Final Blog Post

Before taking this class, I liked to think I was very familiar with technology, and referred to technology as “intimidating, but our friend. It will deliver information in a very quick and easy to access manner that will be accessible to all people. I think that when our generation grows into adulthood, having had more technological experience and the ability to learn quickly how to manipulate new devices, technology will not be threatening.”Now, at the end of the semester, I still stand by that statement, if not more so than before.
I believe that, ultimately, there are two reasons why technology intimidates or threatens people. Reason number one applies to older generations, who are not accustomed to technology in general and are against the idea of having to learn how to use all of it at once. The other reason is that people think that technology threatens the foundations of certain skills, and by incorporating technology into certain activities, people will ultimately be disconnected from reality and the result will be a population of drones.

Digital information can be very positive. In terms of my blog topic, technology is responsible for the widest audience journalism has seen. Technology allows people to access information from wherever they are, whenever they want, connecting themselves with a network of like individuals who are searching for similar information.

It is unrealistic, however, to completely overlook the disconnect factor of technology. A prime example of this concept can be seen in the incorporation of laptops in an education environment. One of our class sessions was held virtually on wimba. On that given day, I stayed in my dorm to “go to class.” While this is a fascinating advancement of technology, I found myself very distracted for the duration of the class time. In class, it was also very easy to drift away from the discussion topics onto other distracting websites. In terms of the rest of the world, technology can be extremely useful in bringing elements of all different subjects together, but in the process of doing so, there is going to be a way to get around the primary topic of an activity. The problem seems to be that technology is “fun,” and that is a weakness, especially to Americans.

My recommendation to those I know who did not experience this course is to really embrace technology, because digitalism is becoming more and more prevalent and relevant on the daily. Nearly every one of my colleagues believes that Twitter is ridiculous and pointless. Twitter, in reality, is actually a very useful tool, especially in news reporting. I would suggest that they do some research and read some encouraging articles; otherwise, before they know it, they are going to fall under one of the two categories I described above and hate what has become of society.

Technology interview and the future of journalism

Technology and the internet age has influenced the journalism world greatly in the past decade. The internet medium has surpassed print as a more utilized source for news consumption, while broadcast still reigns supreme. According to Professor Alan Goldenbach of the Phillip Merril College of Journalism at the Univeristy of Maryland, the technological influence has had both positive and negative influences. Essentially, the role of the internet in the news has brought information to the broadest spectrum of people to date. Back when print and broadcast alone were the means of obtaining information, “we really couldn’t reach that many people,” said Goldenbach, who further discussed how he would post an article at The Washington Post and not only would residents of the D.C. metro area be available to read his work, but people in Chicago, Seattle, Johannesburg Beijing, and basically anywhere with internet in an instant. By expanding the potential audience, journalism increases its capability to inform the masses, which is the primary goal of news. However, the downside to the technological influence in the media world takes a hit at the personality of journalism, attacking the more local focus of the news, taking the community aspect out of journalism, which aims to isolate certain communities and appealing to a smaller scale. Goldenbach also discussed that psychologically, people also tend to approach news differently when they take it from an electronic device such as a computer or a cell phone, as opposed to a print source such as a newspaper or a magazine. “You would have a little more patience to read the pages in a broad sheet newspaper. You may not have the patience to sit and stare at a screen, whether it’s a desktop screen or an ipod screen. What that has forced journalists to do is to make stories shorter, and with that, some of the depth of reporting is taken away. One of the skills journalists need to provide is more than what people see.” Goldenbach discussed how it is easy to convey a small story in a 140 character twitter story, like “There was a fire in the barn,” or “there was a shooting downtown,” within those 140 characters is no explanation, context, or depth, which are vital aspects of the news story.
For the future, the technological influence in the media world must be taken seriously into consideration. With a broader spectrum of viewers and readers comes a greater responsibility. As Goldenbach discussed, the internet age has taken away much of the personality of journalism, so in future teaching of journalism, the community focus needs to be highlighted, while also emphasizing the importance of branching out, observing more stories outside one’s own community. While community focus is important, there are also important stories that occur outside of one’s own backyard. The psychological problem also needs to be taken seriously into consideration. Studies need to be done that focus on why people are or are not able to focus on a backlit screen as opposed to a print sheet. The technological influence has changed the way this topic is being taught as well. Glancing at the class list within the Journalism college and the University of Maryland, one notices a common trend among each section: an emphasis on technology. Classes such as Online Journalism and Multimedia Skills focus on technology’s role in conveying news. The school also emphasizes the consolidation responsibility of the journalist, which is to say that prospective journalists are responsible for knowing multiple facets and methods of reporting and taking in news, such as audio, print, and video, and experience is incredibly vital. Also, taking into consideration the statistic that shows how internet has surpassed print as a more used medium of news consumption, a certain amount of focus needs to aim at making sure print does not go under completely. While there are plenty of jobs being created that aim to make the internet a better place for the news, print already reputable and powerful and important in society, especially during this transition period in which journalism is in the midst of.
As many view journalism as being in the middle of a crisis, the actuality of the situation is that journalism is undergoing a serious and vital transformation, not unlike society as a whole, allowing itself to keep up with the times by adopting a broader audience and taking the means and efforts necessary to satisfy and inform its multiplied audience.

