacy Directive without impeding business would be the best policy for the protection of all American consumers.

References

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703899704576204932250006752.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEFTTopNews

http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/160035-rockefeller-unveils-do-not-track-bill
Matt B.

Social Media Relationships

“As communication technologies become an integral part of our everyday interper¬sonal communication landscape, the borders between them gradually fade, both with respect to the functions they are supposed to accomplish and to the uses people make of them” (Petrovčič, 2011).

I believe the above quote by Petrovčič explains a lot about what is going on between relationships and technology these days. It has been stated many times that having relationships is a vital part keeping a person healthy and happy. Many times once we leave school, a job or even move to a different area, and it becomes more and more difficult and time consuming to keep up relationships with those in our past. Many people these days have turned to social outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, email and other mobile sources of communication to stay in touch with those they love. However, the faster and easier that the communication method is, some people believe the less meaning the message may have to the person that is receiving it. These status updates, posts and emails are ok for updating what is going on in your life, but should not replace one-on-one time that you have with people that you want to continue to have relationships with in your life.

With all the convenient methods we have of communicating these days, people should not forget to replace these conveniences with face to face connections. One way that I have found to keep in touch with loved ones while I am traveling or cannot meet in person is Face Timing or Skype. This form of social media communication still has all the conveniences that are appealing for people on the go, but being able to see someone’s face while communicating gets your personal message across a lot better that a few letter text messages. Being able to see a loved one’s face, even over an iPad or computer does not replace an “in person” conversation, but it does help to improve your mood while having to travel and be away from home for extended periods of time.

As the quote stated, technology is an integral part of our everyday communication, but we shouldn’t lower the value of our relationships because of it. I believe that it is still vital to use “old school” communication like the phone to chat with friends and try to meet with your best friends and family members on a regular basis in person to continue valuable relationships.

By: Samantha Fowler

Reference

Petrovčič, A. (2011). Social uses of interpersonal communication technologies in a
complex media environment. European Journal of Communication, 26(2),
Retrieved from http://ejc.sagepub.com/content/26/2/116
doi: 0.1177/0267323111402654

Communicating in Cyberspace

Blog Entry
Communicating in Cyberspace

"It is clear that the Internet serves different needs for different people” (Rodgers and Sheldon, 2002, p.91)

Millions of people use the Internet daily and among those users can be categorized into four groups: researching, communicating, surfing and, shopping. These groups show the Internet user intentions and were identified with the testing of a Web motivations inventory. This program was conducted on both students and nonstudents and allows researchers to develop strategies to capture and maintain the user’s attention. Companies can customize their web sites to direct customers to popular products and sites. By creating visual and audio cues with colorful eye catching phrases the user is drawn to these sites. This allows online advertisements to direct the four groups to frequently used sites effectively reaching the target market groups.
As we have seen by current research and technology our interest can be identified through our Internet usage. This can have both positive and negative effects. Having websites tailored to meet the users need is a positive aspect of the research we may not think about. Providing links and prompts to popular sites can minimize our search, creating better utilization of our time. It is nice to easily navigate the Internet when sites have been tailored to meet our needs, but it is a little unsettling to know this type of information can be obtained from just the click of a mouse. This increases my concern for Internet privacy and the safety of information we enter when using the computer such as: ID numbers, passwords, account numbers and logins. Will the advance in technology lead to breach of privacy and personal security?

Campbell, C., Parent, M., Plangger, K., Fulgoni, G. (2011). Instant Innovation: From Zero to
Full Speed in Fifteen Years, Journal of Advertising Research, 8, 79. Retrieved from
URL: http://web.ebscohost.com.dml.regis.edu

Peggy B.

