Digital information: Does it increase democracy or not?

We touched on the subjects of freedom of expression within media recently and how it exists and benefits the online community. Everyone has a say, for example through blogs, podcasts, discussion forums, YouTube, social network sites and so on, regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, race constraints, or status, etc.

But there is also the digital divide. Western is the predominant culture, English is the dominant language and poor people have less if not no access to media.

When studying this section of my module a particular story came to my mind. We have all heard about what’s happening in Ukraine at some point whether we’ve scrolled over something about it online or seen something somebody shared but what have we heard about Venezuela? Nothing.

I myself had never heard or seen anything about it online and neither had my friends or family. It was only until a good friend of mine from Venezuela herself told me what was happening. I then took to the internet and started to look up things about it myself. Although there was much less online about it than there was on Ukraine some of the stuff was way worse and more shocking than what was happening in the European country.

The video above describes the basics of what is going on and does a good job of it but since published in February on Youtube even more has happened since then and I myself have still seen nothing about the anti-government protests in the South American country.

We have heard so much about Ukraine because it is a European country and this goes to show us that the Western world is the predominant culture. People want to know what’s happening closer to home rather than somewhere far away. Although what is happening in Ukraine is awful it is just as bad in Venezuela. Not only is there no coverage from the west but there own media is being censored. The president Nicolas Maduro is funding papers that are pro government and NTN24 a news channel that covered the protests was taken off air.

If you have the means and a government that allows you to express your views and opinions, than yes digital information does increase democracy but in other cases this is not so. In Venezuela’s case their media is controlled and limited to alter the views of the public and the way the government is portrayed.

Besides hearing from families by phone who live in the cities in Venezuela, Youtube seems to be another reliable source where you can watch videos from the actual protests themselves but be prepared to be shocked.

Write your views on the comments section below, did you experience the lack of coverage on Venezuela too? If not send me the link to the source you came across. And what are your views in regards to democracy and digital information?

Cyberbullying in Ireland

Cyberbullying in Ireland

Since it was anti-bullying month this month I decided to do an article on Cyberbullying. Although I had never experienced it myself I had friends who did and unfortunately the number of cases are increasing especially in our own country Ireland.

Cyberbullying is the phenomenon of using cyber technologies and networked spaces to bully weaker individuals. From chat rooms, to social media and email it’s a new and more advanced form of just plain bullying and harassment except it makes it easier for the bully to hide. By using fake profiles or email addresses the bully can disguise him/herself and make it easier for them to attack without being found out. The most frightening thing is that because it takes place online most parents are unaware that their own child is being bullied or that their child is in fact a bully. Although this takes place mostly with children and teenagers it can be found between adults too particularly in the form of blackmail.In the link above is an article from last months The Irish Times with the headline Report shows sharp increase in cyberbullying over past year. Some of the statistics and numbers are quite shocking particularly the ones concerning the parents.

 ”The report found that while 16 per cent of students admitted to being cyberbullied, only 12 per cent of parents reported being aware their children had experienced online bullying.”

This information is quite worrying in the fact that parents are so unaware. This can also lead us to believe that most parents wouldn’t even realize their children have access to the internet. With all these new gadgets and games coming out every year how are parents suppose to keep track if a child can access the internet with the new PS4 or NintendoDS? Parents need to be more informed by schools and need to even do some more research themselves to keep on top of technology, because whether they like it or not this is the world their children are growing up in.

They need to be informed of parental control online and how to set it up but also of the dangers a child can run into online. I hate to say it but a lot of Irish parents are still clueless of how vast and dangerous the internet can be and have no clue of how they can help to protect their children from these dangers. Children themselves also need to be educated on this subject. Classes on online safety and explaining how the internet works can be helpful on teaching the child things such as like personal safety and not to reveal any personal information online. Follow the link to read more shocking statistics and leave your opinion in the comments section below!

 

Smile! Your being watched!

Another subject that caught my attention within my module was ethics and technology. Although the tools and services of media can be great and make our lives easier they can also be extremely dangerous, but you don’t need me to tell you that. Every one of us has had a great experiences with cyberspace and most of us have had a bad experience with it. I’m sure at some point in your life there was a time where you wish it had never existed.

When it comes to thinking like this for me it’s the thought of someone hacking into my webcam. I’m not a paranoid person at all but when I see an increase in online articles and news forums dealing with this issue it scares the hell out of me. When there’s people out there like Julian Assange and cases like the Leverson Inquiry that are capable of hacking into huge organizations and companies, what’s to stop a good hacker from spying on little old me?

When I typed ”how to hack into a webcam” in youtube 113,000 results came up. Endless videos on step by step guides and tutorials on how to hack into webcams and iphone camera’s and maybe 1 in 113,00 of those videos could actually work. I read an article by Kim Boatman which featured on the well known Norton Security and Anti-Virus webite. Her article expained the risks of webcams, actual incidents that had happened and ways to prevent hackers from accessing your camera such as not clicking on suspicious attachments, using firewall and anti-virus software and to look for you indicator light. An incident she had mentioned was one of Steven Fox an It security expert.

