Be Careful What You Click (or you just might get it)

The dangers of clicking before thinking have reached a whole new level during the recent years. Before, we needed to be careful with what we were clicking because:

1. We could be led to a site we didn’t want to view like a porn site. Or,
2. Viruses could enter our computers’ systems which would eventually make the whole system crash.

But now, due to the use and popularity of social networking sites (SNS) we need to think before we click because we could be leaking personal information about ourselves to total strangers.

I will use Facebook-related matters as my example.

The “liking” phenomenon

There was a period in Facebook where fanpages suddenly got popular. People kept clicking the “like” option when they saw a fanpage name that they agreed too. Some examples are: 5 minutes of sleep really DOES matter, Drunkenness reveals what soberness conceals, Guys who still open doors for girls and many more! There were also legitimate fanpages of products and institutions such as Krispe Kreme, McDonalds, Sanuk Philippines and many more.

It was pretty tempting I tell ‘ya. I confess that I did get into the liking mania which is why I have 635 likes in Facebook.

I have to admit though, I should’ve thought about what I “liked” more carefully. Why? After “liking” all those fanpages, all that I saw in my feed was tons of nonsensical content that were totally unrelated to the fanpages that were posting them. What’s worse, at times I would get tagged in vulgar or disgusting pictures which of course became visible in my Facebook wall.

Application after application

There was also a time when the use of applications were at a peak. Suddenly everyone was using applications that predicted their future using Tarot cards or applications that gave quotes for the day or even applications that told you who your secret admirer was. There were many pretty interesting ones, like quizzes that would tell you what your personality type is or what your birthday month says about you.

Do not copy me. Now I have to remove these 100+ apps one by one. Think before you click!

And of course, I also got into the spirit of that, and tried many apps. But, there was a catch. Many applications, especially the more recent ones, request permission to access your whole account such as pictures, videos, status updates, etc. I’m sure many of us are guilty of just clicking “yes” because we’re excited about the results, but we should be more wary of giving permission to access our accounts.

Different organizations are using what they pull from our accounts for their market research. But, do we really want strangers to have access to our photo albums, videos, notes, and the like? I personally don’t.

Manage and think

It has been established that we should think before we click on anything on the internet. But, more that we should inform ourselves about privacy settings and how to manage the applications (if any) on the different social networking sites that we use.

In Facebook, applications can be managed by simply going to the application settings under the account tab in your page. From there you can manage which applications you really want to allow access to your information. All it takes is time and patience, especially if you’ve gone through a clicking-frenzy stage (like me).

Hashtags 101

In a previous post about Twitter, I mentioned about hashtags. Surprisingly, many of the people I know who use twitter still don’t know about hashtags. That’s why I decided to make a post about it.

What are hashtags?

Hashtags are the words or acronyms with the # symbol in front of them. Twitter support defines this as tags similar to web tags. It adds tweets to categories and makes it easier for people to look for tweets of similar categories. The name hashtags comes from the use of the hash or pound symbol in the start of the tags.

Community creation

More than categorizing tweets, hashtags were developed as a means to create groupings or communities in Twitter without having to change the basic service or system. The hashtags feature is not an official feature that Twitter offers, but due to its popularity, hashtags appear on Twitter search.

Using hashtags

When you use hashtags, and you have a public account, any individual who searches for a certain hashtag may see your tweet. In essence, any word with a # symbol in front of it becomes a hashtag, but there are commonly used hashtags that you may wish to use.

You may want to check out Hashtags.org for popular hashtag activities.

Some advice on etiquette

Since hastags are relatively new, there are no formal rules on its use or etiquette surrounding it.

A good rule of thumb to follow though would be to actually focus on the content of your tweet rather than the tags you can add to it. As with anything, too much is bad, and overuse of tags may cause irritation for others.

SNS = SHOPPING Networking Sites

It was during the peak of Multiply.com when different online shops kept popping out here and there. Business-minded students/undergraduates, those who wanted a sideline, or individuals who wanted to jumpstart their business all flocked to Multiply. Many of them have established their business in that site, and still use it to this very day.

