What I mean is: how many emotions you cannot easily contain and those
take over you when responding to a post, or when you are out of the
blue publishing something?
Why do I ask you this if the article is supposed to be Social Networks related?
Well, let me ask you another question: did you know the term
“Sentiment Analysis” is a buzz word on the higher hierarchical levels of
organizations such as Amazon, Dell, Google, Microsoft; aside from
Facebook and Twitter, and many others?
The main reason is that big corporations are trying to target their
marketing based on the type of emotions we express when using Social
Networks. The small and mid-size social media blogs and consultancy-type
businesses and individuals are also implementing some kind of system to
help them sell their own products and services to small fry, while
trying to hit the jackpot in the process.
So, every time we post something like “I hate (insert cellphone company here)’s billing! They put me on-hold for 20 minutes and then I got disconnected.” Or something like “I love my new car! It’s great on gas, stylish and easy to drive!” All those words and expressions are being collected, analyzed and managed so that they can more easily know where they need to focus on improvements, or where to increase prices, for instance.
Being said that, know that Sentiment Analysis is still in its infancy, although making strides quickly.
For example, when we post a comment along with a picture so that we
are being sarcastic, cynical or ironic; such as in “You gotta love our
politicians.” And the pix depicts such person(s) caught in the act
wasting our tax money, the technologies cannot simply differentiate the
intention of our message… yet.
Or when we use abbreviations and/or emoticons, such as in “My neighbour’s dog died! :D" or “My neighbour’s dog died! :-(" or “My neighbour’s dog died! :-)". Same sentence, but different emotion shown. Even the slight change in order: “My neighbour’s dog… :D …died!” is still difficult for a computerized algorithm to decipher.
The main thing here is that, each and every one of your comments is
being analyzed today. That’s why you start to notice a trend on the
advertising they post every time you go to YouTube, for example. Based
on your searches, posts, Tweets, and so on… all you interact with online
while using their systems (Social Media and others) is there for them
to target you.
There you have it. Don’t be surprised by what the type and amount of
advertising you start experiencing on your main sites and how it matches
your moods and ways to express yourself, it is all based on you.
Therefore, do not reply here with a negative comment. ;)
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Sunday, August 19, 2012
The Fight is not on Facebook
The day is fast approaching.
Yes, you and I keep reading the tweets and posts and all
those messages, images, and ideas. But the fight is not here where the screen
stares at you: all of us in your circles know that. The fight is on the street.
Keep posting, sharing, liking and using these devices to
contact your people. But realize that these Social Media pages are only tools
that allow us to share the times and places where we can really manifest
ourselves. Talk to all people you see on a daily basis: you don’t need to
prepare a speech; a simple “I believe the best option is…” while you order
coffee, or a “we need to talk to elders too…” when at your little one’s soccer
practice, will do.
Action. On the street. Not here on the screen.
Talk to the rest of them, not everybody is connected all the
time or at all. Camps, protests and manifestations are one way, but there are
many others: the thing is to talk and, if necessary, shout.
Stop criticizing. Get up and start fighting.
SPEAK UP!
Sunday, August 12, 2012
The Referee
While attending webinars and similar events about Social
Media and the way we all take advantage of latest technologies, I noticed there
is something that stands out again and again: what we post and mainly the way
we post it tells lots about whom we are and what we represent.
Most Social Media presenters believe their audience is
aiming to establish or grow their business and brand on the Web utilizing the
latest available features. Therefore, they give advice on the best practices
and the latest trends and tools to accomplish just that.
However, for the rest of us, there is not much advice they
can or want to provide because it is precisely their business to focus on
businesses.
If you are establishing your presence on the Web with Social
Media tools, bear in mind your potential customers and existing clientele
probably understand very well what you are posting; after all your goods and
services are not foreign to their needs. Post anything and everything with as
much freedom as if you are saying or writing a sales pitch with absolutely
nobody watching over your shoulder. Do it as freely as if nobody will ever read
it, and that will guarantee a flow of ideas that will certainly convey a great
message. You can always come back to edit to make it look even better.
Conversely, if all you are doing is communicate with friends
and family, the language you use, the images you upload and everything that
will become public, shape your identity. Those postings also shape the
perception people around have of you. All of them, not only the first degree
acquaintances.
Rule of thumb: before sharing something you would consider
offensive or out of place, think it twice. If you believe it can offend
someone, it is very likely it will do exactly that.
Even if your friend has just posted a funny picture or
comment, but that includes specific people you know will be affected, it is
safer to simply leave it as is and where it is. Do not touch it.
