NEW Communication Technology Blog

[gu-newtechgenius-blog]

The New (Anti) Social Age

For more on New Communication Technologies, check out my blog: http://gu-newtechgenius.tumblr.com/

Society has become consumed by all the new technology that has been accepted in recent years. With snippets of footage of people doing this on a day to day basis, I talk about the new social age that has seemingly become anti-social

[gu-newtechgenius-blog]

More Information, Less Privacy

In today’s society, social networking sites have become second nature to the majority of the human race. Pérez-Latre, et al., (2011, p. 64), describes social networks as, “…web-based services that allow users to build a public or semi-public within a system.” What isn’t mentioned in that specific definition is the fact that data from consumers is constantly being collected by social networking organisations, as a means of understanding the consumer, to personally market and advertise to each consumer, and for a number of other various reasons. The notion of someone having in depth information about you is baffling, yet it has become a regular occurrence and has become a new strategy for marketing and advertisement. Whilst this is not a new concept in this current information age, it is increasingly becoming known not only the sheer amount of data that organisations are taking, but the many different ways they are using this data, or sharing it, all without the consumer being aware. This exposes the ever-present issue that whilst society does still have privacy, the luxury is slowly dwindling the more civilization associates itself with technology and social networks.

In recent years, social networking sites have become a social norm in society, making it hard for an individual to not have some form of a social network that they use on a regular basis. With such a massive rise in the use of these interactive sites, it has led to a new opportunity for these sites to become research tools by collecting consumer data, enabling direct communication for marketing and advertisement (Pérez-Latre, et al., 2011, p. 70). As more people began to detach themselves from newspapers and magazines, organisations had to create a new and improved strategy, allowing them to understand and target the everyday consumer. Social networks are now becoming detrimental to companies, generating a new generation of a market which uses message control and communication strategy (Pérez-Latre, et al., 2011, p. 65). For what was once normal to hand out surveys to complete, sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Myspace are now tracking every movement of every consumer instead, which is also exposing how much more thorough they can be with the use of technology. This is becoming known as economic surveillance, where it is, “…the collection, storage, assessment, and commodification of personal data, usage behavior, and user-generated data for economic purposes,” (Fuchs, 2012, p. 155). The switch from paper to the web can now be noticeably seen on most social networking sites on a side bar or scrolling feed, constantly attempting to draw potential customers in with this now common approach. Whilst this is beneficial for organisations, it is deceiving as to whether they are being ethical in the way they take data, as there have been numerous instances where consumers are not given the choice as to whether they consent to allowing their data to be collected and used (Fernback & Papacharissi , 2005, p. 266).

Prior to the internet, customer information was not as easy to track and obtain as it is today. Companies would have to continuously and consistently work to acquire information they needed in order to be able to gather enough useful intel. However, with this new form of data collection, it is concerning in relation to the sheer amount of data being collected and how much of it is being exploited (Bolaño & Vieira, 2015, p. 54). Companies have recently been able to do this due to establishments in various ways to gather information, that is also able to be used in social networks, from the internet (Pérez-Latre, et al., 2011, p. 68). This enables mass loss of privacy for social networking users and a thorough collection of data for every individual as well, manifesting this issue of lack of consent as most people do not even realise the amount of information social networking sites take from them. For the purpose of marketers, public online databases now collect people’s personal information for commercial and promotional purposes (Barnes, 2006). In question as to whether there were other reasons for this new form of privacy invasion and to whether their intentions were to better the consumer or society, Fuchs, (2012, p. 148), states that, “If there were no profit motive on internet platforms, then there would be no need to commodify the data and behaviours of internet users.” Furthermore, in relation to the legal obligations that companies have to undertake to obtain information, they merely have to state how user’s personal information will be used for a particular purpose and are not obliged to protect the consumer in any sense (Fernback & Papacharissi , 2005, p. 265). It is due to this that whilst society’s privacy is still intact, it is most certainly beginning to diminish the more data is being taken and used for an organisations greedy intentions.

