Week 2 – Discussion 1

3434 unread replies.3434 replies.

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 1 (Tuesday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses.

 Week 2 Current Events Forum [WLOs: 1, 2, 3, 4] [CLOs: 1, 2, 5]

This current events forum is an opportunity to explore the current and constantly evolving world of technology with your online community of learners. Each week you will research, summarize, and 

link to an article (Links to an external site.)

 or 

embed a videoLinks to an external site.

 resource that highlights your current event for the week. Think about the topic in terms of your own personal, academic, and professional life.

This week’s current event is: Social Media in the News

Your initial post is due no later than Day 1, and it must be a minimum of 150 words. You will not be able to see the posts of your peers until you have posted in this forum. Respond to at least two other classmates by Day 7. Each response should be a minimum of 50 words.

This is a student engagement activity that encourages you to freely interact with your classmates without the intervention of the instructor.

By Kathy Sole, Ashford University

Learning Objectives

After reading this module, you should be able to

Explain what is required to be considered a good digital citizen.

Module 4
Your Online Social Life

Caia Images/Caia Images/SuperStock

(http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Sole.26
05.16.2/sections/mod04intro#mod04intro)

Introduction

(http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Sole.26
05.16.2/sections/mod4.1#mod4.1)

4.1 Digital Citizen-
ship and Etiquette

Awareness

(http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Sole.26
05.16.2/sections/mod4.2#mod4.2)

4.2 Communicating
Through Blogs

(http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Sole.26
05.16.2/sections/mod4.3#mod4.3)

4.3 Communicating
Through Social

Media

(http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Sole.26
05.16.2/sections/mod4.4#mod4.4)

4.4 Sharing Per-
sonal Information

on the Internet
(http://content.thuzelearning.com/books/Sole.26
05.16.2/sections/mod04summary#mod04summar

y)

Summary &
Resources

Outline the potential consequences of plagiarism at Ashford University and state how you can
avoid it in your assignments and online discussions.
Describe how blogs can be used to enhance your academic, professional, and personal life, and
identify at least two precautions you can take to ensure that your blog comments are kept
private.
Describe how social media can be used to enhance your academic, professional, and personal
life, and identify at least two precautions you can take to ensure that your social media
comments are kept private.
Explain some of the ways people inadvertently share more information online than they should.

Lesia_G/iStock/Thinkstock

Being part of a digital community means
knowing and following the rules of
etiquette and good citizenship.

Introduction: What Are Your Responsibilities Online?

The digital world hosts a seemingly infinite number of possibilities and opportunities. People from all
over the world go online to seek information, take classes, conduct business, shop, socialize, and even
inspire social change. When you use a computer, smartphone, tablet, or other online device, you
become a member of this digital community.

As in any community, citizens have both rights and
responsibilities. Our society permits us to have
freedom of speech, assemble with other people, and
pursue activities that make us happy. However, with
these rights come responsibilities to obey the law,
respect our neighbors, refrain from littering, and
participate in community activities such as
Neighborhood Watch or cleanup days to keep our
community safe and pleasant. Good community
citizens accept their responsibility to help keep the
community safe and beneficial for all its members.

Like most societies, the digital community has certain
rules of etiquette and good citizenship. The
information in the following sections outlines your
rights and responsibilities as you navigate the online
world and gives you the knowledge and skills to
participate responsibly in this online society.

In the 1960s Canadian theorist Marshall McLuhan recognized that technology and media allowed
people to share ideas and interests in ways that were previously unknown. McLuhan coined the term
global village to describe how we are connected with others through technology. McLuhan, of course,
wrote long before the Internet had been invented, but he recognized the fact that when we engage with
other people, no matter the context, we have shared rights and responsibilities. A digital citizen can be
defined as a person who uses digital resources to engage in society (Mossberger, Tolbert, & McNeal,
2008).

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has developed standards for identifying a
good digital student–citizen. The society defines digital citizenship among students in the following way:
“Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and
ethical behavior” (ISTE, 2007, p. 2). Good digital student–citizens, in the ISTE’s (2007) view, conform to
the following four actions:

1. Advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.
2. Exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and

productivity.
3. Demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning.
4. Exhibit leadership for digital citizenship. (p. 2)

What type of digital citizen are you? Do you meet the criteria listed? In what areas could you improve
to be a better digital citizen?

