Too Much Information on the Internet
We all know someone or at least have heard about people who put too much of their personal information on the Internet. There have been numerous reports of people who are fired or refused jobs because potential employers find objectionable images or other details about them on their FaceBook or MySpace pages. I have always been conscious of keeping my personal information to a minimum in the public view. For example, when someone searches my name on the Internet, they only find some articles I have written and some of the social networking sites I have accounts with. My address is no where to be found; if I am required to identify my location, the information is as general as I can make it.
Many of the following tips are common sense, but I think they are worth mentioning.
· In addition to your address, try not to put your phone number out there too. This obviously doesn’t apply to small business owners who want to promote their businesses. Still, e-mail addresses are ideal because you can always adjust your spam filter and block addresses if needed.
· Setting your relationship status on FaceBook or MySpace to anything you want isn’t a problem, unless this information is something you don’t want other people in your life to find out about. If you are in an “open relationship” and one of the people in it are not aware of this, you may not want to publicize this. If you have the option to set your social networking sites to a private setting (accessible to friends only or completely private) then do so.
· As mentioned earlier, any objectionable images of you (or those which can be construed as objectionable) should be taken down from public view, or placed on more private pages. Remember, even if you think your grandmother will never see the crazy vacation pictures you posted a year ago, I wouldn’t take the risk. After all, someone else could always print out them out or show them to her on their computer or cell phone.
Just be careful when you are on the Internet. The virtual space may seem imaginary because we cannot stand in it or experience it on a tangible level, but it is very real…and it can backfire on us if we are not cautious.
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Forty Years of the Internet—Maybe
No one can agree on a specific date when the Internet truly began. Some believe that its birth occurred forty years ago, but you don’t have to be an expert in the subject to know that the various aspects that make up the Internet were invented at different times to make it what it is today. Now it is a life line of communication throughout the world; many teachers use the Internet to assign homework and reading materials to their students, businesses rely on it for communications and other work-related tasks, and many people like me use it for just about everything. I can remember a time when I didn’t have a computer, or even an email address. My communications consisted of phone calls and letters exclusively. Now I have to sift through my teeming inboxes of several email accounts to find non-spam correspondence. I don’t have rose-colored glasses when I think about time before the Internet was a well-known household term, but I do know that I had less of a tendency to stay home for extended periods of time back then. Information is at our fingertips, and that is great, but we all know that too much of a good thing can have opposite effects sometimes.
This Labor Day, and just after the unofficial 40th anniversary of the Internet, I find myself respecting the technology and the people behind it (too numerous to count) who created this virtual medium that has truly contributed to the world of communication and globalization. There really is no going back, and I look forward to the future of the online communications and technology.
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Small Business and Social Media
A friend of mine has a small fashion business based in Brooklyn, where she makes clothes, accessories, and bags from recycled items. She is very talented, if I do say so myself, and I feel for her and others who are in business for themselves and trying to stay afloat during these difficult times. Before the recession hit, she had three full-time employees; now she has only one part-time seamstress. My friend has designed for several fashion shows, but she has not garnered any significant business, or even been paid any sum of money for her participation in them (the latter, I hear, is commonplace). I cringe to think of the money and effort she has put into making her vision a reality, and the continuing drop in sales.
The situation is far from hopeless, because she continues to build relationships with designers and boutiques in New York City and beyond, using traditional networking and marketing methods. Even with the economy being what it is right now, I know that more can be done to help boost her profile, reputation, and overall sales. While I am no expert, I have learned (along with millions of others) how important an online presence is for small businesses. My friend is also aware of this, and even though it is an overwhelming feat for her, she is learning the more about the power of social media for business. For example, she has a Twitter account for her business, but she has not spent enough time finding and following other users and replying to their posts. When I told her that this was necessary to help expand her networking and marketing possibilities, she was both surprised and intimidated by the process.
