Reflection on YouTube Video

Making this video has given me the opportunity to reflect upon key issues explored whilst researching online privacy, security and reputation.
Attitudes on the subject seem to vary from highly fuelled to flippancy, with a range of opinion spanning the uncertain mid ground. It seems that there remain many unresolved questions relating to measures of privacy and safety.
To what extent do we have true control?

Yes, there are steps we can take to be fully informed about the terms and conditions, and the privacy policies for social networking sites. Yes, we can follow guidelines for setting privacy limits on the sites that we use. Yes, we can conceptualise our online reputation – we can monitor it and if we feel the need, provide a “defence” or engage in a conversation of challenge.
However, as our online and off-lines lives converge and as we increasingly become a society of online networks, what can such safeguards really guarantee?
It is clear to see that sacrificing our privacy/safety, in part at least, brings all the rewards that social media and the Internet has to offer. I find the sociological impact that the digital world is having on our increasingly networked lives very interesting.

I have drawn my inspiration for the video from Andrew Keen’s article, “Sharing Is A Trap”, featured in this month’s Wired Magazine. Andrew Keen is a great and often controversial commentator on all things web2.0. The themes and flavours of my video are based on this article.

Andrew Keen’s article, “Sharing is a Trap”

To find out more about Andrew Keen

Andrew Keen’s website/blog

I found iMovie fairly easy to use, once I had familiarised myself with all the functions and features. I would have liked more control over the text – so apologies for the small captions (not a chance of seeing the credits). I experimented with a few screen-casting tools to incorporate into the video. I had problems downloading screencastle in order to import into iMovie (due to flv files). In the end, I turned to SnapzProx, on a 15-day trial. I will have another go at screen casting in a more instructional way later. I used lots of YouTube videos to guide me through the process of compressing and uploading my iMovie into YouTube.
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YouTube Video - Online Privacy, Security and Reputation

Dave White’s Visitors and Residents Principle

The Visitors and Residents Principle categorises the way individuals engage with the Web. It implies that Web-user fluency is not reliant on age or technical skills but instead focuses on issues of motivation and culture. To summarise - Residents “live out a portion of their life online” and hold a strong online presence/identity. Residents see the Web as a social space. Visitors, on the other hand, engage online to complete specific tasks and then leave without making a mark. The Visitor sees no need for online networks and views their privacy as being paramount.

The principle becomes even more interesting when we look at the two different user characteristics and apply them to specific social media tools in an organisational setting.

In Twitter, a Resident organisation/brand would be highly visible and very active, posting many times a day. It would be able to easily build relationships of trust, cultivate networks by responding to followers’ tweets quickly. The organisation/brand would gain reputation as being a listening and responsive organisation. The Resident would always be present and poised to transform a tweet into a business opportunity or a follower into a customer.

The main drawback for the Resident organisation is that it needs to work hard to maintain a respected Twitter presence by constantly pumping out tweets and instantly responding to followers. Demands of this nature can be draining on staff time and resources. An organsiation wanting to keep its finger on the Twitter pulse needs a dedicated employee, constantly adding to the Twitter stream. The quality of tweets may be sacrificed in favour of quanity, in an attempt to keep up with the fast pace of the Twitter stream, where five minutes equates to an eternity.

The Visitor organisation in Twitter is not burdened by the demands of keeping up a presence and of instant interaction. It will log-in and tweet items of specific company news or events and log-out. It will not be too concerned about the twitterings of followers. The drawbacks for the Visitor organisation are the missed opportunities for networking and interaction. Visiting risks losing followers (potential customers or business partners) due to inconsistent activity or inactivity.

For the Visitor organisation, Twitter is a business information service. For the Resident organisation, Twitter is a business community.

I am not very familiar with Facebook but I would assume that the organisational benefits and drawbacks for each motivation characteristic would be similar to those mentioned above. Do you agree that this is the case? Is Facebook a “residential platform”?

Links with relevance to the Visitor Resident Principle: -

Dave White’s presentation on the Visitor Resident Principle

Dave White’s blog is also well worth a visit.

Andy Powell’s blog mentioning Twitter as a residential platform

Prensky on Digital Natives and Immigrants – Part 1

Prensky on Digital Natives and Immigrants – Part 2

Prensky on Digital Wisdom

Sapiens Digital - Digital Extensions and Enhancements

Bryony Taylors post on Visitors and Residents

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Welcome

Here is the blog that I will host for my learning on the DMU University Certificate in Web Enhanced Practice (UCPDWEP). Please find here my course related ramblings, from moment to moment, as I mull things over and sprout ideas. I am a novice of many things and so I welcome and woo you to comment on my posts with your advice, insights, experiences and opinions. Please feel free to keep me on track, take me “off-roading”, broaden my view, challenge my thinking, help me to see and understand things.

I look forward to our conversations here with light and lively energy and with the freedom of a learning mind.

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