Social Media

Social media is web 2.0 technology, users interact with websites and contribute to the ever changing sites such as Facebook and Twitter. While the original examples of such sites were at first used for business networking, they rocketed into a new wave of Internet culture with nearly everyone having a Facebook from grandmothers to small children. While such sites can be great for reconnecting with old friends or communicating with relatives in another country, they pose a new danger. People mindlessly post everything about themselves and their days, such information as their current locations is often tracked even if they are not posting - this creates a risk for easy burglaries and stalking. Much as the wild west was a new frontier, the Internet is not all rainbows and ponies, serious dangers exist online and people should be cautious in what they post for the world to see.

Virtual worlds are digital environments in which humans control three-dimensional avatars. These avatars can often perform many actions and usually are accompanied with a text chat feature the user can utilize. The worlds themselves vary from Second Life type worlds which mimic real life to massive multiplayer online role playing games (mmorpgs). In a typical mmorpg, players can do everything from talk, voice chat, battle, trade, and sometimes even experience digital weather and day-night cycles. Of the virtual worlds that I have had an avatar in, all but one have been mmorpgs. In these I tend to pick a sword slashing, potion drinking warrior. A shift from gaming and recreation is occurring, especially in the case of Second Life and spin offs which have begun to be used in place of international business meetings in person due to their cheaper cost and easier use (Going to the virtual office in Second Life by Mark Tutton).