Final Projects

Barack Obama's MySpace Page

In this particular instance, a paralegal named Joe Anthony started an “unofficial fan club” called MySpace.com/BarackObama, after he was inspired by the keynote address Obama gave at last summer’s Democratic convention. Joe wanted to spread the word and talk about his new hero --- however, the website became so popular, that the new candidate outdid his contenders by 5 to 1 in popularity in the social networking polls. The site had gathered 160,000 friends. That should be a good thing right? Everybody involved should have benefited --- but a battle over the profile ensued and someone had to lose.

Blogger's Code of Conduct Badge

The proposed Blogger's Code of Conduct, originally put forward by internet guru Tim O'Reilly and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, suggests bloggers shun unacceptable content, such as articles or comments that are, among other things, abusive, harassing and libelous. It also asks bloggers not to say anything online that they wouldn't say in person and not to "willfully cause harm."

netlingo

The use of basic grammar and the English language are slowly becoming a thing of the past amongst our younger generation. Modern technology is wooing our children at a rapid pace, it is estimated that the younger generation spends from 12-15 hours a week online. In an article recorded in USA Today “Most students still can’t write respectably”; The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), known as the nation’s report card is reporting better writing scores in low-income students verses moderate to high income students. Low income students have less access to the various social networks therefore forcing them to use what they have learned. The saying is true, what you don't use you will lose.

A Typical MySpace User?

Hysteria over the easy access predators now have to children (or, for that matter, anyone looking to make an unsavory connection with either a child or an adult) has reached a fever pitch. On one side of the coin, you have parents and childrens activist groups demanding that online chat rooms be moderated, supervised or policed.

On the other side of the coin, there are people protesting that such moderation will result in less freedom, therefore eliminating one of the Internet's major appeals. They are appalled by the suggestion that all internet chat rooms be monitored. "It's too reminiscent of George Orwell's 1984," said one Internet user. "We don't want Big Brother watching us."

If a plagiarist receives more than $2,500 for copyrighted material, he or she may face up to $250,000 in fines and up to ten years in jail.

But who pays? Plagiarism is ethically, academically and professionally a violation of ones rights of ownership. Violation can result in a number of punishments according to the level of your offense, but who draws the line and who applies what punishment and what is the ultimate determining factor. Is everyone subject to the same degree of humiliation/exposure? Or are those that offend in the literary world, those that should be held to the highest accountability factor, are they slightly reprimanded and free to offend again and again with little repercussion whereas, others seem to loose so much more. Is it fare, the judgements that they receive? Who decides? Should there be a change?...who will decide that?

MySpace? Whose Space?

But who is to blame here: the website (for being the place that the two met and exchanged personal information, and for not having a better security about who joins and what goes on during the conversations), the girl (who lied about her age), or the girl's parents (for not monitoring her whereabouts better on the computer)?