And, when Facebook became popular, we saw how the online reselling trend followed.

Free, Fast, Easy

Free, fast and easy – these are the main reasons why online resellers choose to use Social Networking sites like Facebook to house their online stores.

There’s already a community of people, and all you have to do is add contacts. You may post pictures of your products in the photos part of your account. And, interested buyers may choose to send you a private message or leave comments in your gallery. You may also wish to put guidelines about how to order, where you accept meet-ups, shipping details, etc. in your notes page.

Doubtful clients can also see if you’ve already had successful transactions. This will show them that you are a legitimate reseller, and not just one of those con-artists.

Online shopping on SNS: a yes or no?

Personally, I’m not against online shopping. I even have several online store contacts, and enjoy “online window shopping” when I’m bored. I think it’s good that people are using different means to make their business successful.

Not everyone is happy about this phenomenon though. Some are irritated because store contacts keep tagging you in pictures of products, or sometimes the store contacts spam your feed, and you miss the posts of your friends or crushes. This can be solved pretty easily though. Facebook allows you to hide posts of contacts you don’t want to see. So if you like a certain shop’s products, you can just go to that shops page when you want, but you don’t have to see that shop’s post in your feed.

I think that Facebook is still relatively young. What happened with Multiply was that they chose to adopt the shopping phenomenon into their system, and so they created a shopping community in their scheme. I’m curious as to what Facebook plans to do about the online reselling accounts that seem to be multiplying as the days pass. Maybe a new e-bay can be created out of all that’s happening. Definitely though, we will see more and more uses for these social networking sites.

8 Reasons Why I Like Twitter

It was only fairly recently that I decided to create a Twitter account. Before, I really didn’t feel the need to get into the whole Twitter craze. I didn’t understand how something so simple could be so addicting for many people.

It took a several classes in our Communications and Trends classes, a couple of testimonials from close friends, and some communication blogs to convince me to at least give Twitter a shot. And, here I am! Not a total addict, mind you. But, I do get the strict need to tweet every now and then.

One of my friends asked me why I was so gung-ho about Twitter. I couldn’t answer him coherently, so I decided to list down my reasons for liking Twitter in the hopes that he’ll give it a shot too.

1: Simplistic

I find it to be one if not the most simple SNS out there. The appearance of your profile is easy to tweak. It’s just 140 characters every time. You can choose to follow whoever you wish with just the click of a button. And when fed up with someone, you can also “unfollow” someone that easily. You can post links to vids, pics and articles without unnecessary graphics or add-ons.

2. It is public yet private at the same time.

Since Twitter is microblogging at it’s best, you post things that you want people to know about yourself. It’s public in that sense. But unlike other Social Networking or Microblogging sites, in Twitter it’s more private due to the fact that you can choose to protect your tweets, and you can have control over who can follow you.

In addition, I personally feel that when I post things in Twitter, I’m better heard than in Facebook. This was actually the main reason why I decided to create a Twitter account. In Twitter I feel free to express myself whether I’m feeling emo, happy, sad, angry or what.

3. Fast

Comments, replies and retweets are fast. You immediately see in your page if someone has replied to a post. It’s also that easy to retweet something that you think is great or something that your contacts should know. You may also send messages to celebrities, and see for yourself if they respond.

4. I’m more updated with the news.

Honestly speaking, I am a bit apathetic when it comes to current events. I don’t read the newspaper or watch the news that often. But with Twitter, I can choose to follow News Organizations like Inquirer, GMA-News and even CNN. With their tweets I get to know the latest news in the Philippines as well as in other parts of the world. And, if I’m curious enough, I can read the whole articles by simply clicking on the links provided in the tweets.

More than current events, I can also be updated with news about my favorite TV shows/series. Most series have their own Twitter where they post new season announcements, special events, and sometimes even sneak peeks of upcoming episodes.

5. The 140 characters limit.

The 140 characters limit makes me think more. It might sound weird but I find that the character limit trains me to say what I want to say in a concise yet profound way. I often tell my friends that it feels like I’m producing a copy for an ad when I post in Twitter.