Enter the referee: he or she can be someone you care about
whose age is between eight and fifteen. Imagine that this person is listening
or reading absolutely everything you are saying and posting. If the referee
raises his or her eyebrow to something you intend to publish, it is certainly
not a good idea to do so. There is always a place and time for everything;
letting unconditionally everybody know about certain comments or images is merely
not appropriate.
As with certain public displays on the real world, the fact is
that doing something that is not illegal does not make it right, or morally
correct.
You don’t need a warning from the ref every time you commit
a fault, do you?
Choose your referee.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Internet Privacy, last part (for now, this is a recurrent subject)
(Continued form InternetPrivacy, second part)
These
articles are compressed, a good discussion of these issues and subjects would
need at least ten times more space to be better explained and discussed. Being
this a blog, such small sample must give an idea of the many branches these
topics grow.
Imagine you are at a conference or travelling on public transportation.
Then, somebody starts commenting and asking lots of questions interrupting the
presenter constantly. Or one of the
passengers starts misbehaving, annoying everybody. The presenters or other
members of the travelling group might be tempted to call security, and perhaps
that will happen, having to remove that person, forcefully.
Such scenes could be similar to when we spot a suspicious
backpack left in a very public place. We will always be prompted to act and do
something about it.
Now imagine there is another person in that conference or at
the public transport not really calling attention, but planning something bad
for the rest of the people around them. If the latter scenario is possible,
then all attendees to the conference or travellers are suspects, right?
That’s one of the most invasive currents of thought behind
governments and police departments to want to be watching over our shoulders
what we do online. It doesn’t matter whether we are the Dalai Lama or Mother
Teresa or a very simple low profile citizen of the world. Our every move would
be recorded and stored indefinitely. We would lose our online privacy at the
very moment such a bylaw passed as law. Forever.
With the incredible amounts of data on the Web, and such
records growing exponentially day after day, in order to implement a mechanism
to track and store all we do online it would need to be very good and smart
systems, controlled by not just one entity for the extraction of information to
be really effective. Such withdrawal of individual evidence would take place only
when necessary, and there would need to be warrants and orders, similar to the physical
ones, for anybody to get access to our information.
In a way we are already in that position of letting people
know about us: we post pictures, type statuses and send messages to those in
our circles and acquaintances lists. No less, no more.
However, if there is a leak of data of any kind, then such
information we trusted only to known friends and family members might be used by
criminals, probably with disastrous consequences.
Being said that, if we allow governments and police to
monitor activity, that might also mean less unlawful activity due precisely to
more virtual police force deployments.
Although there would be more good than bad if we put all that
in the scale of a better world, the possibility that harmful activity could
results from our allowing of data to be collected and analyzed, although slim,
would still exist. It is that low percentage of risk that bothers us.
Simply put, no system
is perfect, and it gets worse when many hands are mixing the dough. Human error
is imminent.
There you go.
Me? I would like to
see more control, but not to the point that our online surveillance becomes
something like a regime. I would trust such task to the global scientific
community after a carefully and planned strategy is determined, but would be very
much concerned if governments get too much involvement in the planning and
surveillance process.
What do you think? Are you afraid to comment on this after
reading the possible consequences?
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Internet Privacy, second part
(Continued form InternetPrivacy)
This is a hot topic.
Received some feedback here, via FB and thru other messaging systems. Thanks
for taking the time to reply and comment on it. Hope you do it more often.
Apparently, there is some confusion and misunderstanding with
regards to what the policing entities would be doing if we allowed them to
watch our online activities.
To start, nobody will be fixating their eyes on a lot of
monitor screens watching live what every one of us does online. The system
would be something similar to those closed-circuit video surveillance cameras
that allow recording and therefore can be used to check a particular event
after it happened.
It would be similar to the way they analyze the audio and
video recordings after a shop break in, or at a corner store or gas station
incident; also there would be “black-boxes” like those on trains and planes
that keep the main data on events sequences. Such records would be extracted only
if and when needed.
Of course, there would be some intelligence attached to the
systems too: monitors that would be able to analyze data traffic, identify and
single out the origin of certain messages and attitudes to detect sex
offenders, for instance; and obviously highlight the activities of spammers and
hackers.
To continue, know that police already counts on significant
power to search for criminal conduct on the Internet. It wouldn’t be that
different than it is right now, only more expeditious and easier for them to
manage warrants, for instance.
Now, in terms of everybody’s security, these policing
entities would be able to act both proactively and reactively. The main
advantage would be that criminal activity could be spotted sooner, evidence
would be taken quickly and in a chronologically way; and warnings, tickets and
warrants could be created for existing and would-be pornographers, spammers and
hackers.
