The Real Problem with Facebook

Posted Sat, 04/21/2012 - 07:10 by jlscott


"Excuse Me for Being Old-fashioned"

I have very deep concerns about Facebook and what it's doing to our society. I know it's a wonderful way to make friends from around the world – although I've managed to do that with email.

What concerns me is this inclination to only have “virtual friends.” People are isolating themselves. Where are their face-to-face friends? Where are the friends they used to chat with by phone? What's with this constant texting? One line of bad spelling is a conversation?

Everything is completely impersonal, now. Yet, it's addictive and intrusive. While folks are out to lunch or with any friends at all, anywhere, they're texting and fooling around with other “friends” they don't even know. How rude can you get? It's as if they don't dare miss a message. What the hell's going to happen if they do? It's just incredibly stupid.

Do you know your next door neighbor? Probably not. And, why would anyone want to tell complete strangers the story of their life on Facebook? They don't even know who they're “talking” to.

Not to mention that all this information they're putting out there can come back and bite them in the butt at any time. It's costing people jobs – causing court cases to be lost – and who knows what else!

It amuses me to see the people worrying about Facebook's privacy policies all the while they're posting inappropriate material about themselves for the entire world to see. They tell things they should have better sense than to tell anyone but a closest friend - a real friend. Facebook people are not their friends!

Last week, I saw a commercial for a car that “allows you to use all your social media hands free.” WHAT?! I don't care whether you're using your hands, or not – how safe a driver are you while you're using social media at all? UNbelieveable!

Excuse me for being old-fashioned, but when push comes to shove – at least in the USA – folks will be cut off from the internet and they're going to wish they had real flesh and blood friends to turn to.

Social media, carried to the extremes it's been carried to, has done little but isolate folks – and put them in grave danger.

Use Your Power

Posted Mon, 02/27/2012 - 08:10 by jlscott


"Put Broadcast Media on Notice"

Have you noticed how difficult it is to get “real” information from the broadcast media regarding the upcoming presidential elections in the USA? Everything is slanted, and much of it is outright lies.

This is bad enough while trying to choose the Republican nominee, but it will be even more problematic when the election process is in full swing.

It's time (actually it's past time) to put broadcasters on notice:

"The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision has launched a new era of big-money politics. The wealthiest 1 percent now have unchecked power to pick and choose our nation’s leaders. And they’re doing it by spending tens of millions of dollars on televised political ads that leave voters awash in misinformation.

So where’s the broadcast media in all of this? Instead of exposing this runaway spending and separating fact from fiction in an election year, they’re lining their pockets with the winnings — to the tune of more than $3 billion dollars in 2012 ad buys."

Put the largest TV conglomerates on notice. Demand that broadcasters expose the money trail and cover election-year issues properly!

Sign Petition


"Browsers and Privacy Issues "

Internet Explorer (IE) full of security holes – always has been. There's no need to even discuss it. Don't use it.

Firefox started off great. But, over time, it got heavy and slow. It seems every upgrade made it more difficult to use. Lately, it's gotten a little better. But if, like me, you're a serious internet user – and don't have time to fool around with it - it simply has too many toys.

Chrome is fast. It's also the most secure. They actually have “hacker competitions” and Chrome is the only browser that leaves those competitions untouched. Unfortunately (for those who care) it's made by Google.


Which brings us to the newest online uproar – Google's new privacy settings. Google is consolidating all their various privacy settings to one setting that will work across all their platforms.

In my opinion, it's much ado about nothing.

It all comes down to Google's tracking policies. So, I'd like to point out – there's nothing new about that! Google has been tracking us all for years! Nothing new there.

You may feel it makes you more vulnerable to having hackers – or, if you're really paranoid, the government – get your information. Well, as I said, Google has tracked us for years and their security has been excellent.

So you want to avoid being tracked? Really not a big deal. Just don't sign in to Google. When you're logged out, your activity won't be associated with your user account.

I never sign in unless I'm actually working with Webmaster Tools or need to use Gmail. Google isn't doing this because they give a pig's wazoo what you're doing online.

They do it to make more money! They do it to attract more targeted advertising. The better they can target, the more they can charge their advertisers!


If you're concerned about what Google knows about you, just go over to Google's Dashboard and sign in. The dashboard gives you an overview of all your activity through Google.

It also provides links to adjust your settings, privacy and security for every Google service. When the new privacy policy takes effect, this page will be even simpler to use.

If you're concerned about the increase of targeted advertising, go to Google's Ad Preferences Manager: Google Ad Settings

It allows you to opt out of targeted ads when you're signed in and when you're signed out!

Yep – much ado ...

Online News

Posted Mon, 10/03/2011 - 07:57 by jlscott


"Virtual Life in a Virtual World"

I know I bounce all over the place with this newsletter. It's supposed to be about online business. But, over time, I've come to realize how politics and other things happening around the world affect small business owners on the Web.

Things that either don't affect large corporations, and even things that make them money, have the opposite effect on us. In many ways, we are more like salaried workers than business owners. Therefore, we need to stay abreast of what is happening in many areas.


Online, most of the news this past week seems to have been about Facebook. I worry about people using Facebook. The latest is that Facebook is tracking you online, even after you log out.

Read full article

There was a time when I didn't concern myself too much about online privacy. But, I always knew it could come to a place where we wouldn't have any. And, sure enough, over the years, it has.

Facebook's new "Timeline" makes a new profile containing your whole life's story.

Read full article


Seriously? How smart is that? The possible problems are mind-boggling.

For one thing, how true do you think those life stories will be? I predict most will end up like a personal résumé.

Yet, I suppose folks will jump in and do it without a thought toward what might come back and bite them in the butt. It's a virtual life in a virtual world - none of which is "real."

I'm also concerned about the time people spend on these activities. Is this what people call life, today? Isn't there something more productive people could do with their time than spend it on Twitter and Facebook?

I saw it when I was in Michigan with my family in August. Their whole lives seem to revolve around "social networks" and Smart Phones. And they go berserk if they misplace that damn thing for a single minute.

Whatever happened to real relationships, with people you actually know - and with whom you meet and interact with face-to-face?

I have many terrific friends I've met online and whom I love dearly. And, I've become close with them slowly - like in real life.

But, thousands of "friends" and "followers" I know virtually nothing about except their promo just don't seem real to me. The people seem meaningless. It's the numbers that count.

Some people worry that robots will take over our world. I think we'll BE the robots - in a virtual world. In fact, I see it already happening. Sad.


Let us know what you think in the "Comments."


SOURCES:

The Sydney Morning Herald
WebPro News

iPhones

Posted Mon, 07/04/2011 - 06:53 by jlscott


"iPhones Track Your Movements"

"According to security researchers Pete Warden and Alasdair Allan, your iPhone or iPad is keeping a record of every step you take, storing this data and sharing it with the devices that sync with the iPhone or iPad.

What's troubling is that this information is unencrypted and can be accessed and viewed by anyone."

Follow the story here:

guardian.co.uk

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* dr. jl scott is the Founder of Chamber of Commerce - on the Web™ http://www.ChamberofCommerce-ontheWeb.com - and also the publisher of the Online Business Trade Journal™ - the blog that keeps you up to date with online business coming of age. Visit: http://www.OnlineBusinessTradeJournal.com

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