By Stephen J. Dubner
Two little words — “social networking” — have become a giant buzzphrase over the past couple of years, what with the worldwide march of Facebook and headline-ready stories about Web-assisted suicides. So what’s the net effect of social networking?
We gathered a group of wise people who spend their days thinking about this issue — Martin Baily, Danah Boyd, Steve Chazin, Judith Donath, Nicole Ellison, and William Reader, — and asked them this question:
Has social networking technology (blog-friendly phones, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) made us better or worse off as a society, either from an economic, psychological, or sociological perspective?
Here are their replies.
Nicole Ellison, assistant professor of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media at Michigan State University:
I believe the benefits provided by social network sites such as Facebook have made us better off as a society and as individuals, and that, as they continue to be adopted by more diverse populations, we will see an increase in their utility. Anecdotal evidence of positive outcomes from these technologies — such as political activities organized via Facebook or jobs found through LinkedIn — is well-known, but now a growing corpus of academic research on social networks sites supports this view as well.
Over the last three years, our research team at Michigan State University has examined the use of Facebook by undergraduate students. Charles Steinfield, Cliff Lampe, and I have used surveys, interviews, and automated capture of the MSU Facebook site to try to understand how and why students use Facebook.
Our original motivation was to better understand why individuals would voluntarily use a site that, based on media reports, offered them only a way to disclose information they shouldn’t disclose, collect hundreds of “friends” they didn’t know, and waste time better spent studying. What we found surprised us. Our survey included questions designed to assess students’ “social capital,” a concept that describes the benefits individuals receive from their relationships with others. Undergraduates who used Facebook intensively had higher bridging social capital scores than those who didn’t, and our longitudinal data show that Facebook use preceded these social capital gains.
Bridging social capital reflects the benefits we receive from our “weak ties” — people we don’t know very well but who provide us with useful information and ideas. These students were using Facebook to increase the size of their social network, and therefore their access to more information and diverse perspectives. Our interview data confirmed these findings, with participants commenting on how the affordances of Facebook helped them maintain or strengthen relationships: they used the site to look up old high school acquaintances, to find out information about people in their classes or dorms that might be used to strike up a conversation, to get contact information for friends, and many other activities.
These aren’t the kinds of Facebook activities you are likely to read about in the media, which have encouraged widespread public concern about Facebook use by young people. Yes, there have been cases in which students have shown poor judgment regarding their profile disclosures. However, tools that enable us to engage in online self-presentation and connect with others will be increasingly part of our social and professional landscape, as social network sites continue to be embraced by businesses, non-profits, civic groups, and political organizations that value the connections these tools support. IBM, for instance, has created an internal social network site, “Beehive,” to encourage more collaboration and communication across teams. In India, Babajob harnesses social networking tools to pair employers with those who seek work. We will continue to see these trends grow as social networking features are employed for fun, profit, and social good.
Social technologies never have predictable and absolute positive or negative effects, which is why social scientists dread questions like these. In considering the effects of social network sites, it is clear that there are many challenges to work through – the increasing commercialization of this space, the need to construct strong privacy protections for users, and safety issues – but I believe the benefits we receive as a society provided by these tools far outweigh the risks.
William Reader, professor of psychology at Sheffield Hallam University and social networking site researcher:
From a psychological point of view, it is difficult to answer the question with any degree of certainty; the technology is simply too new and the research too equivocal. However some (such as Barry Wellman) have suggested that social capital hasn’t really declined, but has simply moved online. As our social networks are becoming increasingly more geographically fragmented, social network sites are a useful way for us to keep in touch and seek social contact with our friends.
Some doom-mongers have suggested that social networking technologies will eventually lead to a society in which we no longer engage in face-to-face contact with people. I don’t see it. Face-to-face contact is, I believe, very important for the formation of intimate relationships (and most of us crave those). The reason for this is that friendships represent a considerable burden on our time, and our physical and emotional resources. Friends are, therefore, a big investment, and we want to be pretty sure that any friend is prepared to invest as much in us as we are in them. We therefore monitor potential friends for signals of their investment in us, and some of the best indicators of people’s investment in us are those that we experience face to face.
Shared attitudes are important for friendship. We know that people like to associate with people who are like them, a predilection termed “homophily” (love of the same). The more similar we are to our friends, the less room there is for conflicts of interest. This is why I believe that social networking will never replace face-to-face communication in the formation of close friendships. Talk is cheap. Anyone can post “u r cool” on someone’s “wall,” or “poke” them on Facebook, but genuine smiles and laughs are a much more reliable indicators of someone’s suitability as a faithful friend.
To return to the notion of social capital, we know that people are increasingly “meeting” people on social network sites before they meet them face to face. As a result of this, when many students begin university, they find themselves with a group of ready-made acquaintances. Given people’s preferences for people who are like them, it could be that friendship networks become increasingly homogeneous. Is this a bad thing? It might be if, by choosing potential friends via their Facebook profiles, it means that folk cut themselves off from serendipitous encounters with those who are superficially different from them, ethnically, socio-economically, and even in terms of musical taste.
