Farewell UOSM2033: Final Thoughts

First of all, I’d like to say that this module took me in a direction I hadn’t at all expected. My degree is International Relations, which is far more theoretical than what I’m used to. This module taught me a lot about how to navigate around the web and use it efficiently and  carefully. Below are links to various forms of social media I use to maintain my online profile as well as a self-test to evaluate how far I’ve come with this module:

Here’s the self-test:

Accessing, managing and evaluating online information

Start: 2

Before the start of this module, I never really took advantage of the material that was available to me. I could say that I was quite shallow when using the material that was available to the best of my abilities.

End: 4

I feel as though I’m more wary and aware of the content that is available to me. Open access, for example, is a topic in this module that helped me realize what is available online and how I can use it to the best of my abilities.

Participating in online communities, building online networks and collaborating on shared projects

Start: 1

These are all things I didn’t engage in at all prior to this module.

End: 3

I engage in online communities a little more than I did before, but I feel as though it is something I can work on a little bit more. I can work on this, for example, by joining groups on LinkedIn to help boost my prospects for when I’ll be looking for work in the future. By using LinkedIn more, I feel I build a large online presence in the future.

Creating online materials (text, audio, images, video)

Start: 3

Before this module, I used websites like Instagram to post pictures online, but I never had a blog or used websites apart from Instagram to share my own content.

End: 5

By taking this module this semester, the amount of content I create is much more than it was when I started. Adding to that, I share different types of content online, with blogging being an example, as opposed to just sharing my pictures on Instagram prior to the start of this module.

 

Managing your online identity and privacy

Start: 3

Before this module, I was always wary of my privacy settings on social media. I became familiar with this when I found out that universities check students’ social media when they apply to university.

End: 4

As I was wary about who can check my online information, this something I was most familiar with when starting this module. However, I became more cautious around internet use when I found out that employers can spy on you from inside your own office.

Overall, my online experience before starting this module was patchy, where some things I was quite familiar with and engaged with frequently while other things were completely new to me. I’m still working on trying to become a more well-rounded internet user. I believe that by using helpful online materials like LinkedIn and the applying the knowledge I’ve learned from this module, I should become more and more well-rounded as time progresses.

Word Count: 529

Topic 5 Reflection

This week saw us looking at Open Access and the general idea of making content free over the internet. My post was centred around the debate of having scientific journals and publications being made free to view online. I read on Chris‘s about making games and movies free, which wasn’t what I thought it was. Chris argued how the use of piracy was seen as a form of competition by firms, in which websites like Spotify and Netflix came to be. The use of advertisements to try curb piracy-related activity had no effect whatsoever. Chris also argued that more people would start using things like Spotify and Netflix over piracy because the services are quite convenient for how much they cost. Yet true, I personally disagreed to this as when given the chance to watch any movie or download any song for free, why would someone pay a little bit of money per month for a service? Even though it is a small amount, the chance at free content isn’t something people would pass on.

Nick‘s blog, like mine, talked about the pros and cons of Open Access with scientific journals. I learned from his blog that Open Access is very beneficial for universities and students who don’t have the required funds to publish in well-known scientific journals. However, because its free, the publisher of the scientific journal will not earn as much money as someone who has published their work into a well-known journal.

Open Access, like many of the topics in this module, was something I wasn’t very familiar with before researching and writing about it. Open Access is something I see as very beneficial for younger and less experienced people who want to make an impact with their research.

Word Count: 294

Sharing Your Content Online for Free: Why or Why Not?

