As Prostitutes Turn to Craigslist, Law Takes Notice

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/nyregion/05craigslist.html?scp=9&sq=craigslist&st=nyt

So You Want to Be a Blogging Star?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/technology/personaltech/20basics.html?_r=1

Here is another interesting story about blogging, just for fun.
Even your dog has a blog
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/03/21/dog.blog/

Paper #2: Digital Communities

Paper Guidelines

Your paper should be 4-5 pages in 12-point Times New Roman font or equivalent. You should have at least two outside research sources and a properly formatted bibliography in MLA style. Your paper must have a thesis statement with supporting evidence. As you begin your research, please think of one of the following questions as a way to frame your argument:

1. How have social networking sites brought up issues around privacy? Do you think these sites are in violation of people’s privacy? Why or why not?

2. Some critics of online communities say these spaces encourage anti-social behavior? Do you agree with this criticism? Why or why not?

3. Digital communities have received some attention recently because of fraudulent and/or criminal activities on the sites. Do you think online communities encourage this kind of behavior or make certain behaviors more prevalent?

4. Cyber Neighborhoods have allowed for what some observers call “interactivity” or "convergence culture"—opportunities for participants to mix various media (graphics, video, ARGs). How has interactivity changed the way people communicate and/or view entertainment?

5. Cyber communities have been applauded for democratizing access to information and the dissemination of knowledge. Do you agree that the internet is more democratic? Why or why not?


(Questions may also be added depending on issues that come up in class discussions.)

Internet Boom in China Is Built on Virtual Fun

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/05/world/asia/05virtual.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Facebook Summarization

Facebook is a social networking site. Many users use it on the site. In general, I think Facebook is good for socializing with friends you know. However, for the research of my article, it demonstrates a fact that some people wanted to deactive the Facebook account, but it takes long time to get rid of the membership. Also, it forced some people had to choose legal action to break free. As a result, while the Web site offers users the option to deactivate their accounts, Facebook servers still keep copies of the information for the uses’ accounts. Indeed, many users who have contacted Facebook to request that their accounts be deleted have not succeeded in erasing their records from the network. So, do you want your information stay on internet forever? In this article, I think it is time to think about the privacy. Since the Facebook has copy right for users’ information, I think maybe its time that people change the contract of agreement with Facebook, of becoming a member, that Facebook does not have the right to use the information it can/do gather from its content for any other use. In addition, I think it is dangerous to put on your true information on the website. In the article, there was a story about “Mr. Das, who joined Facebook on a whim after receiving invitations from friends, tried to leave after realizing that most of his co-workers were also on the site….The last thing I want is people going on there and checking out my private life.” obviously, Mr. Das is a good example to demonstrate that he didn’t want his co-workers seeing things about his private life. When he tried to delete some information he wrote about, he finally find out that it was hard to delete them. In this case, who’s fault? I guess some people would say he is so stupid by putting some true information on the Facebook However, this is not just one case, and it could happen to other one. For example, some students also put some true information on the Facebook. Their first purpose was likely to make the site look interesting and let their friends known about him/her well. Indeed, I believe people should take responsible to post something that you really want to share to your friends and set the limit to choose who you want to share. Don’t share your information with strangers. Furthermore, I think people should think about twice before you post when you wrote something on your friends wall because other strangers can see them, too.

Furthermore, we watched the video in the class, I feel it is common sense that CIA investigates people’ life, it is not serious if you don’t do anything wrong. Beside the Facebook, phone taping is another way that they watch us, so we don’t need to scare a lot. In conclusion, people should be smart enough to protect your privacy by modifying the privacy settings in Facebook, and make the Facebook with your social networking life better.

In Facebook, Investing in a Theory

Facebook is an evergrowing very popular site that is attracting people all over the world. In the article "In facebook, investing in a Theory" it talks about how not just people who want a blog go to facebook, investors go their also. Many investors like Microsoft who was considering investing $500 million dollars in facebook when facebook was only 3 years old. Other companies as well including advertising companies invest in facebook, and they can expose their ads to thousands of people who go on the website everyday. Facebook is making profits for a lot of different people as well like Lance Toluda, who is the owner of Super Wall, this lets people post messages. In the article is his quote that say that if someone were to write him a check for $10million he would say "Forget it". This is proof that facebook has grown tremendously. As an Egyptian immigrant I use facebook to connect with people back in Egypt. The article I chose explains how the many features and "widgets" attracts people to Facebook. People can really display their individual personalities through Facebook. A comment that was made in class today was that before you can look in a person's room to see their style, now you just have to look in their Facebook to get a feeling of who they are. The general class agreement was that Facebook is a fun activity to do when you are bored and have nothing else to do. Most people like it because it is easy to communicate with your friends and the features are really fun. I believe that our class discussion really shows why facebook has been so successful. It is something that you can use to interact and even find friends and family you have not seen for a very long time. I love facebook very much and will continue to use it everyday.

Facebook Summary

Facebook is a great example of convergence of media. You can now post pictures, videos, and games on your Facebook pages. This is on top of messages and posts that you can send to your friends. Facebook has the ability to bring people together. There are also some issues with Facebook. Qin posted an article that describes how it is very difficult to erase your info from your page. When you deactivate your page all your info is still in the Facebook server. Another problem people have with Facebook is the time that is wasted. Are people less productive because they can go onto Facebook during work or school? Some people view it as something they can do when bored while others view it as a distraction. I personally think that people who procrastinate will always do that and although Facebook is one of the ways in which to accomplish that, it is not at fault. Facebook can also be used to the advantage of companies to get information out to the public or to try and gather info on what people are interested in. Another advantage of Facebook is that it gives you the ability to find people that you haven’t seen in a very long time. We asked if it is considered rude to ignore someone who sends you a message on Facebook and if it is changing social rules. I think that although it is rude to ignore someone it is not so much different then ignoring someone in person and therefore is not really changing social guidelines. But it was brought up that while it is very unlikely that you will run into a past friend on the street, it is much easier to find someone on facebook and therefore there is a lot more to ignore.

A youtube video talked about the information we put on Facebook. Not only does Facebook have the right to use the info in anyway they want but they sell it to companies and even give it to the US government. Everything we put on Facebook can be used to watch us and everything we do. We can go so far as to say that sites like Facebook were created by the government in order to gather information on us. Facebook not only uses your info but actually owns it. When you post something on Facebook, you agree to give them ownership of that item.