So has social networking technology made us better or worse off? My view is neither utopian nor dystopian: social networking technologies are doubtless changing society. But like anything — apart from motherhood and apple pie — whether this is good or bad depends upon what kind of society you value.
Steve Chazin, former Apple marketing director and current chief marketing officer at DimDim.com:
I believe social networking technology has changed our lives for the better, but at a cost. Social networking tools have made it nearly effortless for me to keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues. I can know what’s on their minds (MySpace), who else they know (Facebook/LinkedIn), and even what they are doing at this very moment (Twitter). On the other hand, I’m not sure I need to know any of that.
Instant Messaging, e-mail, and voice-over-Internet-protocol has made it possible for me to be in touch with more people than I will ever meet in person, yet each one of those contacts often requires me to return a call, respond to an e-mail, or reply to an IM. The Outlook “Out of Office” flag doesn’t stop the mail from coming, it just postpones the response. And there will come a time when we’ll hold all our meetings on the Web, have truly immersive face-to-face video conversations, and experience a fusion of our real and cyber worlds when Second Life becomes second nature. We’re just not there yet.
While all humans need to feel connected to each other or to some cause, there are also times when we simply want to disconnect, and disconnecting is becoming increasingly hard thanks to social networking technology. As one who was bitten early by the Blackberry bug, I can attest that the pull of these wireless electronic leashes is often too strong to resist. Today, we experience a feeling of isolation when our Internet connections go down, revealing just how dependent we’ve become on the connective power of the Web.
I remember one day a few years ago when our office phones and Internet stopped working. No e-mail, no voicemail, no Facebook, no Skype, and no Twitter. People came out of their offices and talked. I enjoyed that day.
Martin Baily, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and an adviser to the McKinsey Global Institute:
Powerful new technologies provide great benefits, but they also change the way we live, and not always in ways that everyone likes. An example is the spread of air conditioning, which makes us more comfortable, but those who grew up before its invention speak fondly of a time when everyone sat on the front porch and talked to their neighbors rather than going indoors to stay cool and watch TV. The declining cost of information processing and communication represents a powerful new technology, with social networking as the most recent service to be provided at modest cost. It can be expected to bring pluses and minuses.
New social networking services are counted in our measure of G.D.P., and will likely show up as an increase in productivity. Their effect is not large enough yet to move the needle by much, but it will be in the data, although in a rather strange way. Sites such as Facebook are free to users, with the “price” of using the service being the online ads viewed. This is, of course, the same way we “pay for” most television programming. This approach provides only a rough estimate of the economic value of the service.
But will social networking sites really improve the quality of people’s lives? The pluses include easier contacts with friends, and increased chances to make new friends and create a community, as well as find romantic relationships. Even the advertising may be a plus, because it is targeted to the particular interests of the user.
The minuses are that all of this sharing can be dangerous, through gossip and potential abuse of the services. Examples include reported suicides linked to malicious gossip circulated on a social network. Some people become addicted to life on the computer screen, and withdraw from personal contact — it’s a long way from people sitting on the porch talking to friends and neighbors.
Social networking sites are affecting the labor market as well, because recruiters evaluating young professionals applying for jobs are now hacking into applicants’ profiles, and making hiring decisions based on profile photos in which applicants are drunk or inappropriately dressed.
I am by inclination a technology optimist, believing that the bad things will be filtered out over time and net benefits will emerge. But in the early stages of any new technology, the buyer must beware.
Judith Donath, associate professor at the M.I.T. Media Lab:
The good: social networking technologies make it easier to keep up with a large circle of acquaintances and meet new people. They provide a venue for online socializing, as well as for coordinating in-person meetings.
The bad: they devalue the meaning of “friend.” Our traditional notion of friendship embraces trust, support, compatible values, etc. On social network sites, a “friend” may simply be someone on whose link you have clicked.
The ugly: for teens, who can be viciously competitive, networking sites that feature a list of one’s best friends and space for everyone to comment about you can be an unpleasant venue for social humiliation and bullying. These sites can make the emotional landmines of adolescence concrete and explicit.
The big picture: social networking technologies support and enable a new model of social life, in which people’s social circles will consist of many more, but weaker, ties. Though we will continue to have some strong ties (i.e., family and close friends), demographic changes, such as frequent household moves and the replacement of friends and family with market services for tasks such as daycare, are diminishing the role of social ties in everyday life. Weak ties (e.g., casual acquaintances, colleagues) may not be reliable for long-term support; their strength instead is in providing a wide range of perspectives, information, and opportunities. As society becomes increasingly dynamic, with access to information playing a growing role, having many diverse connections will be key.
