3 posts tagged “online”

What are the rules of online chatting? Are there rules that a user strictly follows once they enter the stream of millions of online users? Do we train ourselves or our children on who to avoid, when to stop, and how to treat other users?

The freedom the internet offers us makes it hard to set up any rules that apply to everyone. The internet has become a public space where people from all walks of life intersect and collide. It welcomes a global audience that is diverse and multi-cultural. Thus, rather than set-up any rules that might step on anybody else’s toes, there aren’t any.

Rules only apply in certain rooms and communities where people of the same interests join. Still, the rules are not as encompassing or thorough. Social networks, online communities, and groups can only do so much to monitor activities and regulate them. This is quite problematic, especially for sites or spaces that children can access, explore, and even fall victim to abusive online users.
 
The internet comes as a double-edged razor which everyone must know. It is a virtual world that allows anyone to become who they would want to be without consequences. They can be as good and as bad as they want to be. They can assume identities that of another or one that does not exist at all. And they can easily come and go as they please.

The most recent and disturbing way one can use the internet is illustrated in the case of the 13-year old girl Megan Meier who committed suicide; who through her MySpace account, encountered love, loss, and of course, bullying. Lori Drew and her co-conspirators drew up their own MySpace accounts, the former even created a false account and identity by the name of John Evans, a 16-yearl old high school student.

The girl who had, supposedly, an online relationship with John was harassed and humiliated. At one point, they even addressed a message to Megan saying the world would be a better place without her.

The FBI and other authorities are looking into the case but might not have anything to charge Lori Drew and her co-conspirators with except for some penalties. The reason? There aren’t any laws applicable to the said case.

This incident could have been prevented by both parties – the neighbor Lori Drew and Megan’s parents. Both should have known better.

Then again, were there any canvas prints, handbooks or guidebooks on chatting, social networking, cyber-bullies, online predators and so on?

There are online rules I observe in order to attract the right kind of people and deter the ones who are simply up to no good. And if you have children, there are ways to make internet a safer place for them by understanding and knowing certain measures.

1.    Ignore users who PING you just to initiate chatting. This is a rude gesture and should never be done.
2.    Immediately ignore users whose on-screen names are just way beyond dubious. These are the ones with long numbers, random letter combinations, and of course, sexually explicit names.
3.    Understand online language, lingo and abbreviation. If you know what LMAO stands for, then you wouldn’t want your young child to use that expression. Moreover, there are coded messages that seek to evade your monitoring like the simple word POTS – parent over the shoulder.
4.    Report bots. These may not always solicit information from you or your children, but they only seek to do one thing – direct you to a site which is not secure or appropriate for children.
5.    Report spam mail.
6.    Report people who really violate the terms and conditions generally agreed upon when becoming a member of an online community or social networking.
7.    To render your reports more effective, know how to provide proofs or evidence. Know how and what Print Screen can do.
8.    If you experience any form of verbal abuse, harassment, hate mail and so on, it is best to just close your chat window, delete your files, and create a new and different account. You don’t have to put up with any crap from people you don’t know.
 

The Internet has become so powerful that you cannot just avail of online brochure printing services in it but do things that shouldn’t really be an online thing. People seem to like the idea of confessing their sins and sharing even their most intimate secrets through personal blogs.

And it doesn’t stop on blogs. Search the Web and you will be amazed at so many sites that people have been coming up with. There are sites wherein you can confess your sins. There are those that you can fill out a form to be able to email God. And I’m sure that it won’t stop at that.

The Catholic Church says that this will never be a replacement for the real thing. If we really want to be true to our religions, we must go to church personally and consult the priests for spiritual renewal.

But if you will find time to look at those confessions, some will really intrigue you and break your hearts. As human beings, we’re sometimes more comfortable writing our thoughts out than talking to a real person, like the priests in this instance.

I also like writing to God but that’s too personal that I will never post it online for everybody to read. Although people won’t really know who the real person behind the letter, I can’t afford to share such intimate thoughts to others who are just browsing through.

There may be different reasons why people are posting such ideas online. They may want other to learn from their mistakes. And in this busy world, some really just doesn’t have enough time to go personally to church.

With the popularity of sites that cater to such thoughts, we shouldn’t be surprised at what could people come up with next. But once in a while, we must remind ourselves that no matter how busy we are, life doesn’t end on the cyberspace. We must also have a life offline. The world is not only about the Internet.

These days when everything can be done online, we must also take a rest from our technology-filled lives. Life should not end when the PC has been turned off. There’s a bigger world outside the worldwide Web.

Just how does an online digital printing company celebrate the holiday season?

Simple - cater to a growing demand among clients for more individualism in greeting this festive season. Year in and year out you get these usual clichés that come with the holidays - snowmen, striped candy canes, not to mention the jolly fat man who rides in a reindeer-driven sleigh and loves going through chimneys to give children gifts.  No intention to knock the holiday staples here but just how it could be vastly improved if people injected some originality into their seasonal cheer.

No snow?  No problem - ditch Frosty!  Diabetic recipient - there are a hundred and one substitutes for a sugar-laden candy cane.  All that you need to do is inject something that best represents you into your holiday greeting. If you are a doctor, why not have The Fat Guy in olive green scrubs instead of red?  Lifeguards can get away with putting Mr. Claus in red Speedos (never mind if he REALLY needs to work the gut spilling over).

It would greatly help to fly the ethnic flag - show some pride on your roots. How about an African St. Nick?  That cat won't have any problems making his way down soot-filed chimneys.  Chinese? No problem – just ditch the sleigh and let him leap from rooftop to rooftop like Jackie Chan's Drunken Master.  You are but limited by the stretch of your imagination - a gay Santa, St. Patrick's Day leprechauns moonlighting as North Pole elves, even fresh fruits and unsweetened shakes taking place of eggnog and other fattening traditional season fare.

The growing accessibility of graphic software applications to households should bolster the acceptance of truly home-crafted seasonal greetings.  No longer do you sometimes dread going to a stationery shop desperate to look for a card matching your desired recipient only to find it out of stock.

Be resourceful - draw inspiration from what is around you.  Whether you're having a boatload of jolly goodness to share with friends or in such a deep funk as to shame the Grinch himself, there will always be a ready audience willing to share or commiserate with your holiday mood whatever it may be.         

I guess that is what the true celebration of the holiday season is supposed to be – camaraderie amidst individual differences, a true sense of unity not just among friends and family but even with strangers.