On January 27 of this year, Egypt’s entire Internet service was shut down. All devices could not connect, including cell phones. Could all of this really be because of an innovative use of Facebook in Cairo, Egypt?
We may forget, as Americans, that freedom of assembly (freedom to protest) is not a global right. In fact, it is illegal to protest in Cairo, Egypt. If found protesting or planning a protest in Cairo, you can find yourself with up to one year in prison and some severe financial costs. Since this was the case for young activists in Egypt, they had to find another way to communicate with one another. Thousands of young individuals turned to social networks, specifically Facebook and Twitter. Members created groups and organized protests throughout the country.
Their government began to see more and more protests and was questioning how everyone was communicating. When it seemed as if the government had no control they decided to shut down the Internet to regain power. According to a US-based Internet monitoring firm, Renesys, the total shutdown was “unprecedented in internet history” and went far beyond measures taken during previous protests.
The shut down did not only affect people in Egypt, it shut down all communication with Egypt globally. The United States government found Twitter and Facebook as the most useful sources for news updates in Egypt. Twitter immediately reacted to the shut down by creating a temporary call-to-text program. People from Egypt were able to call the number and leave a brief voicemail. Shortly after being received, Twitter staff would either post it online or translate the messages to text. This kept communication flowing during the shut down.
There are mixed emotions on whether or not the revolution was successful but one thing is for sure. The 2011 Egyptian Revolution will go down as the first revolution created on Facebook. The movement has influenced other countries to use social media to connect with one another. Facebook officials do not wish to comment on the matter.
This powerful, innovative use of Facebook showed what Facebook’s future may entail.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Social Media is a Powerful Tool
Earlier in the semester I was fortunate enough to speak with Dr. Britten, a WVU journalism professor. He currently teaches a Blogging and Interactive Journalism course that includes teaching students innovative journalism methods. This seems to be one of the paths social media has taken us. More news companies are joining Twitter and Facebook because it is where so many people are communicating. Britten went on explaining to me how social media is a powerful tool.
He first described the development of the blogging course. The university contacted him a few years ago to create a curriculum for a blogging class. He had no idea where to start and decided to go to Facebook for help. “I went on Facebook and wrote, ‘I’ve been asked to develop this blogging class and I have no idea where to get started,’” said Britten. He said that within twenty-four hours he received over thirty messages, most including helpful information, which guided him to create the 3-credit college course.
Britten called what he had done “mobilizing a network,” or getting information through a social network. He said that many people do not use Facebook and Twitter effectively because of their choice of friends. He recommends students to choose wisely so they can gain useful information.
According to a marketing study, Facebook ‘likes’ are more profitable than tweets. This simply means that marketers can reach people more efficiently through Facebook. On the other hand the major benefit of Twitter is its simplicity. Messages can only be up to 140 characters and no longer. This allows news companies to feed brief messages of information to users without boring them.
As Britten was explaining, people can use these social networks as tools. By choosing the “right” friends and following the “right” people, users can absorb all their information through one medium instead of shuffling through traditional, clutter filled media. Can giving up some personal information actually pay off to obtain a powerful, useful device?
He first described the development of the blogging course. The university contacted him a few years ago to create a curriculum for a blogging class. He had no idea where to start and decided to go to Facebook for help. “I went on Facebook and wrote, ‘I’ve been asked to develop this blogging class and I have no idea where to get started,’” said Britten. He said that within twenty-four hours he received over thirty messages, most including helpful information, which guided him to create the 3-credit college course.
Britten called what he had done “mobilizing a network,” or getting information through a social network. He said that many people do not use Facebook and Twitter effectively because of their choice of friends. He recommends students to choose wisely so they can gain useful information.
According to a marketing study, Facebook ‘likes’ are more profitable than tweets. This simply means that marketers can reach people more efficiently through Facebook. On the other hand the major benefit of Twitter is its simplicity. Messages can only be up to 140 characters and no longer. This allows news companies to feed brief messages of information to users without boring them.
As Britten was explaining, people can use these social networks as tools. By choosing the “right” friends and following the “right” people, users can absorb all their information through one medium instead of shuffling through traditional, clutter filled media. Can giving up some personal information actually pay off to obtain a powerful, useful device?
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Facebook History: Zuckerburg Hacks Private Email Accounts
When it comes to passwords, I don’t have a large variety. I’m not going to go into specifics but finding out one of mine can easily lead you to the next. I know I’m not alone with this. Having different passwords for each account, whether it’s an email, membership, etc., can be overwhelming. The other day, I found something new about Facebook’s past.
