#newcommunicationtechnology

Facebook is an absolute powerhouse in today’s society, but who in the world could have anticipated the sheer vastness of information being poured into the platform. 

Like the following videos discuss, the amount of information Facebook has access to is scary, and the fact that the company has been selling our data is much worse. The sheer impact Facebook has made in the world is incredibly daunting, and the number of users is absolutely incredible. 

Two of the following videos are of interviews with Media Scholar, Peter de Florez Professor of Humanities and Co-Director of the MIT Comparative Media Studies. Professor Florez talks about the technology age of today, and what these incredible advancements mean for our culture. He also opens your eyes to how integrated society has become with technology. The last video discusses the use of A.I. in some of this technological advancement and raises the question of “How far is too far?” 

Every time I have an essay to write, no matter the question I choose or the research topic I am given; I end up being stressed and I have no idea where to start? What to research? or How am I going to end up with a 1500w essay. Well, the best advice I was given, since I don’t know when, was to ‘brainstorm’! Even when I was in the French system at school or now at University in the Australian system, I believe that brainstorming is a very important tool. No matter where you are in your life, whether it is in a business, company, or studying, it will help you at one point to reach and set up a detailed plan. 

So, the first thing that I decided to do was take one blank page of my notebook, write my essay question at the centre of the page and start collecting and writing words that came to my mind. A lot of ideas came to my brain, very quickly. I end up with words, phrases and synonyms all over the page. A little bit of a mess at first; but I end up founding a very interesting tool call: ‘bubbl.us’.  It helped me get my ideas together, find an order of what and how I have to start to write on, the research I have to conduct; In order to end up with a good structured essay. Because that’s what we all want! 

If you want to look at what happened in my head and how I brainstormed for my essay question: ‘With the advent of Web 2.0 came online social networks like Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn. These companies collect data about their users. Do social networkers have a right to privacy? Is the notion of privacy dead?’. Click this on this link! 

In the future weeks to come I will upload a blog post, of maximum 1500words, about the essay question below: 

“With the advent of Web 2.0 came online social networks like Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn. These companies collect data about their users. Do social networkers have a right to privacy? Is the notion of privacy dead?”

I will approach the essay question chosen by firstly, research on ‘Web 2.0′, following research about the different varieties of social networks data. Then, I will be comparing the different data, trying to find out if the data social networks collect can and/ or have an impact on their users when they have access to their ‘privacy’. And if yes, try to find an answer to the question ‘do social network users have the right to privacy’?  

When it comes to the group ‘Anonymous’ or the organization ‘WikiLeaks’ I always feel a little bit suspicious. They both have an enormous impact.

On one hand, I believe that if the organization ‘WikiLeaks’ is able to procure themselves with high top security information, and if by that they think it would make everyone feel “safe”, I don’t agree. 

What about our privacy? Does it mean they could hack anyone’s personal devices? Be able to get any information they want? It can have a positive outcome; we can be aware of certain things happening that government wouldn’t let us know about. Leaking classified media, publishing secret information, however, all of those actions can have a negative effect. Indeed, when something is kept secret or out of the public eyes it’s for a reason; And giving it away could be an important mistake, especially if it ends up in the wrong hands.  

In my opinion, ‘Anonymous’, is more than just people behind a mask. Their actions, have a big impact on different issues. Thousands of people follow these actions all around the world, from mass marches to protest for different campaigns, causes and reasons they are against or would like to see changed. I believe it is a way for some to be able to “voice” their views by taking actions.

Below, a short documentary on the ‘Operation Safe Winter’ and the action taken by ‘Anonymous’ on the ongoing issue of homelessness in the UK.

The National Broad Band Network (NBN) is Australia’s fast and reliable network. I came across multiples articles and comments on social media of people complaining about it, that it sometimes froze. But we will always have people complaining about everything and anything.          

The NBN is a massive infrastructure (Oppermann 2011), which is actually very useful and a very good network with multiple benefits at its charge. You can even get unlimited NBN internet and unlimited standard National calls for a certain cost per month. I believe it has pros and cons like every electronic device, network platform, network equipment, network cables…etc. From their website it said that ‘NBN is committed to providing access to fast broadband services throughout Australia’ and also to ‘upgrade’ existing network infrastructure (The nbn Multi Technology Mix (MTM) 2016).

It also provides a variety of fast broadband plans, from a basic, a medium or a heavy plan; for households, schools or business places, everyone can find what they are looking for, especially if it provides FAST network (Need help choosing a fast broadband plan? 2016). Isn’t that what everyone looks for when they want internet?

As a pay-tv option NBN gives it users the ability to working from home, being able to shop interactively, provide very good media and entertainment, a faster internet…and much more (The top 10 benefits of the NBN 2016).

Internet is so important for everyone, no matter where you are. With internet you can communicate instantly with anyone around the world. Internet will become faster and faster, and hopefully no one or less people will be complaining about its value.

Still, no matter how fast is the network we create, if there’s no power or very bad weather, I think we should all give internet a break. And try to be less dependent on it, because I feel like nowadays, a big part of people are lost if they don’t have internet.

References:

I. Oppermann 2011, ‘Explainer: The National Broadband Network (NBN)’, viewed 1 September 2016, The Conversation, <https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-national-broadband-network-nbn-207>

‘The top 10 benefits of the NBN’, viewed 2 September 2016, APC Mag, <http://apcmag.com/life-in-the-nbns-world.htm/>

‘The nbn Multi Technology Mix (MTM)’, viewed 2 September 2016, NBN, <http://www.nbnco.com.au/learn-about-the-nbn/network-technology.html>

‘Need help choosing a fast broadband plan?’, viewed 2 September 2016, NBN, <http://www.nbnco.com.au/connect-home-or-business/information-for-home/whats-involved-in-getting-connected/choosing-a-fast-broadband-plan.html>