Hi all! This is Alice speaking again!
For the tutorial presentation on this Thursday, I will discuss with you on the topic of “Friends”. I will mainly focus on the first piece of reading about the role of networked publics in teenage social life and here is the agenda on that day:
(1) Background of the chapter
(2) Major issues mentioned in the chapter, like the concepts of private Vs public, networked publics, privacy in public, etc.
(3) Discussion
(4) Conclusion
[Oh, of course, the above schedule is subject to amendments :P]
I believe that most of you must have participated on social network sites like Facebook and Weibo. Joining these sites is sometimes regarded as disclosing your privacy in public. Even when you are now posting something or leaving a message on this weblog, you may also undergo privacy in public as this weblog is supposed to be accessible to everyone on the Internet. How do you feel about it? Do you regard it as a problem? Let's think about it and we may discuss it during the tutorial.
Thanks and See you on Thursday:]
(14/03/2011)
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My Reflections on the presentation
First of all, thanks for all of your active participation during the tutorial yesterday. You all really did a great job, haha!
Facebook was once what I used to use everyday (though I started to quit using it a few weeks ago^^). However, how many of us think about the social issues behind when using these social network sites? This week, I have the opportunity to think about it because of my presentation topic. Preparing for this presentation allows me to think deeply about the subject which I often neglected in daily life. And, here are the conclusion I can draw:
1) It's difficult to find any true privacy online. Even though people can change their privacy settings to control who can witness what, network applications and the social network site itself may "betray" you by leaking out your personal information to the networked public. Personal choice really counts a lot in helping an individual to protect his/her privacy, as he/she can decide what and how much of personal information to be shown on the Net.
2) It is noticeable that there is still an intensive division along race line on social network sites as mentioned in the reading. Undoubtedly, these network sites provide a potential opportunity for individuals to make friends across national boundaries. However, people tend not to link together without common interests and topics. As a result, people tend to make friends with people of the same race and ethnicity.
I think social network sites are good platforms for us to get information efficiently. At the same time, privacy should also be an issue we should concern with when we're using them.
(18/03/2011)
Don't hesitate to raise questions or comments here if you have any! See you!
Can't believe I'm the first one leaving comment here XD!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, thanks for give us an interesting presentation today.
And the videos you showed us are pretty impressive.
To protect our privacy online, we should think twice before we post something on social websites like facebook. Try not to post up something very private.
A number of questions pop up in my mind and I am not sure if they are relevant to this week's topic: why do many people add strangers on social websites? Don't they worry that they will lose their privacy by doing so?
First of all, I have to thank for your comments here and on the tutorial sessons yesterday as well, Adrian. (By the way, your web name is sooooooo looooooooooong @@)
ReplyDeleteAs for the problem of privacy on the social network sites, it is a really big issue we face in recent years. I think every network user has his/her own choice in deciding which and how much of the personal information to be disclosed on the Net. And I agree with you that one should refrain from posting something very private in order to safeguard his/her privacy.
Your last two questions raised are really interesting. As I've mentioned, teenagers tend to make Friends with people they already knew in physical spaces. At the same time, there are some who choose to add people they know from mediated spaces (like forums, fans club websites, video, platforms, etc.) who they'll probably never actually meet. Generally,these people become Friends because they share common interests or views towards certain issues. You may wonder if these people will lose their privacy by doing so. But it should be a person's own choice for what to be disclosed. Of course, there are still some people who fail to protect their own.
For Adrian and the others, please feel free to discuss here :]
Hi, my "friend" :)
ReplyDeleteRegarding the issue of privacy online, especially the privacy on social network, it's crucial to tell that there is temporarily no solution to this issue. As what our classmates had discussed yesterday, the advanced technology and the powerful research enginee allow people all over the world to read your news. We can do nothing to control the (invisible) audience. And once you are in a online world, you have to realise that what your seemingly "private" personal information has become a public information. Therefore what I decide to post on my facebook is actually the nigglings XD.
For my advice, please do not post anthing online if you really do care your "privacy" lol
Concerning the question Adrian raised, why do many people add strangers on social websites? I am wondering if it can be explained in one's vanity. Perhaps they feel secure when owning so many friends, even they actually will not meet in a real word. Or maybe they tend to collect friends to show people that they are not alone and so lonely.