A Good Digital Citizen Understands and Avoids

Plagiarism

Digital citizenship translates to your online college classroom in that good digital student–citizens
practice academic integrity. They conform to the academic integrity policies and student community
standards in the university catalog available on the Student Portal home page. They avoid plagiarism,
which occurs when a writer uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (non-common-
knowledge) material without acknowledging its source (Council of Writing Program Administrators,

4.1 Digital Citizenship and Etiquette Awareness

Danae Munoz/Ikon Images/SuperStock

Plagiarism is a serious offense
that includes using someone
else’s language, ideas, or other
original material without
acknowledging the source.

2003). They use critical thinking to formulate responses to assignments and to develop academic
papers.

Plagiarism is a serious offense. When you represent another’s
work as your own or closely copy the language or arrangement
of a document that is not yours, you are stealing other people’s
work. Most organizations and academic institutions, including
Ashford University, have strict policies prohibiting plagiarism.
Faculty members are required to report suspected plagiarism,
and a formal investigation is conducted. If you are found guilty,
the penalties are severe and may result in a failing grade on the
assignment, a failing grade for the class, suspension from the
university, or expulsion. Such consequences are a stain on your
academic record and a blemish on your integrity and your
reputation. You must be extremely careful to give other people
credit when you use their ideas, because forgetting to give credit
to others is not a valid excuse. Some examples of actions that
would be considered plagiarism are as follows:

Submitting a paper written by someone other than
yourself, such as a friend, family member, or a previous
student.
Submitting a paper written by you for another class,
unless you have permission from your instructor and
clearly indicate that the paper was submitted previously
for another purpose. Ashford University’s policy on
recycling your assignments can be found in the “Student
Responsibilities and Policies” link in the classroom.
Submitting a paper you found online or purchased on the
Internet.
Copying partial or complete sentences or paragraphs
from the work of others without giving them credit.
Changing only a few words from another person’s work
and then passing it off as your own idea.
Forgetting to include the source of other people’s ideas
you used in your paper.

It is important to refrain from plagiarism under any circumstance, whether academic, professional, or
personal. This includes when you are writing a paper for class, making a comment in a discussion
forum, doing a presentation, or engaging in social media. It is never appropriate to present someone
else’s ideas as your own.

A Good Digital Citizen Respects Copyright Laws

To be a good digital citizen in your Ashford University classes, you will be required to understand and
respect copyright laws and make sure you do not violate them by using others’ materials either
inappropriately or without written permission. The following resource provides a brief overview of
these laws and how to observe them: http://www.whoishostingthis.com/resources/student-copyright
(http://www.whoishostingthis.com/resources/student-copyright) .

A Good Digital Citizen Practices Online Etiquette

Iain Masterton/age fotostock/SuperStock

With so many new forums for social
networking, it’s important to learn the
rules for online etiquette.

In any society, having good manners and being polite
are important to ensure that people respect one
another and treat others appropriately. As a good
digital citizen, you must also practice good manners.
Over the past few years, a system of online etiquette
has evolved about what is considered polite and
professional behavior when using digital resources.

In the physical world, etiquette includes unwritten
rules of good behavior such as holding the door open
for the person entering a building behind you, not
shouting or being rude in public, and showing respect
for your colleagues. Online, similar rules are
important to maintain a positive shared environment.
Digital citizens are careful not only about what they
say online, but how they say it. One of the biggest
problems with online communication is interpreting
the writer’s tone. What we think is short, sweet, and to the point, other people might interpret as rude,
abrupt, or condescending. Always reread what you write before posting online to reduce the likelihood
that what you have written will be misunderstood.

The following is a brief list of ground rules for communicating in any online environment. In the
remainder of the module, we will look more closely at digital citizenship and etiquette in the classroom,
at work, and on social media.

Always avoid offensive language, and reread what you write so it is unlikely to be interpreted as
offensive.
Never share personal information or material about other people.
Never distribute pornographic or slanderous material.
Don’t engage in flaming, a term that describes an increasingly intense and vicious debate. If it
appears that a discussion is headed in this direction, simply stop.
Remember the Golden Rule: Treat people the way you would like to be treated.

Have you ever displayed negative etiquette online? What steps can you take to improve in this area?
Are there any tips on etiquette you would add to this list?

