A Reflection on Blogging!

Before starting my Blog I had a little concern about how I could create and maintain a good Blog. It was my first time of keeping an academic Blog on the assigned topic. It’s not difficult to create and work on Blog but to have a good article for each post that counts. I must say I was happy when I got comments from others. Aja, Benjamas, Bart, Nattee, Sirinuch etc. always gave constructive comments for my Blog. Let me have special thanks for all of them and also for those who viewed and read my Blog. This is a wonderful experience for me. Blogging can be a good example of e-learning where students can do their research and share them online. I thought that the cost of operating e-learning was high but now by using a free social networking site as a discussion forrum there is almost no cost of running an e-learning.

By keeping Blog I found that style of presenting contents in Blog is very important. Pictures must be carefully selected to catch attention from audience. As well as using photographs, trying to use video and audio contents on my blog could help a lot making it more interesting. Commenting on others Blog is a great way to create a strong impression in keeping Blog. Writing a great post cannot impress others than commenting on their Blogs. At the same time I have to think about my audience especially when they leave their comments on my Blog. There should be a quick reply as soon as possible.

My Blog on Social Networking!

I have chosen “Social Networking” to be a topic for my Blog. I found that it’s vital to understand how social networking works no matter who we are, users or providers. After many weeks of keeping Blog on this topic I found that it was hard to cover all the topic concerning Social Networking. I tried my best to cover as many aspects of social networking as possible. My topics on Social Networking posted on my Blog are:

1. The power of Social Networking is infinite.
2. Ethics of Social Networking
3. Alone or Not Alone!
4. How to protect your privacy in Social networking!
5. Imbee...a safe social networking for your kids
6. Facebook Classroom - Education in Social networkin...
7. Classroom in Social Networking
8. Social Networking in Education
9. Social Networking vs Social Awareness
10. The Future of Social Networking
11. The darkside of Social Networking!
12. Social Networking Shows Year On Year Growth
13. Top 5 commercial social networks!
14. Social Networking tools
15. Social Networking!

The power of Social Networking is infinite.

Finally we are coming to the end of our discussion on "Blog". I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who viewed, commented and shared ideas in this "Social Networking" Blog.  Social networking is a big issue nowadays and it's hard to cover all the topic in this issue within a month or even a year. The power of social networking is so great. Right now, millions of people are involving in social networking sites. I would like to sum up with this video which shows us how great the power of Social Networking is. Thank you!

Just would like to remind you that although there has been a lot of attention given to how children and young adults use social networking sites, adults are still listed as the main users. It is estimated that 35% of adults are social network users. There are few things to think about when signing up to a social network:

• Profiles - Understand what to put their and any restrictions that may apply and should apply.
• Security - This is a dangerous world, carefulness as to how you display info is important. Young people often do not think of these things and can make themselves prey for predators.

Ref:
The power and value of social networking
The power of social networking
The power of social networking (2)

Ethics of Social Networking

This week we have a discussion on the topic of "Social Networking" in Syracuse blackboard. Some of us have touched some ethical points of SN but most of the issues raised are other perspectives. In this week posting I would like to emphasize on "Ethics of Social Networking" which our youngsters should be well educated, no matter who they will be in Social Networking chain, providers or users. We can't avoid social networking but we can make it a better place for us and our next generation. While you talk about social networking and its ethics, it becomes hard to ignore the following perspectives -

1. Rights Perspective Social networking is a medium to get connected with the world and at many times it becomes difficult to estimate the amount of privacy required. Regardless of the fact that no one conceives his presence on a social network as his personal space, majority of people find their prospective employees by perusing their profiles. At such times it becomes hard for the users to exercise complete control over the images and personal information made available online.
2. Utilitarian Perspective The social networking technology that allows you to get connected with others and sometimes form meaningful relationships also includes some of the illegal and unethical  activities like hacking and posting of threatening online messages that highlight possible harms of this service. For this reason, the social networks are now considered as a way of cyber-bullying and online-predation to attack the interest of a utilitarian. Thus, it becomes difficult to maintain a balance between the two as any limitations on one, restricts you to access the other.
3. Fairness Perspective There is a common belief that social networking websites are very useful in maintaining egalitarianism. You can never find out the gender, race, age and other personality traits of a person while interacting with them online. This disembodied feature of social networking groups offers fairness and allows everybody to cater their needs without any restrictions or limitations.
4. Common Good Perspective Social networking can help you improve your social life and expand your social groups. A large number of people access social networking applications to get connected with people and share their media files and interests, while there are some people who might have different perspectives behind joining these sites. In this case it becomes difficult to find out the common good in this context, since there are no online social communities formed for betterment of the society and promoting common good of the users.