So, in terms of safety for all of us when using the Web, we
could experience better peace of mind knowing that our children can be using computers,
phones, tablets, game consoles and all those devices without becoming a target.
For us, Spam certainly would be decimated too, and hacking activity would be greatly
minimized.
Simply put, if we are not involved in any kind of negative
activity on the Internet, we’d have nothing to worry about: the scenario could
be compared to when we go to a nice beach town we’ve never been to and seeing a
police element at every corner. We could certainly feel good about that or not
even notice it if our behaviours don’t break the law. However, if we are there
with not-so-nice intentions, then perhaps we would feel uncomfortable, nervous,
or even threatened.
I’m not saying systems would be perfect or that monitoring
us all is a good thing. In this particular article, I’m only pointing to the
positive aspects of enhancing the Internet surveillance powers of police for
all of us. Most other bloggers and news writers will certainly pen way more
than these few paragraphs about how it will negatively affect us: it is simply
easier to criticize, condemn and complain than to see the good side of things.
There will be plenty of time and space to cover the negative
aspects too. In the meantime, here you have a few reasons to think about why
such initiative could bear more good than bad.
Any other good outcomes you can think of?
If passed, which entities should be allowed the privilege to
search what you do online?
Would you rather trust a private company instead of the
government or police for doing this?
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Internet privacy
I will go into detail
later on the many implications it would carry to let governments and police
departments to be able to track our individual activities online. In the
meantime, I have a few comments and question for you.
While almost everyone protests or has something to argue, or
at least comment, when we hear the news that our lawmakers have a proposal to
allow governments to be able to eavesdrop on our online activities, current and
past; we seem not to notice we are already creating a trail that anybody could
be able to put together.
Not only police would use such traces if necessary: already there have been cases in which people
have been fired because their bosses found out they were posting their
activities on the very days they reported as being sick. Divorces have been
filed by the spouses that have found out email and chat conversations and histories
between their ex-loved one and somebody else. There have even been cases that
go to court in which a Second Life love or affair interferes with the real life…
the implications are many and varied. Some of them are difficult to believe,
and even more difficult to deal with.
But, coming back to the trail: do you realize that a lot of
what you do on line is permanent (see Permanency)
and has a date and time stamp attached?
That means that practically anybody can follow your on-line
history. Are you one of those people that post practically everything around
you at any moment and place? Do you allow your devices to automatically post
your location at a particular time?
Is all that really good? Does it benefit you? Does it
benefit anybody?
I’m not trained on anything related to police or private
investigation, yet I know some people I could recreate their everyday
activities with better accuracy than what a police investigator could have come
with just ten years ago. Worse, a stalker or similar likeminded individual can
do that too.
So, what would the real implications of allowing governments
to be able to retrace our steps be? Aren’t your acquaintances so aware of our
daily activities already?
Technologically, it is possible to log everyone’s actions
through our devices’ addresses, applications and even coordinates. The ISPs and
telecommunication companies we pay for those services count on tools that would
allow police or any other entity know about our online activities very
accurately, to the second.
However, what we seem to be against if precisely Big Brother
watching over our shoulders. We seem to be content letting everybody else know
what we want them to know, despite the fact that we are letting way more people
than intended know about it.
Allowing police to monitor activities would help capture
kidnappers, child pornographers, fraudulent transactions and many more criminal
activities. It would be a matter of perhaps minutes as opposed to months of
investigations and evidence gathering.
So, what exactly are we against when we hear about the
possible imposition of such measures?
Where do you stand?
What is your take?
Monday, July 9, 2012
Immediacy and permanency
By now it must be clear for most of us that everything we’ve
ever done using virtual Social Networks is there to stay. The fact that
instantaneous messages are exchanged at such speeds, coming from every corner
of the world makes even big companies shake with fear, some corporations are
already dead; and the survivors are quickly changing their ways of production
and technological methods in order to stay. If big businesses can’t make anything
but adapt, what can we simple beings do?
Know.
Know that when using virtual Social Media everything stays:
every word, every picture, every new group and circle creation, the uploaded
videos, and absolutely everything that has been posted are there to stay forever.
We can’t change that, but we can change the way we do things so that we never
regret it.
Know also that messages, pictures, news, and everything else
are there at the very second they are posted. These can be shared quickly and
the rest of the world can see them within minutes. We all have heard or read
about the viral tweets, pictures and videos that get millions of views in less
than a day.
So, please know.