People still continue to value their privacy the way they did prior to the internet, however, now the only difference is that privacy is not as easy to retain and it only becoming less able to with the large amount of data being taken from individuals from social networking sites. With this new form of privacy invasion, individual privacy regarding body integrity, behaviour, personal communication and individual data are all becoming vulnerable to the new generation of information collection (Fernback & Papacharissi , 2005, p. 260). Users of social networking sites are seemingly wasting their times with privacy settings, as their personal information is being taken no matter how protective they are. Every detail of their lives from buying preferences to personal thoughts are legally being collected, stored and locked away on servers by whatever company or government entity that wants their information for whatever purpose they want it for (Barnes, 2006). The fact that information that users believe is safe is being collected for purposes they don’t consent to is exposing how unethical the scheme is, yet it continues to be one of the most used tactics is modern marketing and advertisement. However, users are starting to realise this too. Regularly, Facebook and other social networking sites’ users and observers are beginning to take this lack of privacy into serious consideration, claiming that this form of data collection it also a form of exploitation, with its only purpose for companies being to make profit with the use of people’s data (Fuchs, 2012, p. 143). This is also seen in studies referred to by Barnes (2006), where, “Marketers who target teen consumers can use stated, personal information gathered from social networking sites for purposes other than what users intend.”  This means of understanding every day consumers has blown into something much more problematic and it is clear researchers are becoming skeptical of this. It now seems that users of social networking sites and the internet in general have no way of avoiding their diminishing lack of privacy, especially with people’s lives becoming increasingly more associated with today’s online environment.

With the growing and regular use of internet and social networking sites, the problematic issue of exploitation and waning amount of privacy is specifically related to the new form of consumer understanding and target marketing by the collection and storage of people’s individual data, taken from sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, sites the society have become attached to. This relatively modern marketing tactic has taken over from the traditional form of marketing where surveys and questionnaires were taken to then eventually be able to market to consumers in magazines and newspapers. Whilst it has become normal for data to be taken and used for whatever purpose organisations desire it for, it most definitely hasn't become socially acceptable. Companies are obtaining large amounts of data to understand every detail about a consumer’s life from social networking sites, however that doesn't necessarily mean they are attempting to protect their data, only use it. All of this combined manifests into a mass loss of privacy for individuals who use social networking sites, even if they don’t use them on a regular basis. Even if a consumer is going to all extremes to ensure their accounts are safe, organisations as still able to obtain their data, resulting in a society whose privacy is diminishing drastically.

References:

Barnes, S. B., 2006. A Privacy Paradox: Social Networking in the United States. First Monday: Peer-Reviewed Journal on the Internet, 11(9).

Bolaño, C. R. S. & Vieira, E. S., 2015. The Political Economy of the Internet: Social Networking Sites and a Reply to Fuchs. Television New Media, 16(1), pp. 52-61.

Fernback , J. & Papacharissi , Z., 2005. Online Privacy and Consumer Protection: An Analysis of Portal Privacy Statements. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 49(3), pp. 259-281.

Fuchs, C., 2012. The Political Economy of Privacy on Facebook. Television New Media, 13(2), pp. 139-159.

Pérez-Latre, F. J., Portilla, I. & Blanco, C. S., 2011. Social Networks, Media and Audiences: A Literature Review. Comunicación y Sociedad, 24(1), pp. 63-74.

[gu-newtechgenius-blog]

Essay Research Topics

To build on my last post, I’ve taken an unexpected turn in my own views. Initially, I presumed I’d write this essay on the premise the people sign up to social networking sights knowing full well the risks that are involved and the notion of data collection should just be accepted. However, after undertaking some research, I’ve completely switched on my view, and now believe that we as users have lost our right to privacy unethically, and that organisations that collect our data are using it under the wrong context, especially when other corporations are able to obtain our information as well. 

From this thesis my arguments will consist of collecting data is the new old fashioned way of collecting surveys to understand market needs, data collection is used on social networking sites, but they are taking a lot of more and sharing a lot more than what is disclosed when signing up, and that privacy still consists in today’s society, it is just dwindling. 

Below are the sources I’ve used on the site Diigo.com, to keep track and monitor the sources I’ll be using for the essay.

Until next time!

[gu-newtechgenius-blog]

Social Networks and Privacy

With the New Communications essay looming over us, the class we presented the topics we could decide on. Out of all of them, the one that was most appealing to me was the notion as to whether social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, have the right to collect out data. 

Whilst this topic isn’t very original, the concept appeals to me as I am someone that uses social networking sites in my daily life, almost the same way as a brush my teeth every morning, it’s routine. In addition, I do notice that whenever I go on to Facebook, a dress I was looking at on a site two days ago is coincidentally on the side bar of my page. I am intrigued by the concept. Due to this, I’ve decided to pursue this as my topic for my essay.