6. Trends

Twitter allows you to use hashtags. Hashtags are those things that you see with the # sign before them. These tags allow people to track tweets about different topics on twitter. When a certain hashtag is being used a lot, and at regular times, it becomes a trend. You may choose to participate by posting tweets related to the trends, and see what others have to say.

My favorite trend is the #sentisabado trend. It’s a Filipino trend that other countries have begun following. Sentisabado happens every Saturday, and there is usually a theme in what to feel sentimental about. The theme can be childhood treats or fiesta foods or first love.

7. Quotable quotes from interesting people.

There are so many interesting people to follow on Twitter. You can choose to follow quirky or eccentric local stars, or even comedy cartoon characters like Homer Simpson. I like Twitter because you get to see other peoples’ opinions about anything and everything. It’s more fun when you can relate to a statement. You find “quotable quotes” which you can choose to retweet, or use in your other SNS or even statements that you want to make your new life motto or mantra for the week.

8. Therapeutic

Whatever emotion I’m feeling, I can let it out on Twitter. When the feeling is negative, it’s great to share that to other people. When the emotion is negative such as stress or sadness or anger, I feel that Twitter gives me that feeling of Catharsis or purging. Plus, my friends sometimes make me feel better on Twitter which cheers me up.

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All in all, Twitter is great! I think I’d be tweeting for a long time.

So Stumble if you’re bored.

The term to “stumble” or “stumbling” is not anymore limited to the act of tripping and almost falling. It is now an online jargon, a term which describes the act of jumping from one randomly generated site to another based on topic preferences that you have pre-selected.

The term stumbling comes from the name of a discovery engine named StumbleUpon. The application is free to download. You just have to register at their site. No payments needed, just your e-mail to verify that you are an existing person. You can choose to stumble via the website but I find that downloading the application toolbar is a whole lot better.

The application toolbar allows you to stumble through sites with just a click of a button. It also gives you easy access to your favorites, and even gives you the option to share it in your social networking sites.

How it works

Log in to your StumbleUpon account. In there you can choose which topics interest you. There’s a wide variety of categories and topics to choose from such as Arts/History, Commerce, Computers, Health, Hobbies, Media, Food/Cooking, Humor, Internet, Puzzles, Beer, Cats, and many more I tell you. Just tick on the box that corresponds to your topics of interest and then save your preferences.

And then when you finally decide to stumble, the discovery engine will take you to sites related to your preferences. You can keep on stumbling and stumbling until you find sites that interest you. Plus, depending on your mood, you can change your interests any time you wish.

You can choose topics that interest you, and manage your preferences.

I personally like to cook and do crafts and such, so when I stumble I usually end up in craft forums, tutorial pages or in food blogs. It was thanks to stumble that I found a new hobby — reading through food blogs!

The fun of it

What makes this so great is that it feels like the internet universe is so big yet small at the same time. You realize that there’s so much in the web that you haven’t explored yet. Through stumbling I’ve seen travel blogs of people from different backgrounds and cultures. I’ve seen photo diaries of people with different perspectives in life. I’ve seen the “humor” of other countries, like what’s funny to them and what’s not. And, thanks to discovery engines such as StumbleUpon, we have the means to reaching the before “unreachable” parts of the internet universe. It’s an eye opener, really. It makes you appreciate the many different points of views out there, and makes you rethink about your own.

Another great thing about this is the aspect of SHARING. When you rate sites that you enjoyed, you’re increasing the probability of that site to be known by other people. And, if you “like” a site that hasn’t been bookmarked before, that can be your contribution to StumbleUpon and to the other users. It’s also a way to get local sites or local blogs to get known by other people from different parts of the world. People can visit your favorites and find them there.

Other users can visit your page on StumbleUpon and view your favorites.

People who like your bookmarks may choose to follow you, and you can also choose to follow people with interesting favorites.

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So you see friends, boring doesn’t have to be unproductive. In fact, surfing doesn’t have to be boring at all! With discovery engines such as StumbleUpon, you can hop from different sites all catered to your interests. You can learn something new with just a click of a button.

