Now that we all most likely have the newest version of Facebook, I'm sure that most of us have noticed the new options for our relationship status. Instead of the original options of "single", "in a relationship", "engaged", or "married" there are now two more options that have been added: "in a domestic partnership" and "in a civil union".
When I noticed this on Facebook I thought it was really interesting that Facebook was willing to evolve with the times and include options that try and accommodate everyone. I googled this topic and came across that talked about the new relationship options.
One thing that I learned from the article I read was the an organization by the name of The Gay & Lesbian Alliance against Defamation partnered with Facebook to make this change. By partnering with Facebook, this organization hopes to raise awareness for the LGBT community so they can take more steps forward in the future.
There was one quote from the article that I really liked:
“I don’t think Mark Zuckerberg is waving a rainbow flag around, but I think it shows you don’t have to be on the same lines or totally agree to be tolerant or accepting,”
I really agree with this statement, and I'm glad that such a popular social networking site like Facebook agrees too. Just because you don't 100% agree with someones way of life doesn't mean that you should exclude them. Facebook realized that there are many different kinds of relationships in this world, and instead of discriminating against some of them they decided to try their best to include everyone
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Do Employers Look at Facebook?
One thing that I've always been curious about is whether or not Employers look at your Facebook and whether or not it plays a part in determining if you get that job.
I found an article on CBS's website that says that many employers are beginning to look at social networking site to look at their potential employees and to decided whether or not to hire them. The article I read mainly focuses on Tim DeMello who owns an online company Ziggs and how he does Internet searches for all of his potential employees. I really like one quote from the article, DeMello says that "they come in all buttoned up, their clothing is meticulous, they spend years building this resume, and this person that's sitting there is almost entirely different than the person posting on these Web sites."He is saying that in an interview, you only see one version of a person, but when you look at them online you see a whole different side of them, which might not be the kind of person you want working for you. DeMello stresses that what you put online will stay with you forever. So just be very careful of what you make available to social networking sites, because it will follow you long after you have left college.
I think that as college students this issue can really effect us because in a few short years we will be searching for jobs, and we don't want pictures on Facebook to effect the outcome of getting that job. I know that college is not only about receiving an education, but also about having fun. But there comes a point where you have too much fun, and then someone takes a picture and posts it, and then your life could possibly be effected forever. The lesson to be learned here is to be careful about what you put online, because you never know when it will come back to haunt you.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/20/eveningnews/main1734920.shtml
I found an article on CBS's website that says that many employers are beginning to look at social networking site to look at their potential employees and to decided whether or not to hire them. The article I read mainly focuses on Tim DeMello who owns an online company Ziggs and how he does Internet searches for all of his potential employees. I really like one quote from the article, DeMello says that "they come in all buttoned up, their clothing is meticulous, they spend years building this resume, and this person that's sitting there is almost entirely different than the person posting on these Web sites."He is saying that in an interview, you only see one version of a person, but when you look at them online you see a whole different side of them, which might not be the kind of person you want working for you. DeMello stresses that what you put online will stay with you forever. So just be very careful of what you make available to social networking sites, because it will follow you long after you have left college.
I think that as college students this issue can really effect us because in a few short years we will be searching for jobs, and we don't want pictures on Facebook to effect the outcome of getting that job. I know that college is not only about receiving an education, but also about having fun. But there comes a point where you have too much fun, and then someone takes a picture and posts it, and then your life could possibly be effected forever. The lesson to be learned here is to be careful about what you put online, because you never know when it will come back to haunt you.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/20/eveningnews/main1734920.shtml
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Why Do We Use Facebook?
When I was trying to think of something to write for this post, I asked myself a question that I'm not sure many other people ask themselves: Why do we use Facebook?
Now I know why I use it, to communicate with my friends and family and to keep up to date on things that are going on with my friends, but I also realized that I use it alot of the time just because I'm bored or I'm procrastinating on homework, or because I just feel like I should be on facebook.
I googled the sentence "why do people use Facebook?" and I found an article that was talking about a study conducted at the University of Missouri about how people use Facebook. Kevin Wise, a professor at the University designed a study that would actually allow him to see how his test subjects were using Facebook, instead of having the test subjects tell them how they use the social networking site daily. He found that people use Facebook for mainly two things: Social Browsing and Social Searching
He defined social browsing as "navigating the site without a targeted goal in mind" and defined social searching as "searching the social networking site with the goal of finding certain information about a specific person, group, or event." The results of his study showed that most people spend their time social searching, but then it often leads to social browsing
As a Facebook user, in my opinion I think that these findings are extremely true. A lot of the time I get on Facebook for a specific purpose, to look at someones status of pictures, but then I often end up spending way to much time going from page to page without a purpose or reason, which means that I transition from a searcher to a browser without even realizing it.
