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This weeks question has been my favourite from the #uosm2033 because of how interesting it was to see what my classmates thought and researched, as well as what I could find on the internet. Truthfully, my sister was the one who pointed me in the right direction of Aaron Swartz, The Internets Own Boy. I found this extremely engaging, as did my classmates who specifically commented on this, on my blog. One comment which really got me thinking was one made by ebrahimshakir. Continue reading →

In 2013, at the age of 26, Aaron Swartz took his life whilst battling a two year legal nightmare between himself and US prosecutors. His crime? Swartz had accessed MIT’s computer network, downloading a large number of publicly accessible research documents from a non-profit database that hosts academic journal articles, called JSTOR. If charged, Swartzs’ crimes would be punishable by up to 50+ years in prison and fines of almost $4 million. Continue reading →

This week, I looked at the risks companies go through to disparage their competitors whilst increasing their own identity. One which I found particularly fun was  Taco Bell’s advert, and their included portrayal of McDonalds “old -news” breakfast menu. Continue reading →

By now, I have come to terms with the significance of social identity and self-branding on social platforms, and the risks we face if we are to jeopardize this through careless tweets or sharing of disgruntled information. It’s the fact that anything posted online nowadays can be used against you because of your sizeable digital footprint left behind. Continue reading →

Authenticity. How important is this online and how can we develop this? I looked at this question this week, with, I’m ashamed to say, quite a “meh” attitude towards it. Continue reading →

Authenticity is the key! Lets face it, building an online professional profile is becoming more and more essential today. Why? Because it has become increasingly popular for recruiters to use the web to conduct employment backgrounds and screens (Schawbel, 2011). Without this definitive presence online that attracts employers, recruiters cannot find you and make that all important judgement call on your online identity. Continue reading →

In my blog this week, I wanted to emphasise how it doesn’t matter about the multiple identities you have; its about maintaining it responsibly that’s important. Looking at the pros and cons of creating several social identities, I like how people can separate their interests into different accounts on social platforms such as Twitter. Continue reading →

Have you ever googled yourself?  You might be in for a shock, if not. Its an unnerving thought to think that through technology, the digital world is able to extract all your online traces, and present it to anyone at a click of a button. We live in a world today where people are becoming more dependent on technology and living on the web. Due to social media use, you are able to develop as many online identities as you desire, reflecting your offline personality. Continue reading →

The terms digital “resident” and “visitor” were new concepts for me, before I had started this module. However as I delved into these areas, my understanding grew which allowed me to associate myself with a personal perspective on both sides. Pretsky’s initial concepts first sparked my curiosity on the differentiation and classification of people and their online behaviour in the digital world, because quite simply, I had never thought about it before. Continue reading →

In the past, Pretsky’s (2001) distinction between digital “natives” and “immigrants” had been used to understand computing competence and age. He argued natives were those who had been brought up in digital world and were technology adept, as opposed to those who had been brought up prior to this, called immigrants. These immigrants consisted of the older generation who would always have less experience, thus knowledge, of technology. Continue reading →