BusinessInsider.com had an article from March 2010 about Mark Zuckerburg, Facebook CEO, hacking into student emails. Harvard’s student newspaper, the Crimson, was going to publish an article about Facebook controversy and false allegations against Zuckerberg in 2004. This was after one of the Crimson’s editors told Zuckerberg that he wasn’t going to publish it.
Allegedly, Zuckerberg was too impatient to wait for the story to publish and tried to access some of the Crimson members’ student emails. Supposedly, he used the students’ failed logins on Facebook (“TheFacebook” at the time) to guess their student email passwords. He hacked on to the email accounts and read all information related to him and the story.
Facebook was contacted about the matter in 2010 and simply stated that they were not going to debate small litigations with anonymous sources that are “seeking to rewrite Facebook’s early history.”
Of course, it really doesn’t matter now whether or not Zuckerberg did it because he now has a net worth of over $13.5 billion with a company that reaches out to more than 500 million people. Even though this specific case is left cold, is it really possible for Facebook to have access to our failed logins? I couldn’t find a direct answer, but why wouldn’t they?
If this is the case, I believe everyone needs to be aware of this. Facebook passwords should be different than other accounts and emails. Having the same password for everything may be easy for you, but don’t forget it would also be even easier for a hacker that is attempting to steal your identity.
BusinessInsider.com had an article from March 2010 about Mark Zuckerburg, Facebook CEO, hacking into student emails. Harvard’s student newspaper, the Crimson, was going to publish an article about Facebook controversy and false allegations against Zuckerberg in 2004. This was after one of the Crimson’s editors told Zuckerberg that he wasn’t going to publish it.
Allegedly, Zuckerberg was too impatient to wait for the story to publish and tried to access some of the Crimson members’ student emails. Supposedly, he used the students’ failed logins on Facebook (“TheFacebook” at the time) to guess their student email passwords. He hacked on to the email accounts and read all information related to him and the story.
Facebook was contacted about the matter in 2010 and simply stated that they were not going to debate small litigations with anonymous sources that are “seeking to rewrite Facebook’s early history.”
Of course, it really doesn’t matter now whether or not Zuckerberg did it because he now has a net worth of over $13.5 billion with a company that reaches out to more than 500 million people. Even though this specific case is left cold, is it really possible for Facebook to have access to our failed logins? I couldn’t find a direct answer, but why wouldn’t they?
If this is the case, I believe everyone needs to be aware of this. Facebook passwords should be different than other accounts and emails. Having the same password for everything may be easy for you, but don’t forget it would also be even easier for a hacker that is attempting to steal your identity.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Evolution of Social Media: Future Online Shopping
You walk into a store. The store is open and the lights are on. Products are on the shelves but there is no one there. No storekeeper, employees, or other customers. You silently walk through the store glancing at each product. This is the way Ashley John Heather, from dotbox for MESA Global, sees the current online shopping experience. He discussed this issue a few weeks ago to BusinessInsider.com.
He went on explaining an innovative idea for how online shopping will be in the future. Customers will log on to a store’s website. Then, similar to Facebook chat, consumers will be able to chat with others (who are also on the same website) about products, services, reviews, and recommendations. This allows communication with real people as if you were standing right next to them in a physical store. It brings online customer reviews to the next level. Some websites already have the feature to chat with real-life representatives, like Apple.com.
This new way of online shopping would allow consumers to confidently purchase an item online. This would benefit businesses as well. Mr. Heather explains that a lot of current businesses have split personalities, depending on what medium they are communicating through. Company Facebook and Twitter lean toward humor while company websites stay with a traditional, professional feel. This can confuse consumers who base their time with companies purely on social media. The new way of online shopping allows businesses to stick to their personality and image, which in turn creates better relationships with customers.
Mr. Heather describes dotbox.com. This company encourages any business using eCommerce (online buying and selling) to take advantage of this revolutionary idea. The company’s website declares that social commerce is here to stay. Mr. Heather concludes his article with the idea of a main hub. As of now, it seems Facebook would be an appropriate place.
As exciting as it seems, there will always be the question of privacy. This new way of online shopping will require people to provide more personal information. Will this revolutionary idea actually carry out? Food for thought.
He went on explaining an innovative idea for how online shopping will be in the future. Customers will log on to a store’s website. Then, similar to Facebook chat, consumers will be able to chat with others (who are also on the same website) about products, services, reviews, and recommendations. This allows communication with real people as if you were standing right next to them in a physical store. It brings online customer reviews to the next level. Some websites already have the feature to chat with real-life representatives, like Apple.com.