By posting your content online, you enable yourself to have more people reference/cite your work and more people can see it as opposed to publishing it in a journal where payment is required in order to gain access to said publication. Another positive about using Open Access is that government grants and funding have gone into it so that your work is supported by the government. Open Access is also beneficial for students who may not have the required funding needed for their work to be published in top journals either. Adding to that, it is quite easy to get your work published with Open Access, which could be seen as another positive for younger people trying to have their work noticed. Posting your content for free on the internet is something that is considered by a lot of people who are publishing their content online. By using Open Access, publishers can use this to make availability of their content free and available for reuse immediately. This video by Wiley goes further into depth as to why posting online freely is beneficial:

On the idea of it being so easy to have your work published with Open Access, this has lead to arguments that argue against the idea of Open Access. An article published by The Guardian goes into depth about why Open Access has its issues. Because Open Access has very limited if not no costs to its publication and is very easy to have your work published through open access, issues like quality control and the quality of the work published become apparent. Yes, it is very beneficial that works become available through Open Access very quickly, but the quality of the work that is published may be questionable and it can go on to be cited by many people who may not be able to see that the quality of the publication isn’t fantastic. Then again, those who have published their work onto top journals before may be able to easily figure out whether or not the quality of the publication is good enough to be cited in the future.

Open Access can be very beneficial for those of us who want their work to be get noticed and gain traction very quickly without having to worry about the costs of publishing online. However, Open Access can let works of lesser quality slip through the cracks as Open Access makes it so easy to publish the work regardless of its quality and/or credibility.

Word Count: 410

References:

Rice, C. (2013) Open Access Publishing Hoax, The Guardian. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/oct/04/science-hoax-peer-review-open-access [Accessed 5 December 2015]

 

Understanding Open Access, Wiley, 30 Apr 2015. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdR3X4Z5COU [Accessed 5 December 2015]

 

Topic 4 Reflection

This week’s topic revolved around ethics in social media and internet use itself. For a lot of students in this module, one of the things that came to mind was Justine Sacco’s tweet that gave her worldwide notoriety. This tweet gained traction across the internet for it being ludicrously racist. As a result, the whole internet criticized her for posting something so racist and called for her employer to fire her.

I read in Leah’s blog about how the event came to be, thanks a to TED talk video on that blog post. Justine only had 170 followers on Twitter at the time the tweet was posted. One of her followers leaked the tweet to a journalist who then spread it even further. In the space of ten days in December, Justine Sacco was googled over a million times. This example shows how quickly something can get around the web and that people who post things on social media need to be careful as one of their ‘followers’ or friends’ could leak your post you found to be funny, while the whole internet finds it offensive. Things on the internet can spread like a disease and before you can explain your racist post, you’re vilified by the whole world.

Tom‘s blog looked at the idea of ethically tracking personal data with companies. I did something similar to this, but Tom looked at how companies track what websites we visit and anonymise the searches so that it no longer ‘constitutes’ personal data. Even though it improves service, a company can look at my browser history without my consent. We both discussed how an employer can spy on their employee through the company bandwidth, which is something that needs to be thought about whoever is working in an office.

Word Count: 297

Blogs commented on:

https://tomburrellblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/22/ethics-of-tracking/comment-page-1/#comment-22

https://leahcowan.wordpress.com/2015/11/22/public-shaming/

Using and Posting on the Internet with Caution

As mentioned in previous posts, the amount of impact the internet has on our lives is enormous. Every little thing you do, be it a post or a something you search for, plays an important role in how you use the internet. This is because your employer can spy on you in many different ways. Your employer is capable of checking your searches within the company computer you are using and can perform monitor searches. These two things can be done through the company’s bandwidth, which is very unsettling to those working in an office now that they’re aware their employer is potentially spying on them.

Despite this being unethical, not using the internet carefully can potentially be very damaging. One case is Justine Sacco’s Tweet, which got Justine fired for posting a racist tweet without considering who could see the tweet. Another similar incident occurred when Sir John Sawer’s cover was blown because his wife posted family pictures on Facebook without changing any of the privacy settings. One thing led to another and all of London was able to see all the photos the former chief of MI6’s wife had posted onto Facebook.

Here is a video which shows an example of what happens when you don’t mark your posts as private and are not careful about what you post on the internet.

It is unethical how your employer can spy on you and look you up on google, but I believe it is necessary for the employers to make sure they know who they’re hiring and monitoring their progress in the office. Though its unfair that my employer can spy on what I’m searching while at work, but I shouldn’t be surfing through Facebook, I should be getting those required tasks done as soon as possible. Though it is a little bit harsh to argue against someone’s privacy, that same individual isn’t paid to come to work to surf Facebook.