problematic cell phone use

In the past decade, mobile devices have become a staple in American lifestyle. The convenience of the mobile phone allows one to keep contact with their entire social circle with the touch of a button and access the online world from most anywhere in the country. With this access comes the risk of over use, as the convience of the mobile device can lead to an addition-like behavior. A study conducted by Motoharu Takao, Susumu Takahashi, and Masayoshi Kitamura examines this phenomenon and attempts to pin point why exactly people become addicted to their cell phones.
According to a multiregression model study, people who use mobile phones problematically “exhibit a bias toward extraversion and low self-esteem, but not neuroticism. Self-monitoring and loneliness also have been reported to be predictors of addictive behaviors. Approval motivation can be a new predictor for addictive tendencies, as indicated in the studies of self-esteem.”
For this study, the conductors distributed 570 questionnaires to participants requited from several university campuses. 488 returned the questionnaires, and 444 were usable. Ages ranged from 18-39. The questionnaires looked at gender, self-monitoring, low approval motivation, and loneliness. According to their results, Males and low lonely individuals make more phone calls to people. Females, high self-monitors, and high approval motivators scored higher on the problematic use scale. High self monitors, low approval motivators, and low lonely individuals were more likely to spend more time writing and reading text messages. Low lonely individuals were more likely to exchange texts with others regularly.
This study concluded that high self-monitors tended to become addicted to cell phone usage because of their extraversion, their large social circles, and their susceptibility to peer pressure. People who had high approval motivation did not spend a lot of time texting, but did exhibit problematic mobile phone use. This is because of their low self esteem. “They are disposed to seeking approval, assurance, and admiration among their peers, thereby indulging in attractive things.” Loneliness, however, did not prove to be an exhibiting factor of problematic mobile phone use, but was associated with problematic or addictive internet use. Introveted people seemed to be less prone to problematic phone use, as they are less likely to interact with people. Females, overall, were likely to experience more frequent problematic mobile phone use.

the first photo portrays the technological device in a positive light, as opposed to the latter photograph, which shows newsprint on fire. These two are meant to reflect on the modern state of journalism, in which the print medium is becoming less utilized as the internet is starting to boom. In 2008, the internet became a more used medium for news consumption among Americans than newspaper, according to a poll by the peer research center. The fire is shown in the lower portion of the picture, starting to heat up, noting that while the majority of the paper is still in tact, and still usable, it is starting to burn. The computer is shown glowing in the light, noting how the light is coming down on the computer.

visual analysis

http://www.sfnblog.com/industry_trends/where%20do%20you%20get%20natl%20intl%20news.jpg

This chart shows that while television remains the supreme form of news consumption, internet is on the rise, surpassing newspaper in 2008. While it may have only just become more popular, this may imply that the internet will boom largely while print consumption goes down.