In addition to avoiding plagiarism and displaying appropriate etiquette, a good digital citizen protects
the online community by making sure to guard against transmitting computer viruses and other threats
by installing antivirus and security software on his or her computer. We will discuss this topic in more
detail in Module 6. A good digital citizen also exhibits a positive attitude toward the use of technology,
supports others in the community, takes personal responsibility for lifelong learning, and acts as a role
model for other students.

These rules are easy to learn and will quickly become second nature. This course is designed to make
your online experiences fun, useful, and as positive as possible.

Plagiarism

The ability to collaborate with others on the web is often called collective intelligence, and it has
created opportunities and forums for people to instantly share information with others around the
world—via online communities—that were previously impossible. This collective intelligence is open to
anyone who logs in or creates an account on the site. This means, however, that nothing you write is
private. As one observer wrote:

In the late 1990’s, the head of a large Internet computer company made the statement, “Privacy
is dead, get over it.” There’s some truth to that statement, that in order to ensure one’s privacy,
one should never make a single public utterance or statement. For absolute privacy, say
nothing online. However, that is not a realistic strategy in this day and age. The Internet is the
great communicator vehicle, and it will not be silenced simply because of privacy issues.
(Grohol, 2005, para. 11)

Simply said, if you want privacy, don’t use the web. Most would agree, however, that the web is a
wonderful tool for learning, sharing, and interacting with others. You must be aware that everything
you say and share on the web is public information. This is especially true when you post to blogs and
social media sites, which we will discuss in this section and in Section 4.3. Your college class
assignments will rarely require you to post information on a blog or on social media. However, using
these types of websites can be an excellent way to connect with your classmates and share information
with them outside of class. Some social media sites, such as LinkedIn, are also great ways to connect
with people in professional careers you may plan to pursue.

Do you remember Chantal from Module 1? She participates in several blogs and social media websites.
She follows the blogs of people in the marketing industry, where she hopes to work after she graduates.
She also uses LinkedIn to connect with people in the marketing field and is hoping to apply for an
internship through someone she met on the site. Chantal uses Facebook to keep in touch with her
friends and connects with several classmates she met in her college courses through Ashford Café.
These classmates are single moms, like herself, and they understand the difficulties of attending school
while caring for children, so they have created a type of online support system for themselves. Let’s
look at some specifics regarding blogs.

4.2 Communicating Through Blogs

g-stockstudio/iStock/Thinkstock

Blogs allow people to publish photos and
chronicle trips or life events and are
accessible to billions of people.

Blog is a word created using the b from the word web
and the term log, and refers to a discussion or
informational website where you can usually post
comments or questions and responses to the
comments or questions of others on various topics.
The first blog made its debut around the year 2000,
and by the end of 2011, a national survey firm
reported that 181 million blogs could be found on the
web. These numbers included 6.7 million people who
publish their blogs as websites, altogether known as
the blogosphere, and another 12 million people who
wrote their blogs on social networks (Nielson
Company, 2012).

Blogs are a form of social networking, where you can
connect with people who have interests similar to
your own or exchange information and learn from
others. WordPress, Blogger, Quora, and Tumblr are

four popular blog sites. These blogs often have a combination of serious and more trivial topics. Tumblr
(2016), for example, explains the content of its website this way: “Stories, photos, GIFs, TV shows, links,
quips, dumb jokes, smart jokes, Spotify tracks, mp3s, videos, fashion, art, deep stuff. Tumblr is 244
million different blogs, filled with literally whatever” (para. 2).

Some personal blogs are like a diary; people use them to chronicle a trip they are taking or to update
people about family events. Blogs are also used by political candidates and state and local governments
to reach out to constituents and gather opinions on important issues. Clubs, businesses, and other
organizations use them, as well, to report on their activities or share information they believe is
important to those who subscribe to the blog and follow it regularly.

The terms and conditions of many blogs require people to use their own names, which can open you up
to personal safety risks if others do not agree with your opinions. Other blogs allow users to remain
anonymous, which can also be dangerous because some people are willing to say things anonymously
that they would not say if their name was attached to the comment. A good rule to follow for posting
comments on any type of blog is not to say something online that you would not say if you were talking
with someone face-to-face.

Decades ago, when many people kept diaries, they poured their deepest thoughts and desires onto the
pages, but the diary had very secure privacy settings. The book had a key lock, there was only one copy,
and the copy was usually hidden somewhere, away from prying eyes. Of course, web blogging is
entirely different, since it is accessible to billions of people.