[gu-newtechgenius-blog]

Unknowingly Immersing in Politics

This weeks theme was surprisingly one of the most interesting weeks so far; technology and politics. I have never been someone who consciously reads into politics, as much as my Dad has pushed the idea, but I have definitely learnt this week that I unconsciously do so. For example, whenever I share something or like something on Facebook that’s to do with Donald Trump or Tony Abbott, I am unconsciously immersing myself in politics. One of the most well-known ways I do this is by signing e-petitions. My latest is the petition to stop live baiting in QLD, which has recently been of interest after NSW and ACT banned greyhound racing. Whilst this was for a task, I would really appreciate if you could sign this petition too by clicking HERE.

Whilst I didn’t look into the Australian Governments “Clean Feed” plans I do feel like censorship in a democracy runs on a grey line. Democracy is defined as, “A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections,” (Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary, 2016). It is by the people, which is the only reason why we can sign petitions and speak our minds. Censoring completely contradicts that; it manages what people say and what they are aloud to express. This can sometimes be a good thing but it can also make real world issues deceiving, which is where the grey line sets in. A great example of this is just by looking at Barack Obama’s twitter account. Just in his bio it says that most of the time it’s not even him on twitter, it’s his staff. Whilst occasionally he may leave his initials to let the world know it was his tweet, it can already be assumed that whoever run his twitter, run what he says when he posts as well, no matter the authenticity. Even the most powerful man in the world is being censored in his own democracy.

But in light of it all there is some good in technology and politics. For example the National Broadband Network (NBN). It allows people to communicate with people on the other side of the world, entertainment on a number of devices, being able to learn through the use of fast internet. It’ll eventually become the new Telstra. Even just by looking at my Federal member in my area, Scott Buchholz. Just by looking at his most recent speeches and matching it with his Twitter account, I learnt that he is a firm believer in ending violence against women.

(Buchholz, 2016)

This was further reiterated when I read his speech he presented in White Ribbon Day last year when he, with no censorship, said, “That is one of the wonderful parts of being a federal member: being able to help those in need... I will stand up, speak out and act to prevent men's violence against women,” (Buchholz, 2015). While of course this was written and he would’ve had some help, you don’t continuously show your support for something you don’t actually support. And with the use of twitter, he’s able to get the word out on a massive scale. That’s because technology and politics have evolved to mould with each other and has allowed people to become more involved in politics, sometimes without their realisation of it.

Resources

[gu-newtechgenius-blog]

Social Monkeys

This week, the inevitable theme of social media came about. How we use it, does it effect us, do we rely on it, are we safe? Our task was to create a survey and collect responses, but I took a bit of a spin on it instead of solely just asking questions about social media. So I focussed more on Facebook and Instagram, as they are probably the most used social media sites in recent years. So after going on Survey Monkey, creating a survey and posting it on Facebook, and collating the results, this is what I’ve gotten from it.

Firstly, as seen from the graph below, despite me thinking people would be on Instagram more, results show it is quite the opposite. Even more, respondents stated that the ratio was closer to 5:1 hours per week. This surprised me at first but then after more thought I realised there is more to procrastinate with on Facebook. There are games (if you’re into that), ads to shop online, shared articles, status’, links, funny animal videos, etc. Whereas Instagram is solely just scrolling through photos until you get to where you last left off.

In addition, when asking what site is more social, 69.44% believed Facebook was which isn’t much of a surprise really since you are able to leave status’, share links and videos and most importantly, instantly message friends and voice call. 

However, what confused me was the fact when one of the questions was what site do you feel is safer only 44.44% said Instagram but then when asked if they felt Instagram needed more privacy settings like Facebook, 58.33% said no. My only conclusion from this is that those on Instagram firmly believe that there is more than enough privacy considering if you’re on private people can’t see your profile at all. As a user of Instagram, I also believe this.

As to WHY some are more inclined to Instagram compared to Facebook, most of the responses incorporated trending themes such as their parents being on Facebook and not Instagram, gets away from older generations, it’s “cooler”, and it’s easier because it shows rather than explains, enabling people to be more creative on Instagram with their photos and to keep up to date with what people are doing (especially with the new addition similar to Snap Chat, but that’s a blog post in itself).

