Betty on the Internet

You have a new friend request! Who’s added you on Facebook?
Well you have 1 mutual friend, Abdusah Sadahmale, another who added you a while ago, so you add them, why not!

But it’s these situations where you’ve allowed possibly anyone, a key into your whole world. Access to photos, information, friends, posts, interests, so many facts about you, accessed by a random that you don’t even realise, all by clicking “Allow”.
Security on the internet is a very loosely used term. With the amount of people using the internet increasing significantly each year, safety is becoming overlooked. As Rosie’s New Media Reflections blog speaks about safety on the internet, she highlights the risks of cyber bullying.

That also links to Hamelink (2006) questions “Can the choice of a fictive personality (“persona”) do harm to other users and how well should one protect one’s privacy?” It all comes down to your own choice; however tools like Facebook Places invade our privacy to a whole new level. We need to remember that the internet never forgets, so what’s put on it will last forever.

People forget the lack of security on the internet due to feeling comfortable in their surroundings when online, which can result in your privacy being invaded. If you are not aware and careful of this, it can result in a dangerous situation.




References
Hamelink, C. (2006). The Ethics of the Internet: Can we cope with Lies and Deceit on the Net? In Ideologies of the Internet, K. Sarikakis & Daya Thussu, pp. 115-130. New Jersey: Hampton Press.

Monty, C. “Is your privacy about to disappear forever?” Last modified February 21, 2009. http://www.blippitt.com/is-your-privacy-about-to-disappear-forever

Rosie’s New Media Reflection. 2011. “Sticks and stones may break your bones, but online taunts will haunt you.” 27 March 2011. Accessed 28th March 2011. http://rosiesnewmediareflections.blogspot.com/

What's in the music

Much like the car we drive, or how we do our hair, it is said that music says the same about us.

Music gives us a sense of identity and belonging, creating common grounds between you and the other supporters of the same bands and singers. However over the years, it has become too easy to get any kind of music imagined, which is now taken for granted. Gone are the days of the Walkman, where you would listen to a CD entirely, now we flick through our iPods from song to song, artist to artist, in a matter of minutes.

Along with the status over which genres and bands are popular, this too is always changing. As Levy explains that people define themselves and are judged by what they listen to. With explicit images and themes in music videos, this too is changing our ideas of music. The rise of YouTube has created these aspects which are more heavily weighted now, than ever. People have started judging music by what they see, and the value of music and lyrics has dwindled. Young girls are singing along to music like Rihanna’s- S & M song, yet not understanding truly what they’re singing, view video here(warning MA15+) . So if they are listening to this kind of music, does this still then reflect their identity and beliefs too?

Losing attention faster and faster, this is the ‘Net generation’, as society is trying to keep up by delivering what they want, in some situations it seems not always for the best.



References
Levy, S. (2006). The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture and Coolness, New York: Simon & Schuster, pp. 21-41.

Singh, M. (2008). Bollywood's Viral Video in Time International(Canada Edition), Vol. 171, Issue 14.

YouTube Video, S & M by Rihanna, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=452JBsXCqfM.

Bite back.

Public displays of connection have moved to the next level, blurring the line between close relationships and just online friends. Yet many are willing to share almost anything with what they call their "friends". As Donath and Boyd explain

"knowing that someone is connected to people one already knows and trusts is one of the most basic ways of establishing trust with a new relationship".

However risks associated with this type of connection are very high due to how much one is willing to say online. It may be an emotion fuelled post about a colleague, but funnily enough that ‘new friend’ you’ve just made, happens to know that same person and just like that, a bad situation has arose.

With the ease of accessibility on pages like Facebook and Myspace, the user becomes comfortable with the page and trusts their surroundings, much like the glass bedroom concept, easily forgetting that many of their ‘friends’ they actually barely know. In reality, most of the time, it is no “You’ve got mail” love story. It comes down to asking yourself the question of "Would I go up to each of my online friends, and tell them this in person?", and if the answer is no, then it most likely doesn't deserve to be online.

You've got to be careful about the content put online, because one day it could just bite back.




References
Donath, J. and Boyd, D. (2004). Public displays of connection. BT Technology Journal , volume 22 (4): 71-82.

Pearson, E. (2009). All the World Wide Web's a stage: the Performance of Identity in Online Social Networks . First Monday, volume 14, Number 3.