Thus, the first thing to remember is that what you write will likely be accessible by someone forever.
This means that something you might casually compose and post at a younger age might resurface
when you are looking for a job later in life. Employers often scour the web to learn about you as a
person. To make sure they do not find anything unsavory about you, keep your posts clean and
appropriate.

Second, even if you use a pseudonym for your blog, it does not mean you are completely protected or
private. If the pseudonym is ever connected to your real name in any online activity, it becomes quite
easy to match your online posts together. Similarly, any photographs of you with a pseudonym can be
associated with photographs with your real name, because photographic face recognition software is
advancing very quickly and may soon replace a password as the way you log in to a computer.

Third, by providing personal information about yourself in a post, you may inadvertently make
yourself a target. For example, let’s say your friend writes a post about his surprise 30th birthday bash
last Saturday. He posts pictures of the gorgeous decorations his friends and family put on the outside of
his house, as well as the new car he bought for himself. He has now publicly announced his birth date,
provided information about what his neighborhood looks like, and given out his license plate number,
all of which may put him at serious risk for both identity theft and robbery. Let’s hope his next post isn’t
about an upcoming vacation, because then everyone will know when he won’t be home to safeguard
his house.

Fourth, there are privacy controls you can use while blogging. For example, you can set your blog to
remain private and allow only people you know to read it (such as family or classmates). However,
keep in mind that if any of these accounts are compromised and a password is hacked, all of your posts
could suddenly become public.

Just because you have to be aware of privacy issues does not mean you cannot have fun and make
productive use of the web to connect with other people. One way to do this is through social media,
which is discussed in Section 4.3.

Think for a moment about the people in your life. They typically fall into two groups. The first are your
friends and family, with whom you share your innermost secrets, dreams, desires, and aspirations. The
second group of people you associate with are your colleagues and acquaintances at work. Of course,
many of them might become friends, too, but in general, you share different aspects of your life with
them. For most of us, these two main groups define most of our daily interactions. Today, through social
media, we can stay connected with these two primary groups. Just as in face-to-face conversations,
what we choose to share with these two groups may be very different, so you will want to ensure that
what you share on social media is appropriate for each audience.

Dozens of social media or social networking sites can be found on the web for connecting with friends
and family. Some of the most popular sites are Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Snapchat.
For expanding your business contacts, LinkedIn has become the most popular networking site. The
social media sites used most often by adults from 2012 to 2014 are shown in Figure 4.1.

Figure 4.1: Social media sites, 2012–2014

Many people use a variety of social networking sites to stay connected with friends,
family, former classmates, and colleagues.

4.3 Communicating Through Social Media

From “Social Media Update 2014,” by M. Duggan, N. B. Ellison, C. Lampe, and A. Lenhart, 2015
(http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/09/social-media-update-2014
(http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/09/social-media-update-2014) ). Copyright Pew Research Center. Reprinted
with permission. More recent data can be found at http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/social-me-
dia (http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/social-media)

Social media websites generate massive volumes of data, including text, photos, and videos. Studies
show that more than 300 million photos are uploaded daily to Facebook, 72 hours of video are uploaded
to YouTube every minute, and Twitter receives almost 400 million tweets per day (Tsukayama, 2013).
The International Data Corporation estimated that in 2011 the equivalent of 200 billion 60-minute high-
definition movies were created—a number that would take one person 47 million years to watch (as
cited in Heisterberg & Verma, 2014).

Social media is a wonderful way to stay in touch with your fellow students as you continue your degree
program. You won’t always be in the same classes with people you meet now, and you may want to stay
connected, grow your friendships, and help each other in the future. Social media can also facilitate
social learning. Some theorists believe that learning takes place in a social context, and the influence
of our peers is an important form of learning. Like all forms of communication, however, it is
important to be respectful of others on social media.

To get a general idea of how these collaborative sites operate and how they and other social networking
sites can affect your privacy, let’s look at three examples: Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Twitter

Twitter is an alternative to posting long entries on a blog and allows you to post short statements about
what you are doing or thinking at any given time of the day. You have a maximum of 280 characters for
each post, which is called a tweet. Visit http://www.twitter.com (http://www.twitter.com) to explore the
social media platform.

