Concept # 17: The impact of text-based real-time chat
“Communicating in real-time with text enables a form of ‘authoring of the self’ that is similar to the processes of face-to-face speech but which is much more amenable to authorial control, experimentation and reflection. Further, text-based communication carries with it the possibility for multiple, differing conversations occurring simultaneously, relying on the ability of the human brain to deal with text much better than speech.” (Allen, n.d.)
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Contemporary internet usage involves the use of text-based, real-time chat. There are a plethora of instant messaging (IM) vehicles’ available for use, such favorites include AOL’s Instant Messenger (AIM), ICQ, Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and MSN Live Messenger. IM is an intuitive tool which allows one to write, review and complete an inner monologue before hitting the ‘enter’ button. Theoretically, instant messaging is an ‘online gateway’. It (IM) supports quick-fire communication, collaboration and social bonding. (Nardi, Whittaker, Bradner, n.d.) However, it also assists in and condones the use; or lack thereof of fundamental communication formalities, aiding in procrastination and assisting in raising a society which contributes to the downfall of the English language.
Text-based, real-time chat is a form of near-synchronous communication. If you are online, it appears you are ready to converse with a ‘buddy’, remembering nowadays you have to add your friends via their email address before you can chat to them. I agree with (Nardi, Whittaker, Bradner, n.d.) commentary on IM, regarding informal interactions that are generally impromptu, brief, context-rich and dyadic. To this end, as a time-poor society the use of impromptu and brief communication has become a way of life. Such communication is also evident in mobile phone and personal digital assistants (PDA) use; I would need several pairs of hands to count the number of people who use their portable technology this way! Increasingly, many large corporations including education institutions are allowing use of IM in everyday work practices. It allows staff to clarify, quickly, without having to schedule a meeting, or pick up the phone, or bother with email formalities. An example of IM communication from(Nardi, Whittaker, Bradner, n.d.)
melissa (8:33:32 AM): The fire is out???????? [there has been
an embarrassing public relations problem]
Auto response from alan: (8:33:32 AM): I’m idle…may be
asleep. [Alan was there but working on another computer. The
message was a personalized automatic response.]
alan (8:33:45 AM): not quite…still putting it out
melissa (8:37:13 AM): I can send some water. Just talked with
Georgina….Marsha is running around with her head cut off!!!!!
alan (8:37:29 AM): just put Carl on my calendar at 10 am, for
half-hour. [Carl was able to help solve the problem.]
melissa (8:37:45 AM): You got it!!!!!
melissa (8:38:43 AM): By the way….I can go to lunch if I can
catch a ride with you…Beth has the car for lunch.
alan (8:38:56 AM): fine with me!
alan (8:39:12 AM): also, do you know when will sam jones be
back?
[Melissa turned to Jackie who kept Sam’s calendar and asked her
about Sam’s schedule.]
melissa (8:40:39 AM): Sam will be coming in on June 1 as of this
moment
The question begs, are we becoming a society that relies too heavily on instant messaging, or rather ‘faceless’ communication? Maness does not explicitly agree, but however supports this notion of ‘faceless communication’ with librarians using IM as a ‘chat reference’ like tool as much as they would in a face-to-face reference context. (Maness, n.d.) Even our very own blogs, have text-based real-time chat applets incorporated into them, it only being real-time of course, if the owner and the viewer are online at the same time.
Internet chat has developed its own lingo and form of text-based communication, some of which filters through to what is classified as normal channels of communication, such as university assignments. Acronyms such as BRB (be right back), LOL (Laugh out loud) have plagued teachers for a number of years. We as a society use single letters for shortened versions of a word, such as ‘u’ as opposed to its full and correct spelling of ‘you’. Conceptually, one thinks, well I’m only communicating with a ‘friend’ or a ‘colleague’ surely the use of ‘normal’ language doesn’t necessarily apply? In my opinion, it does count. If you make use of such informal language long enough, it becomes a bad habit, and some bad habits are extremely rigid and sometimes you don’t even realize you’re doing so.