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Online-News/Part-5/~/media/2AAB33CC5A0B4E3CBD35971B4D7B3AC3.jpg?w=530&h=587&as=1

this chart shows that people who actively participate in news do so more than people who participate in online news sources. The percent difference between most of these categories is about 20-15%, which does not necessarily give the impression that the internet is much of a threat to other forms of news

Privacy Survey and Study

The potential survey takers for our survey were limited to those who were employed and used computers on a consistent basis for their work. The people that we surveyed in particular though, were people who worked on computers controlled and monitored by the Department of Defense (DoD). DoD would have to follow the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, whichgave general guidelines that allowed for the monitoring of employees. For those interested in the DoD policies, they can be found at http://www.defense.gov/webmasters. To understand the results of the survey, first here are the questions:
1. Age:
2. How would you rate your own computer literacy: Not very illiterate, Good Enough, Very Good
3. Do you know your employer’s policies regarding the monitoring of you e-mail and internet access? Yes or No
4. Do you know the limitations of your employer in regards of what they can and cannot monitor? Yes or No
5. How important is computer access, more specifically e-mail and the internet, to your job. Not very important, Important, Very Important
6. How often do you visit youtube or social networking sights per day? 1-3, 4-6, 7+
7. How comfortable do you feel using email and the internet on a monitored computer? Not very comfortable, comfortable, very comfortable
8. How do you feel your productivity has changed since access to youtube and social networking sites were allowed? Up, Down, or the Same
9. Do you think you would benefit from restricted e-mail and internet access? Yes or No
80% of those surveyed rated their computer literacy as good enough, but only 60% of those surveyed knew the DoD’s policy on monitoring e-mail and internet access. Of that 60%, only half of them knew what the DoD could and could not look at. That means only 30% of those surveyed knew the limitations, and even though so few knew the limitations, 80% of those surveyed were either comfortable or very comfortable using email and the internet on a monitored computer. 80% said that the internet and e-mail was either important or very important to their job, so shouldn’t more know about what can and cannot be looked at by the DoD? It is surprising that such a high percentage doesn’t know what the DoD cannot look at when a high percentage finds the computer so important to their work.
Another very important question about the use of government computers was the effect monitoring had on their job performance. Since this past April, unclassified government computers are now allowed access to social networking sites and youtube as long as it is done carefully. What we wanted to see was the correlation between this, monitoring, and productivity. What we found was that of the 80% that were comfortable using email and internet on a monitored computer (showing unaffected performance, despite monitoring), 75% said that their productivity was either the up or the same since access was granted to social networking sites and youtube.
In conclusion, it seems that, according to this survey, most know about the policies regarding the monitoring of email and internet, but not the limitations. It also seems as though work performance is generally not negatively affected by the monitoring of employees or social networking sites. Social networking sites do not seem to negatively affect performance and productivity because most of those surveyed did not report their productivity decreasing. In our opinion, in might even increase activity because it allows employees to take a sort of a mental break from working and come back re-energized.
Research done in the electronic monitoring of employees has come to a much different conclusion then the one made by us and our survey. The majority of studies have found that electronic monitoring frequently increases employee stress levels leading to employee job dissatisfaction. Specifically , research done by Rebecca Grant and Christopher Higgins entitled, “Monitoring service workers via computer: The effect on employees, productivity, and service” found that monitoring becomes less acceptable to employees as monitoring becomes more and more pervasive. Employees begin to feel as if the electronic monitoring is acting as their supervisor, even though they feel it cannot handle things as well as a human supervisor could. As a result of this, a feeling of a loss of control by the employee is felt, and those who feel like they have lost control tend not to feel very satisfied with their jobs. Those not satisfied with their jobs, not surprisingly, do not work as well and have low job productivity.
Also found in that same research article was the results of a survey of 1,500 employees in 50 Canadian service firms. What they found was that as the number of tasks monitored by the employer increased, the employees increasingly believed that production was more important to their employer than quality. Their conclusion was that employees may reduce quality unintentionally in their attempt to live up employer expectations.
This research article was published in 1989, much before the popularity of the internet and social networking sites. Even in 1989, the electronic monitoring of employees and its affect on them was an issue. The boom in monitoring technology only foreshadows how much of an issue that this will be now and in times to come. The landmark Supreme Court case Ontario v. Quon gave the upper hand to the employers, but this case will only fuels the argument for employment monitoring and everything affected by it, including productivity.
In the case of Ontario v. Quon, the city of Ontario had provided SWAT team members with alphanumeric pagers after Sgt. Quon had exceeded his allotted usage limit. The city acquired transcripts that provided them with information that Quon had been using his pager for personal usage, and some of the messages he had sent out were sexually explicit. Those who were found sued citing a violation of the fourth amendment, which guards against unreasonable search and seizures. The Supreme Court found that this search was in fact legal because the search was motivated by legitimate work purposes.
In an HR issues and answers Q&A, from an employer’s perspective, email monitoring is legal as long as you look at only email in storage, not outgoing email. Also, an employer may review its employees’ telephone conversations for business purposes, but may not record private conversations. The federal Electronic Communications and Privacy Act of 1986 does not allow employers to record all personal conversations for later monitoring. Conversations between employees via headsets are also monitored.
A 2008 Q&A with Microsoft also notes a type of monitoring called “activity-centric monitoring” employees are monitored, for example for the number of key strokes they make, which is analyzed against performance