Given how short they are, who would care about these
tiny tweets? You may be surprised. In early 2012

Steven Bernard/age fotostock/SuperStock

As a registered Twitter user, you can send
280-character tweets to Ashford University
classmates, celebrities, or any of the social
media site’s millions of users.

Twitter was generating excitement over who would
become its 500 millionth user. Twitter can be used to
share interesting places you found on the web, ideas
you have, a life event (someone tweeted at the altar as
he was about to kiss his bride), a frustration, or a
question. Registered users can read and post tweets,
but unregistered users can only read them.

But Twitter is for more than just sharing personal
details. Twitter can help you connect specifically to
people who most interest you. You can follow other
people’s posts, create and participate in polls, and
track celebrity posts. (Singer Katy Perry was among
the first to have 100 million followers on Twitter.) You
might use Twitter as a way to get to know your
Ashford University classmates better outside of class.
Through the Ashford Café, many students establish
relationships and use Twitter to keep in contact
throughout their college programs.

Twitter also has a practical benefit for businesses to promote their products, for theologians to discuss
faith, and for scientists to announce their latest discoveries. Twitter has been used to organize
gatherings, sometimes called flash mobs or tweetups. If you wish, you can have conversations about
specific subjects using “hashtags.” A hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by a pound sign (#) and is
used to identify, describe, and organize messages on a certain topic. You can add hashtags to your own
tweets or click on hashtags in others’ tweets to see all the tweets on that topic. For example, if you
wanted to make a comment about the Super Bowl, you might include #SuperBowl in your tweet. If you
wanted to see what other people are saying about the Super Bowl, you might click on #SuperBowl in
someone else’s tweet (or in Twitter’s list of trending topics) or search for #SuperBowl using the search
bar. Some have used Twitter to encourage political engagement and social activism: Hashtags such as
#BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo, and #MAGA (Make America Great Again) have been used to facilitate
discussion, diatribes, and debate.

What you may not know about Twitter is that the site automatically includes location data when the
Twitter setting geotagging is enabled, which is a feature that allows a website to identify information
about your location. In 2013 a University of Southern California graduate student built an application
that analyzed more than 15 million tweets over a 1-week period. The study revealed that 20% of tweets
revealed the users’ locations, and the information was publicly available. The researchers found that
even when users chose to disable this setting, many revealed their location by name-dropping
something such as a restaurant or through metadata in photos (Gates, 2013). Metadata might be
defined as “data about other data.” For example, metadata might be information about a picture such
as who took the photograph, where it was taken, a street sign, or other identifiable information in the
photo itself. Corporations and intelligence groups use this information to create user or target profiles.

Fortunately, these researchers also developed a tool to give users the ability to review their own Twitter
accounts, view their own risk, and manage it (see Strategies for Success: Keeping Your Location Private
on Twitter). If the tweets have any location data in them, they will show up as points on a zoomable
Google map, and users can retrieve information about where they were when they revealed their
location. You can view these combined bits of location information, called your geosocial footprint, to
learn about your past sharing habits and privacy. If you have a Twitter account, you can use this free
tool at http://geosocialfootprint.com (http://geosocialfootprint.com) .

Strategies for Success: Keeping Your Location Private on Twitter

To avoid giving up too much information, an article in the Huffington Post, an online news
aggregator and blog, suggests the following:

Check your Twitter account security and privacy setting to see if you have checked “Add a
location to my Tweets.” If you have, uncheck that box and save changes or delete all
location information on your account.
On your Twitter settings page, view other applications you may have authorized to access
your Twitter account, such as Foursquare, a social network website that helps users find
places to connect with other people. You can revoke the authorization for individual apps,
if you wish.
Be careful when posting photos you take with your smartphone. GPS coordinates are
usually embedded in the photo metadata, unless you disable geotagging on your camera.
Be careful about tweeting an image that identifies you at a specific location (Gates, 2013).

Reflection Questions

1. What are some of the pros and cons of having GPS coordinates enabled on your camera?
2. What types of problems have you or someone you know had with unauthorized access to

your social media accounts?
3. What are some advantages of geotagging?

Facebook

If you have not used Facebook, it can be difficult to understand. Using Facebook is not like transforming
a paper diary into digital text and putting it on the web, as with a blog. Instead, it is an entirely new
communication environment. Websites such as Friendster and Myspace originally defined this genre of
web applications. Friendster no longer exists, and Facebook has now trampled Myspace to become the
leading social networking site (Chaffey, 2016).