There are also other discovery engines, but I like the simplicity of StumbleUpon’s system as well as the interface of the site and toolbar. Other discovery engines you may want to try are SpinSnap, Yoono and Fichey. Note though that the other discovery engines have different interfaces, and work differently compared to StumbleUpon.

Why I Hated This Blogging Requirement (Part2)

My take on blogging now? I guess I’ve realized that I don’t really hate it. It just hasn’t been a good start for me. And, a big part of that is my fault. I expected some things about blogging and when those expectations weren’t met, I got discouraged. I got intimidated, and I wrote for the wrong reasons.

And so after all those realizations, I’ve come up with my own Blogging Commandments. These are statements that serve as my reminders on why I write and how I want to blog.

#1: I WILL BLOG FOR MYSELF FIRST BEFORE OTHERS

Although most of the blogging tips online stress on the importance of writing articles that will interest netizens, I think that writing for myself first before others will work better for me. I can be myself, and continue to adjust to writing online. When I’m comfortable with the whole blogging thing, by that time I can adjust my writing to attract more traffic to my blog.

#2: INTERESTS BEFORE TRENDS

It’s good to be updated with trends and everything, but blogging about trends just because you observe that they’re the kind of posts people respond to isn’t a good approach for me. I want to blog about things that are of true interest to me, and not just because they’re the “in” thing to blog about. Don’t get me wrong though. I don’t hate trends, I just don’t enjoy it when people blog about things just because they know it’ll get responses (and you know there are people like this).

#3: TO LEARN INSTEAD OF BEING INTIMIDATED

Finding a good blog or reading an excellent post need not be intimidating. It just calls for a change in perspective. If you think a blog/blogger intimidates you then just look at it as a learning experience. Learn from that blogger’s style, and see what makes his/her blog good. Maybe you can even ask for advice or tips.

#4: IMPROVEMENT IS DOABLE

Things like the blog’s theme, appearance, features can all be improved. There’s no need to put unnecessary pressure on yourself in making the perfect blog theme or title just when you’re starting out. Just go with the best you’ve got. You can still improve on it. Writing style and blog topics and gimmicks can also be improved on.

#5: HARD WORK PRECEDES SUCCESS

No one starts out great. All the great bloggers started out as newbies too. But they worked hard, they posted regularly and consistently created quality posts, gained fans and followers, and became what they are today. We shouldn’t be discouraged if we don’t get the response that we expect or want with each post that we create. We can’t please everyone, and for the people that we can please, that won’t happen right away. We need to make an effort if we want to make our blogs good.

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These five things are what I’ve decided to guide me as a blogger, my Blogging Commandments. If by any chance I think of something new that I can add to these, then I’ll be sure to post it.

Believe it or not, I am getting the hang of blogging. It just takes a little more work than usual but the feeling after you’ve posted something is great. I have to admit though that a Communication blog is not really my thing. Sure, I like communication and I recognize how new social media affects me and my future as an Orcom practitioner, but it’s not something that I can blog about regularly.

After this requirement I plan to keep this blog, and update it from time to time. But my major plan is to make a new blog, something that interests me. I’m actually preparing for it already. I’ve bought a small notebook and such so that in case I get any ideas for my blog while I’m out, I can just jot things down on that notebook. So watch out for that.

Why I Hate(d) This Blogging Requirement (Part1)

I was honestly excited about this whole project when it was discussed in class. I thought “Hey, here’s my chance to finally appreciate this blogging thing.” But, things didn’t exactly go as planned.

In the first place, I’m not the person who’ll spend hours in front of the computer perfecting an article about my thoughts on a certain topic. I am quite opinionated about certain issues but for some reason my thoughts seem better in my head than on paper (or in a blog post for this matter). Next, I’m not the super techie type. Yes, I know about new technologies, a little bit about hardware and softwares but I don’t voluntarily look for news about those things.

More than my lack of writing skills and interest in the required issues, what I dislike most about blogging is that it’s so easy to get lost in its universe. And by getting lost, I don’t mean the good kind. By getting lost I mean that it’s so easy to lose confidence in your work when you see so many other good ones out there. I actually thought of a term for what I’m feeling: an Online Identity Crisis.