Before you post something that may affect somebody else or
yourself: be informed and warned about the permanency and immediacy of such
actions. It takes only a few keystrokes and clicks to do it, but a lifetime to
accept the fact that it is done.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Immediacy and permanency
By now it must be clear for most of us that everything we’ve
ever done using virtual Social Networks is there to stay. The fact that
instantaneous messages are exchanged at such speeds, coming from every corner
of the world makes even big companies shake with fear, some corporations are
already dead; and the survivors are quickly changing their ways of production
and technological methods in order to stay. If big businesses can’t make anything
but adapt, what can we simple beings do?
Know.
Know that when using virtual Social Media everything stays:
every word, every picture, every new group and circle creation, the uploaded
videos, and absolutely everything that has been posted are there to stay forever.
We can’t change that, but we can change the way we do things so that we never
regret it.
Know also that messages, pictures, news, and everything else
are there at the very second they are posted. These can be shared quickly and
the rest of the world can see them within minutes. We all have heard or read
about the viral tweets, pictures and videos that get millions of views in less
than a day.
So, please know.
Before you post something that may affect somebody else or
yourself: be informed and warned about the permanency and immediacy of such
actions. It takes only a few keystrokes and clicks to do it, but a lifetime to
accept the fact that it is done.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
You are what you post/publish
Image is everything.
Well, not exactly. But in a way, what we wear on our backs,
the shoes we walk on, the vehicle we use, or glasses, hats, scarves, watches,
mobile phone, and all that somehow wraps our body or part of it affects the way
we are perceived by others.
However, when it comes to communicating, all those
implements suddenly lose importance, and the degree to which they affect such
communication diminishes to become practically zero. Surely you’ve met people
that dress with the most expensive garments but their social status; education
and culture don’t match the fabrics. And most likely you’ve also met those that
dress comfortably and humbly and yet their values, morals, knowledge and everything
else surpasses by much the other person’s dressing codes.
What marks a huge difference in the virtual Social Networks
and all other ways of communicating through these electronic media is that we
have to be precise in our conveying of messages. Here, clothing is optional,
and the devices we use don’t show up; they are just a mechanism that allows us
to talk to each other.
In these instances, the way we express ourselves is the
“clothing”. There are no valid pretexts to demonstrate our education is less
than what we really have acquired. Trying our best to use proper
capitalization, punctuation, syntax and grammar is the way we really show who
we are. The type of words we choose, the way we put one after another, the length
of the sentences, whether we ask much or say many things; absolutely all that plays
a role in outlining our presence.
I have heard and seen people apologizing or giving excuses for
their poor typing, explaining that the way they write words is –according to
them- fashionable, or that they use all capitals because that way they would
write faster not having to accentuate some words, or that doing it this or that
way other people won’t notice they don’t have good typing skills or good enough
ways to communicate.
Guess what? Fashion comes and goes, while tradition and
manners stay; uppercase-only needs punctuation too; and the people we write to
and everybody who can read what we post already knows us, right?
If they are in our acquaintances lists, they know us already:
they know who and how we are, and even why we are. So, who are we trying to
fool?
The way you express yourself here and everywhere else defines
you. It outlines who you are and the type of person you are. In brief, it shows
your net worth as a person.
Clothing is optional.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Say, What?
So, we are talking to some friends about regular topics when
Franc interrupts yelling “Look! I found 10 cents!”
Very likely some of us will simply dismiss the comment; some
others might be waiting for the continuation of Franc’s joke, noticing in a few
seconds that there is no joke.
Then, some other day in a similar scenario it is Lira who
comes crashing: “Look! I found ten dollars!”
Here, some will react and perhaps ask where and how she
found the money; some will her to buy something for them too, and so on. This
incident very probably would not only interrupt the current topic, but also
start a new one.
Then, at a different time it is you who comes jumping and screaming: “Look! I found one hundred dollars!”
Then, at a different time it is you who comes jumping and screaming: “Look! I found one hundred dollars!”
See the reaction around, this is really something isn’t it?
This would definitely kill whichever current topic is discussed, creating a new
instant topic that might linger among us for a long time.
What kind of posts do we do? Do we brag about our ten cents?
Are we the types that says “good morning” or “I’m having lunch…” or “I’m tired”
simply because we are in front of the screen and have nothing better to say?
Could it simply be our Fear
of Isolation and Willingness to Speak Out as Gi Woong Yun and Sung-Yeon
Park suggest? (Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Volume 16, Issue 2, pages
201–227, January 2011, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2010.01533.x/full#b60).
Are our posts really important or interesting or exciting or
at least funny? Do they convey a positive message? Do those make us think and
react? Commit to something?
I hope yours do. Above all, I strive to make mine do too.
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