So, what is Facebook, exactly? Facebook (which can be found at http://www.facebook.com
(http://www.facebook.com) ) originated in 2004. This free web application allows you to find people you
know and request to add them as friends (“friend” them), allowing you to communicate and share
information with each other. Each user gets a personal profile and “timeline,” where she or he can post
public messages—called status updates—and share photos, videos, and web links. You can also post
public messages on a friend’s timeline, comment and “react” to posts using emojis, and “tag” your
friends in posts, which lets them know you’re posting about them. Your customizable news feed will
highlight your friends’ activities for you, as well as upcoming events and other information.

But Facebook’s features do not end there. You can use
Facebook to live chat, send private messages, organize
events, create or join groups, live stream yourself or
an event, follow pages that interest you, and blog.
Regardless, it is important to remember that almost
everything you do on Facebook is visible. If, on
Facebook, you complain about your coworkers to your
friends or disclose family secrets to your coworkers,
everyone in your network can read it. Bad behavior on
Facebook can have real-world consequences. For
example, there have been cases of colleges rejecting a

Voisin/Phanie/SuperStock

Facebook is one of the leading social
networking sites; thus, knowing what is
appropriate to share and how to maintain a
sense of privacy is important.

Bloomberg/Contributor/Getty Images

LinkedIn is a great tool for connecting with
other professionals, applying for jobs, or
posting a job application through your
business profile.

student’s application based on inappropriate postings
on Facebook. Use your privacy settings to adjust what
shows up on your timeline and who can see posts that
you’re tagged in. Facebook also allows you to select
your audience when you make a post—is your post for
the broader public, only your Facebook friends, or
only a few specific friends? Even so, as a general rule,
it is good to remember that if you post something on
Facebook, there are no secrets.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn, a business-oriented social networking
website, has become the most popular networking site
for expanding business contacts. In 2017 the website
hit 500 million users, who hail from more than 200
countries (Darrow, 2017).

On LinkedIn, users create profiles and make
connections with one another, which often represent
real-world pro fessional relationships. They then invite
people to join their network and introduce people in
their network to one another to find jobs and arrange
business opportunities. Employers also use LinkedIn to
post job listings and find employees. Potential
employees can use LinkedIn to apply for these jobs,
and employers can review applicants’ profiles much
like they would read a résumé. We will discuss how
you can use LinkedIn as an employment tool in
Module 8.

As mentioned earlier, you can sometimes take personal actions online without fully realizing the
consequences of these actions. Once you know these risks, however, you can take steps to protect
yourself. Let’s take a look at common ways many people often disclose more personal information than
they should.

It may surprise you to learn that people you have never met may know where you live and how long
you have lived there. They may also know your past residences, your phone number, your age and
income, the number of children you have, their names and those of other relatives, the products you
buy, the magazines you read, your political views, your hobbies, and the movies and games you enjoy.

Most of the people and companies who gather this information about you do not use it for fraudulent
purposes. They generally use it to create advertisements or special offers for products and services you
might like. They may also be political pollsters or campaign workers who use the information to solicit
your support for their candidate, or they may be charitable organizations that want you to contribute to
a cause you care about or supported in the past. However, they often entice you to disclose personal
information by tying that personal information to the possibility of winning a prize or helping others by
completing surveys. They may also play on your fear of not being able to return a product or obtain
service if you do not register a product.

Before you participate in a sweepstakes, survey, “free
gift,” or trial offer, make sure you know that the
company sponsoring the sweepstakes is reputable. Do
not respond to an e-mail message or click a link in the
message unless you are sure the message is legitimate.
If possible, go directly to the organization’s website to
participate, rather than responding through an e-mail
message or link. Also, read the terms and conditions of
the sweepstakes or survey to determine what the
company will do with the information it collects.

4.4 Sharing Personal Information on the Internet

Chairboy/iStock/Thinkstock

Be careful when listing your address, phone
number, or other personal information on
sweepstakes or contest forms. This
information could potentially be shared
with third parties.

Similarly, when you purchase products and the
manufacturer asks you to register your product, either
online or by mailing a registration card, determine if
registration is necessary. To do so, consider the
following three questions:

1. Is this information required for you to be
protected by the product warranty? If not, the company may want the information to inform
you of product updates or for marketing purposes. Decide if those are important enough
reasons for you to register.