Here is what it said, ”Steven Fox, an IT security expert, was chatting with friends on his webcam one night when he started receiving some strange emails. Imagine his surprise when he opened one and found images of himself chatting. His webcam had been hacked by a “script kiddie,” a person who uses malware written by someone else to show off their skills at accessing other computer systems, says Fox. He quickly detached the webcam, but he had to re-install his operating system after he found malware installed on his computer. “It was painful, but it was a learning experience,” says Fox, who writes a column for the journal of the Information Systems Security Association.”

Boatmas article: http://us.norton.com/yoursecurityresource/detail.jsp?aid=webcam_hacking

There have been other cases like Stevens but differ in the outcome where some are not as lucky in some cases hackers used the information from their spying to extort their victims. To prevent this I personally think the best way of guaranteed privacy and security is to just cover your lens. To some it may seem like a an extreme measure but with online media there is no such thing as too careful. So get out that little piece of blue-tac and get covering!

(credit for photo: http://chmuzamil.blogspot.ie/ )

Vanilla Ice vs Queen and David Bowie

As part of my module we have also touched on copyright issues and trademarking. Copyright law attempts to balance the right of the creator of the work (or copyright owner) to gain income from the work, against the right of a user to gain access to content. All creative forms are subject to copyright such as music, poetry , novels, films and so on.

Out of all the creative forms, music is probably where copyright happens the most. A quite famous case involved the Miami rapper Vanilla Ice against the rock band Queen and singer David Bowie. Ice claimed that by changing the ryhthm of the baseline to Queen and Bowie’s popular 80’s song ”Under Pressure” it was a different beat from his song ”Ice Ice Baby”.

In the video above Ice constantly states ”it doesn’t sound anything like Under Pressure…it’s not the same” but if you listen for yourself you can clearly see he’s trying to get away with copyright. In the end the case was never even brought to court because by comparing the two songs anyone who hears can understand that Ice was wrong and used the track without permission claiming it as his own. He settled with the rock stars on an undisclosed but probably very high amount of money. Moral of the story never challenge Queen or Bowie.

There’s more to blogging than you think.

As I had mentioned in my last post I had spent some time meaning to start a blog but never realized how much there was to learn first. When I do something I like to do it properly and this module Workplace Issues in Technical and Professional Communication provided me with the means to compose a well written blog. I learned that most successful blogs are focused on particular topics and that you can easily tell when the writer is truly interested in their topic of discussion by the way they write. Originally I thought writing a blog was going to be a piece of cake but studying the art of blogging made me see there was a much bigger picture. 

I was recommended to check out other successful blogs first and realized there was a blog for literally EVERY topic. Some great blogs I discovered were:

• simplyzesty.com (New Media)
• talkingnewmedia.blogspot.ie (New Media)
• idratherbewriting.com (Technical Communication)
• thecontentwrangler.com/blog (Technical Communication)

(And if you are having trouble on finding a particular blog or anything blog related I found that Google blog search worked great at google.com/blogsearch.)

The best blogging tips I found most repetitive and useful where:

• Choose your template carefully. It’s how the blog is presented and this can have a major effect on how your audience see’s you as a blogger and a cramped blog can turn readers away, the less mess the better.
• Write well and carefully the way you write says so much about the type of person you are and how serious people will take you.
• It’s great to encourage comments and interaction with your readers, it provides interesting discussions and gives you an idea of what your readers really enjoy about your blog.
• Check out other daily blogs subscribe, read and pick up tips. My best resources include; daily blog tips, blogging for beginners and writing tips.

So much goes into the thinking and writing of a good blog and reflecting back I definitely did a much better job than what I would have done without all the help and tips from my course. I highly recommend checking out other blogs first to give you a sense of what kind of blogger you want to be.

 

 

(photo credit to hallaminternet.com)

Welcome to my Media Blog!

For many months it’s been on the back of my mind to create a blog, a place of my very own within the social media sphere where I can analyse, discuss and reflect topics relevant to my programme of study. My name is Aoife and I am a student of New Media and English at the University Of Limerick in Ireland. So far this course has provided me with the sources and encouragement to delve deeper into two subjects I have always loved and in particular New Media.

Growing up in a generation where nearly 99% of people own laptops and cellphones New Media is at it’s prime and is a reliance for many people on how they communicate and connect with one another. On a daily basis we read, share and discuss topics and sources we find on our laptops, smartphones, and tablets. The world has become a smaller place and we can find out about something two minutes after it has happened on the other side of the world. This is one thing I love about New Media and in particular technical communication and writing.

This semester I have learned so many new things on a world I thought I already knew a lot about. In this blog I will be discussing what I have learned each week, focusing on social issues in technology while touching and reflecting on some other topics and my own personal entries. Thanks for reading and enjoy!