Social networking technologies provide people with a low cost (in terms of time and effort) way of making and keeping social connections, enabling a social scenario in which people have huge numbers of diverse, but not very close, acquaintances. Does this makes us better as a society? Perhaps not — we can imagine this being a selfish and media-driven world in which everyone vies for attention and no one takes responsibility for one another. But perhaps it does — we can also imagine this being a world in which people are far more accepting of diverse ways and beliefs, one in which people are willing to embrace the new and different.
Danah Boyd, Ph.D. candidate at the School of Information, University of California-Berkeley, and fellow at the Harvard University Berkman Center for Internet and Society:
Social media (including social network sites, blog tools, mobile technologies, etc.) offer mechanisms by which people can communicate, share information, and hang out. As an ethnographer traipsing across the U.S., I have heard innumerable stories of how social media has been used to bring people together, support learning, and provide an outlet for creative expression.
These sites are tools. They can and have been used for both positive and negative purposes. For homosexual teens in rural America, they can be tools for self-realization in the battle against depression. Thanks to such tools, many teens have chosen not to take the path of suicide, knowing that there are others like them. For teens who are unable to see friends and family due to social and physical mobility restrictions, social media provides a venue to build and maintain always-on intimate communities. For parents whose kids have gone off to college, social media can provide a means by which the family can stay in meaningful contact through this period of change.
This is not to say that all of the products of social media are positive. We can all point to negative consequences: bullying, gossip mongering, increased procrastination, etc. Our news media loves to focus on these. Even the positive stories that do run often have a negative or sensationalist angle, such as those who used Twitter to track the California fires. Unfortunately, those who do not understand social media look to the news, see the negative coverage, and declare all social media evil.
It’s easy to look at a lot of elements of today’s society and cry foul. It’s equally easy to look at the new technology that we don’t understand and blame it as the cause for all social ills. It’s a lot harder to accept that social media is mirroring and magnifying all of the good, bad, and ugly about today’s society, shoving it right back in our faces in the hopes that we might face the underlying problems. Technology does not create bullying; it simply makes it more visible and much harder for adults to ignore.
Sunday, 30 March 2008
Laptops in school ok?
From Ann Collier :
You've probably heard of school laptop programs, and some schools now expect students at least to have access to computers at home. But do you ever wonder how useful (or not) it is for high school students to take their laptops to school?Marian Merritt, Symantec's Internet Safety Advocate and mother of an 8th-grader, wondered just that and put some good thinking about it down in her blog the other day <http://marian.symantec.com/blog/entry.cfm?entry_id=D2955DAB-65BE-F23E-6C43EEAEAE75E2D1>. Marian also asked some colleagues, including me, if we'd seen any research on it, so I turned to my friend and tech educator Anne Bubnic with the California Technology Assistance Project (CTAP <http://www.ctap4.org/>) for her experience with school laptop programs.Anne pointed us to some meaty links (below) but, first, here's some of her personal experience with student laptops in school which I think you'll find as interesting as I did:"I would have to say about laptops that bringing one to a school where the teachers are all on board with a structured method of incorporating them into studies is an entirely different beast than bringing one into a classroom just for note-taking, as Marian describes. A student doing so on her own would have to be a lot more self-disciplined."I filmed a group of math students. They talked about how the laptops have helped them become so much better organized. They never lose assignments or papers they are writing. They talked about being better organized again and again. It was amazing how confident that made them feel. They are learning real-world skills that will serve them well in the workplace!"They record all of their notes on NoteTaker [software]. They record homework assignments and test dates on their electronic calendars. Even their books are electronic! The kids told us that their teachers post all of their homework assignments online and that they often do the homework before it is even due - can you imagine?"They’ve learned how to juggle their busy sports schedules and social lives and homework in a way that works for them. But even more amazing, they are tackling math that may have not even been taught yet in the classroom! To watch these students using laptops is pure utopia. You wish you could wave a magic wand and every school district in the country would be there!"Related links* Links from Anne Bubnic: "One of the leading experts is Saul Rockman, who also has served as CTAP's external evaluator for over 5 years," Anne wrote. "You can find some of the Rockman et al studies at <http://www.rockman.com/projects/topics/learningLaptops.php>. And here's more research from respected educator Gary Stager <http://www.stager.org/laptops.html> and the Ubiquitous Computing Evaluation Consortium <http://ubiqcomputing.org/lit_review.html>. Apple Computers also has done a number of studies. Here's one on Del Mar Middle School" in Marin County, northern California <http://www.apple.com/education/profiles/Delmar/>. "You can also go to the Del Mar Middle School web site and find the latest student survey results <http://rusd.marin.k12.ca.us/delmar/>," and Anne pointed to a laptop learning site at Ning <http://laptoplearning.ning.com/>.