Blog Prompt 4

New media comes with a bunch of fun and useful features that keep people in touch and happy. But anyone who uses new media has to be aware of its dangers as well. When using new media, it is important for users to be aware of putting too much of their information on the internet. I am sure you have seen many posts and pictures that probably shouldn’t have been put up for everyone to see and you may even have some of your own. There are also times where you probably wanted to post something, but changed your mind because of the effects it may have. There are many people who are less interested in new media because they are afraid to put any information on the internet. Ernest Hollings states in an article about personal information and the internet, "Accordingly, fears about privacy have had palpable effects on the willingness of consumers to embrace the full potential of the Internet and e-commerce." This even leads to people using false information on the internet which is a whole other issue by itself. We don’t really have control over the data that is stored about us on the internet or how it can be used. In an extreme case, even a post telling people that you are going away for vacation could lead to your house getting robbed. It is important to find a medium where you can share enough information and still be safe and comfortable but not sharing too much information to where you can get yourself into trouble.

Hollings, Ernest. "Stronger Internet Privacy Laws Are Necessary." The Internet. Ed. James D. Torr.                 San     Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints.Opposing Viewpointsin                          Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

Blog Prompt 3

Myspace is not used as much as it has been in the past. It could be considered as a "small potato" as our textbook calls it. I think that Myspace has the potential to be more that a small potato because of some of its features. I agree with Melanie Galvan with Online Social Networking when she says that it, "Is a catch-all for teens contacting each other and keeping in close touch" in an article about the pros and cons of Myspace. Teens are usually friends with most of the kids from their school and can use communication through comments or messages on Myspace to help and learn from their classmates. Myspace can also be a very useful tool for parents. Parents can monitor their children’s pages as well as their friends and get to know a little more about what’s going on in their life. They have to try their best not to judge a lot of what they see because some things like swearing or inappropriate posts or pictures are normal for most teens unfortunately. Teens usually have a lot on their mind and it is no wrong to share the good things. Myspace is a great tool to express yourself and help show off what you are all about. You can customize your page to easily create an image of yourself for other people to see. This can be useful in making friends that share the same interests as you. You don’t want to fill your page up with depressing posts all the time but letting people know you are sad once in a while is alright. Myspace is a great web site to create an image for yourself, communicate and share information with other people. As long as it is being used responsibly and continues to update its features to attract users, I think Myspace could be just as popular as Facebook.

Galvan, Melanie. "The Pros Outnumber the Cons for MySpace." Online Social Networking. Ed. Sylvia Engdahl. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. Current Controversies. Rpt. from "Teen Talk: MySpace—A Good Thing?" galvanized 9 Jan. 2007. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

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