Is Online Dating Good or Bad?

How do you feel about online dating?

Although there are many obvious issues regarding privacy and freedom of speech on Facebook, one that may not be so obvious is that of online dating. Facebook has many applications that allow others on the social networking site to create online dating profiles (through Facebook) rather than having to join websites such as match.com or eHarmony.com. Bucy writes that "40 million Americans...visited an online site last month." Just think, there are over 500 million Facebook users. Many of these users would never dare join an actual online dating site. However, through the "privacy" of their Facebook account, many people who never would have thought to do online dating are now taking part in the craze.

Some of the Facebook application dating services include Cupid,  DateHookup, Social Connect, Datepad, and Zoosk among others.

Zoosk is one of the most popular online dating applications via Facebook. This is the only application dating service that I have seen that has its own commercial. Although I don't feel like the advertisements are very effective, they seem to be doing their job and recruiting people to add the application to their Facebook pages.

In this day and age, many people have come up with "secrets" to achieving in the online dating world. An article entitled Facebook Dating Secrets lists many of these out. The basic tips are to be honest about your personal information, your description, tastes, and hobbies. This is supposed to help you find a more eligible mate. However, I feel like this  poses an issue to personal privacy. If someone feels  like they need to relinquish all of this personal information in order to find a compatible match, they put themselves at risk of leaking personal information to the wrong type of people.

Seeing as this  will be my last blog post, I just want to reconfirm the idea that you must be extremely careful of what you post on your online social networking profiles. You never know who is watching you and it just isn't worth the risk to  post too much information online. So just think of it this way - if you wouldn't say it to a random stranger in person, it's probably best that you don't say it at all.

Big Mouth Strikes Again!

Once again, a student is in trouble for something they posted on Facebook (surprise, surprise). This time, the accused resides in Mississippi. However, we can see a familiar trend - criticizing a teacher. Much like the Florida case (circa 2010) featured earlier in this blog, this student was suspended for writing something negative about a teacher, but instead of a page, the student wrote a rap song called "PSK The Truth Need to be Told," about two coaches who acted inappropriately with female students.The student claimed that he created it off campus, without the use of school equipment, and he only made the video available to a few friends instead of the general public.In the video, the student alleges that the coach was flirting with female students and touching them inappropriately. When asked why he wrote the rap song, he said he did it because he was outraged because of the coaches' behavior.

The student was suspended from school for seven days and then sent to five weeks of alternative school.The student, Taylor Bell, has now sued for violation of his right to free speech and due process.

Unlike the previous case, this case just started in January and has yet to make it all the way through the court system. However, I do have a prediction as to how it will start. In the Florida case, Garber stated, "It was an opinion of a student about a teacher, that was published off-campus ... was not lewd, vulgar, threatening, or advocating illegal or dangerous behavior." The Mississippi case, as long as the allegations against the gym teacher are true, should fit into the same category. The rap song was written off campus and would not be threatening. However, if the rumors about the coaches' behavior are false, the student could be sued for libel.

You can read more about the case here: High School Student Challenges Suspension For Writing & Posting a Song on Facebook

Once again, this is a case of big mouth gone wrong. We do have a right to privacy and freedom of speech on the internet, including Facebook. Although I personally feel as if this student did nothing wrong, it would have been wise if he hadn't placed it on public forum, even if only a few people have access to viewing the video.

Japan - Getting the word out

Early this morning, many of us learned about the devastating 8.9 magnitude earthquake that took place in Japan. Effects have already been felt as far as California. While many people who use social media worry about their privacy, others use their first amendment right to speech to help get the word out. Already, there are many groups on Facebook to help raise money for the earthquake/tsunami relief in Japan.

A couple of them include:

• For every 1000 fans, we will donate $1 to the Japanese Tsunami Relief
• Help Me Raise Donations for Japanese Earthquake Relief Efforts 
• Operation Chopstix: Japanese Eathquake & Tsunami Relief 
• Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami Relief 

These are just a small sampling of the groups available, but it just goes to show that many people have already heard about the disaster and are willing to help. The social media networks like Facebook and Twitter are merely tools to recruit help for the disaster relief.

Another observation from this horrible tragedy is how most of the information has been gathered. Most of the material we see on the late night news or published on the internet or in newspapers has been retrieved from people who experienced the tsunami and earthquake. To me, I find it unbelievable that people suffering this terrible situation have been posting through Twitter, Facebook, etc. about what they are going through. I don't blame them at all, however. The few who do have internet access have been trying to keep their families up to date as well as showing just how bad the devastation actually is.