* Big-picture food for thought from PBS column "I, Cringely" <http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2008/pulpit_20080321_004574.html>: "We've reached the point in our ... cultural adaptation to computing and communication technology that the younger technical generations are so empowered they are impatient and ready to jettison institutions most of the rest of us tend to think of as essential, central, even immortal. They are ready to dump our schools. I came to this conclusion recently while attending Brainstorm 2008, a delightful conference for computer people in K-12 schools throughout Wisconsin. They didn't hold breakout sessions on technology battles or tactics, but the idea was in the air. These people were under siege.... Kids can't go to school today without working on computers. But having said that, in the last five years more and more technical resources have been turned to how to keep technology OUT of our schools." See also "Beyond System Reform" in Education Week<http://www.edweek.org/login.html?source=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.edweek.org%2Few%2Farticles%2F2008%2F03%2F12%2F27kolderie.h27.html&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.edweek.org%2Few%2Farticles%2F2008%2F03%2F12%2F27kolderie.h27.html&levelId=2100&baddebt=false>.* "Starting School Laptop Programs: Lessons Learned," by Andrew Zucker, Ed.D., Senior Research Scientist, The Concord Consortium <http://www.genevalogic.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/Lessons_Learned_Brief.pdf> - a few years old but substantive and on the opposite end of the US from Anne* "Study: Middle school laptop program leads to writing improvements" from the Associated Press, 10/07 <http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2007/10/23/study_middle_school_laptop_program_leads_to_writing_improvements/>* "School drop laptop programs, but are they dropping the ball as well?" in Andy Carvin's education blog at PBS.org, looking at a New York Times report last May <http://www.pbs.org/teachers/learning.now/2007/05/schools_drop_laptop_programs_b.html>* "School laptop debate heats up" in eSchool News, 9/06 <http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=41305&CFID=5206401&CFTOKEN=18146707>
You've probably heard of school laptop programs, and some schools now expect students at least to have access to computers at home. But do you ever wonder how useful (or not) it is for high school students to take their laptops to school?Marian Merritt, Symantec's Internet Safety Advocate and mother of an 8th-grader, wondered just that and put some good thinking about it down in her blog the other day <http://marian.symantec.com/blog/entry.cfm?entry_id=D2955DAB-65BE-F23E-6C43EEAEAE75E2D1>. Marian also asked some colleagues, including me, if we'd seen any research on it, so I turned to my friend and tech educator Anne Bubnic with the California Technology Assistance Project (CTAP <http://www.ctap4.org/>) for her experience with school laptop programs.Anne pointed us to some meaty links (below) but, first, here's some of her personal experience with student laptops in school which I think you'll find as interesting as I did:"I would have to say about laptops that bringing one to a school where the teachers are all on board with a structured method of incorporating them into studies is an entirely different beast than bringing one into a classroom just for note-taking, as Marian describes. A student doing so on her own would have to be a lot more self-disciplined."I filmed a group of math students. They talked about how the laptops have helped them become so much better organized. They never lose assignments or papers they are writing. They talked about being better organized again and again. It was amazing how confident that made them feel. They are learning real-world skills that will serve them well in the workplace!"They record all of their notes on NoteTaker [software]. They record homework assignments and test dates on their electronic calendars. Even their books are electronic! The kids told us that their teachers post all of their homework assignments online and that they often do the homework before it is even due - can you imagine?"They’ve learned how to juggle their busy sports schedules and social lives and homework in a way that works for them. But even more amazing, they are tackling math that may have not even been taught yet in the classroom! To watch these students using laptops is pure utopia. You wish you could wave a magic wand and every school district in the country would be there!"Related links* Links from Anne Bubnic: "One of the leading experts is Saul Rockman, who also has served as CTAP's external evaluator for over 5 years," Anne wrote. "You can find some of the Rockman et al studies at <http://www.rockman.com/projects/topics/learningLaptops.php>. And here's more research from respected educator Gary Stager <http://www.stager.org/laptops.html> and the Ubiquitous Computing Evaluation Consortium <http://ubiqcomputing.org/lit_review.html>. Apple Computers also has done a number of studies. Here's one on Del Mar Middle School" in Marin County, northern California <http://www.apple.com/education/profiles/Delmar/>. "You can also go to the Del Mar Middle School web site and find the latest student survey results <http://rusd.marin.k12.ca.us/delmar/>," and Anne pointed to a laptop learning site at Ning <http://laptoplearning.ning.com/>.* Big-picture food for thought from PBS column "I, Cringely" <http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2008/pulpit_20080321_004574.html>: "We've reached the point in our ... cultural adaptation to computing and communication technology that the younger technical generations are so empowered they are impatient and ready to jettison institutions most of the rest of us tend to think of as essential, central, even immortal. They are ready to dump our schools. I came to this conclusion recently while attending Brainstorm 2008, a delightful conference for computer people in K-12 schools throughout Wisconsin. They didn't hold breakout sessions on technology battles or tactics, but the idea was in the air. These people were under siege.... Kids can't go to school today without working on computers. But having said that, in the last five years more and more technical resources have been turned to how to keep technology OUT of our schools." See also "Beyond System Reform" in Education Week<http://www.edweek.org/login.html?source=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.edweek.org%2Few%2Farticles%2F2008%2F03%2F12%2F27kolderie.h27.html&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.edweek.org%2Few%2Farticles%2F2008%2F03%2F12%2F27kolderie.h27.html&levelId=2100&baddebt=false>.