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.