Legal, Policies, and Ethics - Security settings and privacy

Have you ever had a friend, or even yourself find out about a post that you did not post on Facebook or another social media site? Are you ever worried about someone hacking into your email and gaining all of your vital information? Social media and networking can be a scary place, luckily websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ (to name a few) have incorporated security settings to help prevent such occasions.
Trendmicro presented a couple of steps that I really like and will go over in this post.

1. Understand what information the site needs for your account and how they use it in the first place.

Never give more information than is necessary to operate an account. Try this sometime, go to Google or the search engine you prefer and type in your name followed by facebook or a hobby of yours and make note of what you see. You would be astonished at how much you can find out about someone. The more you give on a social media site, the more information people will be able to know about you. 

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2. Make sure that your posts are not indexed into search engines. 

·       Each social media site handles this in a different way. For example, you can use your Facebook settings to block search engine indexing, or on Twitter you can make your posts visible to people who follow you only. Go into your Facebook settings and block search engine searching. Now go back and use the same search as you did in point 1. Now what did you see? Did the amount of information decrease?

3. Remember to set all your posts private on Instagram so only friends can see them and, of course, be cautious of what you post on any social media site. 

	·       Just because you can post it doesn’t mean that you should. This is a big deal if you are planning on looking for a job or worried about a certain "social status." Now days employers search social media sites to see if you hold yourself to their standards. Be careful what you post online!!

4. Make sure that mobile apps for social media sites are not using personal data or sharing additional private information. 

·       You should also use caution when linking together different apps like Facebook and Twitter or news apps like Flipboard and Facebook. When was the last time you downloaded a game or app on a smart phone and it did not ask you to link the app to Facebook or Twitter? It simply doesnt exist anymore to not link your account. Some ways to go around this is to create a fake account, or in most cases the app will let you create a seperate account through the app instead of linking out.

The point I make about this post is that there are ways to protect yourself, as long as you are cautious and think before you do. Remember once it hits the internet there is a record of it somewhere. The HTTPS settings in Facebook is a really good way to protect yourself as well. It will keep the "hackers" out so the only person to make a fool of you, is you.

What are your thoughts on securities and privacy settings in apps and social media sites??

http://blog.trendmicro.com/social-media-privacy-settings-are-important/
http://lifehacker.com/5745086/why-should-i-care-about-https-on-facebook-or-other-web-sites

Collaborative and Distance Communication Platforms - Twitch

How many of us have gone online in search of an answer on how to do something? Whether it be learning how to cook something new, how to fix something on a car, or how to play the guitar, the internet has not become the "how-to" place to go. Are any of you gamers? Have you ever gone online in search of how to beat a level, or what a game is like before you buy it? In this blog post I am going to be discussing the every increasing popularity of the platform Twitch.

According to Alexa.com Twitch is the 166th most popular website in America. Twitch, on average, gets over six million video broadcasts on the site every month by over 900,000 unique broadcasters. In 2012 Twitch had over 20 million viewers, and doubled it in 2013 with over 45 million viewers and each year the numbers just keep growing. Hence why Amazon purchased Twitch in 2014 for roughly $970 million. With the likes of ESPN now showing e-sports (gaming tournaments) the popularity of sites like Twitch are only beginning to grow.

Twitch is known by millions of gamers around the world, but is still not a main stream for a lot of people. Twitch is a site where people from around the world can broadcast themselves playing and talking about video games while other people watch them live while chatting about it. Now you are probably wondering why in the world would I ever want to watch someone else play a video game?! For some it might be because they want to learn how to defeat a level of a certain game, others such as Seth Stevenson from Slate.com who says, "A lot of Twitchers seem to relish watching the casters fail." While it is a lot of fun to see the streamers fail and give up in world of frustration, watching people stream can also bring help calm you down. "I found there was a calming quality to watching some of the channels," said Seth as he watched a gamer from Europe work his way through a military sniper game looking for the enemy. "For long stretches, not a whole lot happened, and we watched as his character huddled motionless behind a rock, clad in a Ghillie suit, peering through his riflescope to locate his next quarry. When he at last delivered a fatal head shot, the release was palpable." The suspense can almost be like watching a movie at times, wondering what is going to happen around the next turn. 

Some people, such as myself, look to Twitch to see the mechanics of a game before I go out and spend money on the game. I have found that it is a good way to see how a game works and feels. Not as good as a playable demo, but for a lot of games its as good as I am going to get. Twitch is a place where like-minded gamers can get together over a shared interest. 

So in simple terms Twitch is not that different from watching a cooking show where someone makes a fancy dessert, to watching a show that remodels homes for families that are going to hard times. As most people cant figure out why you would watch someone play a video game, many viewers would ask how you can sit in from of the TV and watch people play golf.

Have you ever watched a stream on Twitch, what were your thoughts? 

Do you stream on Twitch, what is your experience?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/may/19/twitch-youtube-live-games-google-acquisition-pokemon

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2014/08/why_would_anyone_watch_twitch_the_allure_of_the_video_game_streaming_site.1.html

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2465070,00.asp

Location Based Platforms - Waze

There is power when social media hits daily tasks such as driving. Imagine yourself running late to the airport, you are cruising down the freeway and to your dismay, a traffic jam. You arrive at the airport only to find out that your airplane has left without you. What is one to do to prevent such stress inducing disasters? Now imagine yourself running late to the airport, you are cruising down the freeway, when an application on your phone, called Waze, warns you of an upcoming traffic jam. This warning gives you enough time to get off on the nearest exit, allowing you to make it to the airport on time and reducing a lot of stress.
Waze is an application that uses voice navigation if you need directions to a destination, it is similar to Google and Apple Maps. The biggest draw that keeps people using Waze over Google maps or Apple Maps is the real-time traffic information. It does this through its users, the description from the Waze website says it all,
"The power of Waze is in your hands. By simply driving around with the Waze client installed on your smartphone, you can share real-time information that translates into traffic conditions and road structure. When you use Waze, you can also actively report to the community on traffic, accidents, police traps, blocked roads, weather conditions and much more. Waze collects this information and immediately analyzes it in order to provide other Wazers with the most optimal route to their destination, 24 hours a day."
Through an initiative called Connected Citizens, it has been partnering and sharing data with dozens of cities around the world to help streamline day-to-day traffic patterns and inform long-term infrastructure decisions. In Boston, transportation officials pored through Waze data to find streets with rampant double-parking — and to hand out tickets to avoid backups. In Rio de Janeiro, the city is using Waze to help plan for the 2016 Olympics. Los Angeles, whose police chief had initially criticized Waze for interfering with his department's work by allowing users to mark speed traps, began working with the company last year.
All of this has created what some are calling the "Waze effect," where residents are getting mad due to Waze leading more traffic down their streets. Waze's view, "If it's public, and taxpayers are paying for that road, we want it in the map."
Being a "Wazer" gives me this little feeling of getting away with something. Being able to see where a policeman is sitting, a traffic jam coming up, or a road that is closed before I actually get to it has come in handy. I would highly recommend this navigation tool to anyone.

What are your Waze stories, what do you think about being a "Wazer?" Share your comments!!

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http://www.mensjournal.com/gear/cars/waze-the-app-that-changed-driving-20160208
http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-waze-and-how-to-use-it-2013-6?op=1
https://support.google.com/waze/answer/6078702?hl=en