Does Privacy Exist in an Online World?

Last week my car was broken into, and of all places, it happened at church! My passenger side window was in a million pieces all over my car, the cement brick was laying sideways on the floor mat and my GPS was stolen out of my glove box. Beyond the deductible, the money for the new GPS, and the hours of vacuuming glass out of my car, what bothered me the most was the feeling of violation. Knowing that somebody took advantage of me and my belongings by altering them without my permission did not sit well with me. I can only imagine the feeling of violation if somebody broke into my home!

So much of our world today takes place outside of the car and the home and takes place inside the virtual world of the intent. Thieves can steel money and electronics, but internet companies can steal personal interests and ideas. The sad thing is many of us don’t even know its happening and we are expected to be the most tech savvy generation of them all. If we don’t have a grip on what the privacy issues are facing our world today, all other generations are doomed!


Let’s talk cookies. Online cookies are little text files created on your computer that contain information left there by the websites you visit. These cookies help internet advertising agencies to study what website you visit, what you purchase, and what your interest are so they can target their adds to your specific demographic. The tricky part is that users have no idea that this transfer of information is even occurring. The privacy issues become even more serious because most organizations engaging in e-commerce have not yet developed policies and codes of conduct to encourage responsible behavior.

Let’s be clear, I am not blaming all privacy issues on large corporations and I don’t feel that they are all entirely responsible for all of the concerns we face today. Google and facebook are two of the largest names on the internet, and two of the largest names on privacy issues.

Google is barely recovering form their run-ins with democracy in China when they were hit with another charge from Italy’s government. Outrage broke out after a video was posted of an autistic teenager cowering as he was attacked by four boys at a school in Turin, Italy. The judge sentenced the three executives to a six-month suspended sentence and absolved them of defamation charges. Google’s lawyers responded by saying it is impossible to regulate the thousands of hours of footage uploaded every day to sites such as Google Video and YouTube.

Facebook has recently changed their privacy guidelines. Your name, profile picture, gender, current city, networks, friends list, and all the pages you subscribe to are now publicly available information on facebook. This means everyone on the web can see it; it is searchable. Facebook feels that it their obligation to change their privacy standards due to the change in culture. Users are becoming more comfortable sharing more information with more people. Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg said, “"We view it as our role in the system to constantly be innovating and be updating what our system is to reflect what the current social norms are.”



Both of these cases bring up numerous points of interests but there is only so much time. The problem Google is going to face in increasing measures is that everything is seen as offensive to someone, and we are a point in society that makes you pay for freedom. It is impossible to review all data that is uploaded to these sites, and even if it were possible, there would be no data left because it could be considered offensive to somebody. In my opinion, Google has the money and the man power to bite the bullet when charges are brought against them and they should continue to let the people post!

Facebook’s situation gets to the root of online privacy concerns and the future of web control. Less than two years ago, Zuckerberg was internet privacies number one cheerleader saying, "privacy was the vector around which facebook operates." Is facebook changing to meet the needs of culture? Or is culture forced to change to meet the needs of facebook to control the future of the web?

The more information that becomes public, the more that information can be used by other web companies to do what whatever they want with it. The 350 million people that signed up for facebook did so under the assumption that they have control over the amount of privacy they want to have over their page, those 350 million people are now forced to accept the new terms laid out by facebook. It is easy to see the future generation loosing all sense of what privacy is and the important of it. The other side of the coin says that facebook is not forcing you to post anything, or be friends with anyone. It is the person’s responsibly to judge what information they want to share and what information they want to withhold. Is too much of the blame being put on these companies who only provide a domain for people to express themselves?



The problem with privacy is that it can’t be shared. And if it can’t be shared, it limits expression. And limited expression limits the long tail. Internet users are being targeted to ads in which they have already expressed and interests. All my ads may be focused around the things I already enjoy, not new things in which I may come to enjoy. Of all the possibilities that exist in the long tail, I am exposed to the same T.V. show, the same clothing line, the same make-up products, and the same country music. Privacy and democracy are intertwined in the online world. America's ambassador to Italy, David Throne, condemed the Paris coutroom decision saying that freedom of the internet was vital for democracy.In a statement he said: ''This founding principal of internet freedom is vital for democracies which recognise freedom of expression and is safeguarded by all who take this value to heart.”
There is an unlimited amount of possibilities that exist online and the users of the web-world need to be careful and cautious of their freedoms both to express themselves and protect themselves.

Pictures were made possible through google image search and flickr.com
Websites that were used in the creation of this blog:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/facebooks_zuckerberg_says_the_age_of_privacy_is_ov.php
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1253383/Italy-convicts-Google-executives-autism-bullying-video.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/29/technology/29ECOMMERCE.html?pagewanted=2
http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2010/01/20/20readwriteweb-the-3-facebook-settings-every-user-should-c-29287.html?em
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/technology/17privacy.html?scp=1&sq=facebook%20privacy&st=cse

The Journey of the Television...Has it Reached a Dead End?

