Topic 2: Reflection

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Venezia and Sheryl. I have learnt so much from your comments and other blog posts. 

Response to Venezia:

I am glad we both share the same thought! Yeah, even though i do not post such funny images or snippets of myself, i do not feel comfortable when I know my bosses have access to my personal account. I also agree that showing the less serious side of us may affect on our impressions towards the higher management. 

Interesting. I have never used or even thought of using pseudonyms. It is a good way of maintaining anonymity as the name is not real. However, I think we should limit on the number of pseudonyms used as I feel that it is sort of "cheating" people. The pseudonym you came up with could be the real name for someone out there and it could confuse that person's friends. Using disposable emails is one good method as well though I have never done it before. I prefer to give as little information as possible to switching between multiple email accounts at the same time. It might get confusing after some time, especially, when I forget my password for an account...

And yes, I agree that it is not easy to lower the cyber crime rate, however, we should play a part in keeping ourselves safe. Educating people about cyber safety would be a great help. In Singapore schools, the students are given talks about cyber safety annually. 

Response to Sheryl:

Thank you Sheryl. The link (https://www.eff.org/wp/effs-top-12-ways-protect-your-online-privacy) has been very useful. 

Point No.2 " Turn on cookie notices in your Web browser, and/or use cookie management software or infomediaries." has caught my attention as I never took notice of the cookies in my computer. I am aware that it can be either good or bad but I have never thought of tracking the suspicious cookies as it does not seem as harmful as spywares or malware. Furthermore, I always click on the "allow cookies" button as I want to access the page. 

Point No. 12 "Use encryption!" is also something I have not done before. Probably that is because my files does not require top security as of now. However, I might need to use encryption when in the future to keep company files and information protected. 

On the other hand, I came across Siew Woon's stand on a single identity. I agree that having a single identity allows the employers to better evaluate a person's overall as employment should not be solely based on the profile created just for professional use. The employee should be recruited for his skills, and also personality.

Overall, I realize that most of us agree on having multiple online identities and I too still prefer to have multiple online identities.

Blog posts I've commented on:
Venezia
Sheryl

Topic 2: Managing Your Online Identity

Discuss the arguments for and against having more than one online identity.

In today's digital world, there are many social media sites that are being introduced frequently. Over the years, I created accounts in all these social media sites and thus, lead to multiple identities. 

Everyone has different sides on them on different social networking sites. The most obvious one would be the professional and social. On LinkedIn, a person sets up a formal and professional profile and the information revealed are the birth name, company that the individual is currently or had worked for, and achievements. This portrays the person's capabilities to do a job well. Many companies go on LinkedIn to source for suitable candidates for specific roles. On the other hand, social media sites portray a more laid back and fun side of the individual, apart from the potential work abilities. On sites like Facebook, thoughts, photos, and other forms of updates of a person can be seen. It shows a different personality from the studious and professional mode from the profile on LinkedIn. 

Furthermore, I feel that separating work and social is better as the person has a certain level of privacy. Sometimes, there are things that you would not want to share with your bosses. It could be the little rants over the overwhelming workload given or photos of you at the  nightclub. The individual can choose what not to and to share. 

Although I agree with having multiple online identities, some identities could be for bad purposes and have destructive impacts, such as, bullying and impersonation of individual(s).

During my high school days, I have encountered my classmates being harassed or bullied on Facebook. Some of them adds one another randomly by looking at the profile pictures which caused them to add anonymous strangers into their group of friends where they share information to. Some of these accounts are hoax and are created for bad purposes. Their profile picture, name, and all the information they share are not real as they are used to only create a positive image to their "friends" added. 

  (source: http://www.hitekpals.com/cyber-attack-social-engineering-predictions-for-2014/)

There are some that impersonates someone you know and adds you. These impersonators gather information from you - could be company information, or personal information, to hack into your company database using your information, or personal accounts. 
Thus, everyone should be careful in adding a friend on social media sites. 

Overall, I support having multiple online identities but there could be some that abuse it, so we need to be careful with strangers online as we do not know them personally. Any information from them might not be reliable. 

Referencing

Alex Masters (2001) Identity on the Internet: The pros and cons of anonymity. [Online]
http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/09/19/identity-on-the-internet-the-pros-and-cons-of-anonymity/

The Guardian (2012) Online Identity: Is authencity or anonymity more important? [Online]
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/apr/19/online-identity-authenticity-anonymity

Topic 1: Reflection

Thank you Sheryl and Venezia for your detailed comments! :)

I am definitely a digital visitor because i share minimal information and only visit the website when i have something to do. I have accounts on twitter, facebook, and blogger but i do not use them often. I logon to twitter once in while to get updates on the news and also my friends' lives. As for facebook and blogger, i have never posted any updates about my personal stuff. I am a fan of online shopping but i will only visit the website as and when i need something or when there is a promotion. After the shopping process, i do not feel the need to leave any feedbacks. If satisfied, i might return to purchase more items; and spread positive word of mouth to my social circle directly, but not online. 