So what is this Online Identity Crisis that I’m going on about?

Let me clear up first that this Online Identity Crisis (OIC) that I’m facing is regarding blogging, and not the I’ll-make-up-a-new-identity-online kind.

So, why do I say that I’m experiencing an Online Identity Crisis

#1: THEME-WHAT-THEME?

It’s so hard to think of a theme for a blog. First, your theme must, in a way reflect what you’re going to put in your blog. Second, it has to be something creative or witty. If it’s too boring then people would have the impression that your blog is too random or too plain, and they’d just move on to the next blog. If that isn’t difficult enough, your theme must somehow show your “unique” personality.

I ended up with my blog name because all of my other ideas were too lame. It’s not difficult to be witty, but then being witty while showing your personality AND relating that to what your blog is actually about is a whole other story.

#2: HOW “UNIQUE” IS MY PERSONALITY?

How “unique” must my personality be? I’m proud that I’m not the typical kikay, goody-goody, innocent type kinda girl. I do believe that my opinions and perspectives are not that of a typical person, but as different as I may be, given a serious topic my opinions will not differ greatly from that of my friends or classmates.

Given this requirement to create posts that will talk about news about new social media and how it affects me, and the OrCom practice, I don’t know what more I can say that my classmates haven’t already said.

#3: HOW EXACTLY DO I LET MY PERSONALITY “SHOW” IN MY BLOG

If you search for tips in making blogs online, you’d always see something like “let your personality show in your blog.” Oh please. Statements like that are easier said than done. Sure you can show your interests with the kind of articles that you write, but when given a set of topics to write about, you would feel that it somehow limits your “personality-showing-space.”

And about what I said earlier about getting lost, it’s so easy to be intimidated by the other blogs out there. Since this blog was required in a certain subject, practically the whole batch has a blog. And based on my experience, my blog seemed like crap compared to that of my batchmates, especially since many of them are really good writers. It was so easy to be discouraged, that’s why after just a couple of weeks, I didn’t feel like updating my blog anymore.

So what do I do??? The fact still remains that this is a requirement equivalent to 20% of my grade in a major subject. It took me months of blog-soul-searching, tons of articles on the web with tips for people who’re new to blogs, a JMA Marketing Seminar on Business Management through Contemporary Marketing and a blogging workshop before I could be fully decided on what to do.

Wait for my next post regarding my realizations and plans regarding this issue. Feel free to comment for the mean time.

E-burol: A way to view your relative’s wake online

Yes this is real

I swear that when my boyfriend showed me this picture I told him it was edited. I thought that surely it was just some person’s witty idea of expressing how everything seems to be available online these days. I was wrong. This “E-burol” service does indeed exist.

St. Peter’s is offering this E-burol service for the relatives and friends who cannot go to the wake of their deceased. This service will allow them to view the wake online via the St. Peter’s website. As privacy is indeed very important, only select people (real relatives and friends) will be given the details on how to access the service. For more details you can check here. You can even download their “manual” that has step by step instructions on how you can use their service.

So what does this unique and revolutionary service show us? What implications does this kind of service have on our lives? Why should we care?

Everything is going digital.

It may not be the case now but we’re definitely going there. Discovering this E-burol service made me see that even more. We are now living in a digital age where we can talk to people who are halfway across the world. All in real time. We can now share photos, videos, news and opinions with just a few clicks here and there.

Business people are now looking at how they can use the internet and social media to their advantage. E-burol is most likely a product of the same line of thought. The owners of St. Peter’s must have seen and heard many of their customers talking about relatives who could not make it to wakes because of the burdens of traveling, whether it be from abroad or from a relatively far place here in our country. They saw the clients’ needs, saw that no other funeral services offered it, and since the technology needed for this project was available E-burol was created. I find this project simple yet effective because of it’s practicality and effort to bring people closer during vital times.

Adapt to survive.