2. Is the information the company requests reasonable and related to the product you purchased?
Look at the type of information you have been requested to provide and decide if you would be
willing to share this information with family or close friends.

3. Can the information you provide be shared with third parties? Read the terms and conditions
instead of just automatically clicking “I accept.” Make sure you fully understand what you are
agreeing to. If the information will be shared with others, decide if you are willing for it to
become public knowledge.

Sometimes the information we voluntarily provide online may actually be helpful to us, such as when a
company learns that we subscribe to a certain magazine and sends us a promotion to save money when
we renew our subscription. However, remember that electronic data can be permanent. We never
know where this information goes, who will obtain it, how reputable they are, and what they might do
with that information. So think carefully before clicking every sweepstakes, survey, or promotional
offer presented to you.

Note that sweepstakes, surveys, and promotional offers are not the only methods criminals try to steal
our information. Check out A Closer Look: Top Five Social Media Scams for other potential social media
scams you might see.

A Closer Look: Top Five Social Media Scams

Social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook are great ways to connect with family and
friends. However, it is important to be cautious about blindly posting on social media without
considering possible consequences of what you reveal. Ideally, by learning more about ways
your personal information can be used, you will make more informed choices about what to
share about yourself and your family and avoid being the victim of a scam. Recently, the digital
security company Symantec, makers of the Norton brand security programs, published the
following list of the top five social media scams on social media websites (ClubNorton, 2015):

1. Chain messages. You have surely seen posts like this one: “Children in foreign countries
desperately need shelter, water, or school supplies. A rich individual or large company
will donate money if you retweet the post to five of your friends.” Don’t do it! Rich
individuals do not need your support to donate, and reputable charities have their own
fund-raising efforts. Messages such as this one are often gathering names of people to
contact later for other reasons. Break the chain and don’t respond to or pass on these
messages.

2. Requests for money.You are contacted by a friend or a relative who lost his wallet on
vacation and needs money sent immediately. Or, someone “friended” you on Facebook
and now has a problem she hopes you can help her solve with a financial contribution.
Perhaps a message arrives from your bank that you must make an online deposit right
away to cover an overdraft. These are all examples of stories thieves use to solicit money
through social media. Never respond to online requests for money or information about

Trifonenko/iStock/Thinkstock

As the name suggests,
phishing requests try to get
you to take the bait and hand
over personal information.

your credit cards or other financial matters, even from people you know or companies
you think are legitimate. Unscrupulous people can infect a computer with malware
(discussed in Module 6) to steal e-mail addresses or social media contact lists by sending
these messages. Contact the person or company by phone before you send any money
based on a written message. Once you have opened a message like this, run a scan, using
the security software we discuss in Module 6, to make sure your computer is free of any
tracking cookies or other remnants of this type of scam.

3. Hidden charges. You come across a “free” personality
quiz to learn which Hollywood celebrity you most
resemble. You enter some personal information,
including your cell phone number, and your next cell
phone bill shows that you have signed up for a $9.95
monthly subscription to an online service that will send
quizzes to you every month. Trial offers for products
and services and supposedly free games and quizzes
can pressure you to purchase other goods or result in
unsolicited products arriving by mail that you did not
know you ordered. Read all the terms and conditions
carefully before you enter any personal information for
what seems to be a free or inexpensive offer on any
website.

4. Phishing requests. “You have to see these photos of you I
found on social media!” Many of us would be tempted
to click on the link in that message, which takes you to
what looks like your Facebook or Twitter log-in page.
There you enter your log-in ID and password, and a cybercriminal now has control of
your account. This type of scheme is known as phishing (pronounced “fishing”). Don’t fall
for it. Make sure you have installed Internet security software on your computer that
defends against this type of attempt to gain your personal information. We discuss such
software later in Module 6.

5. Hidden URLs. People would rather copy and paste a short URL than a long one, and some
social media sites such as Twitter limit the number of characters in links you post in
messages on the site. For these reasons, online URL shortening services are popular today.
These services allow you to input a long URL and then convert it to a much shorter one.
For example, the URL to find San Diego, California, on Google Maps is http://www.google.
com/maps/place/San+Diego,+CA/@32.7421459,-117.1435718,12z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x80
d9530fad921e4b:0x0d3a21fdfd15df79
(http://www.google.com/maps/place/San+Diego,+CA/@32.7421459,-117.1435718,12z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s
0x80d9530fad921e4b:0x0d3a21fdfd15df79) . Using one of these services, the URL can be
shortened to http://bit.ly/1KHhoDZ (http://bit.ly/1KHhoDZ) .