I agree the need maintain a certain level of online identity, especially for professional usage like LinkedIn. Many companies use LinkedIn to recruit suitable candidates so it is a good socializing tool for the working adults. 

As a digital native, i am more comfortable with online shopping as i do not have to travel to the physical store to get my items. I do understand that socializing and hanging out with your peers are important. However, i cannot do it frequently due to time constraint, so the alternative would be to shop online. With online shopping, i can browse the list of items more efficiently. Since i school and work part time , i only can shop in the night. Online stores operate 24hours. 

After reading other blog posts, i realised we all could fall in the same category, such as, digital visitor, or resident, we are different and each have unique stands. 

Topic 1: Digital “Visitors” and Digital “Residents”

The notion of ‘digital natives’ (young people who have grown up in the digital world and hence are expert users of technology) is often contrasted in the popular press with ‘digital immigrants’ (older people who struggle to master these new norms and behaviours). Digging a little deeper, however, tends to show that there is both expertise (and lack of it) at all age groups. And just because people might be proficient users of technology for social purposes, it does not necessarily follow that they are effective at using it for learning or to build their professional online profiles. This is where the digital ‘residents’ and ‘visitors’ framework adds more value over and above the simplistic digital native ideas.

Question: Explain the concept of digital “visitors” and “residents” drawing upon your reading and your own online experiences to date in support of the points that you make.

In today's globalized world, technology plays a very big part of our lives. The 'digital natives' grew up with technology, while the 'digital immigrants' saw the importance of technology and adapted to the digital world. 

The "Visitor" is someone who uses the web to complete a specific task.  He could be doing an online research for a project, or booking a flight. The information may not be perfect for his task, but as long as the information is up to satisfying level, the visitor will be happy to carry on. After the task is done, the visitor may not go back to the website as often because he does not feel the need to share his experiences to the others. The visitor is often anonymous as he tries to avoid setting up a digital profile (creating an account). 

Stylenanda, an online apparel site, allows purchases without an account. As a visitor myself, I think it makes purchasing online more convenient as I often give up on my items when the site prompts me to create an account to continue. Most websites like Asos and Zalora requires an account. 

(screen shot of stylenanda page)

The "Resident" spends a lot of time online on social networking sites, such as, blogs and Facebook, and has a very strong online identity. He goes online to connect and interact with people - close groups, or public. The resident also uses various digital retail sites and services, and expresses their experience on the respectively sites at the feedback section. Whether it is positive or negative experience, they want their voices to be heard. 

                                             Xiaxue                                                      Naomi Neo

In Singapore, there are many famous bloggers and they are good examples of digital residents. Xiaxue and Naomi Neo are very active on their blogs, youtube, and social media sites, like twitter and instagram. They both attract different types of followers - Xiaxue attracts slightly more matured followers as she shares about her family life, while Naomi is more active on youtube where vlogs are currently in the trend. (Disclaimer: Those are my general impressions of them only.)

340words

Referencing
Jisc (2014) Visitors and Residents. [Online]
Available: http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/evaluating-services/visitors-residents/

David White (2008) Not 'Natives' and Immigrants' but 'Visitors' and 'Residents'. [Online]
Available: http://tallblog.conted.ox.ac.uk/index.php/2008/07/23/not-natives-immigrants-but-visitors-residents/

David White and Alison Cornu (2011) Visitors and Residents: A new typology for online engagement. [Online] 
Available: http://firstmonday.org/article/view/3171/3049%20https://comminfo.rutgers.edu/~tefko/Courses/Zadar/Readings/Selwyn%20dig%20natives,%20Aslib%20Proceedings%202009.pdf

Ian Clerk (2015) Visitors and Residents: Understanding Digital Behaviours. [Online]
Available: http://www.infotoday.eu/Articles/Editorial/Featured-Articles/Visitors-and-residents-understanding-digital-behaviours-105217.aspx

Self Test

Digital Profile - Self Test at start of module

Scale of 1 – 5 (where 1 is no experience, and 5 is very experienced) how you would rate your current level of digital literacy against the following criteria:

Accessing, managing and evaluating online information

Rating at start of module: 3

Comments: As a student of the 21st century, we are often required to do research online for our assignments. Accessing and managing is alright but evaluating the information is much tougher because it depends on the information. 

Participating in online communities
Rating at start of module: 1

Comments: I do not remember signing up for online communities recently...but i did sign up for fan club pages when i was much younger. I think the process is not that difficult but I am not sure anymore. 

Building online networks around an area of interest
Rating at start of module: 4

Comments: I am an active user on Instagram and I follow many pages that interest me! 

Collaborating with others
Rating at start of module: 2

Comments: I did some collaborations on YouTube some time ago.

Creating online materials (text, audio, images, videos)
Rating at start of module: 4

Comments: I often upload pictures and videos online onto Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. 

Managing your online identity
Rating at start of module: 3

Comments: I am very careful on what i post online. Sometimes, I don't even write my name in my profile page. 

Managing your online privacy and security
Rating at start of module: 3

Comments: I am very concerned about privacy so I always make sure that my account is safe, especially on Facebook. I set most of the settings to be viewed by me only.