Scholarly Article

I'm choosing to talk about a journal article entitled "Internet Safety Gone Wild?" It has a professional look to it. In the upper right corner of the first page there is a journal insignia, complete with the journal's name, date, and publisher. The author of the article is named just beneath the title, and at the end of the article her credentials are listed. Brendesha M. Tynes, the author of the article, is an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her classes include education psychology and African American Studies, and she is also involved in research at Harvard, which at the time of publication, included the psychological effects that cyberviolence has on adolescents. The sources for the article are likewise reputable, as they are gleaned from various Each of these credentials build up ethos, and thereby allows the journal article to be trusted in addition to scholarly.

The article begins by mentioning some of the headliners involving internet safety, such as child predators and the unfortunate cases of missing or murdered children. She insists that while these terrible things do happen, they are quite infrequent. Many adults and parents go too far in protecting their children, to the point of eliminating the internet as a form of social communication altogether. The author insists that social media plays a large, even crucial role, in the development of the children of today. She stresses the importance of their interactions with a diverse group of people and encourages parents to allow children to utilize the internet so they may adapt to modern social norms. She specifically highlights the educational and psychological benefits. In the section on educational benefits, Tynes describes an instance in a chat room where a student made a racist comment, and the following two people pointed out the lack of basis for the comment and ultimately gave the person a broadened perspective on other cultures. Even gaming and encourage skills such as multitasking. For the psychological benefits, Tynes mentions that while adolescents are creating their identity, they are constantly reflecting upon who they are, and also considering the values and actions of other people. They also develop a community around them who can support them and help them through life. In her conclusion, Tynes promotes both intentional use of the internet and safety measures at the same time. Computer filters are useful tools, but more importantly there should be open dialogue about internet usage between parents and their children. Adults should work to understand and help their children understand how to stay safe so that they can have wholesome, positive experiences on the internet.

Unthinking the Future of Social Media

I recently read about a new social media website called “Unthink”. My immediate thoughts were that the name sounded like something right of “1984”, and “Great, another social media website.” I have been wondering what would be the new Facebook, since we had the Xanga-Myspace-Facebook progression in a short 6 or 8 years. But evidently those two thoughts were completely wrong! Number one, it’s quite different from the pattern of “1984”. Whereas the novel covers strict rules and limitations in decision making and even personal thinking, Unthink is about revolution and denying norms and standards. It’s based in the idea that “We can bring the change we wish to see in the world”. And, as the news article described, it’s quite opposed to Facebook and the way they run. Upthink creators strive for it to be “everything Facebook and Google are not.” A large component of this goal is privacy. “Facebook and Google both collect information about users to tailor advertising to them. Privacy concerns have cropped up over various features Facebook has rolled out -- from mobile check-ins to integration with other websites that can make a user's online behavior more public if settings aren't tweaked.” Unthink insists that the information stored on its website will be the property of the user, and not used for their own entrepreneurial or monetary incentives. They’ll even allow you to essentially transfer your Facebook account, photos and all, over to this website where privacy is not to be a question. This does however, come with a bit of a cost. As the article puts it, what is “[Unthink’s] business model for fighting the corporate social-media giants? Corporate sponsorships.” But in keeping with the revolution, they do allow you to choose an available business to support your website, or otherwise pay a $2 annual fee. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, and if the website’s creators will have quite the revolution they’re looking for.

Senior Citizen Security

Last week, I found the blog on elderly internet safety very interesting, so I’m going to expound on that this week. I looked at a couple of government websites, both of which include an introduction as to why and how the elderly are targeted and lists of surprisingly varied aspects of their safety, ranging from online dating to vacation planning, cemetery fraud and counterfeit prescriptions . 

