Breach of Privacy?

With the introduction of Web 2.0, the line between what is private and public has been blurred. This is demonstrated through Google’s mapping service, Google Maps and Google Street View. Is it wrong to take what is considered private in a public space? There have been incidents Google Maps have captured men are seen leaving strip clubs or other inappropriate activities. Ever since the release of Google Maps’ Street View, many concerns and legal risks have been brought up. Is this a massive breach of privacy?

Images have been taken and uploaded without any consent and many of these people were not aware that their photo was being taken. Google’s defense is that it was these photos were taken in public so they are technically not doing anything wrong. However, what if these photos captured something strange or illegal? A simple Google search for Street View sightings and 20 Crimes Caught on Google Street View can easily demonstrate this. Google Street View has definitely raised concerns as it previously faced 33 lawsuits in the US alone as Josh Halliday pointed out.
Not only did the google car take images but it also took data information from wireless networks in 2010. Sensitive information like emails and passwords were collected. Many Countries as a breach of privacy which broke the law. According to Matt McGee, Legal action was taken, including a fine from France and Google changed some of their internal privacy practices.

Google has privacy policy, terms and conditions of use of services in place. People can request to have images blurred or taken down on Street View but is this enough? Are there still concerns with Google Maps and Google Street View? Especially with Google’s recent One Policy, One Google Experience.

Please feel free to comment below.

Benefits and Risks of Enterprise 2.0

The change in a way we communicate has also changed how businesses communicate with their clients. With social media being a large part of our everyday lives, businesses are trying to integrate and shift their means of communication. Web 2.0 provides more of a level playing field for inexperienced users that don’t know the ‘technical stuff’ which makes it easy to use for businesses.

An interesting Web 2.0 tool is Kickstarter. Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects which are available for anyone to sign up or join. It is popular amongst small companies or even a group of friends with a great idea to share with the online community in hoping that they will fund them.

Some benefits of using Kickstarter:

• Firstly and most importantly, it funds your project.
• Increases visibility in the market place even before the product is launched.
• Communicates to a large audience and people that are also interested in funding a good project.
• Gets consumers involved. Active consumers are important and a large part of Web 2.0
• Increases company’s reputation
• A large database, open to many great ideas.

A great example of a kickstarter project is OUYA. They pledged for $950,000 and received a total amount of $ 8,596,475 with 63,416 backers supporting their great idea. They were very successful as they were 904% funded.

However, as Adam has outlined in his recent post, social media can be a double edged sword as it can be very unpredictable. Take the ‘#QantasLuxury’ twitter campaign that was not very successful as it backfired. There are many risks to social media especially if you don’t understand it completely. In this case, Qantas lost control of the situation with many negative comments about the company in a short amount of time. This not only harmed their reputation but it will also make them think twice about jumping into something too quickly without considering the consequences. The American Red Cross is another example of a social media ‘fail’. There was a rogue tweet on the Red cross’ twitter page shown below.

Unlike Qantas, the red cross recovered quickly by addressing the issue and even putting a humorous spin on it. Danielle states “Red Cross proved themselves not only smart about social media but brilliant when it comes to PR. Right away, they addressed the ‘oops’ honestly and with a sense of humor.”

Why is it that more businesses are using social media?

In my previous blog entry, I talked about how social media is a large part of how we communicate. If businesses don’t join the social media scene, it risks people not knowing your business, not being able to search it and not being able to communicate with people, reducing the current audience.The shift towards Enterprise 2.0 is not all that easy as there are many risks involved. Without acknowledging these risks may harm your company’s reputation but it is important that if we make mistakes, learn from it.

Stay tuned for my next entry 🙂

Reference List for Web 2.0

Reference List 

Harrington, Stephen. (2011). “The Digital Media Text: Week 11 lecture notes.” Accessed August 16, 2012. http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/.

Watson, Jason. (2012). “Organizational Strategies: Week 3 lecture notes.” Accessed August 16, 2012. http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/.