* "Starting School Laptop Programs: Lessons Learned," by Andrew Zucker, Ed.D., Senior Research Scientist, The Concord Consortium <http://www.genevalogic.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/Lessons_Learned_Brief.pdf> - a few years old but substantive and on the opposite end of the US from Anne* "Study: Middle school laptop program leads to writing improvements" from the Associated Press, 10/07 <http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2007/10/23/study_middle_school_laptop_program_leads_to_writing_improvements/>* "School drop laptop programs, but are they dropping the ball as well?" in Andy Carvin's education blog at PBS.org, looking at a New York Times report last May <http://www.pbs.org/teachers/learning.now/2007/05/schools_drop_laptop_programs_b.html>* "School laptop debate heats up" in eSchool News, 9/06 <http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=41305&CFID=5206401&CFTOKEN=18146707>
Friday, 28 March 2008
Naked photo-sharing trend: Police perspective
This is a trend deserving parents' and, for that matter, everyone else's attention - especially teens'. The Associated Press report <http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,334568,00.html> of Utah middle-schoolers taking and sending nude photos on their cellphones joins similar reports from Alabama <http://www.netfamilynews.org/2008/03/middle-schoolers-arrested-for-nude.html>, Pennsylvania <http://www.netfamilynews.org/2008/01/teen-distributed-child-porn-in-pa.html>, and Georgia <http://www.netfamilynews.org/2008/01/teen-distributed-child-porn.html> in the past few months. And in 2007 the child-porn-distribution convictions of two Florida teens were upheld in a state appeals court (they'd taken sexually explicit photos of themselves and sent them to the boy's personal email account) <http://www.netfamilynews.org/nl070216.html#1>.
In the Utah case, the prosecutor told the AP that police expect to see more cases like this - they were in fact dealing with "several other similar unrelated cases" - and he is not alone in his struggle to figure out how to handle cases involving teens distributing photos that in effect constitute child pornography depicting themselves and their peers. They cover a full range of behavior, from impulsive to developmentally fairly normal adolescent risk assessment to outright harassment and bullying. For example, here's what investigators discovered in the Georgia case, as reported by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children:
"Some girls were peer-pressured into taking inappropriate images of themselves and sending them to the boys. Others complied with the boys’ requests for pictures because they had crushes on the boys. Many of the girls suffered from low self-esteem or did not understand the seriousness of the situation because 'everybody is doing it.' Few realized their images were being circulated throughout the school and, in one case, traded with a suspect in the United Kingdom. In another case, one of the boys was charging students at the school $25 to view graphic images of one of the female victims. As of this writing, investigators have tracked down hundreds of images, and at least one video, involving these victims." [A partial report is under the second heading on this page at NCMEC.org <http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=376>.]
It's important for teens and parents to know that these cases, which could technically be treated as federal felonies (child-porn distribution), are posing a real challenge to prosecutors. Det. Frank Dannahey, a youth officer in Connecticut for 17 years, agrees that this is a growing problem. A member of our Advisory Board, he emailed me last week in reference to my item on the Alabama case (<http://www.netfamilynews.org/2008/03/middle-schoolers-arrested-for-nude.html> and kindly gave me permission to publish his email, which describes a local case that struck him and offers teens some things to consider if they're ever tempted to share intimate photos online or on phones):
"I have to agree that it would not be in the best interest of the kids to have them charged with a federal crime. I really don’t believe they understand the implications of what they are doing. You and I have been talking about this topic for a long time [see his description of a 13-year-old Connecticut girl's ordeal in "Teen photos and a police officer's story," January 2006 <http://www.netfamilynews.org/nl060120.html#1>].
"I can’t tell you how many of these cases I have had to deal with or assist other agencies with. The long-term implications for these kids can be serious - not to mention the initial humiliation and embarrassment. I see these photos becoming an instrument in online bullying/harassment."
"I just recently closed a case in which a middle school girl shared nude photos of herself to males she met through IM sessions. In a different twist, the girl told me that she gave them (sent) the photos after being 'intimidated' online by the boys. This is a very shy girl one would not expect to do this sort of thing. The girl told me that the boys she communicated with had a sort of 'power' over her in manipulating her to do something that she never thought she could do [which sounds to me like the Georgia case]. She was highly embarrassed by it. This was something that I had not heard before. When kids do this sort of thing it is usually meant to be a private thing between boyfriends/girlfriends. Of course we all know that teen love doesn’t last forever and, when the breakup happens, these types of photos get 'out there.' This is certainly an issue that I address in programs with parents and teens.
"In cases where a teen sends a 'private' photo to someone and it ends up being leaked to other people, the teen’s question to me is always the same - will anyone else see the image? Unfortunately, my answer to that question is always the same: 'I don’t know.' Years ago, if a paper photo was taken from someone, they could possibly get it back, rip it up, and destroy the negative. Today in the digital age, getting a photo back that has been sent electronically is difficult at best and more likely improbable.