The first website I looked at was that of the Attorney General. It began with some common precursors to issues that the elderly may have, like a general lack of computer and internet skills. It encourages them to be familiar with security software and secure passwords. It also encourages the elderly to be familiar with how websites work and also how scammers use websites and emails against them. Simply knowing what’s out there can take away the uncertainty and fear that comes along with beginning in technology, and help them to avoid those who want to harm them. The elderly are generally a more trusting generation. All of their lives they’ve been learning how to judge character based of off personal interaction and official looking documents. These rules, however, do not apply to the internet, and the blog highlights the craftiness of scammers in their seemingly kind. An interesting point made by this blog is that elderly also fall victim to cyberbullying. Often this is done by family, either emotionally through angry comments, or financially by gaining access to their accounts and stealing their money.

The other was sponsored by the FBI, and its information is related to why the elderly are targeted and what it looks like. For example, many senior citizens own their own home and have great credit, which makes them very appealing to criminals. Likewise, this blog highlights that scammers know that people who have grown up in the mid-1900s were “raised to be polite and trusting” and are more likely to stay on the line during a phone call. An important point made by this blog is that the elderly are less likely to report being scammed- either because they don’t really know how, or are ashamed that they’ve fallen victim to this type of crime, and don’t want to seem as though they can’t function without assistance. There is also a great appeal to senior citizens for products for healthfulness and vitality or preventative drugs. Insurance and prescription scams are, therefore, common occurrence. 

There are a lot of avenues taken by scammers and phishers to attack the elderly population- definitely more than had occurred to me. It’s so unfortunate, because senior citizens are seeking to remain independent, or at least not be burdensome upon family members, but don’t see through scams like they should. I think it’s increasingly important that the elderly should learn how to use computers and the internet safely and healthfully so that it can increase their independence and allow them to enjoy their last years to the full.

Rhetorical Analysis

The first blog I came across is that of Martin Greif and Jose Niro Romano Nillasca’s Privacy Partners. What I noticed upon reading through several of their posts is the general feel of neutrality, which I find especially unique for a blog. They’re very informative as they relay current events related to digital privacy and security and they pose questions to consider the effects of the meaning of the events. They don’t necessarily peg something as being especially beneficial or terrible, or use their bias to express a meaning that may or may not be there. Instead they offer a couple of ideas for the implications of a certain ruling on a case or aspect of digital privacy and safety. So this blog mostly appeals to ethos. They describe events such as legal cases and include quotes from the Attorney General and other involved and educated people. They cover a variety of digital mediums and scenarios such as GPS tracking devices, teacher-student internet relations, and cookies, which allows the reader to consider different ways security and privacy may factor into digital life. 

The second blog is Cyber-Security-Tips. It focuses on internet safety for different age groups including, what I thought to be the most interesting: the elderly. Grouping posts this way, in and of itself, shifts to an appeal to pathos. Whereas the first blog had a general audience and appealed to ethos through citing specific examples, the second blog brings images of our elderly friends, grandparents, children and coworkers.  There is a more personal approach to the blog as they list ways to be involved in the security of someones information and future. This blog describes how the elderly are specifically targeted by scammers and phishers and provides videos of older people who have been affected by them, through identity theft and losing money. The safety tips are presented in a bulleted style to be direct and applicable. This post also begins questioning the safety of the elderly in nursing homes. The blog is more personal and encourages involvement by related adults and caretakers of the elderly.

"All alone, no light, hard to breathe- now that's one man whose data is secure!"

In typical satire fashion, The Onion describes an option for increased privacy: Google's "Opt-Out". In fact, this would provide you with “complete” privacy: No outside access, no innovation, but a return to rudimentary survival methods. This is a funny extreme because of the people who fear the information available. I know my mom is constantly concerned about privacy. She shreds every envelope that has her name and address on it, even though, as my dad points out almost every time "that information is available in the phonebook". So truly, privacy on a global scale can only really be found through this idea of a remote village with no phone or internet access. But then, as Born Digital has highlighted, there would be the severe lack of privacy within the village. Everyone would know your every business. While I can find out random information about people I don't know just because it's there, why would I? And if I did, it wouldn't make any difference anyway. So as for a complete privacy, there really isn’t such a thing. And there isn’t, largely, a necessity for one. Bank information- sure, needs to be private. Constant stream of GPS location- could fall in the wrong hands. Other things, however, such as questionable/criminal activity or crazy pictures that you’ll regret in a few days or a few years, or even the random nothings that just appear on the internet... that can’t really be up to a form of regulation to protect.