Large Man Looking At Co-Worker With A Magnifying Glass — Image by © Images.com/Corbis

On the other hand, for people like Justine Sacco and Sir John Sawers to be subject to such scrutiny, they had it coming. Not so much John Sawers as it was his wife’s fault, but Justine Sacco should’ve never posted that Tweet as Tweets and status updates are so easily accessible by so many different people. By not making the most of your privacy settings and posting on social media with caution, incidents like the ones mentioned above can be avoided.

Word Count: 404

References:

How social media can ruin your career, video, KroesKontroltv, 15 March 2013. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CImhaCY1YP4 [Accessed 21 November 2015]

Litty, M. (2014) 6 Ways Your Employer Can Legally Spy on You, Recruiter. Available from: https://www.recruiter.com/i/6-ways-your-employer-can-legally-spy-on-you/ [Accessed 20 November 2015]

Ronson, J. (2015) How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s Life, The New York Times. Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html?module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Magazine&action=keypress&region=FixedLeft&pgtype=article&_r=3{Accessed 20 November 2015]

Sengupta, K. (2011) A spy in Speedos: Wife blows cover of MI6 chief on Facebook, The Independent. Available from: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/a-spy-in-speedos-wife-blows-cover-of-mi6-chief-on-facebook-1732759.html [Accessed 20 November 2015]

Siciliano, R. (2015) Be careful what You post in Social Media, LinkedIn. Available from: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/careful-what-you-post-social-media-robert-siciliano [Accessed 21 November 2015]

 

Topic 3 Reflection

This topic was all about developing a professional online profile, which includes websites like LinkedIn. LinkedIn has become a very important website for people who want to connect with companies and potentially get work from companies on LinkedIn. However, from reading other blog posts, LinkedIn isn’t the only website to look at if you’re trying to promote yourself online. By reading Chris‘s blog, which focused on musicians and photographers, websites like Instagram and Soundcloud play a large role in promoting one’s photos or music. He goes on to say how it is crucial for artists to constantly share their work in order for them to get noticed, otherwise no one will be able to see their work if they don’t share it as much as possible.

In Georgina‘s blog, she talks about the importance of making a good impression with employers who quickly glance at your online profile. She stresses the point of how it is important for you to have multiple online profiles so that you are much easier to find on google, so having an account on Twitter or Facebook will serve as a benefit to you. Georgina also used a personal example of how her blog’s views skyrocketed after applying for multiple jobs.

Both blogs discuss that making your presence known is the most important thing about maintaining a professional online profile. I completely agree with this because if you don’t make your presence known online, potential employers won’t be able to see what kind of skills you offer. This can potentially prevent any fantastic work opportunities from happening because you didn’t promote your work and profile as much as possible.

Word Count: 280

Posts commented on:

Creating a Digital Professional Profile to become a Freelance Content Creator

Developing an authentic online professional profile

Ways in which you can develop your online profile

Websites like LinkedIn are becoming more and more popular, especially the idea of using an online profile to try and attract potential employers. The important part about this is making sure your profile is spot on and that people from various companies like what they see from you.

Here is my LinkedIn profile to show you my attempt at creating a professional online profile. However, there are many ways you can impress with your linked in profile:

Make Your Profile Look Professional

First of all, you’re going to want to upload a picture of yourself on your profile, particularly a professionally taken picture. Keep it simple, while only keeping a headshot of yourself so people can see what you look like. Your name should be your name and your name only, while maintaining a snappy headline to capture potential readers’ attention. You’re going to want to add links to all your different websites to help you appear more in searches online. Be sure to keep things on your other links hidden so that viewers don’t see things you don’t want strangers to see. For websites like twitter, which are usually open to almost anyone, make sure your profile looks professional and doesn’t contain photos from nights out.

Keep It Updated

Keeping an up-to-date profile is essential in order to make your profile stand out. Things like status updates and keeping your work/educational history is important for companies to get a clearer picture of who you are. By remaining inactive on LinkedIn, it isn’t possible for other people to see what you have been doing with your career in recent times.