"I will usually tell teens the following when considering the sending of 'private' digital photos/videos to people online: Because digital media is so easily shared and reproduced, you need to consider several things before hitting the Send button:
* "Are you willing to take the chance that someone other than your intended recipient will see your images?* "Will those images be a source of embarrassment or humiliation to you? * "Are you willing to take the chance that the images may be a 'career killer' or prevent you from some future opportunity?* "Will the images/videos that you send violate the law?"
In the Utah case, the prosecutor told the AP that police expect to see more cases like this - they were in fact dealing with "several other similar unrelated cases" - and he is not alone in his struggle to figure out how to handle cases involving teens distributing photos that in effect constitute child pornography depicting themselves and their peers. They cover a full range of behavior, from impulsive to developmentally fairly normal adolescent risk assessment to outright harassment and bullying. For example, here's what investigators discovered in the Georgia case, as reported by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children:
"Some girls were peer-pressured into taking inappropriate images of themselves and sending them to the boys. Others complied with the boys’ requests for pictures because they had crushes on the boys. Many of the girls suffered from low self-esteem or did not understand the seriousness of the situation because 'everybody is doing it.' Few realized their images were being circulated throughout the school and, in one case, traded with a suspect in the United Kingdom. In another case, one of the boys was charging students at the school $25 to view graphic images of one of the female victims. As of this writing, investigators have tracked down hundreds of images, and at least one video, involving these victims." [A partial report is under the second heading on this page at NCMEC.org <http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=376>.]
It's important for teens and parents to know that these cases, which could technically be treated as federal felonies (child-porn distribution), are posing a real challenge to prosecutors. Det. Frank Dannahey, a youth officer in Connecticut for 17 years, agrees that this is a growing problem. A member of our Advisory Board, he emailed me last week in reference to my item on the Alabama case (<http://www.netfamilynews.org/2008/03/middle-schoolers-arrested-for-nude.html> and kindly gave me permission to publish his email, which describes a local case that struck him and offers teens some things to consider if they're ever tempted to share intimate photos online or on phones):
"I have to agree that it would not be in the best interest of the kids to have them charged with a federal crime. I really don’t believe they understand the implications of what they are doing. You and I have been talking about this topic for a long time [see his description of a 13-year-old Connecticut girl's ordeal in "Teen photos and a police officer's story," January 2006 <http://www.netfamilynews.org/nl060120.html#1>].
"I can’t tell you how many of these cases I have had to deal with or assist other agencies with. The long-term implications for these kids can be serious - not to mention the initial humiliation and embarrassment. I see these photos becoming an instrument in online bullying/harassment."
"I just recently closed a case in which a middle school girl shared nude photos of herself to males she met through IM sessions. In a different twist, the girl told me that she gave them (sent) the photos after being 'intimidated' online by the boys. This is a very shy girl one would not expect to do this sort of thing. The girl told me that the boys she communicated with had a sort of 'power' over her in manipulating her to do something that she never thought she could do [which sounds to me like the Georgia case]. She was highly embarrassed by it. This was something that I had not heard before. When kids do this sort of thing it is usually meant to be a private thing between boyfriends/girlfriends. Of course we all know that teen love doesn’t last forever and, when the breakup happens, these types of photos get 'out there.' This is certainly an issue that I address in programs with parents and teens.
"In cases where a teen sends a 'private' photo to someone and it ends up being leaked to other people, the teen’s question to me is always the same - will anyone else see the image? Unfortunately, my answer to that question is always the same: 'I don’t know.' Years ago, if a paper photo was taken from someone, they could possibly get it back, rip it up, and destroy the negative. Today in the digital age, getting a photo back that has been sent electronically is difficult at best and more likely improbable.
"I will usually tell teens the following when considering the sending of 'private' digital photos/videos to people online: Because digital media is so easily shared and reproduced, you need to consider several things before hitting the Send button:
* "Are you willing to take the chance that someone other than your intended recipient will see your images?* "Will those images be a source of embarrassment or humiliation to you? * "Are you willing to take the chance that the images may be a 'career killer' or prevent you from some future opportunity?* "Will the images/videos that you send violate the law?"
Friday, 14 March 2008
Privacy watchdog investigates Phorm
OUT LAW 12/03/08
Privacy watchdog the Information Commissioner is investigating advertising technology company Phorm over a deal it has cut with the UK's top internet service providers.
The deal allows ISPs a cut of ad revenue in return for providing data on customers' web use and has attracted controversy since its announcement four weeks ago, with some users fearing for their privacy.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) requested details of the technology and the deal from Phorm and the ISPs involved, BT, Virgin Media and Carphone Warehouse.
"At our request, Phorm has provided written information to us about the way in which the company intends to meet privacy standards," said an ICO spokesperson. "We are currently reviewing this information. We are also in contact with the ISPs who are working with Phorm and we are discussing this issue with them."