This new way of online shopping would allow consumers to confidently purchase an item online. This would benefit businesses as well. Mr. Heather explains that a lot of current businesses have split personalities, depending on what medium they are communicating through. Company Facebook and Twitter lean toward humor while company websites stay with a traditional, professional feel. This can confuse consumers who base their time with companies purely on social media. The new way of online shopping allows businesses to stick to their personality and image, which in turn creates better relationships with customers.
Mr. Heather describes dotbox.com. This company encourages any business using eCommerce (online buying and selling) to take advantage of this revolutionary idea. The company’s website declares that social commerce is here to stay. Mr. Heather concludes his article with the idea of a main hub. As of now, it seems Facebook would be an appropriate place.
As exciting as it seems, there will always be the question of privacy. This new way of online shopping will require people to provide more personal information. Will this revolutionary idea actually carry out? Food for thought.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Facebook: Not For Bigamists
If you haven’t noticed by now, Facebook is beginning to become a useful tool in many fields, instead of just a social networking site. Recently there was a case with a woman who used Facebook pictures to prove her husband had married another woman.
Richard Barton Jr. was married to Adina Quarto for several years. They talked about a divorce but never followed through. This held until Quarto saw wedding pictures on Facebook of Barton and another woman. He refused to sign the divorce papers with Quarto. She decided to use his pictures to have Barton arrested, for bigamy.
According to a report released from the Associate Press, Facebook and other social media have become a big part in divorce cases. Spouses have been using profile information as evidence to prove affairs and in some cases, bigamy. The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers said they have used evidence from social media sources for about 81% of their members in the past year. Also the word “Facebook” as appeared in about 20% of divorce cases in the past year.
Richard Barton Jr. is a prime example of someone who was never completely aware of Facebook’s privacy settings. When Barton and Quarto became farther apart, Barton “de-friended” her on Facebook. Unfortunately he was unaware of the public setting for his photos. As he went along with his life and happily posted pictures from his second wedding, Quarto publicly accessed the photographs and used them against him in court.
I’m not trying to argue that being well informed with social media privacy will keep affairs on the down low. I just want to show you that with the lack of knowledge of privacy settings, people can release information that was intended to be private. This case is a little extreme but necessary to understand the full effect. If Barton would have changed his photos to private, he could have avoided being placed in jail.
Richard Barton Jr. was married to Adina Quarto for several years. They talked about a divorce but never followed through. This held until Quarto saw wedding pictures on Facebook of Barton and another woman. He refused to sign the divorce papers with Quarto. She decided to use his pictures to have Barton arrested, for bigamy.
According to a report released from the Associate Press, Facebook and other social media have become a big part in divorce cases. Spouses have been using profile information as evidence to prove affairs and in some cases, bigamy. The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers said they have used evidence from social media sources for about 81% of their members in the past year. Also the word “Facebook” as appeared in about 20% of divorce cases in the past year.
Richard Barton Jr. is a prime example of someone who was never completely aware of Facebook’s privacy settings. When Barton and Quarto became farther apart, Barton “de-friended” her on Facebook. Unfortunately he was unaware of the public setting for his photos. As he went along with his life and happily posted pictures from his second wedding, Quarto publicly accessed the photographs and used them against him in court.
I’m not trying to argue that being well informed with social media privacy will keep affairs on the down low. I just want to show you that with the lack of knowledge of privacy settings, people can release information that was intended to be private. This case is a little extreme but necessary to understand the full effect. If Barton would have changed his photos to private, he could have avoided being placed in jail.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Spokeo: How Much Of Your Information Is On The Internet?
This semester, I had two guest speakers in my Media Analysis class with Dr. Moore. One speaker discussed Foursquare (a check-in feature app) and the other discussed the impact of social media with today’s culture. Both speakers were very informative with their presentations and they each touched on privacy, specifically a website called Spokeo. I decided to check it out myself after the third time of discussing it in class.
Spokeo is a web site that was created by a group of Stanford graduates in 2006. The web site collects publicly accessible information posted on the Internet and creates a database. The search bar allows you to search by name, email, and phone number. I decided to give myself a search. I couldn’t find anything on myself but I found accurate information on my parents. I simply searched my father’s name and within seconds I found his phone number, martial status, age, and household income. After clicking “Property,” I saw a Google Street View Image of my front yard, the estimated value of my house, my property size, how many floors were in my house, and when my parents purchased it. The last available section, “Family,” provided information on how many people lived in my house as well as what their gender and age was. I did not need to pay or register to find this information.