Before we begin, take everything you know about your favorite T.V. you spend many lonely nights with and throw it out the window because there is a new television revolution happening right in front of our eyes. For the past 50 years viewers have been under control of the T.V. and cable companies. Many people plan their days around what is going to be on T.V. They submit to what shows each channel has to offer at certain times on certain days. The viewer interacts with the T.V. by allowing its content to fit into the context of the persons needs. We, as viewers, don’t think too much about this television phenomenon that we experience everyday but it has taught us to be under its control.

Enter in that technological masterpiece of internet and the story begins to change. There is now a new way of getting information and being entertained. As it grows and changes we now have the most important sphere of our lives, the internet. The internet has given us an unlimited amount of data that allows us to interact with it more than a T.V. allows. But, none the less, the computer and the T.V. are two different products with two different purposes…but are they?

The video below describe how sites like Hulu are changing the way television is viewed.



Increasingly, the T.V. is transitioning into the computer screen. With websites like Hulu that provide hundreds of cable network shows for free, viewers are wondering why they pay so much for their cable bill. With cable bills raising, the craziness of peoples schedules, and their computer savvy skills, televisions just get in the way. It is not without its disadvantages. Although sites like Hulu are great, it takes time for the episodes to be uploaded on the site. Due to advertising benefits, most sports and premium channels are not available on any website; even if they were, nobody wants to watch the Super Bowl on a 12” computer screen. Social media can also be a problem when the results from last night’s American Idol or the crazy fight the room mates had on the Real World are viral and word travels fast! The solution to these problems is in the works, the temporary solution is to hook up your laptop to your T.V. In essence, you T.V. acts as a giant monitor that you control with your mouse and key board.


The entire focus of the television industry is changing with the online capabilities. The major networks and cable companies are no longer able to limit the viewer on what they can watch, or what they can produce. It is a two sided coin that benefits both the view and the producer and allows for an unlimited selection of content. Spend a minute thinking about television and the journey it has taken from its creation to the place we are now. There are five “C’s” of the Post Network –Era and many of them overlap but are equally important reasons for while the television is changing.

Choice

Past – Since the creation of the television, choice went from one channel, to three, to seven, all the way up to a couple hundred with a satellite dish.
Present – We are seeing an emergence of new and creative viewing options. With an online market, any “show” can be posted and viewed by the masses. It goes beyond the couple hundred via a satellite to a couple thousand via a webpage.
Future – The viewer can determine the who, what, when, where, why and how of their television programming.


Control

Past – There was no remote control because there was only one option. The TV was the one with the control, the viewer had to submit to its authority.
Present – Viewers can choose which shows to watch and which ones to ignore, if they want to watch it live, or on-demand, or DVR it, if they want to watch the commercials or fast forward through them. They can manipulate the shows that are available almost anyway they wish.
Future – Control goes beyond unlimited manipulation of shows that exist to creating the shows that don’t exist. Instead of being forced by cable networks to watch what they have provided, you can search for what you want to watch online and if it doesn’t exist, you can create it!


Convenience

Past – If you were home and free during the time a TV show was on, you could watch it; otherwise you were out of luck.
Present – The number one convenience booster in today’s market is the DVR. The click of a button is much easier than finding a VCR tape, manually putting in the necessary information and then not being able to watch the TV for the next hour. Sometimes you have to wait for the show to be available online, and if you wait too long they take it off.
Future – Going shopping with you iPad propped on the cart watching “The Office” from a streaming online network as your laptop at home is recording “Lost” without commercials.

Customization

Past – Custom television? What is that?
Present – Televisions can do nice things like alert you when your favorite TV show is coming on, give you a show summary, allow you to pause and rewind if you missed anything important, and see your favorite sports teams in high-def.
Future – Viewers want the same search options for their television that they find on the internet. TV’s will have search options for shows and programming that is custom to the viewers specific need. The TV would be replaced by viewer determined content in a customized television experience.


Community

Past – Communities bonded as they discussed the topics or dramas of the hit TV shows.
Present – TV shows have websites, facebook pages, twitter accounts, fan clubs, blogs, and a variety of other online exchange and social media. This creates an opportunity for viewers to participate with the show and with other viewers.
Future – Viewers will participate with television shows in a new way. A family might create a television show about what is happening in their life and out-of-state family and friends can watch their show. TV shows will ask for the input of the views and incorporate the feedback into their next program. Events will be posted, promoted, and broadcasts through social media sites.