To help my friend overcome her micro-blogging fears, I encouraged her to attend the Webgrrls Workshop: How to Use Twitter for Business on July 29 in New York City. I know there are many entrepreneurs like her who are unaware of the power of social media, and its networking and marketing advantages. Some are so overwhelmed by other aspects of their businesses that they have given up, or won’t even attempt to enter, the world of social media. My friend knows she cannot afford to be afraid anymore, so I know she will soak up as much as she can from the upcoming WG Workshop. It may be cliché to say it, but “knowledge is power,” and we all need as much of it as we can get.
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When Face Time Trumps the Internet
As one of millions who are chained to their computers, I sometimes lament the lack of “face time” I have with friends and family. Sure, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, and all the social and professional networking sites out there are great when bridging the gaps between people and their organizations for various purposes, but I really do relish my interpersonal interactions with people for the first or one hundredth time. We need our computers to do all the “heavy lifting” when it comes to discovering, locating, and maintaining contacts. Looking someone in the eye and using our instincts are precious assets that we as human beings should encourage in ourselves and in others, no matter how many networking sites we join, or how many online chats we have.
At The Women’s Mosaic Book Club meeting on June 17, I realized how much I miss meeting people without the aid of the Internet. Yes, I was emailed about the event and it is posted on the non-profit organization’s web site, but once we came met at the designated location and introductions were made, we went right into the discussion of plot, characters, and themes with no difficulties or awkwardness. It was the first time I remember not noticing anyone constantly checking their phone for messages until our meeting was over. As a book club “newbie,” I was pleasantly reminded of how great it is to share thoughts and ideas with people in a comfortable setting. We were occasionally photographed and video taped for promotional purposes, but this never distracted us from our group conversation. I met people who share my interests, and I hope to meet them again in the future.
So while online book clubs (like Oprah’s Book Club, for example) are great because of the numbers of people that join through the Internet, I’ll take the monthly meetings in an Italian café this summer. Nothing beats meeting people in person…most of the time.
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Book Clubs for User Experience Professionals
I’m sure quite of few of you are already in book clubs, but I wanted to recommend one you might want to consider. In your current book club, you probably get together with your friends every so often as an excuse to drink wine while chatting about the plot and characters. But what if you had that same experience except you discussed professional books? Check out a new site the organizes book clubs for user experience professionals.
I work in online user experience for Barnes & Noble, so this is right up my alley. Plus, I’m always hesitant to join book clubs with friends because I can be a little particular about which fiction books I read. This is why the idea of a professional book club appeals to me so much. I have an ever growing list of fiction books I want to one day get to, but I wouldn’t mind a little help from my peers in choosing which books on user experience are the most relevant at this very moment. And I’d be thrilled if a group of peers wanted to read it at the same time and then link up to discuss—especially if it’s done leisurely over a glass of wine.
It looks like I’m not the only one excited about this idea. UX Book Clubs have sprouted in Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, the Middle East, and all over North and South America.
Boxes and Arrows, which features articles on information architecture and design, recently had an article profiling UX Book Clubs. In the article, the founder, Steve Baty writes, “In early Nov 2008, I started to talk to a few people about the idea of a book club in Sydney to discuss User Experience (UX) books….And then something surprising happened, people liked the idea so much that they started doing things to make it happen.”
Even if you don’t have one in your area, or if you can’t attend, you can still benefit. Each group gets an individual page on the site to post its mission and the list of books the group has read. Not every group has a robust page up yet, but still the rest of us can get ideas by digging through the various lists. It’s also interesting to see what the hot UX topic is in different parts of the world.
Here’s how the group describes itself on the website:
The UX Book Club seeks to enhance the abilities and knowledge of user experience professionals from information architects and interaction designers to visual designers and usability specialists to augment their understanding for excellence in UX practice, ixd design theory while building a passionate local community. Subjects of interest to this club span design theory, design research and user experience research practices and processes. The books include the strategy and business of design, UX design theory and history, methodology, usability research, and the ethics of UX professionals, while networking and having some fun….
And if you don’t see your city on the list, go to the UX Book Club site to start your own!
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