This calls you to develop a new and improved privacy concept which can help you prioritize nuanced control over your personal and confidential information.

  

References :

Social Networking: Legal Ethics and Lawyer Liability Considerations

Ethics Of Social Networking

Alone or Not Alone!

Some say that "we can't be alone when involving in social networks" but some may say "social networking can make you alone".  How do you think about it?

In this week post I would like to emphasize on time spent with social networking.  I would like you to watch this clip and share your idea about how do you think about the right proportion of time we should be with computers? Is it a big problem of social networking compared with security and privacy concerns?

Additional readings
Do social network sites really make people feel more alone?
You are not alone on social networking.

How to protect your privacy in Social networking!

 

I just mentioned about safe-social networking sites for kids. For adults there are serious risks too such as loss of privacy and identity theft. Adults can be victims of cyber-bullying and stalking. Our pivacy is very important when involving in social network sites. There are some tips from FTC that can protect us from cyber crimes.

 

The Federal Trade Commission (http://www.ftc.gov/) suggests these tips for socializing safely online:

• Think about how different sites work before deciding to join a site. Some sites will allow only a defined community of users to access posted content; others allow anyone and everyone to view postings.
• Think about keeping some control over the information you post. Consider restricting access to your page to a select group of people, for example, your friends from school, your club, your team, your community groups, or your family.
• Keep your information to yourself. Don’t post your full name, Social Security number, address, phone number, or bank and credit card account numbers — and don’t post other people’s information, either. Be cautious about posting information that could be used to identify you or locate you offline. This could include the name of your school, sports team, clubs, and where you work or hang out.
• Make sure your screen name doesn’t say too much about you. Don’t use your name, your age, or your hometown. Even if you think your screen name makes you anonymous, it doesn’t take a genius to combine clues to figure out who you are and where you can be found.
• Post only information that you are comfortable with others seeing — and knowing — about you. Many people can see your page, including your parents, your teachers, the police, the college you might want to apply to next year, or the job you might want to apply for in five years.
• Remember that once you post information online, you can’t take it back. Even if you delete the information from a site, older versions exist on other people’s computers.
• Consider not posting your photo. It can be altered and broadcast in ways you may not be happy about. If you do post one, ask yourself whether it’s one your mom would display in the living room.
• Flirting with strangers online could have serious consequences. Because some people lie about who they really are, you never really know who you’re dealing with.
• Be wary if a new online friend wants to meet you in person. Before you decide to meet someone, do your research: Ask whether any of your friends know the person, and see what background you can dig up through online search engines. If you decide to meet them, be smart about it: Meet in a public place, during the day, with friends you trust. Tell an adult or a responsible sibling where you’re going, and when you expect to be back.
• Trust your gut if you have suspicions. If you feel threatened by someone or uncomfortable because of something online, tell an adult you trust and report it to the police and the social networking site. You could end up preventing someone else from becoming a victim.

 

Ref: http://www.getsafeonline.org/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=1459

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/tech/tec14.shtm

Imbee...a safe social networking for your kids

Recently, I discussed with other teachers about social awareness in social networking and one asked "Do they have a safe social Netwoking for kids?" then I tried to find out and I found one.. 'Imbee'. Let's find out with yourself and you will love it.

Imbee is a safer social networking site that allows the young, hip and trendy to share and connect with friends, their lives and their world through a “one-of-a-kind” social media experience. Share playlists, make new global friends, chat with friends, share your videos, get your daily scope, connect with celebs, and much more.

       

At imbee.com, kids can participate in a variety of creative activities, including creating their own blogs and personalizing them with their own images or with artwork from one of the many custom imbee galleries; uploading graphics or music files; and exchanging messages with their friends.

For parents, imbee.com provides tools that enable them to better guide their children as they begin to develop those important digital skill sets and judgment necessary to make their personal online experiences fun, educational, and empowering.

Ref : http://smartsafe.blogspot.com/2010/08/imbeecome-on-already.html

Facebook Classroom - Education in Social networking

If I ask you that : Do you know Facebook? I must be crazy! It's popular, it's free and easy to use! There are many reasons why I choose Facebook to be an online classroom for my project in Assingment 3. I am trying to ensure students to be more engaged in learning experience. An excellent way to do so is to stretch the communication between students and student-to-teacher. These are just a few ideas to do just that.