Annotations:
1. ‘IM here’ Reflections on virtual office hours:
‘IM here’ Reflections on virtual office hours by Shannon L. Roper and Jeannette Kindred
First Monday, volume 10, number 11 (November 2005), Retrieved May 20, 2009 from
http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_11/roper/index.html
Roper and Kindred discuss the use of instant messaging IM services for contacting faculty members during their virtual office hours. The peer-reviewed journal states that students regularly contacted them utilising this method of communication. They are quick to point out that the communication was very relaxed, often in lower-case and with incorrect grammar. (Roper, Kindred, 2005) Roper and Kindred also reflected personally on their use of common internet lingo such as Be Right Back (BRB), but did not take up the use of ‘away’ messages until second term. Overall this peer-reviewed journal provided an insight into the students’ usage of IM in the education sector, suggesting students preferred this method of contact for communicating with Professors’.
2. Mobile IM to surpass SMS?
Leberecht, T. (2008, May 19). Mobile IM to surpass SMS? CNET News. Retrieved May 20, 2009, from
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13641_3-9947905-44.html?tag=mncol
This article discusses the “Gartner Study” which examines the use of mobile text-messaging or SMS, and its corresponding statistics. Furthermore it makes mention and compares the (growing) use of mobile instant messaging (IM) (Leberecht, 2008). In particular, the emergence of Apple’s iPhone, with its ability to add social networking sites such as Twitter and AOL. This source is particularly useful as it supports the theory of increased usage of mobile phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) for communicating via IM. One particular quote from CNBC analyst, Jim Cramer is “iPhone IM application is going to be to instant messaging what the iPod was to the Walkman.” (Cramer, 2008)
Concept # 26: Privacy and Security
“The Internet is a profoundly ‘open’ system and advanced Internet users are cautious about either accepting or sending material from and to unknown sources and are careful in releasing information about themselves in any form. Conceptually, the Internet challenges us to take greater responsibility for the protection of privacy and security than perhaps we are used to when dealing with the media.” (Allen, n.d.)
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Abraham Lincoln famously said “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”
Conceptually, many novice and junior internet users see the internet as a worldly, exciting place. It can captivate you for hours on end. One can liken accessing the internet to beginning a new relationship or friendship, in that you only share very limited, if any, highly sensitive pieces of information about yourself other than the norm, name – not necessarily your full name, field of employment and or interests, or comically “Can I buy you a drink?”.
Many virtual ‘space’ sites, such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo require you to sign up, read a privacy and/or security policy and hit ‘agree’. How many internet users, especially teenagers, take the time to read such a policy? Managing your privacy and security forms part of this theory, that is, you must read, and take responsibility for your own actions. Facebook in particular may collect information about you from a variety of sources, which is used to provide you with a more personalized, individual experience. (Facebook, 2009) When I sign up for an internet service, such as Facebook, I don’t expect a personalized service, I have signed up for a reason, social communication, not to be harassed by holidays or software that MAY interest me.
Without hesitation many internet users flood their virtual world with information of a privy nature, a fellow NET11er even had a mobile number listed on Facebook and received strange calls from obviously very strange men! (NET11 Discussion Board, 2009) Once you post information on the internet, it is very hard to retract. Many a forensic computer analyst could locate the information, adding to this notion would include posting information on the internet that is for friends only. An employee of National Suisse was recently fired for calling in sick, and was caught ‘active’ on face book; this is one of an increasing number of irresponsible incidents. Many employers nowadays even hire Trojan’s to trawl social networking sites for potential employees; some even offer a bonus to existing employees that assist in the attraction and retention of future employees. (Palm, 2009)
Similar to how celebrities deal with the media and crazed-fans in real-life, the common, unsuspecting internet user deals with internet hackers, or more general terms; cyber-crime. Whereby the use of your personal information is exploited to take out all kinds of financial credit, inundate friends with viruses and the like in some cases; steal your identity completely. Leading on from this, in an effort to maintain your privacy and security, one can create a ‘fake’ identity, with a fake email address; fake details and an overall fake persona. Maintaining two, completely individual lives, could become quite burdensome quite quickly! Acquisti supports a similar point of view, whereby users have an on-line and an off-line identity, specifically relating to habits and tastes. (Acquisti, 2004)
Annotations:
