New Media and New Markets Assignment 3: Give an example of an online problem. Are there any policies that can reduce the problem?

One example of an online problem is privacy issues on Facebook. When Facebook was first develped, it was possible for someone else to find out your password and log on to your account and steal your information.  It is also possible for other people you might not be friends with to see all of your contact information including your pictures. This is problematic when people are looking for jobs and the employer may be able to see part of the party pictures  from college or graduate school. An employer may look at this and say that the potential employee is not serious about life and may not be serious about the job. Based upon photos on Facebook not being private the employer may decide to go with someone else who appears to be more serious and less of a drinker. One can still have the option to make a public profile or make it as private as he or she desires. 


Facebook is taking several steps to work on the privacy issues on the website. Facebook has developed a simplified privacy setting that has implemented a tool that allows users to apply a privacy setting to each photo or comment they post on there page. Facebook has continues to improve the oversight of applications. 

"Making the privacy controls on Facebook comprehensive and easy to understand is an important part of our commitment to giving every person the power to control their own Facebook experience, and will continue to be even though this investigation ... has been concluded," Richter said" (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-facebook-privacy-20100923,0,1123364.story). 

I think that more users  will sign up for Facebook now that there are more privacy options. Facebook users will feel more comfortable with the site once they set the settings according to his or her personal preference.  Facebook users will feel more comfortable about uploading pictures because there is now a privacy setting every time a photo is uploaded into his or her profile.

Assignment 2: Discuss One important event in Internet history since 2000.

One important event in internet history is the creation of Facebook. Facebook was developed in 2004  at Harvard University in a dorm room by Mark Zuckerberg and other classmates in his computer science program. Facebook was originally just for Harvard students but then expanded to other schools in the Boston area. Facebook then expanded to other Ivy League schools and then to other colleges and universities.  It is now a social networking site that includes high school students and anyone over the age of 13. It has become the most popular social networking site amongst Generation Y. As a result of the Facebook website, Ben Mezrich wrote the "Accidental Billionaires" and David Kirkpatrick wrote "The Facebook Effect." "The Accidental Billionaires" is also being developed into a movie starring Justin Timberlake. I have learned a lot about social networking in both of these books. This movie will be out in October of 2010. I will be seeing this movie as soon as it comes out because I am obsessed with Facebook, am trying to get a job in social media and I love Justin Timberlake. This is the perfect movie for me!!!! I am excited to see the reaction of my older less Facebook addicted boyfriend. Overall, it should be an entertaining experience.

I use Facebook for many different reasons. I like that I can keep in contact with friends, look up friends, and contact people I may have lost touch with. It is also good for connecting with colleagues, classmates and professors. Furthermore, I enjoy spending time on Facebook because I think it is a creative, personal webpage, that allows me to express my creativity by letting other people know about my interests and personality. It also allows individuals to see what I have been doing that I do not get a chance to talk to as frequently as I would like. I enjoy getting messages from friends and sending messages to others to catchup. I also like the feature of being able to plan an event online and have people RSVP online. It makes planning events easy. If you want to keep the event private it is possible with Facebook's privacy settings. Finally, I think Facebook is a great concept because it allows all different generations to come together, connect and understand each other. This allows both family and friends to get closer by still being able to see what one is doing without physically being around all the time.  I only see Facebook expanding and getting more applications in the near and distant future.

Consequently, the annoying X factor about not setting your privacy settings is the constant desire for family members to check out your profile. Family members often see your online activities and question your every day activities. The follow up thought to that would be whether or not to defriend them...... This is often an ethical dilemma because it could result in a tension-filled holiday!

New Media and New Markets: Assignment 1: How do you use the Internet? How does your Internet use compare to some other person in your family?

I use the internet for many different things in my everyday life. I am currently a graduate student in the Integrated Marketing Communication's Master's program at Suffolk University and we need to use Blackboard for all of our classes. I also use the internet for graduate school to do research for papers, research professor information and research information for my graduate fellowship. Furthermore, I am on the internet to look for jobs in event planning, market research, social media, community and alumni relations. When I have job interview, I use the internet to determine where the jobs are located in the Boston area. I also look at Linked In for company information and finding out networking opportunities.

I am also on the internet all the time for fun. I research fun events and places to eat and experience Boston, talk to my friends on Facebook, read celebrity gossip, shop, purchase concert tickets, book trips and keep track of my Junior League of Boston volunteering schedule.

I do a lot more activities on the internet then my dad, and also multitask on the internet a lot more. My dad is retired and typically just uses the internet for email, his continuing education classes and typically tends to do one or two things at a time on the internet. I always have multiple windows up and am always on a few websites at once. He will book flights on the internet but does not know a lot about social media and does not know how to use Facebook, Linked In or Twitter. My dad also still looks at consumer reports magazine instead of researching products online.  If my dad would like to purchase concert tickets he usually checks the paper or calls Ticketmaster. My parents use to not purchase anything online because they were afraid of giving his or her credit card number to the website. They did not think that was safe. My parents now purchase things online if they think the website is reputuable. My parents continue to be very slow on the internet......... Perhaps the funniest difference between how my parents and I use the internet, is that both my parents still use the Telphone book to find local businesses and friends!!!!!!!!!!!