internet safety/image management

Internet safety is not something that is difficult, just something that people really do not pay attention to, and that is why they get in trouble with the things that have online. When someone posts a picture, video, blog, or anything else they need to be aware of the repercussions of that post. It may seem harmless at the time but could come back at you in a way you did not previously think. One rule should be to never give out more information than necessary. There are plenty of people out there looking for identities to steal or information to use as their own. Also carefully looking at the privacy settings of a site can minimize the information that is seen by others. On sites like Facebook you can adjust your settings so people can see all of your information or only specific parts. When posting a video or photo of yourself it's important to keep in the back of your mind who might see that photo and you should think to yourself: does this picture pose any risks? One might be surprised how easy it is to leave a virtual footprint, things put online do not just disappear when you want them to. Knowing where you are putting things and knowing the minimal amount of needed information are just a few tips to help keep online users safe.

Community

A community is a unique group of individuals that come together in sharing common goals or interests. Each community is distinct from another in the way they act, speak, look and through many other differences. Everyone in a community has a feeling that they belong, that they share something similar with the others in that community. They have certain aspects that are recognized by others, a person can tell when they are around a certain community by what they see or feel. An example would be walking on to a college campus; you see signs of school spirit, school colors, and students that are unique to that university. In Albany students are wearing the purple and gold, you see tables for school groups and clubs and signs for campus events. The feeling of a community is noticeable one.

Defining Culture

Here are some resources from the web to help define the meaning of the word "culture":

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture - the definition of culture according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

http://www.roshan-institute.org/474552 - Definition of culture from the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute. There are many elements that make up culture.

http://www.carla.umn.edu/culture/definitions.html - Definition of culture from the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition - University of Minnesota. It also lists other educational definitions of culture from other sources.

http://anthro.palomar.edu/culture/culture_1.htm - A definition of culture from an anthropological view and going into the different layers of culture.

http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/choudhury/culture.html - Definitions and other explanations of culture.

Blog Post

Out of the 4 tools that we have used: twitter, prezi, webpage and the blog, the webpage is probably the easiest to use of the four. It does not take much knowledge to use, just a basic text-based website. There is however access to a lot of helpful tools. There is no place to leave comments and no way to interact at all with other users visiting the site. The Blog is more interactive with users being able to post their own blogs for others to read and they can also comment on blogs by other users. This allows for ongoing conversations and active participation. The site also allows you to personalize what your page looks like and gives options for how you post your blog. Prezi allows all users to interact with the different sections of the website and constantly edit it although there is no way to directly communicate with another user. It has text, visuals, audio and video. With Twitter a user can interact directly with someone or with a group, they can give and receive feedback and can communicate in multiple ways. It is highly interactive.