1. Fraud in cyberspace…What ever happened to the petty thieves?
Vriesde, R. (March 6-8, 2001). Fraud in cyberspace…What ever happened to the petty thieves? Pandora – Australia’s Web. Archive. Retrieved May 20, 2009, from http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/14341/20011126/www.ipc2001.org/papers/netherlands_rvriesde.pdf
This article is from Richard Vriesde a Dutch national, and it discusses policing issues associated with cybercrime. Vriesde presented this paper at the International policing conference in South Australia in 2001. Richard Vriesde is Team Leader in the Netherlands Police Force; his article discusses current initiatives for dealing with electronic crime and the associated criminals. (International Policing Conference, 2001) Such initiatives include Public-Private Partnerships and a Dutch National Action Program. Vriesde main theory is that the internet is no longer in a world of its own, or as he states, part of the fourth dimension, which means ensuring appropriate policing, as cybercrime is increasing two-folds. (Vriesde, 2001)
2. Facebook and the Social Dynamics of Privacy:
Grimmelmann, J. (August 25, 2008). Facebook and the Social Dynamics of Privacy Selected Works. Retrieved May 20, 2009, from http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1019&context=james_grimmelmann
James Grimmelmann is an Associate Professor of Law, at the New York Law School. In this extremely raw article he discusses privacy and its associated policy and how it relates to worldwide social phenomenon known as Facebook. It likens Ghost Riding to that of people’s discernment or lack thereof, to the placing of private information on their Facebook page and how it can affect ones reputation, cost them employment and spread insidious rumors. (Grimmelmann, 2008) This paper supports the theory of taking responsibility for ones actions. I found this journal particularly useful, but more importantly it provides a basis to further investigate privacy and social networking sites.
Concept # 23: Human-computer interfaces
“The Internet lessens the recognition of difference between humans and computers because, at a distance, it is often feels similar to communication and act on the Internet regardless of whether one is speaking with a human or a machine.” (Allen, N.D.)
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Many of us have experienced human-computer interaction. We have all used Automatic Teller Machines, Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) services such as Telstra, trusty Global Positioning Services (GPS) on an unknown journey, as well as basing our daily regime around the use of a computer for our diary, task list and correspondence production and coordination. Society nonetheless, in the above instances realizes it is in fact communicating via a computer, that is, human-computer interaction. However, there is also a clear distinction in instances where human-computer interaction is not immediately recognizable and in particular with the internet.
Artificial Intelligence (AI), as defined by McCarthy, AI is the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs. It is related to the similar task of using computers to understand human intelligence, but AI does not have to confine itself to methods that are biologically observable. (McCarthy, 2007)
Artificial Intelligence is an example of where the interaction between human and computer interaction is almost easily recognizable. Allen states:
“This phenomenon has been exploited, for fun and research, by artificial intelligence programmers and language program developers. In one famous case, a ‘bot’ (robot) called Julia was developed (essentially a sophisticated program) that could, via IRC, fool people for at least a little while into believing it was a real human. It has been said that this example proves more about the lack of communication skills of humans than the abilities of computers” (Allen, n.d.).
I do not agree with this statement in theory, including the lack of communication skills of humans, which in effect is a significant generalization. With systems such as, Julia, and IVR’s, utilised by Telstra, all that is required to identify that one, is in fact communicating with a computer, is to ask the correct line of questioning or simply utilise rational. Foner supports this idea of straightforward recognition, however only if you were to know Julia was in fact a ‘bot’ prior to communicating. (Foner, 1999) As for Telstra’s IVR, commonsense would tell you by the mechanical nature of her voice, and her inability to converse coherently, that it is in fact a computer. Equally for Julia and that of her identifying factors, how many humans, when asked “What are the noisiest rooms?” would be able to detail such an answer almost instantaneously, or for that matter be able to make a direct correlation with what was previously being discussed:
Julia says, “The 10 noisiest rooms are:”
Julia | Connie’s place averages 613.95 messages per hour
Julia | Bedroom averages 483.58 messages per hour
Julia | oops! SNAFU lounge averages 472.18 messages per hour
Julia | (> The Hearts Room! averages 416.70 messages per hour
Julia | Veritech Launch Bay averages 399.12 messages per hour
Julia | West Corner of the Park averages 397.26 messages per hour
Julia | Sickbay averages 366.90 messages per hour
Julia | Inter Temporal Chat Lounge averages 337.66 messages per hour
Julia | kitchen averages 326.75 messages per hour
Julia | US Robots averages 315.99 messages per hour
Accepting machine-like intelligence into our lives, is undertaken on an everyday basis, I know as an Executive Assistant I live (and sometimes possibly breathe) by my computer; it is my communication godsend, this piece of technology assists me to manage not only my Director and Managers, but myself, as well as my task list, and any ministerial correspondence and anything else that is raised throughout the day. Do we as a society rely too heavily on the computer, especially in the context of business? Recently, our department lost power intermittently for the majority of the day, which resulted in staff unable to perform their normal duties.