This study really interested me because it accurately explained why so many people end up spending so much time on Facebook without meaning too. And I think that if you sort of analyze your Facebook use habits, you will find that this study most likely applies to you too.
http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/04/26/how-people-use-facebook/13162.html
Now I know why I use it, to communicate with my friends and family and to keep up to date on things that are going on with my friends, but I also realized that I use it alot of the time just because I'm bored or I'm procrastinating on homework, or because I just feel like I should be on facebook.
I googled the sentence "why do people use Facebook?" and I found an article that was talking about a study conducted at the University of Missouri about how people use Facebook. Kevin Wise, a professor at the University designed a study that would actually allow him to see how his test subjects were using Facebook, instead of having the test subjects tell them how they use the social networking site daily. He found that people use Facebook for mainly two things: Social Browsing and Social Searching
He defined social browsing as "navigating the site without a targeted goal in mind" and defined social searching as "searching the social networking site with the goal of finding certain information about a specific person, group, or event." The results of his study showed that most people spend their time social searching, but then it often leads to social browsing
As a Facebook user, in my opinion I think that these findings are extremely true. A lot of the time I get on Facebook for a specific purpose, to look at someones status of pictures, but then I often end up spending way to much time going from page to page without a purpose or reason, which means that I transition from a searcher to a browser without even realizing it.
This study really interested me because it accurately explained why so many people end up spending so much time on Facebook without meaning too. And I think that if you sort of analyze your Facebook use habits, you will find that this study most likely applies to you too.
http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/04/26/how-people-use-facebook/13162.html
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
History
So I'm sure that most all of us have a Facebook and use Facebook. But I had never really thought about the history behind Facebook. I know that they have made the movie The Social Network that showed the story behind the creator of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg, but I haven't seen it so I'm going to talk a little bit about the history of Facebook
Facebook was created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg who was a student at Harvard. But before he created the computer programming for Facebook, he created something else that ended up getting him in trouble at Harvard. He created a site called Facemash in 2003 for Harvard Students, which was almost like a hotness raiting site that compared 2 pictures of students and allowed the person to pick which one was hotter. To create this he had to hack into the server and copy the id's of all the students, and the site only lasted a few days before it was shut down by the Harvard Administration and Zuckerberg was charged with several serious charges that were later dropped.
After this site was shut down, Zuckerberg created a new site called thefacebook.com and was quickly accused by some by his freinds that Zuckerberg used their ideas about creating a social network for Harvard stuents when he created thefacebook.com, but the lawsuit was later settled. At first it was only available to Harvard students, and then it moved to Standford, Columbia, and Yale, and then eventually moved to most colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada.
Facebook really took off in the summer of 2004 when it appointed Sean Parker as its president and moved to Palo Alto, California.
After a year of just being available to college students, Facebook launched a high school version in 2005 and has now spread across the world and has become what it is today
Facebook was created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg who was a student at Harvard. But before he created the computer programming for Facebook, he created something else that ended up getting him in trouble at Harvard. He created a site called Facemash in 2003 for Harvard Students, which was almost like a hotness raiting site that compared 2 pictures of students and allowed the person to pick which one was hotter. To create this he had to hack into the server and copy the id's of all the students, and the site only lasted a few days before it was shut down by the Harvard Administration and Zuckerberg was charged with several serious charges that were later dropped.
After this site was shut down, Zuckerberg created a new site called thefacebook.com and was quickly accused by some by his freinds that Zuckerberg used their ideas about creating a social network for Harvard stuents when he created thefacebook.com, but the lawsuit was later settled. At first it was only available to Harvard students, and then it moved to Standford, Columbia, and Yale, and then eventually moved to most colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada.
Facebook really took off in the summer of 2004 when it appointed Sean Parker as its president and moved to Palo Alto, California.
After a year of just being available to college students, Facebook launched a high school version in 2005 and has now spread across the world and has become what it is today
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
They Say
For many people, Facebook is a fabulous tool that allows you to communicate with family and friends all around the world. But even though many people love it, there are still criticisms on Facebook and some of its policies
In one article I read, the author addresses the issue that people were having with Facebook's privacy settings. Consumers complained about the new tools that Facebook added which ultimately changed the amount of information that was given out over the web, which affected their privacy. So the "they say" in this case would be that Facebook did not pay attention to the affect that its new tools would have on the consumers privacy.
In another article I read, users of Facebook were criticizing how it kept a copy of everything people post on their page, like pictures and comments, and the information could be sold to companies for a fee. In this case, Facebook deleted the user's account that posted this comment in an attempt to silence the criticism. So the "they say" in this article would be that the consumers strongly dislike the fact that Facebook is keeping copies of everything they post.
