Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship

Social network sites are a growing phenomenon that is rapidly becoming embedded is everybody's daily life. This article gives the definition, history and scholarship of social network sites.

The article defines social network sites as "1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system." Which means a person can create a profile of themselves for either the public to see or just people they approve. They can make lists of people they know and distinguish them from others.

The first official social network site was sixdegrees.com which allowed users to create a profile and find friends. Then came sites for dating and finding classmates. It quickly evolved and became a major phenomena among the youth.

This article was a nice overview of how social network sites have evolved and came about. It was a very interesting read.

Boyd, D. M. and Ellison, N. B. (2008), Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13, 210–230. doi: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is a very prevalent force in today's society. It occurs in the younger population and is most prevalent among young women and it was found one of the biggest reasons was anonymity.

Social networking sites have created a more instant way of communication. The instant communication that these social networking sites offer between friends and acquaintances may be good thing to some but it can speed up the bullying process. The reason cyberbullying is more prevalent in the younger generation is because during a crucial time in their lives they are living in a cyber world. The younger generation is growing up in this virtual society and where the internet is required for social acceptance and education.

The younger generation are already vulnerable to bullying and social acceptance and these have just made it easier for bullies to really get under the skin of their victims. The internet and it's "online environment" can lead young children to feel more liberated when expressing themselves.

Anonymity allows everyone to be anyone they want to be on the online world. There have been countless cases of bullies being completely made up people to get the victim to trust without being able to confront them in real life.

Layar

Layar is a Dutch company that created an app that uses augmented reality to help a person discover the world around them. After hearing about this particular piece of technology I had to download it for myself and I have to say not as easy as one might think. The app is powered by a multitude of apps supplied by different companies and finding the right one to fit your needs is a bit of a chore.

In a youtube video showed in class Layar is an app that uses augmented reality to show the person see specials in different restaurants or shops and discover the hidden world around them. Awesome...in theory. First of all you have to allow for Layar to know your location and then you have to search by categories and hope you find one that is for the city your in. The idea is fantastic. The video made it look so easy. You turn your camera on and swivel it around and view deals and specials over different locations. Easier said than done. I really like the idea for this app it is just going to take a little playing around and getting used to.

With iOS5 you'll be stalked like never before

With iOS 5 you'll be stalked like never before
by: Robert Baldwin


This article was interesting in the fact that it pointed out how updated location features on the Apple iPhone can be as scary as they are useful. Sure it would be really cool to have my iPhone ping every time there's a really good restaurant nearby or some historical event that happened nearby. But there's apps like Foursquare that tells you whether your close to friends or people that might interest you. Which means Foursquare is telling other people where you live. Scary? You bet!


What's worse is this service is constantly running. You have to go into your phone and physically turn it off. But then you can't use the GPS services or certain apps that require your location. Only in the newest edition of these location services can you pick and choose which ones you want to know your location. This new technology may be fun or convenient in some ways but the fact you can be found anywhere by anyone is a very scary thought.



original article:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/10/ios5-tracking-feature/

Everett M. Rogers

Everett M. Rogers was born March 6, 1931 and died October 21, 2004. Rogers was a leading communications scholar who is best known for his diffusion of innovations theory and coining the term "early adopter."

Roger's idea of the diffusion of innovations was that there were 5 different sets of adopters of new technology. The innovators comprised 2.5%, then came early adopters (13.5%), early majority (34%), late majority (34%) and finally the laggards (16%). Each of these adopters are based on certain factors such as their awareness, interest, and adoption. Certain people may be early adopters for one thing but late majority for another.

This work and others earned Rogers an Award for Achievement in Entertainment Education.

Second Life

Second Life is an online world designed to let people discover a virtual world created specifically by people all of the world. The video above shows you the 10 top fun things you can do in Second Life. These include games, live concerts, movies and lots more. I myself have experience Yoko Ono's virtual art show on Second Life and was beyond anything I could have ever imagined. Second Life allows you to experience other people's imaginations and the possibilities are limitless!

There's also more serious aspects of Second Life. You can have whole businesses in Second Life and conduct interviews with possible employers. You can become an instant millionaire by designing virtual clothing and selling it to other avatars. There are other organizations that use Second Life as a training tool to prepare employees for certain scenarios. The most interesting thing I saw on Second Life was combat training for medics. Having to interact with real avatars and having to know what to do and how to do it seemed like the perfect training tool.

Second Life is more than just an online virtual world. It is a community to millions of people. Second Life tears down border and dries up oceans. You can interact with people all over the world without ever leaving your living room. You can train online, you can interview and work online. Second Life opens up a whole new world that is limitless.