1. Create groups. You can create groups for entire classes or for study groups with smaller subsets of students that allow for easy sharing of information and communication, without students even having to friend each other.
2. Schedule events. From beginning of semester mixers to after-finals celebrations, easily schedule events for the entire class using Facebook.
3. Send messages. From unexpected absences to rescheduling exams, it’s easy to send messages through Facebook.
4. Share multimedia. With the ability to post videos, photos, and more, you can share multimedia content easily with the entire class.
5. Post class notes. Post notes after each class period for students to have access for review or in case they were absent.
6. Provide direct communication with instructors. Instructors and students can contact each other through Facebook, providing an opportunity for better sharing of information and promoting better working relationships.
7. Allows shy students a way to communicate. Shy students who may not want to approach their teacher after class or during office hours can use Facebook to communicate.
8. Facilitate classmate connections. When students get to know each other more intimately, they become more involved in the learning experience. This is helpful in both large classes that wouldn’t normally promote such intimacy and in smaller settings that regularly depend on that connection.
9. Make announcements. Instructors can send out reminders about upcoming tests, upcoming due dates, or any classroom news.
10. Brainstorm. Students can have the ability to add their thoughts to the class any time they occur allows for more opportunities for brainstorming off each other.
11. Share interesting websites. Students and instructors alike can post interesting websites that add relevancy to the class.
12. Post homework. Posting homework through Facebook not only provides easy access for students, it also puts in writing specifically what is expected and when it is due.
13. Grassroots movements. Students at University of British Columbia learned that the weight room at their aquatic center was slated for closure, and through Facebook, won to keep it open.

 

This is an example of using the most popular social network as a classroom.
http://169.244.138.14/~terri_dawson/fb_classroom1.pdf

Classroom in Social Networking

My project for the 3^rd assignment is about “Facebook Classroom” which my teammates and I try to make use of this most popular social networking tool for education. How do you think about social networking in education? It’s not trying to force learners to use social networking for their learning but instead it’s a social networking that enhances them to acquire more knowledge and learning materials. From the video in the previous post you can see clearly how social networking and education can be related. Social networking has become a tool for education right now. It could be like an extended classroom discussion. Now for special needs it could have benefits like allowing them to express their knowledge and feelings without feeling that they are different or could not contribute like a regular setting classroom.

In this course, Blackboard is a social networking tool for the online course. It is designed to be easy to use for students and teachers. It doesn’t need special skill to access to Blackboard and use it. This is one of the important basic elements for social networking; it should be easy to use.

Social Networking in Education

From the previous posts I have metioned a lot about the awareness and darkside of social networking. This might make some of you frightened when social networkings are wrongly manipulated. However, that's just one of the sophisticated dimensions of technology.  Another great thing from social networking is it's role in education. It can make learning happenned anywhere: in a classroom, at the dinning room table, on a bus, in front of a science exhibit, at the zoo…anywhere! "Portability is not as important as the ability of the learner to connect, communicate, collaborate, and create using tools that are readily at hand." Thanks for social networking! From this video you can see how social networking and education related.

Social Networking vs Social Awareness

 

I have mentioned about the dark side and the future of social networking. It’s hard to figure out how the new social networking tools would be like in the future. Security concern is one of the main problems of social networking right now. I mentioned, it’s not what or even who you know… it’s who knows you that the security problem would start.  Social networking services such as Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and Twitter allow people who share common interests to connect and network with one another on the Internet. However, use of these services can put both personal and company information at risk if the proper precautions are not taken.

Social awareness is one of the big challenges for social networking right now? How do you think about it? Can they get along with each other?

Additional reading:  Privacy and Online Social Networking Websites of Richard Goettke and Joseph Christiana  from http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/cs199r/fp/RichJoe.pdf

The Future of Social Networking

image from http://matthewbuckland.com/

Do you wonder how social networking will look like in the future? FaceBook, Youtube, Blog or Twitter may be completely replaced with other social networking tools. Syracuse Blackboard may be only history of this development. Or, the change may not be too much from now! From the article of Craig Schmugar Future social networking sites will become more important because platforms will expand further. “Killer apps” will include mobility, presence, and location awareness, with the goal of making your physical life more convenient through your virtual network; you’ll have a traveling social network in your back pocket. Not only will you be able to know which of the friends in your network is online, but you’ll also be able to know which are nearby. Cell tower triangulation and global positioning systems will be able to pass along your location to whomever you allow. Location-aware services could match local businesses and entertainment to your interests based on your profile. Business travelers could more easily rendezvous with coworkers and clients at conferences and trade shows. The thrill of online dating could be heightened through the creation of location-specific communities, so you wouldn’t only meet someone online, but you could also chat with a prospective mate in the same room. Social sites will also be smarter, mining user information across the web. Social bookmarking site functionality such as Digg will be married with social networks and enhanced with self-learning technology such as Pandora or StumbleUpon and tagging functionality such as Flickr. The result is a more constant and refined stream of relevant information, which actually educates and informs the community in a much more efficient manner than occurs today.