The last article I read also focused on Facebook's privacy settings, but this one focused mainly on the ability for users to see other users' friends list. The users didn't like this because it made everyone that they had "friended" public knowledge and showed their picture and name to almost anyone. In this case, the "they say" would be the criticism of Facebook's privacy settings that controlled the ability for everyone to see who each other has friended.
I only talked about 3 different "they says" for Facebook, and I'm sure that there are many many more out there. But in Facebook's defense, it has really worked with the consumers to try to respond to their complaints and criticisms on the different aspects of Facebook.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-06/facebook-policies-draw-criticism-by-consumer-groups-update2-.html
http://gawker.com/5541830/is-facebooks-ceo-silencing-criticism
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/184418/after_criticism_facebook_tweaks_friends_list_privacy_options.html
In one article I read, the author addresses the issue that people were having with Facebook's privacy settings. Consumers complained about the new tools that Facebook added which ultimately changed the amount of information that was given out over the web, which affected their privacy. So the "they say" in this case would be that Facebook did not pay attention to the affect that its new tools would have on the consumers privacy.
In another article I read, users of Facebook were criticizing how it kept a copy of everything people post on their page, like pictures and comments, and the information could be sold to companies for a fee. In this case, Facebook deleted the user's account that posted this comment in an attempt to silence the criticism. So the "they say" in this article would be that the consumers strongly dislike the fact that Facebook is keeping copies of everything they post.
The last article I read also focused on Facebook's privacy settings, but this one focused mainly on the ability for users to see other users' friends list. The users didn't like this because it made everyone that they had "friended" public knowledge and showed their picture and name to almost anyone. In this case, the "they say" would be the criticism of Facebook's privacy settings that controlled the ability for everyone to see who each other has friended.
I only talked about 3 different "they says" for Facebook, and I'm sure that there are many many more out there. But in Facebook's defense, it has really worked with the consumers to try to respond to their complaints and criticisms on the different aspects of Facebook.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-06/facebook-policies-draw-criticism-by-consumer-groups-update2-.html
http://gawker.com/5541830/is-facebooks-ceo-silencing-criticism
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/184418/after_criticism_facebook_tweaks_friends_list_privacy_options.html
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Analysis of an Article
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/facebook_inc/index.html
I read this article from the New York Times about facebook and some of the business aspects that go along with it.
While reading it, I was using the strategies in They Say I Say to try and find out what the author's argument was and who he was responding to.
Although this article was mainly informational, there were some parts of it that presented an argument that opposed others.
In this article, they talk about Facebook compared to other social networking sites like twitter and myspace. In response to what others have said about the benefits of myspace and twitter, the author stated how Facebook has begun to overpower those companies when it comes to security, keeping viruses away, and being able to keep in touch with various people in various was. So, the "They Say" in this article is the information that the author presents about other social networking site and the "I Say" is the information that the author presents about Facebook in comparison to other sites.
I don't think that the author has any strong opinions about the subject he is writing on, but he does present both side of the story with the "They Say, I Say" strategy.
I read this article from the New York Times about facebook and some of the business aspects that go along with it.
While reading it, I was using the strategies in They Say I Say to try and find out what the author's argument was and who he was responding to.
Although this article was mainly informational, there were some parts of it that presented an argument that opposed others.
In this article, they talk about Facebook compared to other social networking sites like twitter and myspace. In response to what others have said about the benefits of myspace and twitter, the author stated how Facebook has begun to overpower those companies when it comes to security, keeping viruses away, and being able to keep in touch with various people in various was. So, the "They Say" in this article is the information that the author presents about other social networking site and the "I Say" is the information that the author presents about Facebook in comparison to other sites.
I don't think that the author has any strong opinions about the subject he is writing on, but he does present both side of the story with the "They Say, I Say" strategy.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Why I'm Interested
The topic that I have chosen for this ongoing blog assignment is Facebook.
The thing that really got me interested in Facebook and brought the topic to my mind was the article we had to read by Clive Thompson on our generations writing and how technologies like facebook and texting are affecting it.
I use Facebook every day, and often more than once a day, so I thought it would be interesting to write my blogs on Facebook and the different aspects of it. Like the business side of it, the creator of facebook, how and why people use it, how much people use it and other things like that.
I think that this topic will be pretty interesting and relevant to our generation and also fairly easy to blog about.
The thing that really got me interested in Facebook and brought the topic to my mind was the article we had to read by Clive Thompson on our generations writing and how technologies like facebook and texting are affecting it.
I use Facebook every day, and often more than once a day, so I thought it would be interesting to write my blogs on Facebook and the different aspects of it. Like the business side of it, the creator of facebook, how and why people use it, how much people use it and other things like that.
I think that this topic will be pretty interesting and relevant to our generation and also fairly easy to blog about.
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