Social networking to network

continuing on from my previous post...

A YouTube video that breaks down exactly what to look at on your Facebook to network your business and design.

The web as a marketing tool

Link:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/frontpage-help/using-your-web-site-as-a-marketing-tool-HA001123104.aspx

The Microsoft site gives you a breakdown into using the web as a marketing tool. I think that this revolves around identity as for example as a designer, you need to network yourself and get your identity out there to the world. The web allows this to happen quickly and cheaply. Social sites such as Facebook and Twitter are commonly used in todays world to advertise for free, allowing information to spread across the world rapidly. This goes back to previous identity articles on how much and how little information you choose to post online, as being selective can help how you are viewed.

National Stalking Day

Apparently today is national stalking day in the UK, and I found this article that highlights the dangers of cyber - stalking. I thought it was quite appropriate as it shows that this is a curent issue, and that it is still being tackled today. This article is a new campaign launched today by the police:

http://www.midweekherald.co.uk/news/staying_safe_from_cyber_stalkers_1_1352131

Expressing yourself

I found this journal piece that links to my previous post. This looks at the idea of online personalities being an expression of a person, and that it is a way to socialise. I think this article takes a bit more of a modern take on cybercultures and its place in todays world.

Abstract:
The individualising and socialising processes, which shape the identities, are being affected by the information technological revolution. Synthetic worlds, despite hardly having taken their first step towards their evolution, constitute something else than just curiosity; they have restructured human entertainment but, above all, virtual worlds represent an incursion into new social, economic, cultural and educational environments. Virtual worlds create new contexts in which the new generations socialise in groups with rules, learning intellectual skills and expressing their singularity. Virtual communities offer a whole new framework to think about the human identity in the Internet era. Hence, a new horizon opens up for the understanding of the identities, which is characterised by the predominance of the personal over the merely cultural. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

link (might not work because its from Quest!):
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=33979745&site=eds-live

Online Identity - Another you

I found a Journal extract and thought it was appropriate to the topic of identity. I think that it also links quite nicely with the topic of online gaming communities as it explores the idea of creating a virtual person. I think it becomes, for some people, a bit of a game, and there becomes a need to better yourself by making up a 'character' online. Is it just a 'fake' you, or is it a way of expressing yourself?

Abstract:
"This paper presents the author's opinion on the impact of online life on identity. The online exercise of playing with identity and trying out new identities is perhaps the most explicit in role playing virtual communities where participation literally begins with the creation of a persona; but it is by no means confined to these somewhat exotic locations. For many people, joining online communities means crossing a boundary into highly charged territory. The development of the windows metaphor for computer interfaces was a technical innovation motivated by the desire to get people working more efficiently by cycling through different applications much as time-sharing computers cycled through the computing needs of different people. Cyberspace like all complex phenomena has a range of psychological effects. Time in cyberspace reworks the notion of the moratorium because it may now exist on an always-available window. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, I was first exposed to notions of identity and multiplicity. When 20 years later, I used my personal computer and modem to join online communities, I had an experience of this theoretical perspective which brought it shockingly down to earth. I created selves that were made and transformed by language. People who cultivate an awareness of what stands behind their personae are the ones most likely to succeed in using virtual experience for personal and social transformation.

not sure if this link will work:
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=2661506&site=eds-live

Online privacy

Continuing on from the Identity fraud Research paper I found, I found this journal that looks into the questions raised about online privacy. It looks at the 'people search' companies on the web, and how much information they can look at.

Abstract:
"The article discusses online services that aggregate data people post about themselves on social networking web sites. Spock has indexed 100 million Internet users. Netleaf has compiled a database of over 50 million profiles. Such services can be vulnerable to malicious use and have raised questions about online privacy."

link (might not work):
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=26605886&site=eds-live

Identity theft increase due to social networking

A study was done into how many people were victims of identity fraud last year. The results showed an increase of 13%. Heres a link with the breakdown of the research found:

http://www.identitytheftassistance.org/pageview.php?cateid=47

I think that this demonstrates how much we all use social networks, and although we have been warned of the risks of putting endless amounts of personal information onto the web, people are clearly still continuing to do so. Therefore the people carrying out identity fraud have more information available to them (such as pet names, maiden names etc), which in turn allows for easy access and passwords/verification that can be easily worked out.

Catfish

I was just researching and remembered this documentary programme i saw a while ago. It was on channel 4 and was called Catfish:

"When New York photographer Nev Schulman receives a painting based on one of his photographs from Abby, an eight-year-old child prodigy in Michigan, they become Facebook friends, and Nev develops online relationships with Abby's family, in particular with her attractive elder half-sister Megan.
But is everything as it seems? Nev travels to Michigan to find out.
A reality thriller that is a shocking product of our times, Catfish is a riveting story of love, deception and grace within a labyrinth of online intrigue.
True Stories commissions and showcases the best international feature documentaries."

Heres the trailer from youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuE98oeL-e0

Its really good and completely not what i expected from the trailer. It basically demonstrates how easily a false identity, and in this case, a whole family of false identities, can be created by a few Facebook profiles. The creator is able to make themselves into whatever they want to be, and in Catfish the woman it circles around, gains the attention and affection craved by sparking an "online relationship" with an unsuspecting person. I think it can be seen as a warning and that it shows that anyone can fall into the trap of believing too much and not being wary enough.

Identity - too much information?

An article I found when i was researching a bit more into identity. I think that it sums up the two alternative views on Identity when it comes to how much or how little you share on social networking sites, and how that record is permanent.

http://www.ndsuspectrum.com/news/protecting-identity-on-social-networking-websites-1.2828090

"Millions of people have a Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or some other social media profile these days. People use these sites to keep in contact and stay up to date with their friends and family as well as keep others up to speed. Social networking can also cause drama, job loss and a personal breach of security."

Identity in Cyberculture

I know Wikipedia isnt the best place for finding information, but to define and explore identity in cyberculture, I think that this is a good place to start.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberculture


"Cyberculture, like culture in general, relies on establishing identity and credibility. However, in the absence of direct physical interaction, it could be argued that the process for such establishment is more difficult.
How does cyberculture rely on and establish identity and credibility? This relationship is two way, with identity and credibility being both used to define community in cyberspace and to be created within and by online communities.
In some senses, online credibility is established in much the same way that it is established in the off line world, however, since there are two separate worlds, it is not surprising that there are both differences in the mechanisms found in each and interactions of the markers found in each.

Architectures of credibility

Following the model put forth by Lawrence Lessig in Code: Version 2.0, the architecture of a given online community may be the single most important factor regulating the establishment of credibility within online communities. Some factors may be:

• Anonymous versus Known
• Linked to Physical Identity versus Internet-based Identity Only
• Unrated Commentary System versus Rated Commentary System
• Positive Feedback-oriented versus Mixed Feedback (positive and negative) oriented"
• Moderated versus Unmoderated