In conclusion, I believe the comparison to Facebook and Instagram isn’t by what they have and what is safer, it is what is the latest and cooler; which at the moment is Instagram. The older generations tend to go with Facebook while the younger generations tend to go to Instagram no matter the risk or what it offers, although even I can agree that it is a hobby to create the perfect theme on my Instagram feed.

Resources

[gu-newtechgenius-blog]

History of Mobile Phones

Part of a task that we had to do in our task was pick a part of new communications and create a timeline. So, to be original (not), I’ve created one for the history of mobile phones. Unfortunately, I was unable to embed it, but I have left the link below with just a glimpse of history.

https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/1327375

Resources

[gu-newtechgenius-blog]

The World of Cyberspace

Growing up in a digitalised world we’ve always been taught that what we do on the internet leaves a footprint in cyberspace. To be honest though, up until a few years ago I didn’t know exactly what cyberspace was, if it was even real. The simplest definition of cyberspace is that it’s, “The online world of computer networks and the internet,” (Merriam-Webster, 2016). Now whilst this isn’t a physical world, considering it literally contains most people’s lives, it has to be real in a sense. William Gibson’s quirky novel, ‘Burning Chrome’,  perfectly depicts this. Following the lives of Bobby and Jack, friends that hack systems and softwares for a living, they give a glimpse to cyberspace through their computer that they personify as Chrome and her doorway into the other world. The narrator, Jack, can convince any reader that cyberspace is as real as the world we walk on when he describes it, “Bodiless, we swerve into Chrome’s castle of ice... Somewhere we have bodies, very far away, in the crowded loft roof with steel and glass. Somewhere we have microseconds, maybe time left to pull out,” (Gibson, 1982).

When I was 12, and went to see the new film Tron, it was just another children’s action film, but now I realise it’s about way more than that. It is portraying cyberspace in a physical sense. It also depicts the criminals of cyberspace, better known as cyberpunks, just like Bobby and Jack. Cyberpunk is classified as science-fiction with an abundance of high technology and questionable morality (NeonDystopia, 2015). Cyberpunks also relates to what we now know as hackers, which in recent years have started to carry quite a negative connotation to themselves. This is mostly due to the media, and the fact that only the criminal hackers are the ones that make headlines. For example, Hillary Clinton’s private emails being published to the world and most recently, and discussed in my previous blog post, the Census being hacked and shut down (link here). On a day to day basis, I think most of us see cyberpunks just by a mere random hacking our Facebook account.

However, for a cyberpunk to be a cyberpunk they first need something they can hack into that’s already being controlled. This is where cybernetics comes in. Cybernetics is the study of communication, command and control with the origins of the term coming from the Greek word ‘kybernetes’ which means, ‘the art of steering,’ (Pangaro, 2013). In today’s world, this basically means that we store knowledge into machines, this is then applied to the real world, therefore the world gains some form of intelligence, it then uses feedback and information to put into its process of cybernetics (Pangaro, 2013). For example, Griffith University has a system that obtains knowledge (professors, lecturers, tutors), that is then passed on to the real world to obtain intelligence (students). From this the system gains feedback (surveys, discussion, etc.) so that it can then process this into its system. It’s amazing how relatable cybernetics can be to the real world. And this is only from what I understand of the concept as I wasn’t able to make my tutorial! Whatever the case, it is becoming abundantly clear that there is a lot more to the world of technology than I initially thought.

Resources

[gu-newtechgenius-blog]

Census Let-down

Government advertisement for the Census was on our TV screens four months before its release on the 9th of August, making sure we were sitting at our computers that night to complete it. It had been re-vamped! It was now on the internet instead of on a sheet of paper! Come the 9th and only just over 2.3 million households were able to complete it before the site was completely shut down (Dudley-Nicholson, 2016). This in itself was only the first of the let-downs. To be quite honest, I thought it shut down the same reason why Kylie Jenner’s website shuts down every time she has a restock; because the Government just couldn’t create a strong enough website to allow the entire Australian population to complete their Census. But it was a lot more than that.