Society as a whole relies too heavily on communicating with computers and in particular the internet, which at time can lessen the difference of recognition. (Allen, n.d.) Just look at Twitter. Who needs to constantly update the world, in 140 Characters or less?
Annotations:
1. How Internet addiction is affecting lives
Noonan, H. (2006, May 9). How Internet addiction is affecting lives. EurekAlert!. Retrieved May 20, 2009, from http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-05/bpl-hia050906.php
The article entitled “How Internet addiction is affecting our lives” is news article regarding the published results of internet usage in the Perspectives in Psychiatric Care. It details how a large number of people have a heavy reliance on the internet to complete normal, everyday tasks. (Noonan, 2006). It also mentions that this illness is not yet identified as a true addiction, but can enduce a variety of symptoms from headaches to dry eyes. I found this article to particularly useful, as it reaffirms the theory, we as a society rely far too heavily on computers and the internet.
2. The Killer Robot Interface
Epstein, R.G (2006, February 16). The Killer Robot Interface. Online Ethics Center for Engineering: National Academy of Engineering. Retrieved May 20, 2009 from http://www.onlineethics.org/CMS/computers/compcases/killerrobot/article-6.aspx
Richard Epstein is an expert in computer science, and in particular user interfaces. This article examines, point by point, the unfortunate death of Bart Matthews who was killed by a Techtronics Robbie CX30 robot. It includes discussion points such as Shneiderman’s eight golden rules of user interface design, as well as an overview of how the Techtronics Robbie CX30 interface violated the eight rules as well as a reconstruction of the accident. Finally, it was concluded that the interface designer was to blame and not the programmer, Randy Samuels. This article serves as a warning, that perhaps society relies too heavily on computers, and that technology has its downfalls.
Concept # 32: Virtually a Library?
“A library is, fundamentally, a system organized according to shared, accepted sets of classifications and organisations, and on the basis that it is impossible to access the information except through categories (either in a catalogue or by browsing allocated books on a shelf). The World Wide Web has no such shared system, and is technologically capable of a large degree of searching for information directly – ‘full text searching’. What advanced users seek to do is to exploit the advantages of the idea of a library in a way that suits their personal needs, effectively creating personal virtual libraries.” (Allen, n.d)
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“What advanced users seek to do is to exploit the advantages of the idea of a library in a way that suits their personal needs, effectively creating personal virtual libraries.” (Allen, n.d.)
The internet is a wondrous place for the avid learner and provides all users; novice, intermediate and advanced with entertainment. I agree with Allen’s assertion that the Internet is in principal, a virtual library. (Allen, n.d.) However the internet’s capability, to act as a virtual library is much greater than many physical libraries. (Allen, n.d.) Has anyone ever waited for an ‘inter-library’ loan or for the only copy of “To Kill a Mockingbird” to return? The internet simply bypasses tasks such as this allowing all users to access the same information simultaneously. It (the internet) also provides assistance with in-depth or deep web searching, whereby information is that is linked is made available instantaneously. The cataloguing of such information is relatively personal, with many internet users adopting a ‘what suits me best’ approach.
Bookmarking is a tool for collecting uniform resource locators (URL’s), storing, cataloging and returning to them as you need or want to. There are a myriad of options available, from online social bookmarking sites such as Diigo, to desktop based programs such as Microsoft OneNote 2007. From a personal perspective I prefer the desktop based option and for this I use Microsoft OneNote 2007, it just suits my way of collecting, storing and organizing. Whereas Web2.0 technology such as Diigo, GoogleDocs and delicious allows you to have your bookmarks and highlighting online, which in my opinion, I don’t find particularly useful. It is just another account for me to have to keep and store details for. However, I do think Google was on the right track allowing users to have one login ID for many of their sites, such as YouTube and Gmail.