This revolution is not taking place alone, the internet has been in the process of changing the world since its creation some 20 years ago. From a customized M&M to a plane ticket across the Atlantic, the internet has its hand in almost every institution, world-wide. The scope of the online world itself has evidence of a long tail. More specifically the long tail can be seen in broadband television by the limitless amount of options that are becoming available to the user. Working along side of that idea is creative commons which provides a way for producers to publish their content so viewers have more specific options. The sheer volume and capability of the internet allows it to be an all encompassing industry of opportunity. It provides an opportunity for the viewer, the producer, the writer, the editor, the actor, and advertiser, the purchaser, the analyst, and the investor to use and share their resources in a way that benefits all parties involved.

Online television can also be used as a tool for democracy. News is a major source of information. News stations from cities and countries all around the world can be accessed through online stations. This allows people to be informed on their special area of interest. Beyond the news, democracy is found in personal interests to advocate change.

Greenovation TV is an excellent example of the push toward a change in democracy that is lacking in the traditional TV network system.

Go. Watch. Live. Don’t let anyone hold you back!


Picturs and videos for post were made possible through google image search, flickr.com and bliptv.com

Other links that were used in the creation of this blog:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/garden/11tvside.html?ref=garden
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/business/media/24cooler.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2009-11-13-1Awebtv13_CV_N.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/business/media/04hulu.html?_r=3

Media Talks: paper v. website

As we all know, especially in Detroit, the news market has changed and shifted to an online market as opposed to the physical market. Opening your door to find your morning newspaper doesn’t happen as much as it used, or doesn’t happen at all! The picture above is now a picutre of the past. Today, many of us see this (picture below)on a daily basis.
Go online and you have an entirely different situation, blogs. Thousands if not millions of blogs are ready for the reading with just a click of a button. These blogs have become the center of what his now called, “citizen journalism”. The power of news information does not exist in the hands of a couple key reporters at hot newspaper companies, the news information exists in the citizens that live it out in their daily lives and now these citizens are starting to write about it.

A hot spot of citizen journalism close to home is Ann Arbor, Michigan. After their over 170 year newspaper empire, the Ann Arbor news closed its doors on publishing last year. Although the collapse of such a strong empire is sad, the tech savvy Ann Arbor citizens are embracing the new possibilities of online newspapers. Annarbor.com and annarborchronicle.com have both embraced community involvement through local bloggers. The video below explains the opportunity that Ann Arbor has utilized in more detail.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/media/july-dec09/annarbornews_12-08.html

There exists an amount of controversy on the way news should be handled and if online news is truly the best option. There is no doubt that journalism is changing, the question is if it is for the better or the worse. The pages below outline the pros and cons of citizen journalism and online news.







The idea of the Long Tail is exemplified in the blogger community. The power of information exists in everyone’s hands that have the internet. With the traditional newspaper industry, you had about 3 options, 3 perspectives, and 3 understandings of what happened in your city or community. With blogs and online newspapers, there can be more targeted sites with specific news, and more opinions and inputs on general news. This creates an endless amount of options for the reader.

Obviously, using the internet as a tool for democracy was not something that delivered newspapers could do because it was not thier market. Now, online newspapers and blogs publish and report on hundreds of causes that need support and advocacy. There is some danger in that possibility, because it is easier for them to post facts that aren’t correct or information that is taken out of context. When you are fighting for democracy, you want to make sure you have all the accurate information.

Creative commons was also something that the traditional newspaper did not incorporate because it had no need to. People are beginning to use more creativity in their reporting. That creativity can be shared and/or protected by the discernment of the artist. Creative commons is the perfect tool for those who incorporate and encourage creativity in news and reporting.




In ten years I see the internet and journalism reaching a balance. There will be an unlimited amount of good, quality news. Journalists are now being trained in school on how to write for online newspapers or journals. The ethics and approaches shift somewhat when it comes to online reporting and we will have journalist who are trained and who are experts in doing just that. With introductions of products like the iPad, online reading is going to become more pleasant and acceptable to the common person. Who knows, the pendulum may swing back and there could be thriving traditional newspapers out there. I believe a combination of both is what satisfies the American people, but time will tell.


The websites below were referenced in the writing of this blog
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article6806335.ece
http://www.journalism20.com/blog/2010/03/02/live-blogging-a-big-trial-journalism%e2%80%99s-equivalent-of-long-haul-trucking/#more-1012
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/people/gstorch/201002/1826/
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2416/2269064374_331de38c14.jpg http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/media/july-dec09/annarbornews_12-08.html
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/04/media-insiders-say-internet-hurts-journalism/7410/
http://blogs.reuters.com/from-reuterscom/2009/12/11/how-will-journalism-survive-the-internet-age/
photos made possible by Google Image Searh and Flickr through CC