Humankind is facing another big change, and that is of the digital change. With the advent of technology, we are discovering new ways to do things everyday. During this time, we must not let ourselves get left behind. I recognize the importance of valuing and preserving the traditional way of doing things, but we must not close our minds to the possibilities that technology will bring. It is inevitable that technology will be a huge part in our way of living in the near future (more than it is now). And, instead of fighting the inevitable we must learn to adapt to these changes.

Being a part of the Net generation, we can develop this adaptive nature by frequently updating ourselves about the new technologies in the market. There are tons of articles available online about anything you can possibly ask for about the internet, social media, online trends, and many more. Reading up regularly and testing out the things that we read about will keep us in the loop of this digital age development. We can also help our parents (and even grandparents) by explaining the things that we know, and teaching them the basics in using certain technologies.

As a future professional…

On a personal note, this E-burol means to me that as a future professional I should not be too dependent on what I learn in school. The University will only provide me with a good foundation, but after graduation my environment will be my teacher. I must make an effort to listen and to observe the environment that I will be in (office, community, etc.). I should also learn how to distinguish which new knowledge will be beneficial to me. I will surely not be one to “jump the gun” as they may say.

I certainly look forward to many new “surprises” such as this. Personally, I am determined to keep an open mind about new technologies and new services.

I end this post with my last thought, maybe you have thoughts on this (I’m sure many of you do): “Kelan kaya maiimbento ang E-numan?”

Why YouTube is the shiznit!

YouTube is the brainchild of three Paypal dudes (Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim) who wanted to create a new kind of dating site that classified people based on their videos. The domain was activated June 15, 2005 and the first video was uploaded on April 23. Pretty soon the original idea of a dating site was lost, and YouTube became a video sharing site. It started gaining popularity with the general populace due to links being shared on social networking sites like MySpace, and several companies also started seeing its promotional potential.

Now, five years after its first launch, YouTube is one of the top known and visited sites all over the world. As you are reading this article, thousands of videos are being uploaded. In fact, according to statistics, an average person spends 15 minutes a day on YouTube. I am a living testament to that finding. I check my YouTube account whenever I go online just to check if there are new videos to watch. YouTube has made my life more interesting in many ways.

I can watch shows online.

As much as I want to download shows that I want to watch, the storage space in my computer won’t allow for it. Thanks to YouTube however, I can watch shows through online streaming.

I can watch a lot of things from live action series (English, Pinoy, Japanese or Korean) to cartoons/anime. I can even watch old tv commercials that bring me back to my elementary days. This tvc is one of my favorites. I remember doing the coke beat with my classmates in a sort of competition. The loser will treat the winner to ice cream or even a full lunch meal. Ah, good times, good times.

Mulling over music.

When it comes to music, I use YouTube to check out new or recommended songs. It saves me the effort and time of searching, downloading, and then deleting a song file when it doesn’t really suit my tastes. Another thing that YouTube helps me with is memorizing the lyrics to favorite songs. No matter what the language your favorite song is in, you can find videos online with lyrics that you can sing along to then play over and over again until you’ve memorized everything.

Almost Easy by Avenged Sevenfold (one of my fav songs)

YouTube is also the place to view music videos. I am a fan of Kpop so I watch vids of Super Junior, 2PM, SNSD and many more. I even try to dance along sometimes (emphasis on the word “try” — I am not a dancer so I usually do this in the wee hours of the night or when no one’s around).

New Kpop song Huh by 4Minute

Education online

Yes, we can get educated on YouTube. There are many information-rich videos available that can educate internet users from all generations. There are educational clips for children, viral videos that increase our awareness of environmental and societal issues, and even instructional vids on how to make crafts, sew, cook, and many more. As funny as it may sound there are even videos that give out advice on relationships, and yes even what people in relationships do (if you know what I mean).

 Foodtrip28’s recipes I can learn how to prepare simple meals without buying a cookbook or bothering anyone to teach me.

YouTube has definitely made my life less dull. From shows to music and even educational stuff, I have access to all of these, and all for FREE. I can watch funny vids if I feel sad or just stressed. I can listen to my favorite songs, and even memorize the lyrics to the songs. I can do the things that make me happy. Most of all, I like YouTube because it gave us the opportunity to share the feeling of happiness with friends, relatives and loved ones. When I enjoy certain videos, I can show them to friends by posting it on my SNS or directly sharing the link through YM.