Presenting Your Skills

Be sure to present your skills by using various different keywords, such as marketing or public speaking. Beware, however, generalizing, or showing people that you’re the jack-of-all-trades kind of individual, doesn’t sit well with companies as they want to see what specific and specialized skills you offer so that they can see what field you fit into as a potential employee. Adding to that, using words like outstanding and excellent aren’t very believable, so it is suggested that you show them what you did instead of potentially praising yourself too much.

By maintaining a solid LinkedIn profile, you should be able to impress almost anyone who comes across your profile in the future. Nowadays, we are seeing social media and technology have a much larger impact on our lives, so companies and potential employers will follow suit and use social media to recruit people.

Word Count: 417

References

Dartmouth, “6 Steps to Creating a Professional Profile”, Dartmouth, (Electronic Resource) <http://www.dartmouth.edu/~csrc/docs/linkedin_howto.pdf

Dodaro, Melonie, “21 Steps To The Perfect LinkedIn Profile”, TopDog Social Media, (Electronic Resource) <http://topdogsocialmedia.com/linkedin-training-creating-the-perfect-profile/

Dummies, “How to Create Effective and Professional Online Profiles”, For Dummies, (Electronic Resource) <http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-create-effective-and-professional-online-pr.html

Gant, Jesse, “7 Ways to Optimize Your Professional Profile”, Mashable, (Electroinc Resource) <http://mashable.com/2012/07/17/optimize-online-professional-profile/#AhPa.O6k0Sqx

Reflecting Upon Topic 2

This is a topic that a lot of people from younger generations are quite familiar with, as the internet grows more and more popular as time goes by. After working and getting familiar with this topic, I have learned a lot more about why people have more than one identity and why having more than one identity can be harmful to others. To be specific, I learned more about catfishing by reading about it online and on Lphenix‘s and on Hollie‘s blogs.

Catfishing is something that anyone can easily come across, especially if using a dating website like Tinder, but by reading about it on the blogs mentioned above and with articles, I have come to understand why some people would consider using an alternative persona despite the fact it can be quite unethical. I have also learned that by creating multiple online personas, people are at greater risk of being a victim to identity theft. I for one do not have multiple accounts from the same social media website, and by reading about it on other blogs, I may not want to create multiple identities regardless of the situation. It should be mentioned that Facebook now has privacy settings that can be altered so only your friends can see your profile for example.

On the other hand, I have come to understand more why people under constant scrutiny have multiple personas, like athletes and politicians. A world-known musician can’t necessarily share a Facebook account for his/her fans and his/her personal life because they may not want all the attention from people they’ve never known and/or seen before, especially if its something better kept within his/her personal sphere.

All in all, this is a topic I was somewhat familiar with before writing about it, but it is something I understand a lot more now. This is the case for speaking for multiple identities as it was something I never knew could be thought of as a positive and I never thought about how multiple identities worked for famous people.

Word Count: 338

Blogs commented on:

Multiple online profiles: An accident waiting to happen?

https://holliekinch.wordpress.com/2015/10/21/online-or-offline/comment-page-1/#comment-2

How ethical is the act of creating an online alter ego?

In 2015, the internet has become an important factor in almost everyone’s daily life. Keeping in touch with Facebook, sharing pictures on Instagram, or making important career connections on LinkedIn. Even though the internet has the ability to shape what we do on a daily basis, people can use the internet for having multiple personas. This may not sound that bad, but internet aliases can be present in things like online dating and these aliases can do some harm.