The technology takes information about a user's web surfing habits and delivers that to advertisers so that they can show users ads that they think are targeted to the user's interests. Though ad-targeting systems have long been used, they have not till now used data directly from an ISP. More traditional systems use small files called cookies, which can be used to record a user's activity on a single website or across numerous websites that share an advertising network such as DoubleClick's.
Phorm has said that the information about a user's activity is not connected to individual identities, which protects user privacy.
OUT-LAW.COM has sought answers to a series of questions from Phorm since the announcement of the deal weeks ago, but the company has not provided answers or made a representative available for interview.
Company chief executive Kent Ertegrul told The Register last week, though, that he believes users should have no privacy concerns.
"The privacy story that it is is about how you can run an advertising service and store nothing," he said. "Look at what's happening with Google and the debate about storing stuff for a year or two – we've come up with a way of storing nothing. If you're concerned about privacy this is the best thing that's happened. There's no data mine here."
The company commissioned Simon Davies from privacy pressure group Privacy International to analyse the technology. He said he was satisfied that what he saw was sound from a privacy point of view.
"It is true to say that from everything we saw, and we think we saw everything, the system seems to not use personally-identifiable information," he told OUT-LAW.COM. "It works on the basis of a cookie that seems to have no information on the machine it's embedded in. I can't see where their system can draw any inferences or information about the computer or the user."
“The Information Commissioner’s Office has spoken with the advertising technology company, Phorm, regarding its agreement with some UK internet service providers," said the ICO spokesperson. "Phorm has informed us about the product and how it works to provide targeted online advertising content."
Privacy watchdog the Information Commissioner is investigating advertising technology company Phorm over a deal it has cut with the UK's top internet service providers.
The deal allows ISPs a cut of ad revenue in return for providing data on customers' web use and has attracted controversy since its announcement four weeks ago, with some users fearing for their privacy.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) requested details of the technology and the deal from Phorm and the ISPs involved, BT, Virgin Media and Carphone Warehouse.
"At our request, Phorm has provided written information to us about the way in which the company intends to meet privacy standards," said an ICO spokesperson. "We are currently reviewing this information. We are also in contact with the ISPs who are working with Phorm and we are discussing this issue with them."
The technology takes information about a user's web surfing habits and delivers that to advertisers so that they can show users ads that they think are targeted to the user's interests. Though ad-targeting systems have long been used, they have not till now used data directly from an ISP. More traditional systems use small files called cookies, which can be used to record a user's activity on a single website or across numerous websites that share an advertising network such as DoubleClick's.
Phorm has said that the information about a user's activity is not connected to individual identities, which protects user privacy.
OUT-LAW.COM has sought answers to a series of questions from Phorm since the announcement of the deal weeks ago, but the company has not provided answers or made a representative available for interview.
Company chief executive Kent Ertegrul told The Register last week, though, that he believes users should have no privacy concerns.
"The privacy story that it is is about how you can run an advertising service and store nothing," he said. "Look at what's happening with Google and the debate about storing stuff for a year or two – we've come up with a way of storing nothing. If you're concerned about privacy this is the best thing that's happened. There's no data mine here."
The company commissioned Simon Davies from privacy pressure group Privacy International to analyse the technology. He said he was satisfied that what he saw was sound from a privacy point of view.
"It is true to say that from everything we saw, and we think we saw everything, the system seems to not use personally-identifiable information," he told OUT-LAW.COM. "It works on the basis of a cookie that seems to have no information on the machine it's embedded in. I can't see where their system can draw any inferences or information about the computer or the user."
“The Information Commissioner’s Office has spoken with the advertising technology company, Phorm, regarding its agreement with some UK internet service providers," said the ICO spokesperson. "Phorm has informed us about the product and how it works to provide targeted online advertising content."
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
How to avoid suspicious Web sites
Posted by Jessica Dolcourt 12 comments
(Credit: CNET Networks)
Editor's Note: This article was updated on 3/3/08 from a previous version published on 12/15/06.
No matter how you arrive at an unsafe Web site, much can go wrong when you do. Phishers will attempt to coerce you into disclosing sensitive information--such as your address and social security number--and adware engines may sprout pop-ups over your screen like a field of clover. Thankfully, you can learn to avoid trouble before it's too late. Here are nine telltale signs you're headed for dangerous waters, with tips to keep you firmly in the safety zone.
Nobody's perfect, and while these nine tips should help you avoid many dangerous sites, other online threats are more subtle. Two tools can assist in warning you about dangerous sites. LinkScanner Lite and McAfee SiteAdvisor (for Firefox and Internet Explorer) assess the hazards of sites you visit, and is available for Firefox or Internet Explorer. Online Armor scans sites in real time based on traceable patterns of malicious software behavior.
Also, our Security Starter Kit presents an excellent set of tools to provide a solid foundation of defense against potential threats.