Ethics In Cyberspace

Ethics in Cyberspace

In an article by Robert Hauptman and Susan Motin they stated: “Computers have changed the way we create. The internet is changing the way we communicate. We should make certain that these innovations do not change the way we act.”(Hauptman & Motin, 1994)
The dawn of the computer age set in motion a new method of communication. This format requires the user to be responsible for what they post on-line when it comes to ethical behavior. This has led to a crisis of sorts many never envisioned we would face. For many readers if it is posted on the internet then it must be true, however according to the standards we have today nothing could be farther from the truth. Any and everyone one who has access to a computer can pretty much post what they think. This allows people who seek to incite others to their way of thinking to post their beliefs. In computer lingo these people troll for victims even if just one person falls prey to their vile remarks or untruths we are all victims.
In the beginning computers ethics held on to the belief that, as according to Arlene H. Rinaldi “manners, courteous behavior, decorum, common consideration and decency” was what one should expect to receive on-line. (Rinaldi, 1996). This viewpoint has more to do with manners than ethics and while it is a base line for internet behavior it does not offer any moral compass on how we behave on line except to be nice to each other. This leaves the door wide open for contamination of the internet with inadvertent errors and falsifications. This ability to post with a spontaneous reply leaves us little room for editing our posts and errors happen. Areas which seem most likely to be in the line of fire for ethical breeches are: professional conduct, scholarly research, peer review, publication, computer usage and data base searching. (Hauptman & Motin, 1994).
The main concerns in seeking a better foundation for ethical behavior on-line are: avoid censorship; the internet with its wide range of diverse users must make a conscious effort to allow the internet to remain free of constraints on content. Even a small attempt to control content could set off a fire storm of debate as in the case that authors are concerning blog postings unless the post is a threat to physically harm someone in any way we must allow for the free speech. As stated by the chairman of the SPJ(Society of Professional Journalists) Ethics Committee and I quote “The biggest ethical challenges facing our profession come from cyberspace” during a BlogWorld and New Media Expo in 2010 out of 140 workshops only one addressed ethics in journalism(Smith, 2010).
Value confidentiality this is the trademark of a true professional we must make every effort to protect each individual from communicating this type of information. The failure to shield a person or company from this release of information could lead to potential liability or even malpractice suits. We need to guard against an attack on a person’s privacy as this could lead to even bigger breeches in ethical behavior. This includes the undertaking of any form of hacking into another person’s computer. We see the harm this does to the daily user in the form of virus or spyware attacks (Hauptman & Motin, 1994).
Respect copyright information. We need not offer or accept unauthorized software or printed documents. This includes using someone else’s ideas or taking credit for something not your own (Hauptman & Motin, 1994).
We all need to avoid ideology as it is misleading especially in the form of propaganda. We need to understand how this type of information should be viewed in a format other than the internet. We still have access to phone service, books journals and magazines.
We all need to be held accountable for what we post and treat the internet as a privilege that comes with responsibility.


 
References
Hauptman, R., & Motin, S. (94, March). The internet, cyber ethics, and virtual morality. Online, 18(2), 8-10.

Rinaldi, A. H. (1996, May 1). The net: user guidelines and netiquette. Retrieved from http://courses.cs.vt.edu

Smith, K. Z. (2010). Avoid journalistic pigpens. Quill, 98(6), 36-39.

Cindi

Promoting Teenager Online Safety

Today the internet plays a huge role in our teen’s daily lives, providing a platform for knowledge and entertainment. It can also be dangerous and they can encounter safety hazards. Our teen’s today use the internet at school and at home. It is used anywhere from doing homework to socializing with their friends. Frequent Internet use makes teens susceptible to online frauds and covert threats such as phish, spyware, and viruses, threatening the integrity of their computers and personal information and we need to explore ways to keep them safe.

“Teenagers are particularly susceptible due to their regular Internet use (Liau, Khoo, and Hwaang 2005) and their still developing social, interpersonal, and computer skills.” The internet and mobile phones play an important role in the life of our teenagers. These items offer them numerous possibilities for information, entertainment and social contacts with peers. There are, however, also some negative aspects related to ICT. Internet is used for common purposes such as studying, homework, emailing, playing games, chat sites and hobbies. Teens constantly are surfing the internet for school related projects, social and to download games and music. It is important they learn safety with the internet. ” One-fourth of adolescents who participated in Stahl and Fritz’s (2002) Internet safety survey admitted to practicing unsafe behaviors online. Over seventy percent (74%) of these respondents had contact with a stranger via e-mail or chat rooms and 25% had shared identifying information about themselves.” Teen participation in online social networks such as MySpace and Facebook has become increasingly popular. Over half of teens have MySpace profiles and a third of those are unrestricted. Nearly a third post personally identifiable information that makes them vulnerable to identity theft including their last name or email address, and 79% post pictures of themselves. Children and teenagers appear to be an extremely vulnerable group. Studies about cyber bullying are scarce. It is a problem and we need to know the impact on our children with the regard of the profile of the victim and the bully. Cyberbullying is harassment on the internet, online aggression, internet stalking. There is a strong link between traditional bullying and cyberbullying. The problem is now that kids cannot get away. Used to you could go home and not be affected but now you are connected by phone and internet. Pupils who send threatening e-mails or text messaging to their class mates, or create websites with denigrating pictures of these persons. In the study of Ybarra & Mitchel (2004) among 1489 9 to 17 year olds, for instance, 19% of the young regular internet users in the sample were involved in online harassment in some capacity within the previous year: 11.7% could be classified as “aggressor-only”, 3.7% as “victim-only”, and 2.9 % as aggressor/victim. We as parents and school officers need to use safety techniques to protect our teens from internet dangers. One way is with technical implications such as updating operating systems and browser patches, updating virus protections, deleting cookies and changing passwords. We need to make sure online agreements and privacy statements are read before downloading software and removing email addresses from list of domains. Parent involvement helps to stop unsafe behavior such as meeting strangers online and accessing unwanted internet content. Parents need to monitor their teen’s online activities, make sure they do not give out their name, or any other personal information on the internet. It is as important not to talk to strangers on the internet as it is in person. Some schools also provide special software to help monitor unauthorized use on their computers. They have certain sites blocked as well.

Cyber communication these days are a very important part of our teen’s lives. It is their social connection with their friends and it is their way to research assignments for school. Today with the amount of time spent on their cell phones and computers we need to be aware of the dangers that are present and find ways to protect our teens.


East Lansing, Michigan USA. Web. 05 Aug. 2011. .

Remote Database Access. Web. 05 Aug. 2011. .


RACHEL O.