One example of how multiple online identities can be malicious is the act of catfishing. This term, coined by MTV show, Catfish, describes the act of someone creating a new identity on the internet to lure someone into an online relationship without ever truly revealing themselves online. In an article about catfishing from the New Yorker, the article talks about one episode on the TV show where a man named Michael has been dating a woman online for 18 months, even though they live in the same city. It’s interesting to think to oneself why this man still maintains a relationship, but the article states from Michael’s perspective that ““Caroline is the perfect person for me. I feel like even though we haven’t met, the bond we built over this time is stronger than anything I’ve ever had with anyone else.” (Klein, New Yorker). This can still be mind-boggling but later on in the article petite and red-headed Caroline, who actually turns out to be a larger woman named Heather, goes on to describe that “the Internet gives Heather the opportunity to detach from the body she doesn’t like in order to connect Michael with what she does like about herself” (Klein, New Yorker). For Michael (and other people who have experienced this), he has clearly been treated unethically as he has expressed his emotions to someone who wasn’t who they said they were. Using another persona for acts like these highlights the negatives for having multiple identities on the internet as it plays with the ethical considerations of having multiple personas.

On the other hand, in that same article, Heather used her alter ego to hide the things she didn’t like about herself, which is her physique. By hiding the things about herself she didn’t like and using the things she liked about herself, which were her emotions and hobbies, she could really connect with Michael about who she really was. This in turn gave her much more confidence as she didn’t have to think about her body when she was dating Michael online. This also applies to people who have information they don’t want to share, like health conditions. By talking about it with another identity on the internet, the person doesn’t have to worry about having a friend or acquaintance find out about their health problems and face judgment from people these people.

Having an alter ego on the internet can be very beneficial if someone feels the need to hide personal information about themselves, like health or a feature about themselves they don’t like and therefore increasing self-esteem. But on the other hand, using an alter ego on the internet when dating is incredibly unethical and can be very damaging to people who experience this. In conclusion, I believe that the above evidence helps explain that the cons of having multiple online personas overshadows the pros of multiple identities as it crosses the boundaries of what is considered to be ethical and what isn’t.

Word Count: 568

Sources:

Jarvis, J. (2011) One Identity or More?. Accessed 21/10/15 from http://buzzmachine.com/2011/03/08/one-identity-or-more/

Klein, A.A. (2015) Consider the “Catfish”. Accessed 22/10/15 from http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/consider-the-catfish

Vronay, D. (2014) The Online Identity Crisis. Accessed 22/10/15 from http://www.wired.com/insights/2014/11/the-online-identity-crisis/

Topic 1 Reflection

After reading about the discussion between ‘digital natives’ and ‘digital immigrants’, I have now come to realize that different generations are placed in different ‘digital’ groups, which is something I never knew existed before. I’m aware that the younger generation are quicker to grasp to technology, but to split generations in two groups was something I have never come across and found it strange to discuss two groups primarily on age. I’ve heard people of the younger generation calling older people technophobes for not being able to grasp technological advances, but this discussion was something completely new to me. I’m not saying that the groups are only separated by age, but saying the digital immigrants use the internet solely to book holidays or check their bank balances isn’t necessarily true. As I mentioned in my discussion of this topic on my blog, some people in the so-called ‘digital immigrant’ part of the discussion actually use things like social media more than people from the ‘native’ group. I see this on a day-to-day basis as my Facebook news feed contains more pictures and status updates from immigrants than natives.

In an article by the Huffington Post (which is also referenced on the blog post for this topic), it is mentioned that people of the ‘digital native’ group view the world in a more egalitarian manner while also expressing cynical views towards the government, for example. On the other hand, people who are considered to be ‘digital immigrants’ are very goal-oriented, which is something I sometimes see with older generations. Sometimes I feel that ‘digital immigrants’ I’ve met and spent time with can pressure me into getting work and figure out what I want to do when I finish university, which makes me feel uneasy at times. On the other hand, some people who are considered to be digital immigrants have a slightly different point of view. These members of digital immigrant group have told me (from personal experience) to not worry about it, which makes me feel a little more comfortable.

All in all, I initially had no idea that there was a discussion on how the internet was across various age groups and it’s an argument I can relate to at times (Huffington Post), while the other argument saying that ‘digital immigrants’ use the internet to solely check bank balances and book holidays is something I find to be completely untrue.

Word Count: 401

Comments found on: http://sophiepitman.wordpress.com and http://bryonykeen.wordpress.com