QotW9: Get ready to STOMP

With the increment of leading edge technologies, the ways in which people communicate has transformed. Technology has given us a new medium – the Internet – that allows us to communicate in more than one way. Now, we can have one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many communications all via the same medium. With such advancement, citizens are able to contribute to journalism without professional training (“Citizen Journalism”, 2007).

Citizen journalism can also be known as “participatory journalism”. It means that people without professional journalism training can use the tools of modern technology and the global distribution of the Internet to create, augment or fact-check media on their own or in collaboration with others (“Citizen Journalism”, 2007). Blogs are one of the most common tool that people choose to use when exercising citizen journalism.

Just last year, The Straits Times, Singapore Press Holding’s flagship newspaper decided to go beyond its 161-year-old newspaper medium. It decided to engage and interact with its readers through the use of a fully-interactive website known as STOMP (Straits Time Online Mobile Print) (SPH, 2006). Singaporeans are able to post new and interesting findings that they want to share with others through this website.

In order to increase interactivity and easy connection, STOMP allows the public to communicate with them in more than one way. The public can use the mobile to call in, or use short message service (SMS) or multimedia message service (MMS) to share their news. Alternatively, they can send an email or log onto the website to talk to the newspaper. Apart from that, they can also participate in the online forums and chats found within the website. In addition, there are other features such as photo galleries, online polls and even virtual clubs (e.g.: food club and digital club). With the rise of blogs, STOMP also included a “Star Blog” section in the website. Readers are able to interact with their favorite bloggers (includes Dawn Yang and Xiaxue) by commenting on their blogs.

Personally, I found the content rather interesting. It encompasses a wide range of news which included happening events that took place around Singapore, issues that bothered the public, travel places and even lost and found notices. Indeed, with the broad array of topics and features, STOMP does provide its readers with new avenues to express themselves.In my opinion, STOMP can be considered as an ideal form of citizen journalism as it allows citizens to participate and contribute to journalism. Readers are able to join online forums to share and discuss matters with others. It is a great place for people to read up on news or events that happened but not reported by the newspapers. The photos and videos that are attached to the news make it more interesting for the readers. However, I feel that there is a need for more concern when photos and videos are part of the content. Anyone with a moderate amount of skill with Photoshop or other image-­manipulation software can distort reality. Special effects make even videos untrustworthy (Gillmore, 2004). How can one be so sure that the photos and videos are truly authentic? It is not impossible for people to edit or manipulate images and videos. There may be possibilities that the images and videos are scripted. Meaning, what was captured may be done deliberately and not an actual incident. With the availability of image-manipulation software, one can never be too sure about the genuineness of the images. I think more deliberation should be put in when viewing any images or videos. Sources need to be considered and claims need to be verified carefully before reacting towards the news. According to STOMP (2007), they express that they do not monitor, interfere or edit the materials that are posted, and may only remove the materials if someone objects to it. It would be good that they can monitor the materials to a certain extent or at least verify the multimedia objects so as to prevent any form of distortion.

As a whole, STOMP has done quite a good job in exhibiting citizen journalism. The content is entertaining and it certainly does attract Singaporeans. Currently, STOMP may not seem that ideal because it is still relatively new, but it does not mean that it will not become an ideal form of citizen journalism for Singaporeans. Personally, I feel that in time to come, STOMP will get better as it matures.

References:

Gillmor, D. (2004, July). We the Media, Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People. Retrieved March 29, 2007 from http://download.nowis.com/index.cfm?phile=WeTheMedia.html&tipe=text/html
Citizen Journalism. (2007, March 28,) From In: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved March 29, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Citizen_journalism&oldid=118429022
STOMP. (2007). “Terms and Conditions”. March 29, 2007, from http://www.stomp.com.sg/tnc.html

STOMP. (2006). “About Us”. March 29, 2007, from http://www.stomp.com.sg/about/about.html

SPH. (2006, June 14). The Straits Times extends its reach with bold new platform STOMP. Retrieved March 29, 2007, from http://www.sph.com.sg/news/latest/press_060614_001.html

QotW7: Shall we twit?