Ref: http://www.mcafee.com/us/local_content/misc/threat_center/msj_future_social_networking.pdf

The darkside of Social Networking!

How many positive aspects of Social Networking we have perceived ? - building cyber community, joining hands in solving sophisticated problem, enhancing relationship etc. How about the darksides? What about when things go wrong? How about your pivacy? Have you ever thought of that?

"When it comes to social networking, it’s not what you know, or even who you know – it’s who knows you. And that’s pretty much where the trouble starts."

David Gewirtz

Read more about the darkside of Social Networking here!

http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/d935d279#/d935d279/36

Social Networking Shows Year On Year Growth

Have you ever wondered how social networking would go? I am very curious to know that! It seems the trend of SN is always increasing. According to the article from NetAge the increasing trend of social networking growth has been apparent on the internet for the last 3 years. BMI-T forecasts that this trend will continue to show rapid growth in the future, as internet penetration increases in line with predicted reduced costs, and social network users increase due to its huge popularity. Currently, some 1.3 million South African users are involved in some kind of social networking, and it’s expected that this number will pass 4.5 million by 2013. BMI-T’s research showed social networking is currently more popular among both younger consumers, and higher income consumers. However, they predict that this will gradually change as social networking popularity increases, and internet access becomes more available for lower income groups. The number of South African’s using the internet is also expected to double from it’s current 4.5 million, to over 9 million by 2013. The graph below shows projected growth of social networking from PC’s in South Africa until 2013.



Ref:
http://www.netage.co.za/resources/93-social-networking-growth-predicted

Top 5 commercial social networks!

According to an April 2009 Nonprofit Social Network Survey Report sponsored by the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN), the following describes the Top 5 commercial social networks that NGOs use.

1. Facebook: Facebook was created in 2004 and is the most popular of the commercial networks by far, with 74.0% of nonprofits indicating that they use this social networking site. Facebook, Inc. privately owns it and people join networks organized by city, school, and region in order to interact with other members. People can add friends on Facebook, send messages, and post pictures. Originally open only to university and college students, it now allows free access to anyone 13 and older and currently has more than 200 million active users worldwide.

2. YouTube: Of the 980 nonprofits surveyed, 46.5% use YouTube for social networking. It is a video sharing website created in 2005 where users can upload, share videos, and view them. In 2006 it was bought by Google and now operates as a subsidiary of the company. Unregistered users can watch any of the posted videos, while registered users are allowed to upload an unlimited number. Registered users’ accounts are called channels.

3. Twitter: This site is a close third as 43.3% of nonprofits indicated they use Twitter. Twitter, created in 2006, is a social networking and blogging site that permits users to send and read other users’ updates, which are called tweets. Tweets are posts, no more than 140 words or less, that consist of status reports. Last year, Twitter had about two million users; this year the number has skyrocketed to 32 million users.

4. LinkedIn: Unlike the other popular social networking sites, LinkedIn focuses on creating and keeping professional contacts. According to the survey, 32.9% of nonprofits use this site. LinkedIn was launched in 2003 and allows users to search for jobs, has resources for hiring employees, and even has a category dedicated to nonprofits. It spans about 170 industries and has more than 40 million users.

5. MySpace: Of the surveyed nonprofits, 26.1% have a network on MySpace. Created in 2003, the website is very interactive, allowing users to create a network of friends, profiles, blogs, groups, music, pictures, and video. In 2006 it was the most popular networking site in the United States but was internationally overtaken by Facebook, its main competitor, in 2008.

Ref: http://www.wango.org/upload2009/OnlineSocialNetworking.pdf

Social Networking tools

These are some of the social netwoking tools.

Social Networking!

In this cyber generation, social networking is very popular, but it can still be very difficult to understand for someone new to social networking. The online environment has become an important and growing part of economic, cultural, civic, and social life, and the use of new Internet-based applications for collaboration and learning - including "social networking" sites - is becoming increasingly prevalent. Learning to use today's Internet, and specifically interactive web applications, effectively and safely is now an essential component of education, as these learning and social environments are promoted more and more. The development of information literacy skills requires that young people be able to safely and effectively use these important new collaborative tools.

My Space is one of the popular social networking tools.

Assumption College

http://www.assumption.ac.th/