Today, YouTube is not the only video sharing site online. We have Veoh, Dailymotion, Vimeo and many more, but YouTube will always hold that reputation in being the pioneer in revolutionizing how people share videos online. How about you? Do you have more reasons why you love YouTube? Or maybe you hate it? Feel free to tell me. I would love to know about it.

The Internet: Of the good and the bad

I would be lying if I said that I hate the internet. Heck, I even experience withdrawal after just 2 days without an internet connection or access to the net. To me the internet is my research buddy, my unlimited phone line to my friends and loved ones, my diary, my entertainment and even at times my teacher (on various things). It is my stalking instrument and my gossip agent. Through social networking sites (SNS) I can get the latest scoop on my friends and yes even people I dislike. I can get bored and yet spend numerous hours on the web just randomly surfing about any random thing that comes to my mind. This is what the internet is to me.

I do admit that although I don’t hate it, there are certain aspects/effects of the internet that I don’t like.

Easier connections make us belittle communication.

Bill Gates (2000), in his essay about the internet said that “the internet makes the world smaller.” Through it people from different parts of the world can easily communicate with each other. This is most certainly true today where you can get answers and comments in your Facebook or Twitter in real time, chat with people online and even have a video conversation through Skype.

True enough that the internet indeed makes communication easier, but with that I believe that it also makes us belittle communication somehow. Belittle in a sense that since we know that we can easily communicate with people on our own terms and our own times, we procrastinate and put aside talking to some people. Think about it. In your social networking sites, how many out of your 350+ contacts do you purposely talk to when you’re online? If you talk to half or even more than half of your contacts then, wow! I admire you.

The question of privacy

How private is “private” on the internet? As Bill Gates predicted 10 years ago, we are now relying on the internet in sharing and exchanging sensitive personal information with different parties that we communicate with. We share financial information when we purchase products online, share our home addresses and contact information when subscribing to magazines or signing up for promos, and even share secrets with chat-mates or in forums. Even with the promise of privacy and anonymity in certain cases, how sure are we that the information that we share on the web is really protected?

I believe that this is one of the more serious issues that we have to face about the internet and technology as a whole. More than privacy settings that certain sites now offer, more discussions and laws (international and/or country specific) should be created. Until that time comes, we as the internet users should be more careful about the information that we share online. We should also be extra critical of the online services that we use.

It breaks barriers and yet creates new divisions.

If I wanted to I could chat with someone geographically living millions of miles away from here in real time. And it would be easy to do so. I can also get the same information from the same online articles that a doctor or a teacher or a CEO would read. I can find out about a certain place without having to actually go there. I can find out how a person looks like without actually having to meet them physically. And again, it would be easy to do so. These are only some of the many barriers that the internet has broken.

But what if I don’t have access to the internet? What if I don’t have a Facebook or a Twitter or a Tumblr account? What if I don’t play Farmville or Restaurant City? What if I can’t use the computer at all?

Now there is a division between internet users and non-internet users. This can be classified under the phenomenon known as the digital divide which is the gap between people who have effective access to technology & digital information, and people who have limited or no access at all. It is a fact that not everyone can use the internet. There are people who don’t have the resources to access the net, and at times they are looked down on because of this.  I also believe that there is a division between internet users that use social networking sites and those who don’t. Especially with the younger generations, those who do use SNS are considered to be in the loop while those who don’t have accounts in SNS often feel left out.

Even with what it has become today, I believe that the internet is still relatively young. In the many years to come there will most certainly be more developments which I really want to live long for. Despite all the issues, I believe that it’s all worth it. The internet is indeed a revolutionary being that can change the way humans live. The fact that people are aware of these issues shows that these are being talked about, and pretty soon solutions will be made.

Change cannot be done overnight so what we can do is to update ourselves on new developments, educate ourselves with the new technologies and reflect on how all of these things affect our lives. We should avoid focusing on the negatives and instead have a more positive view about things. Moreover, we should all keep an open mind for the things to come. We should all keep moving forward.