Mass Communications
Research Activity
"Write down ways you think you are changing your use of media as a result of your study of media."
The Internet is a medium of our generation. It's something that is new to an extent and ever changing. The elderly don't bother with it and the middle aged pay for classes on it's many wonders and uses. But how safe is the Internet really? After studying reading the chapter on the World Wide Web, as well as listening to the lecture in class about it's many advantages and disadvantages I began to wonder how I would change my Internet practices?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071205/ap_on_hi_te/facebook_about_face_2
Facebook is an online social network that connects millions of users threw multiple networks that those users have in common. Facebook was invented by Mark Zukerberg, a Harvard student, who initially created the network for only Harvard students. Within months it was expanded to all Ivy League schools and as of September 11, 2006 and one thirteen and over can join and be connected threw a college, high school, work establishment, or geographical region. It has been estimated that by the end of this year Facebook will have 55 million members world wide. Facebook is also ahead of Flickr in photo uploads with over 60 million photos uploaded weekly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHi-ZcvFV_0
Before attending Intro to Mass Communication classes I really didn't see any harm in posting photos of my friends intoxicated, or writing on other people's walls about how smashed so and so was last night. I never thought in a million years that those things would ever catch up to me or anyone for that matter. I had heard a "rumor," about someone getting media attention after they weren't hired on a job because of their Facebook page.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/03/technology/face.php?WT.mc_id=rsstechnology
Before we really got into the lecture of the Internet our class had a brief discussion of Facebook and what it is and what it's functions in our society. Many students said that Facebook was a way to communicate with friends from high school who went to different colleges etc. Other's said Facebook was a great way to get everyone to go to an event since sending out a mass email to an email account could just be spammed out where as on Facebook regardless of your settings you will always receive an invite which is a very powerful thing when it comes to bands trying to get people coming to their shows. If you see your friend has been invited and has said that they are going you'll probably end up going too. One thing that was brought up was the issue of identity and privacy on Facebook. Recently or in the past year, teachers and staff members have been using Facebook as a way to monitor weekend behavior of students. Members of Law Enforcement now have profiles in order to keep track of underage party invitations.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071205/lf_nm/facebook_relationships_dc_2
The privacy part of discussion really freaked me out. I really wanted to know what Facebooks privacy stances were on giving out special privileges to Law Enforcement officials, Teachers, Campus Safety, Principles etc. I then emailed a privacy personal affiliated with Facebook and asked them there stance on that issue. The email I received back was vague and tip-toed around the "control," of their website and who can access what. The following email is the response I got and due to it, I have severely limited what is published on my profile as far as pictures, notes, wall posts, and general information about me goes. Because of my studies in Mass Communication I now look at the Internet as a "frenemy," if you will. A frenemy being a person that you have a relationship with but you know could stab you in the back at any moment. I use Facebook on a daily bases and consider it a friend but I know that if anything ever goes on my profile that is questionable and the wrong person sees it...Facebook will be the first one to stab me in the back.
http://www.facebook.com/
Hi Lauren, We appreciate your concern. Although Facebook was never intended as a tool to monitor users, we cannot always prevent it from being used this way. The only people who can see your profile are friends and people on your networks. That said, we cannot prevent people with affiliated email addresses from joining the corresponding networks. For instance,if a campus police department gives its employees a college email address, these people will be able to affiliate with that particular college's network. Aside from such situations, however, we do not grant anybody - whether employers, law officers, school administrators, or even parents - any kind of special access to information on Facebook that they would not normally be able to view. In order to avoid any problems regarding your Facebook information, ween courage you to make use of your options on the Privacy page. These options allow you to restrict certain people from viewing your profile or even finding you in searches. For example, you can block all people with faculty/staff status, and you can also block specific users. Please take a look at the Privacy page and you will see the many options we provide to keep your profile safe and private.
Thanks for contacting Facebook,
Jamie
Customer Support Representative
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