Sign 1: Pop-up cityYou click a search result and are suddenly bombarded with no fewer than 10 porn pop-ups. Back out immediately by either clicking the X in the upper-right corners of the windows or by pressing Alt-F4 to close your browser. Then run a malicious software scanner and remover to assess and fix the damage. Many pop-up blockers are available for Internet Explorer, and both Firefox and Opera include blocking features.
It's a mouthful, but EULAlyzer's ease of use makes up for its awkward pronunciation.(Credit: CNET Networks)
Sign 2: Where's the EULA?You're about to sign up for or purchase a service and aren't prompted to accept an end-user license agreement, nor are you offered a privacy policy to view. Shady site proprietors often disclose their intentions in the privacy policy or EULA, so you should always read carefully! The free tool EULAlyzer (from the makers of SpywareBlaster) is a great help because it analyzes license agreements and notes any unusual or possibly dangerous language. An upgrade to the professional version is available for about $20.
Sign 3: Excessive firewall alertsYour firewall repeatedly alerts you to file extensions you don't recognize and other suspicious anomalies. Once you've set your firewall to allow your most common programs, any alert should be taken seriously, and a number of warnings should be a red light something is amiss. If you're not running a firewall, get one right now.
Sign 4: E-mail and instant message links phish for informationYou follow a link embedded in an e-mail and arrive at a site that asks you to provide security information for an "important update." Misleading links are increasingly sent through instant messages under the guise of a contact's friendly tip. This variety is especially easy to fall for. If the page is asking for data or looks like a different destination than the link implied, pull yourself out of autopilot and start taking screenshots. Contact the company for verification before taking any action, and check the Federal Trade Commission's alert board.
Sign 5: The site's URL and e-mail don't matchAny case in which a site's URL doesn't match the contact's e-mail address should raise an alarm. Most legitimate companies provide their employees with a corporate e-mail account. This doesn't mean, however, that you can automatically trust sites where the two align. Illegitimate companies can purchase domain names as easily as legitimate companies.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
Editor's Note: This article was updated on 3/3/08 from a previous version published on 12/15/06.
No matter how you arrive at an unsafe Web site, much can go wrong when you do. Phishers will attempt to coerce you into disclosing sensitive information--such as your address and social security number--and adware engines may sprout pop-ups over your screen like a field of clover. Thankfully, you can learn to avoid trouble before it's too late. Here are nine telltale signs you're headed for dangerous waters, with tips to keep you firmly in the safety zone.
Nobody's perfect, and while these nine tips should help you avoid many dangerous sites, other online threats are more subtle. Two tools can assist in warning you about dangerous sites. LinkScanner Lite and McAfee SiteAdvisor (for Firefox and Internet Explorer) assess the hazards of sites you visit, and is available for Firefox or Internet Explorer. Online Armor scans sites in real time based on traceable patterns of malicious software behavior.
Also, our Security Starter Kit presents an excellent set of tools to provide a solid foundation of defense against potential threats.
Sign 1: Pop-up cityYou click a search result and are suddenly bombarded with no fewer than 10 porn pop-ups. Back out immediately by either clicking the X in the upper-right corners of the windows or by pressing Alt-F4 to close your browser. Then run a malicious software scanner and remover to assess and fix the damage. Many pop-up blockers are available for Internet Explorer, and both Firefox and Opera include blocking features.
It's a mouthful, but EULAlyzer's ease of use makes up for its awkward pronunciation.(Credit: CNET Networks)
Sign 2: Where's the EULA?You're about to sign up for or purchase a service and aren't prompted to accept an end-user license agreement, nor are you offered a privacy policy to view. Shady site proprietors often disclose their intentions in the privacy policy or EULA, so you should always read carefully! The free tool EULAlyzer (from the makers of SpywareBlaster) is a great help because it analyzes license agreements and notes any unusual or possibly dangerous language. An upgrade to the professional version is available for about $20.
Sign 3: Excessive firewall alertsYour firewall repeatedly alerts you to file extensions you don't recognize and other suspicious anomalies. Once you've set your firewall to allow your most common programs, any alert should be taken seriously, and a number of warnings should be a red light something is amiss. If you're not running a firewall, get one right now.
Sign 4: E-mail and instant message links phish for informationYou follow a link embedded in an e-mail and arrive at a site that asks you to provide security information for an "important update." Misleading links are increasingly sent through instant messages under the guise of a contact's friendly tip. This variety is especially easy to fall for. If the page is asking for data or looks like a different destination than the link implied, pull yourself out of autopilot and start taking screenshots. Contact the company for verification before taking any action, and check the Federal Trade Commission's alert board.
Sign 5: The site's URL and e-mail don't matchAny case in which a site's URL doesn't match the contact's e-mail address should raise an alarm. Most legitimate companies provide their employees with a corporate e-mail account. This doesn't mean, however, that you can automatically trust sites where the two align. Illegitimate companies can purchase domain names as easily as legitimate companies.
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