Topic 2 parts 1, 2, 3 & 4

Part 1 - Facebook -

Upon searching for groups in Facebook there are around 401 CSU members on one particular site. I'm the 401st. The ethics involved in Facebook are questionable i feel. I will bullet-point the reasons...

*People are unaware of security and privacy issues. They are unaware their identities could be stolen, and most use passwords that are easy to guess.
*Young people are unaware that what they are putting up in the public arena could stay around to haunt them for years - ie missing out on a job because of drunken photos.
*People post private details of their life in the public arena.
*People accept friend invites from users they do not actually know. These individuals then have free access to your page just so you can look popular and gain 1 friend.
*Facebook recently made the accounts so that you could see a picture and see the friends of someone who has not yet accepted your friend request.

I think users, mainly young people, do not know how to use facebook properly. They over-use it in a sense, as they are not old enough, or experienced enough to make judgement on what parts of their lives should or should not be thrust into public face. Their lack of judgement carries over to private, often intimate relationship details, or vicious and nasty arguments being in the public eye. It is important people are advised and warned of this before signing upto sites. Pictures should also be kept private - Many young people do not understand the seriousness of pictures of themselves being used from facebook.

Part 2 - Second Life

I joined second life, as did my friend (whose name i shall leave blank). We searched together and found each other online. Now, i know my friend well, and they know me...but our avatars looked completely different. I think that second life is a way of making people feel better about their lives as life is not controllable but second life is. You can be who you want to be, or what you want to be without judgement of others:- Hence, My friend's avatar (and my own) did not look like us - it looked how we wanted to be perceived, which is often better looking than what you would see in real life.

The next thing i noticed was a few people trying to talk to me, and when it took to long to reply (as i was figuring out the buttons) - they called me a n00b. Noob. Great. Yes, i am new to this, but once upon a time you were too you *******. (Use your imagination for that one....it can be whatever you want it to be!). There seems to be a general feel that there is a lack of tolerance for "noobs." Then when these n00bs grow up - they are likely to call other newcomers n00bs to make them feel better about the time where they were embarrassingly enough - called a n00b by some random individual on second life, that probably is sitting at home in a chair that is almost melded to their bum from usage, typing away with cheezle-crumb fingers, and burping carbonated gas from some coke 'zero' product they think will help them shed a few pounds the easy way.

As you can probably tell i do not like second life. That and the fact it is a giant money generator from people that cannot stand the sight of some '3D animated' image of themselves being uncool, or not having friends, or new animated clothes, and the list goes on. Second Life has crossed the border and delved into the land of the ridiculous. Avatars are seen as people's 'babies' that they have to nurture and develop and grow until it's something they can be proud of - but how the heck can you be proud of that?!

Part 3 -

My face book persona is basically me. Ofcourse i have left off details of my life that i do not want the general public to know, but what i'm doing at uni and where i work is on there. Facebook is the only online persona i actually care about - therefore i will make it like me. I would not put anywhere near as much detail on any other social networking site or tool. I have not included religious beliefs or political beliefs as i think it causes problems. I don't want someone to read this and pass judgement on me before i meet them, so for that i have made my avatar as neutral as possible.

They CAN however make judgement on my likes and dislikes. I do not mind sharing that information as it is objectionable in that everyone has different taste. I also do not mind sharing photos with my friends - as long as facebook never gets me fired, or miss out on a new job because someone found out something they shouldn't have - then everything is ok!

Part 4 - Explaining Dick

Dick's presentation brought up 4 points about online fraud and online security issues. These are Phishing, Farming, Identity Theft, and Privacy Invasion.

Phishing is used by bots to scan the web for email addresses so that they can send hoax emails, either to obtain credit card information, or to send out viruses to users. Example - a phishing system could obtain a bunch of email addresses for commonwealth back customers, create a fake email, and send to all. This could be enquiring about their credit card information, and some un-thoughtful users would unknowingly give their details and their credit card could be used.

Pharming - Is when scammers farm the internet in search of harmless users and scam them. Pharming is a more involved and developed form of Phishing where coders try to duplicate real world as best they can. If someone thought they were logging into their online bank and it was a Pharming scam - the hackers could take control of their account until the bank is notified.

Identity Theft - Is when someone creates an account pretending to be someone they are not. For example, Australian Comedian and Musician Tim Minchin has a facebook site. There are 4 other "Tim Minchin's" claiming to be THE Tim Minchin... This can lead to all sorts of privacy drama.

Privacy invasion - An in vasion of one's own privacy. The unwanted, unauthorized view of seeking out a person's information and using it in a way the user has not agreed to. This could include Facebook photos. You can view a person's photos in an album (of whom you are not friends with) provided one of your friends is tagged in the album. This allows for access to photos they should not have access to. Some persons go further in using this information by distributing the photos or putting them in a place on the web that the owner has not warranted.

Topic 2 ist kaputt!

Seeya Later!