Am I sharing you some USELESS ideas? Haha.....If I am, please ignore it and forgive me =P
My name can be much loooooooooooonger if you want.
ReplyDeleteSocial website is somehow like a notice board in a public area. When you post something up there, all people who pass by, no matter you know them or not, can see it. So if you want to keep something private, don't post it on social website, as if you won't tell other people your secret. (That's why I don't update my status and upload photos on facebook very often. And now I'm trying to get rid of it)
In addition to common interests and vanity, I think one's frustration in real social life also counts. Remember the first video Alice showed us yesterday? The main character seems not very socially active in the real world. (I guess XD!) Perhaps it is due to his lack of face-to-face communication skills. So he doesn't have many real friends. (It can be explained by the fact that the people he really knows only take up a small part in his facebook's friend list.) Then, he turns to the cyberspace to seek friends instead.
Of course, there should be other reasons for such phenomenon. We can further discuss it here.
Dear all, Alice's Presentation is really nice and I think all of us should be part of it( We all have facebook acounts right?) Well, I am not very keen on Facebook, but I would like to share with you all what I come across.
ReplyDeleteI think young people are so involved in two main online communication channels, MSN and Facebook, surely there are some other places such as ICQ (long long time ago) or Twitter? I find that there are indeed transition periods.
Remember when we had ICQ ages ago, whenever you met someone, he/she or you would ask 'What is your ICQ?'? This scenario kept on for few years until a new area called MSN appeared.
MSN dominated many young people (Hong Kong is where I emphasize), instead of asking for ICQ, they asked for your MSN. This was the first transition for me. The main reason for such change may be explained by the advancement of MSN such as more games and web cam (correct me if I am wrong). These technologies bring more people into the cyber world.
Without doubt, Facebook is now the most leading space in the cyberworld. Most people have a Facebook account. I think the most striking cause is simply the quick update of the Facebook users. Users can simply sit at the front of the computer and know what is going on outside. It is far more convinient than MSN. This again drives people to Facebook or ,to be exact, cyberworld.
I have experienced all three periods. It is suggested that more friends maybe met in Facebook. However, I do not really have such experience. Most of my Facebook friends are actually MSN chatters. Although it is more likely that more people will suggest chatting in Facebook,(I think the reason is more applications available). This may imply that Facebook, the representation of High Technology, brings people to be more cyber-like.
Regarding privacy, I really think Facebook has the higher risk of being invaded by invisible people. This is because Facebook really provide many channels for people to know who you are. Just kicking your names, your basic information and some photos are already shown. This is actually rather risky.
To conclude to what I say, it cannot be denied that Facebook is going to be more and more popular, nevertheless, two points are clearly shown, 1. people are more cyborg-like (more and more people at the front of Facebook) and cannot live with it and 2. the higher danger of being invaded by the invisible users. While Facebook can be said as a drug to keep people using and can be a place where potential people to seek private information. Therefore, be careful when you use Facebook!
Thanks for listening to such a long comment. Please feel free to give comments!
Yea, both of your ideas add together become a powerful point in explaining the phenomenon of adding strangers as Friends. Every person should have his/her own socializing space. Once the reality fail to fulfill this function, individuals may be frustrated and turn to search "real" friends on the Internet.
ReplyDeleteFrom this, another issue pops up in my mind.
Some suggest that personal identity of individuals split into two, one on Internet and the other refers to the one in reality. It is because people tend to behave very differently when compared to their behaviour in real life. What do you think about it?
I do agree with this statement that personal identity of individuals has splited into two to a certain extent.
ReplyDeleteTake myself as an example, I do think I perform differently once I enter into the online world (although there's not a big change -.-"). For example, I am quiet and shy when I first meet someone (strangers)in the physical world. Yet, I am talkative enough to talk to strangers in the online world. Perhaps, this is the magic power of Internet where people can heartily demonstrate their either real or make-up face to others.
The Internet provides users a large room of freedom which you and me could play in the online world with different identities; and therefore "cyber-friendship" becomes child's play.