Dr. Britten, a journalism professor at WVU, discussed this website with me last week. He said that we must get past the initial “wow” feeling. We have to focus on where they collected all of this information. We need to think about all the times we casually provided the Internet with personal information. Dr. Britten explained to me that Spokeo uses a “fairly lazy search method.” Imagine if someone decided to dig deeper or use a stronger search method. What other information can they find about us?
Spokeo offers a premium paid subscription that allows users to find more information about the people they search. After paying $4.95 for the month, users can find someone’s lifestyle, wealth, photos, videos, social profiles, dating site profiles, and favorite online stores.
I believe Spokeo is a wake up call to anyone who ignores the fact that personal information is accessible through simple online searches. Spokeo does provide an opt-out feature, which allows users to take their names off of the listing.
Go ahead and search yourself: Spokeo.com
Spokeo is a web site that was created by a group of Stanford graduates in 2006. The web site collects publicly accessible information posted on the Internet and creates a database. The search bar allows you to search by name, email, and phone number. I decided to give myself a search. I couldn’t find anything on myself but I found accurate information on my parents. I simply searched my father’s name and within seconds I found his phone number, martial status, age, and household income. After clicking “Property,” I saw a Google Street View Image of my front yard, the estimated value of my house, my property size, how many floors were in my house, and when my parents purchased it. The last available section, “Family,” provided information on how many people lived in my house as well as what their gender and age was. I did not need to pay or register to find this information.
Dr. Britten, a journalism professor at WVU, discussed this website with me last week. He said that we must get past the initial “wow” feeling. We have to focus on where they collected all of this information. We need to think about all the times we casually provided the Internet with personal information. Dr. Britten explained to me that Spokeo uses a “fairly lazy search method.” Imagine if someone decided to dig deeper or use a stronger search method. What other information can they find about us?
Spokeo offers a premium paid subscription that allows users to find more information about the people they search. After paying $4.95 for the month, users can find someone’s lifestyle, wealth, photos, videos, social profiles, dating site profiles, and favorite online stores.
I believe Spokeo is a wake up call to anyone who ignores the fact that personal information is accessible through simple online searches. Spokeo does provide an opt-out feature, which allows users to take their names off of the listing.
Go ahead and search yourself: Spokeo.com
Thursday, March 3, 2011
No Fear Facebook: Upcoming Change to the Privacy Policy
Last Friday, Facebook proved that they’ve been listening to their users' criticism on the 5,830-word privacy policy. They announced that there are plans in the near future to renovate the current privacy policy. The change would include the same material but it will be easier to follow with a new format. Facebook Site Governance posted a note on February 25 describing their new idea for the policy.
The note included their three fundamental objectives for the renovation:
1. First, it should be easy to understand, even when the concepts are complicated, or it is of no use to anyone.
2. Second, it should be visual and interactive, because that's the way people use the web today.
3. And third, it should focus on the questions people who use Facebook are most likely to ask, because that makes it relevant.
According to Facebook, these objectives were based of the feedback of thousands of viewers. Facebook provided a link to what the new policy format could look like. Changes include larger fonts and a user-friendly feel for navigation. The current policy has a very legal feel to it. Facebook users’ reactions varied on the decision. Some said that this change would add more layers to the policy, ultimately creating more complicity. Others agreed with Facebook, saying that this change would be a major improvement. While there were several others who believed this move was to “make it appear they are interested” in protecting user’s information.
Regardless of their true motive, it appears that Facebook is trying to help users and give them more control over the sharing of their information. To see the complete note from Facebook Site Governance, including Facebook users’ responses, click here.
The note included their three fundamental objectives for the renovation:
1. First, it should be easy to understand, even when the concepts are complicated, or it is of no use to anyone.
2. Second, it should be visual and interactive, because that's the way people use the web today.
3. And third, it should focus on the questions people who use Facebook are most likely to ask, because that makes it relevant.
According to Facebook, these objectives were based of the feedback of thousands of viewers. Facebook provided a link to what the new policy format could look like. Changes include larger fonts and a user-friendly feel for navigation. The current policy has a very legal feel to it. Facebook users’ reactions varied on the decision. Some said that this change would add more layers to the policy, ultimately creating more complicity. Others agreed with Facebook, saying that this change would be a major improvement. While there were several others who believed this move was to “make it appear they are interested” in protecting user’s information.
Regardless of their true motive, it appears that Facebook is trying to help users and give them more control over the sharing of their information. To see the complete note from Facebook Site Governance, including Facebook users’ responses, click here.
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