I actually have a friend from high school who recently moved to Japan. Her posts on Facebook have helped me know that she is alive and well. It got me to thinking - What if we weren't allowed to freely post information about such horrendous disasters? What if, for some reason, our first amendment right was suppressed and we weren't able to quickly let our families know that we were OK? In many areas around the world, this right doesn't really exist. We are lucky to live in a society where we are able to say what we want (within reason). With this specific disaster, many families around the world were left wondering whether or not their loved ones had survived the tsunami. In many cases, people had internet access but not cell phone reception. These "tweets" or status updates have allowed these families who wondered whether or not a loved one  was alive to know for sure that they did indeed survive the earthquake.

My heart and prayers go out to all those affected by the tsunami.

For more breaking news, check out the New York Times Widget below:

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Facebook Privacy

Straubhaar, LaRose and  Davenport define privacy as "the right to avoid unwanted intrusions or disclosure." The greatest issue that I can think of that we have to deal with almost everyday is that of internet privacy. I'm sure we all post things on Facebook that we intend for our friends eyes only, but do you  remember when Facebook changed their privacy settings and many people just ignored the memos from Facebook? Everyone got one of those annoying pop ups that most of us just exit out of because it gets in the way of our "Facebook stalking." Unfortunately, by clicking the "X" in the right hand corner, many of Facebook's users became extremely unaware of how much information they were posting on the internet that would now be for the eyes of anyone who wanted to see it.

That was just this past December! If you haven't taken a look at the new privacy policy you can access it right here: Facebook's New Privacy Policy

I don't know about you, but reading Facebook's privacy policy isn't exactly high on my to do list. However, Facebook does provide a privacy guide that is a bit easier to follow. You can access it here: Facebook's Privacy Guide

Now, more than ever, we have to watch what we post about ourselves and what others post about us. Unfortunately, one of the most common ways people clean up their Facebook pages is when their mom friend requests them. As soon as that friend request pops up, many of us have to go back and scan through tagged photos of us and un-tag them, clean up our status updates, etc. SNL even poked fun at this in this sketch: 

 

Not only do we have to "worry" about our moms on Facebook, but we have to worry about future employers. Companies have taken to scanning Facebook pages for further information on prospective employees. And sadly, even after you hit the "delete" button to get rid of any unflattering information, they can STILL access it! Our parents never really had to deal with any of this technology. As long as your nose was kept clean you could become very successful, even if you did have one night at a wild party. Now, if you're photographed at a party where there are drugs or excessive alcohol, you may lose your shot at a job you really want - even if you were only there and not participating.

Basically, we should all be very careful of what we choose to post online.So don't do anything that could get you into trouble. You never know who is watching you and posting it online  without your permission, and it could end up affecting you in the long run.

Now, just for fun....

Poll: Have you ever cleaned up your Facebook page after adding a certain friend (like a parent, or boss)?

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

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Should everything on facebook be considered free speech?

I just got to wondering - every single one of us is guaranteed the right to freedom of speech, but how often do you wish that people on Facebook would be careful of what they say?

There have been numerous reports in today's media about students who bully their fellow classmates  through social media like Facebook or Twitter. My sister is actually a victim of cyber-bullying. Unlike many of the cases in the news, she chose to rise above it and ignore what other people were saying about her. That does not mean, however, that it was easy for her to ignore the mean things people would say. She was extremely self-conscious, and the things people would write about her didn't help her self-esteem at all. I can recall many nights where she would cry herself to sleep. As her older sister, I couldn't believe how cruel some of these things were - and this was when she was in the sixth grade! 


Many parents who come to the defense of their bullying children will state that "they were just being kids, they didn't mean anything by it." But does that mean that the things that they post should be protected if they were being malicious? Personally, I don't think they should. Sure, many of us go around using our Facebook status updates like our best friend, we vent about the things that are bothering us and we don't usually think about how they will affect others.

This same question could be posed regarding students who write negative information about their teachers on social media websites. In a case here in Florida, a student created a Facebook page about her AP English teacher and named it "Ms. Sarah Phelps is the worst teacher I've ever met." I don't know about you, but that seems rather innocent to me. If she had said something like this to one of her classmates in the hall, would it have been seen as bullying? Probably not. However, since she posted this as a Facebook group, the student was sued by her teacher for "cyber-bullying." I know what you're thinking - how on earth does is this equal to the cyber-bullying that has caused many teens to take their own lives? In my opinion, it doesn't! This student was probably just extremely stressed about a bad grade in the class and needed to vent. It doesn't seem to be in a malicious context like many of the other accounts of cyber-bullying that we hear about.


CNN posted an article about this case and Facebook "gripes" being protected by freedom of speech. You can read more about this here: Facebook gripes protected by free speech

Now, I don't know about you, but I do much better to watch a video about something than to read a long article. If this is the type of person you are, you can hear more about the case discussed in the CNN article in the YouTube video below:

 

I guess we should really view our first amendment right this way: Yes, we all have a right to say what we want - at least as long as it is within reason.

Be careful of what you say and what you post because someone could read into it differently than the way you meant.

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