As the Internet flourish, it’s capability of allowing many-to-many communications also increases. The WELL, which was built upon the idea of a new kind of community whereby members are able to meet in everyday space, as real communities always have, while inhabiting a new environment, is where the online community movement was born (The WELL, 2001). What started of as the brain child of visionary software engineer, Larry Brilliant, and originator of The Whole Earth Catalog, Stewart Brand, ended up being the start off point for many other online communities. Today, communities of various sizes and sorts are present on the Internet.

According to Fernback and Thompson (1995), the concept of community commonly refers to a set of social relationships that operate within specified boundaries or locale. An online community consists of a group of people that may or may not primarily or initially communicate or interact via the Internet (“Virtual communities”, 2007). Apart from that, different virtual communities have different levels of interaction and participation among their members. According to a survey done by Horrigan (2001), it was found that almost 90 million Americans have participated in online communities. This shows that online communities have found its way into our lives.

By being a member of an online community, it allows one to have the ability to interact with other like-minded individuals across the globe. For instance, at petlovers.com, pets enthusiasts are able to share their information with one another. Besides that, they are also able to post and share their pet’s photos with fellow members. With the use of online communities, it is no longer impossible or difficult to ask distant acquaintances and strangers for advice and information (Wellman & Gulia, 1996).

As part of this week’s blog requirement, the class was told to join and explore Twitter. And ultimately, decide if Twitter can be considered as an online community or not. As told, I signed up for it and started setting up my profile. Friends are then being invited to join this site or added in to build up the social network. From there, members are able to update their friends with what they are doing as well as what are their thoughts. This service is almost instant. Other than that, like Friendster, Twitter allows members to personalize the background of their homepage.

After being part of Twitter for two days, I personally believe that it can be considered as an online community. The basic fact that it allows me to interact with fellow members online and form bonds with them, shows that it is an online community. In addition, it also allows users to send messages via phone or instant messaging. (“Twitter”, 2007) Users are then given the option of receiving messages in more than one way. Due to Twitter’s ability of letting one post their thought online for their friends to view and even reply to, it sort of resembles a blog. Probably, the only differences between the two is that blogs has no limitation of characters while Twitter has a 140 character limitation for each entry.

When compared to huge online communities such as MySpace and Friendster, Twitter may seem small due to its limited features, but this does not mean that it cannot be considered as an online community. In fact, Twitter’s capability for immediate response makes it stand out from other online communities. In my opinion, I feel that in time to come, Twitter will evolve into an even better online community with more features.

References:

Fernback, J, & Thompson, B (1995). Virtual Communities:Abort, Retry, Failure?. Retrieved March 15, 2007, from http://www.rheingold.com/texts/techpolitix/VCcivil.html

Wellman, B, & Gulia, M (1996, April). Net Surfers Don't Ride Alone:Virtual Communities as Communities. Retrieved March 15, 2007, from http://www.acm.org/%7Eccp/references/wellman/wellman.html

Virtual Community. (2007, March 15). In: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved March 15, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Virtual_community&oldid=115123017

Twitter. (2007, March 14). In: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved March 15, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Twitter&oldid=115023086

WELL. (2007, February 15). In: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved March 15, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WELL&oldid=108258486

The WELL. (2001). “Learn About The WELL”. Retrieved March 15, 2007, from http://www.well.com/aboutwell.html

Horrigan, J. B. (2001, October 31). Online Communities: Networks that nurture long-distance relationships and local ties. Retrieved March 15, 2007, from http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Communities_Report.pdf

QotW6: Space of my own

In this advance technological age, it is not surprising that privacy is lost. The technologies that man creates make it so easy to invade into people’s privacy. Often we find ourselves letting out personal information to others unknowingly. Filling up the “About Me” profile page in online social network sites, filling up survey forms or even lucky draw coupons are ways in which we disclose our personal information unintentionally.