In this example, the shortened URL eliminates all the information that helps you identify the site.
For this reason, shortened URLs can be used by scammers to redirect you to an unsafe website.
You can recognize shortened or hidden URLs by the name of the shorter service (bit.ly in the
previous example) or by the seemingly random mix of letters and numbers at the end. Be careful
of clicking on these URLs, unless you trust the sender. Twitter users post these links frequently.
Learn to recognize the parts of a URL shown earlier in this module and be aware that you will
not know the actual destination of a shortened URL.

In Module 6, we will discuss the importance of installing Internet security software on your
computer to guard against accidentally installing malware on your computer if you click on a
malicious shortened URL.

Reflection Questions

1. Have you encountered any of these online scams? How did you react?
2. After reading about common social media scams, will you change any of your online

behaviors? If so, which ones?

Summary & Resources

Module Summary
By joining the vast global community of Internet users, you become a digital citizen. As with any
community, digital citizens have both rights and responsibilities. These include the following:

Advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.
Exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and
productivity.
Demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning.
Exhibit leadership for digital citizenship. (ISTE, 2007, p. 2)

As a digital citizen, you also respect copyright laws and refrain from practicing plagiarism. Finally, you
employ online etiquette by being polite, professional, and considerate of others when using digital
resources.

While the web is a wonderful tool for learning, sharing, and interacting with others, nearly everything
you write online is public. This is especially true when you are expressing yourself in a blog or on social
media, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. It is important to familiarize yourself with
the privacy settings in each platform you intend to use, understand who will be able to read your posts,
and use online etiquette when sharing your ideas and opinions.

Having an online social life also means taking responsibility for the information you share and
ensuring that it isn’t used against you. By understanding the risks of providing personal information
through sweepstakes, surveys, free offers, and product registrations, you can avoid being a victim of
identity theft or computer viruses.

Critical-Thinking Questions
1. What are your responsibilities as a digital citizen?
2. What are the consequences of committing plagiarism, and how can you avoid it?
3. How is a blog different from a personal journal or diary?
4. What are some of the positive aspects of using social media?
5. How can you ensure that your professors or future employers won’t discover anything

damaging about you online?
6. Describe a situation in which you or someone you know was a victim of an online scam or had a

problem due to something he or she posted on social media.

Key Terms
Click on each key term to see the definition.

blog
An online journal or personal writing platform.

blogosphere
The worldwide community of bloggers.

collective intelligence
The ability to collaborate with others on the web.

digital citizen
A person who participates productively, safely, and responsibly in today’s technological society.

flaming
An increasingly intense and vicious online debate.

flash mobs
Similar to tweetups, gatherings of people organized through social media.

geosocial footprint
The location information revealed by users through social media.

geotagging
A feature that allows a website to identify information about your location.

hashtag
On social media, a word or phrase preceded by a pound sign (#) and is used to identify, describe, and
organize messages on a certain topic.

global village
The shared human connection through technology.

metadata
Big-picture data that is compiled from many smaller data points; often used by corporations and
intelligence groups to create user or target profiles.

online etiquette
Polite and professional behavior that is appropriate when you use digital resources.

phishing
An attempt to obtain sensitive information from another computer user, often for malicious or
fraudulent purposes such as identity theft, by masquerading as a trustworthy source.

plagiarism
The use of someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (non-common-knowledge) material
without acknowledging its source.

recycling
The act of submitting a paper written by you for another Ashford University class. This is not
condoned unless you have permission from your instructor and clearly indicate that the paper was
submitted previously for another purpose. The university’s policy on recycling is detailed in the
“Student Responsibilities and Policies” link in the classroom.

social learning
Learning that takes place in a social context through the influence of our peers.

social networking
A method of building networks or social relationships among people who share common interests,
backgrounds, or activities.

tweetups
Similar to flash mobs, gatherings of people organized through social media or, in this case, Twitter.

Flashcards for Key Terms

An online journal or personal
writing platform

Tap card to see term ?

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