On the opposite extreme, in the interview with the faux-representatives of Google, there's some element of truth to their invasion of privacy. As the interviewee said, "If you don't want to give us complete access to your most private thoughts and feelings- that's fine- you can just toil in the hinterlands and die young". While outlandish, Google, and other such search engines, really do find and make available this information with little or no permission, though it could be argued that posting information is, in its own right, providing permission. While there are specific people you wouldn’t want to have specific information about you, it just won’t matter in the hands of the overwhelming majority of people. The issue is that we can’t really decide who gets to know what about us.  

http://www.theonion.com/video/google-opt-out-feature-lets-users-protect-privacy,14358/

Digital Fingerprints

I found this image on Microsoft Office. It likely appeals to the business professionals and adults in general who have regular exposure to technology. It’s kind of interesting that the most identifying piece of information about us is our fingerprint. Legitimately, with a fingerprint, you can find out where someone was and who they are. It’s one thing to say, she has curly brown hair, or he has green eyes, as, while these characteristics are identifiable, they’re applicable to many people. Our fingerprints, however, are applicable only to us. And as we are constantly- and casually- leaving fingerprints everywhere we go, we leave digital fingerprints as well, and just as constantly and casually. This picture depicts that concept well and shows the interlacing of the real and digital world. As shown, a part of the woman’s identity is being shared with each access on the computer. While she only sees the mark that is left where she puts her hand, it extends out even further, often beyond her control. While a real fingerprint can be found only where it is left, a digital fingerprint is not restricted by tangible space, but swirls off into a free floating whirl of cyberspace, and is stored such that it is accessible by almost anyone. This picture shows only her interaction with her digital reality, but we know the irony of it, because we are now a part of her digital reality. As she is engaging in her own digital life, we are engaging in it, also, as we look at this picture on our screen. We know and are affected by a part of her identity and that of the photographer, and likely with their practical unawareness.

Foursquare shapes our identity but may reveal too much to too many

A couple of days ago, I stumbled upon an article about A&M’s partnering with Foursquare. Previously, I had little to no idea what Foursquare even was (originally, after seeing some things about it on Facebook, I assumed it was another digital snake or Farmville game craze, but of virtual four square). Evidently, as Michael Green, a student at A&M who is largely responsible for the school’s involvement, summarizes, “[Facebook and Twitter] focus on telling your friends what you are doing. Foursquare focuses on telling them where they are." The article continues to explain that, “Users with the most check-ins at a location in the past 60 days are appointed ‘Mayor’… Users can also add tips and information about venues and create lists of things to do when visiting a place.” In general, the concept is a pretty cool idea. Especially as A&M's partnership is to encourage students to find out interesting things about campus and share that with friends. Through this network, users’ identities are shaped by expressing the things they like to do and places they like to go. It also grants the user more control over others’ interpretation of their identity with the capability of leaving tips and ideas of things to do, which could prevent a person from having a bad experience at a place, and then coming back and judging the mayor of that place for being mayor of something lame.

Interested, I decided to check Foursquare out for myself. I was mildly disconcerted, upon reaching the homepage, to find a stream of people who I didn’t know and their frequented locations (i.e., announcement of their new mayoral status). Digging a little further, I found I could see a list of an individual’s locations, the number of times they’ve checked-in, and also a map with a physical address of said locations. I could not, however, find a list of people who have checked in at a location itself. To respect privacy to an extent, the map for places tagged as “Home” shows only the location as a general area, instead of a physical address. Realistically, however, almost anyone could open a local phonebook and find your name and address. As the article summarized, Foursquare allows your friends to know where you are, but it can also allows complete strangers to know where you are too.