Privacy is often seen as the ability of one to keep their lives and personal affairs out of public view, or to control the flow of information about themselves. (“Privacy,” 2007) As for me, I see privacy as a personal privilege. The privilege to have secrets and to be left undisturbed by others. However, it is hard to maintain the rights of this privilege in this modern era. Technologies make it difficult to keep things private. The Internet has vastly increased the opportunities for individuals to subject themselves to the demands of the personality market, resulting in ever increasing confusion and anxiety about how much of ourselves to reveal to strangers. (Rosen, 2004)

How then are we suppose to know where is the limit for us to stop revealing personal or important information of ourselves. I guess different people would possess different degrees of self-revelation. And within the degree, each would have a set of “rules” to determine how much to reveal. I too have a set of “rules” which I follow online as well as offline. One of the forum that I participate in would be"Cozycot". In there, I would abide according to the et of "rules" that I came up with to guide me on how to protect my own privacy. One of the rules would be, when possible, use pseudonym instead of real name. For instance, I refrain from using my real name when I participate in the forums that I am a member of. As stated, “it is now commonplace on a website to reveal hobbies, favourite foods and music, and pictures of children” (Rosen, 2004). I would remind myself not to reveal too much personal information when I communicate with other members of the forums. Sometimes, others would first provide information about themselves in hope that you too, would provide similar information. In instances whereby this happens, one should be wary and not be too quick in responding. It is worth the effort to be extra careful when one’s privacy is in stake.

Other than that, I avoid providing additional informal about myself. In cases whereby it is optional to reveal information about myself, I will choose not to provide any information. In addition, basic acts such as changing passwords regularly, avoiding revealing personal information to third parties and thinking before revealing any information would help in protecting one’s privacy.

With constant technological innovation, protecting one’s privacy lies in our own hands. Take the recent case of the “Bus Sex Videotaping” that cased quite a stir for example. As quoted from the news article “The couple's indecent romp was caught on video by a fellow commuter, who sent the mobile phone footage to Stomp, The Straits Times' interactive portal for readers STOMP” (Sim, 2007). In the news article, it raised the question of who should be at fault – the couple that got carried away or the commuter that got interested and recorded the incident down. Did the commuter invaded into the couple’s privacy or did the couple invaded into fellow bus riders’s privacy? The news article did gave some insights on what members of the public think. In my opinion, I guess both parties are at fault. Both invaded into each other’s privacy. As the saying says “it takes two to tango”. Clearly, if the couple managed to practise more self-control and not invade into the commuter’s privacy, then the fellow commuter would not have the chance to invade into their privacy as well. In short, if we do not want others to invade into our privacy, we too should not invade into theirs. In a way, privacy can be seen as something that goes hand-in-hand with respect. It is something that we provide others as a form of respect.

In general, privacy is hard to be defined. What privacy is to me might not be what it is to you. Privacy is an exclusive content. One person privacy is another person’s suppression of free speech and another person’s attack on free enterprise and marketing. (Sullivan, 2006) It is our own to decide how we want to protect our own privacy. Protecting privacy can be taught. But ultimately, the decision to learn and want to protect privacy lies on the individual. Everyone has secrets. And if we do not want others to know about them, we need to learn how to do so.

References:

Privacy. (2007, March 6). In: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved March 9, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Privacy&oldid=113024808

Rosen, J. (2004, July 19). The Naked Crowd. Retrieved March 9, 2007, from http://www.spiked-online.com/Printable/0000000CA5FF.htm

Sullivan, B. (2006, October 17). Privacy Lost: Does Anybody Care? Retrieved March 9, 2007, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15221095/print/1/displaymode/1098/

Sim, M. (2007, January 14). Bus sex videotaping. AsiaOne Digital. Retrieved March 9, 2007, from http://digital.asiaone.com.sg/news/20070114_003.html