privacy problems

There is a lot of public information on the internet. Probably more than most people realize. You can take a person’s name and put it in a google search and find out where they live, their e-mail, their phone number, how much their house cost, what they do for a living, etc.
In journalism, there are ethcal boundaries by which journalists can not overstep. It wouldn’t be ethical for a journalist to irrelevently place background information about a subject obtained online in an article. They would lose their job. However, bloggers are not necessarily bound by these ethics.
According to Fernanda B. Viégas, “As blog writers become increasingly prolific, however, they are likely to encounter issues of privacy and liability. For example, accounts of bloggers hurting friends' feelings or losing their jobs because of materials published on their sites are becoming more frequent.”
A 2004 article in The Boston Globe discusses Michael Hanscom, who formerly worked in a printing shop at the Redmond, Washington headquarters of Microsoft, who was fired after he posted a picture of a shipment of Apple computers being shipped to Microsoft headquarters.
Blogging isn’t the same as journalism, but this shows how when there areno boundaries by which people are kept for publishing information, there will be consequences. In no way am I saying there should be a list of “blogging laws,” but it just shows how public and open information has become. It probably was not hard for Hanscom’s employers to find out he had a blog and that blog lost him his job.
In Viégas’s article, “Bloggers' Expectations of Privacy and Accountability,” she writes, “By their very nature, blogs raise a number of privacy issues. On the one hand, they are persistent and cumulative. At the same time, they are easy to produce and disseminate, resulting in large amounts of sometimes personal information being broadcast across the Internet.”
She points out that blogs are different from normal web pages in the way that blogs compile posts rather than substitute new material for old. Viégas’s study took 492 bloggers and had them complete a questionnaire focusing on content, identity management, audience and control features, and persistence.
“Most respondents (83%) said their entries could be characterized as "personal musings" whereas a smaller portion of people (20%) described their entries as being mostly compilations of links. When asked how often they had posted highly personal materials on their blogs, 25% of respondents said they had done so fairly often. Only 19% of respondents said they had never posted anything highly personal on their blogs.”
These sort of actions either take advantage of easily accessable public information, or it can add to it. If you are looking up person and you can find their phone number, address, family, job, etc., and you can find their personal blog where they post personal information about themselves, you suddenly have a lot of information about a person you do not know.