Knowing where and how to locate the information you are searching for can become time consuming. This is particularly evident from a physical library perspective, one can spend hours, up and down from catalogue terminals to finding that correct source. The internet however, changes this. In NET11, we undertook tasks utilising different methods of search; including Boolean and Meta searching.
Meta searching is undertaken using programs such as Copernic and Sherlock (for Apple Macs). This type of searching is particularly useful as it allows one to search many sources, concurrently.
“Metasearching (a.k.a. federated searching or broadcast searching) is considered by some to be the next evolutionary step of database searching. Proponents believe that novice users, such as undergraduates, are baffled by the number of databases they have to choose from and need one common interface to meet all their research needs.” (Frost, 2004)
Evaluating the information you intend to use, from the internet, is also important, especially when it concerns academia. Anyone can add information to the internet; such sites like Wikipedia are prime example of this idea. Not everyone that adds information to the internet can be trusted, or has a good reputation. Evaluating information from a Library can be somewhat easier; with many librarians planning what types of information will be added to their shelves and similarly the quality of that information. Each item is also carefully catalogued. (Hansen, 2009)
Annotations:
1. LibraryThing
Spalding,T. (2005). LibraryThing. Retrieved May 20, 2009, from http://www.librarything.com
www.LibraryThing.com is the brainchild of Tim Spalding. The idea original started out as a pet project for Spalding to catalogue his own library and for academic and bibliophile friends. (LibraryThing, 2005) I think the idea behind librarything.com is great; it really is a very clear example of a virtual library. For a very small lifetime membership fee you can add your books, to this virtual world, tag and communicate with other members. Once your personal library has been added, LibraryThing then searches the library of Congress (USA), all five national Amazon sites and over 690 world libraries, returning pertinent book data on each title. (LibraryThing, 2005).
2. Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask.
The University of California. (n.d.) Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask. Retrieved May 20, 2009, from http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html
The University of California’s on-line tutorial demonstrates techniques for application when evaluating sources from the Internet. Five points are listed ranging from what the URL can tell you to looking for quality indicators such as looking for copyright details. It implores you to critically investigate web-based information by training your mind. The on-line tutorial supports the theory of assessing an on-line source and that it can be more time consuming compared to using sources from a library. The web page also provides links to other useful sites that discuss the evaluating of web pages.
Reference List:
Acquisti, A. (n.d.) Privacy and Security of Personal Information. Economic Incentives and Technological Solutions. Retrieved May 20, 2009, from www.heinz.cmu.edu/~acquisti/papers/acquisti_eis_refs.pdf
Allen, M. (n.d). NET11: Internet Communications Concepts. Curtin University of Technology. Retrieved May 20, 2009, from http://lms.curtin.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_14736_1%26url%3d
Facebook (2009) Facebook Privacy Policy. Retrieved May 20, 2009, from http://www.facebook.com/policy.php?ref=pf
Foner, L.N. (1997) Entertaining Agents: A Sociological Case Study. MIT Media Lab. Retrieved May 20, 2009, from http://sigart.acm.org/proceedings/agents97/A184/A184.PDF
Frost, W.J. (2004, January 4). BackTalk: Do We Want or Need Metasearching? LibraryJournal.com. Retrieved May 20, 2009, from http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA405394.html
Hansen, C. (2009, March 5) Evaluating Library and Internet Information. Weber State University. Retrieved May 20, 2009, from http://library.weber.edu/ref/guides/howto/evaluateinfo.cfm
Maness, J.M. (2006). Library 2.0 Theory: Web 2.0 and Its Implications for Libraries. Webology, 3, 2. Retrieved May 20, 2009, from http://webology.ir/2006/c3n2/a25.hmtl
McCarthy, J. (2007, November 12). What is Artificial Intelligence? Standford University, Computer Science Department. Retrieved May 20, 2009 from http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/whatisai/whatisai.html
Nardi, B.A., Whittaker, S., Bradner, E. (n.d.) Interaction and Outeraction: Instant Messaging in Action. Retrieved May 20, 2009, from http://dis.shef.ac.uk/stevewhittaker/outeraction_cscw2000.pdf
Palm, E. (2009, April 27). Facebooking while out sick gets employee fired. CNET News. Retrieved May 20, 2009, from http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10228434-93.html