Turns out it was hackers, trying to mess with the Government, and I feel this only made the situation worse. The uproar on privacy was enormous, with people anxious as to whether their information had been collected by HACKERS! This only brought about the topic of privacy on to a national level, and it makes you question whether such an important collection of data should be online, for unauthorised people to take their pick at. We still vote for our Prime Minister on a piece of paper, so why did the Census change? Whilst the Australian Bureau of Statistics state on their website, “The ABS never has and never will release identifiable Census data,” that certainly doesn’t stop people from trying to retrieve it (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016). I would definitely put it up there as one of the Governments biggest flops in their attempt to be technologically advanced.

To be honest, I don’t think it was quite time to make that jump. The thought was nice, but in saying that it’s mostly the younger generations that are all hip with technology, and who in the household sits down and does the Census? I’ll leave that unfortunate job to Mum and Dad! Not all generations are as savvy with technology as my generation, especially the older generations. My grandparents who are surrounded by grandchildren that can do anything on a computer still struggle with their iCloud accounts. This then leads to the third let-down of this years Census. After the website malfunction, the Census was back up and running two days later. So far, there have been over 3 million households that have completed the Census, (Uhlmann, 2016). It’s now been a week later, and only just over HALF of the Australian households have completed it, meaning there isn’t a lot of data for the ABS to go off, (Dudley-Nicholson, 2016). You can already tell they’re a little worried, because Government advertisement is back up again pressing people to complete the Census, with the subtle inclusion of, “Remember, your data is safe,” making a sneaky appearance in all of them.  The biggest issue is people cannot be bothered. Like everything in technology, if you don’t get it right away, people lose interest. Or as my Granddad so wonderfully put it, “I sat down and I tried and it failed. So stuff it.” This just means the ABS have another 5 years to improve their systems for next time, and I wish them luck.

Resources

[gu-newtechgenius-blog]

How the Internet enables intimacy

We worry that IM, texting, Facebook are spoiling human intimacy, but Stefana Broadbent's research shows how communication tech is capable of cultivating deeper relationships, bringing love across barriers like distance and workplace rules.

This TED talk is a perfect example of what I was discussing in my latest blog post. The internet allows you to communicate with the world, but most of us only want to communicate with those that are important in our lives, to stay connected to them, to stay intimate.

Resources

[gu-newtechgenius-blog]

Communicating With Only the Best Intentions

I’ve always seen myself as a pretty savvy user of technology, but maybe not as much as I thought. I grew up relying on computers at school, so simple tasks like using Word and Google is almost second nature. But the notion of linking emails baffled me, making me feel ancient in a technological sense. However, in saying that, I do like keeping my university life separate from my everyday life. So for that reason, I didn’t link my email accounts. This, however, wasn’t the end of me feeling prehistoric, and it was with the simplest page of how to be a ‘Google Superuser’.  I didn’t think there was much you needed to know using Google, but turns out I was wrong. Especially with learning to use your voice to search and the advanced search options. Even just in the last few weeks I have seen others in my course that are at the same level as me, and some who are beyond me. Although, that only gives me a further opportunity to learn new skills off of my classmates. If you want to see how they’re doing, check out my Other Blogs page!

For someone my age, it’s common to have the latest communication technologies like Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube and every other popular app. On top of that my family are Apple users, so we all have laptops and iPhones, iPad’s, even an Apple TV. My dad, working in electrical, is always wanting to keep up with the latest gadgets and technologies, meaning I’ve never known any different. For as long as I can remember we’ve had a computer in our home. This made it a bit hard to avoid it, even if I wanted to. In saying that, I don’t loathe technology, if anything it’s enabled me to keep that close relationship I have with family and friends. With my dad working away, technology allows my family to see and talk to him everyday, through Skype and FaceTime, like he’s standing in the kitchen with us. With the press of a button, he’s a part of family birthday dinners and special events. I also have some of my closest friends travelling overseas and with the use of FaceTime and group messages on Facebook , our friendship is as strong as it was at school. Looking at it like that, I guess I do depend on technology to an extent, it IS a necessity for me to use so I can connect with people.

The privacy of new communication technologies doesn’t scare me as much as it does others. I check my privacy settings to make sure I’m doing all I can to protect myself. But I think in relation to companies collecting information off you (like Facebook and Google) there is no harm done. This article HERE gives a better insight on what and why they collect data. The biggest reason being, “It is something which our security team believes is the best way to protect people's accounts,” (Wakefield, 2015). Society wouldn’t use these sites as part of their daily lives if they didn’t believe they were using their information safely and for the right purposes. They’re only making business, as a business should. 

Resources