Web 2.0

Technology has changed vastly over the past decade, introducing many Web 2.0 tools that are now hard to imagine life without. Technology has also influenced a change in the way we communicate with each other. In the past, communication followed a top down hierarchy where consumers were at the bottom. This is demonstrated by Web 1.0 with static web pages where only information could be retrieved. The introduction of Web 2.0 has changed the way we communicate with each other as well and increased our personal productivity whether it is for personal or professional reasons. According to Stephen Harrington (2011), Web 2.0 allows for polylogical communication. “Polylogical communication is multiple logics of old and new media where the media can communicate to the people, where the people can communicate back to the media as well as other people.”

A great example of polylogical communication is Wikis. I only recently got introduced to Wikispaces so I am no expert but I definitely recommend it! Wikipedia is a great example of Web 2.0 as it is user generated content, allowing anyone to add or edit information on a document. Wikispaces, as the slogan describes, is a wiki for everyone. Unlike Wikipedia, Wikispaces allows you to choose who you want to see the page. This allows it to be used for personal reasons such as organising a particular event with your friends or even organising a group assignment. The ability to edit a document with the changes available to everyone is less complicated than having multiple emails and getting confused. With Web 2.0 advancing, prosumers are becoming more apparent. As Jason outlined in this week’s lecture, prosumer is the blur between consumer and producer (2012).

Other Web 2.0 tools that I can’t live without!!

• Dropbox: Files that can be uploaded and accessed anywhere with internet! I hardly ever use a USB anymore, it is so easy to use with its desktop feature. There is also an option to share folders with other people, it is great!
• Google Drive: This is similar to Dropbox but this Web 2.0 tool is also great because it connects and syncs with all your other google tools like Google Documents. Google Documents is like Wikispaces, where documents can be edited and accessed anywhere but it is constantly and instantly saved.
• Facebook: A Web 2.0 tool that nearly everyone has, or at least has heard of. This can be used personally or professionally. I like to use it to catch up with friends and family that I may not necessarily see everyday, especially the ones that are overseas.
• Youtube: A large database with a wide range of videos from vlogs to tutorials. I like to use it for tutorials on technology as I find it very helpful.

Web 2.0 tools that I have but I have no clue how to use it properly!

• Twitter: I know that twitter seems to be taking over Facebook with around 500 million users but I still do not know how to use it effectively!
• LinkedIn: I have a LinkedIn account but I have not put anything up. I should write more information about myself and explore the website a fair bit more.

View the Reference List 

If you have any advice for me, please leave a comment.

Stay tuned for my next entry 🙂

Getting Started On My New Blog

I am still pretty new to the blogging world but I am enjoying it so far. Blogging is a competitive field as there are countless blogs available on the Internet. To stand out from the rest, my blogging strategy includes:

• Keeping it simple and easy to navigate so that it is easy for all viewers to understand
• Being myself and creating an online identity
• Keeping it interesting and having fun!

I would like to keep my blog in a simple and understandable language to attract all different types of readers. These readers are able to comment which can start a conversation with others. This is one of the many benefits of Web 2.0. In last week’s reading, Andrew Mcafee’s Enterprise 2.0 outlines that Web 2.0 is easy to use because no particular skills are required and anyone can do it!

My strategy was formed after reading Joshua and Ryan’s blog, The Minimalists as it summaries how to start a successful blog today. A certain quote stood out for me on their blog is:

you can be your blog or your blog can be you

It really emphasises the importance of how your blog is a reflection of you.

The purpose of my blog is to learn and share my opinion of certain topics. By blogging, I can get different perspectives from people all around the world. The internet, in particular social media, is a great place for people with similar interests to gather in one place from all over the world. I hope to continue blogging even after the completion of this subject as I believe it will become an important aspect of my life, being in a degree that mainly focuses on social media. I would like to meet different people who share similar interests and also develop my digital identity even more.

Some blogs that I find very interesting are:

• Chocolatesuze
• A Hamburger Today
• The Big Picture

All of these blogs have one thing in common and it is that they all have pictures. A visual aid is an important aspect as it makes a blog entry interesting. I should also try to adopt this concept to my blog as well.

Stay tuned for my next entry 🙂

New to WordPress

Hi I am Marayka and I am new to WordPress!

I am currently in my second year of my Media and Communication degree. I am majoring in Online Environments and this blog was created for a Enterprise 2.0, a subject that I am currently studying. I am interested in Social Media and how it works.