Well on the internet, something that has been able to increase and flourish is scams. Any company can appear to look accountable and safe online and it’s much easier then appearing that way in person and they definitely get to slip through the cracks because there is so much of them in cyber space and not a lot of “internet Police” out there. Because of this very reason many scams have been increased including identity fraud, stolen money, possibly paying for a faulty product or never receiving it because of “the postal service”, etc… This is one of the set backs about the internet in society today. You really have to check out a source before purchasing anything on the internet or clicking any of those pop up ads or “agreeing” on something electronically when you didn’t mean to. Well, I can honestly say I have fallen for one of the scams over the internet.

I look back now and see where I was way wrong and my trust turned into ignorance, in which I did not choose to read the fine print. I signed up to get 4 posters for 4 dollars plus shipping through an ad on face book. I thought of the source as face book (when it was really a company working through face book) and therefore got the idea that it was credible. Now that I look back on it, I can’t think of one reason why I should have ever counted face book as credible in regards to selling products through other companies. I don’t know the screening process they go through when allowing a company to sell their goods through Face book. But I made an impulsive and naïve move and made 4 clicks and bought the posters. A week later I received them and looks at my Wells Fargo account online and they did in fact charge me 4 dollars for the posters but apparently the shipping cost of 4 rolled up light weight posters is 50 dollars!!!!!!!!!! I shrugged it off and thought oh well, 54 isn’t that bad. Well low and behold weeks later I get 2 other boxes with only 2 posters in each box. So I freaked out and checked out my checking account. There had been two more withdrawals from the company of150 dollars each which made my account balance in the negative which also sparked a billion overdraft charges that my bank never thought to call and tell me (thanks Wells Fargo). SO there I am 354 dollars in the hole plus about 100 dollars in overdraft charges and 8 stupid posters- 4 of which I did not even pick. I called the “business” and found that apparently in the size 5 print at the bottom (but not on their website) I signed up to buy a membership! BAhahahahahaha WHAT! It was complete false advertising. I searched online for discussion forums and found that many people had also been scammed by them but unfortunately what are you going to do?

In chapter 10 of Postman’s book, he discusses the idea of symbols being used for meaning in commercial enterprises. I trusted face book as a symbol of credibility and therefore I bought the posters from an un heard of source very quickly. This was deceiving and exactly what the poster company wanted to happen. I now know I have to watch out for this kind of stuff. I had heard about it before but now I know how easily it can happen to anyone. Internet Buyer’s beware!

Birth of a Deviant

This month I joined a new virtual community on the internet. I joined deviantart.com. This community was chosen because it provides great entertainment as well as support for some areas of my life. Deviantart is a place where creative people share their art with admirers and other artists and receive feedback about their work. They can also sell it. I am not a professional artist by any means but I do like to dabble in the creation of art every once in awhile, whether it be in drawing, paintings, poetry, crafts, music, or photography. I have always known about Deviantart and every once in awhile it is one of the places I visit to kill time and look at a lot of great art. Deviantart reminds me of some of the great things having the internet has brought to the world. I can look at art from all over the globe and see art I would not have seen if I wanted around for an exhibit that has been approved by some rich person or some art expert. I can be my own judge and be exposed to all kinds of art and meet the artist and learn a bit about them. I believe that no matter what they say about the internet disrupting our reality and stopping certain communication it definitely increase our communication internationally.

This month I finally became a member and shared some of my favorite photos I have taken as well as some paintings and sketches. Getting compliments on my pictures made me feel great and it was good to know someone else out there thought it was a special photo as well. I assimilated into the group by adding my art into the site and choosing favorites of other people’s work, I also needed to upload an avatar and share some personal information about myself (favorite movie, artist, music, etc…). One of the biggest things about being part of the group is having an avatar. I noticed I got much more replies when I had uploaded my avatar. I think it was a way for someone to give me an identity and know I was serious about becoming a member. I got into a slight disagreement with a man the other day (6 days ago). He took a picture of an Aries tattoo and called it a Taurus tattoo and I corrected him on it. It made me kind of nervous because I was wondering if he was going to be a crazy person and would try and insult my pictures or something to get back at me, but he didn’t and just replied “yes…I think you are right…about that…J” I don’t know exactly how to interpret the “…” in between each of his words, but the smiley let me know he was ok with me correcting him. So I wanted him to know I meant no harm by the comment and replied with a” :-P “ It seems that emoticons are a big deal within the Deviantart community and they are commonly used to display how someone feels about the artists work or the discussion they are having. It was great for me to be able to just “ :-P” him because I had really nothing to say but I just wanted him to know I was “ok” with him and without being able to physically let him know through tone or facial expression I could with an emoticon.

This whole situation reminded me of netiquette, which Wood and Smith discuss in chapter 6. One of the main punishments someone gets online if they do not have proper netiquette is to be ignored! Or their comments may be deleted from the user. This is usually a last resort. The person has to be very bad to receive such a punishment from an individual. This is how rejection can truly translate over into a virtual community. Yes people may feel more risky and capable of being someone else online because they do not see others online but they can always be ignored or blocked from user’s which is a way to reject someone. I remember when I used to play online poker and we had a chat room for all the players and if someone got blocked by everyone they would feel completely rejected and usually burst out with hurtful over the top language and then leave the game even if thy were winning! So, with my own experience this kind of rejection can still be tough on someone.

ALL PHOTOS are from Deviantart.com and are linked to the artist.

What's in My space?

What is the first thing you do when you sit down to use the internet? I know that the first thing I do almost every time is check face book and MySpace to see if I have received any message. Even if I have an assignment or some other important agenda I will stop to check these sites. WHY! Well that is easy I want to see if someone has contacted me…someone I enjoy….a friend…I want to experience something fun before I get down to the nitty gritty. With the popularity of MySpace and face book, many people today have a profile in at least one of these networking sites. Is the information they are choosing to share a real representation of themselves?

I am currently reading a book called Linking Technology, Identity, and Culture by Andrew F. Wood and Matthew J. Smith. In chapter 3 and 4 online communication is brought up and they speak of how people represent themselves online. One subject they bring up is the idea that the internet “allows us to determine how much of an identity we wish to front in online presentations”(pg. 66). I believe there are many ways we can choose to leave out information or share information in these sites, but there are others instances where we do not have control. I just got done reading about how with the creation of technology we gain something and take something away. In many cases it ends up being privacy.

One problem I have with these sites is that anyone may put a picture of you online for display. Anyone can go online and find photos of me that are out of my control! I have been mad about quite a few photos that my friends have chosen t put online and I now constantly have to think about whether or not I am willing to possibly have a picture put in public display before I go take a picture with my friends at parties or other social events. I do not like that AT ALL. Many people (especially women) have decided to make MySpace (and other sites) a main place to put photos of everything they (and their friends) do online. Employers, family and other people I do not know can judge me by these photos and my profile.

I definitely make sure that I am representing myself in a good light online unless there is a level of anonymity. If I’m blogging or in a discussion forum and my real name is not being exposed I feel more open to share other strange or strong opinions, but I feel that face book and MySpace is too public. I have made these pages of mine private to public viewers and I can only hope the images my friends decide to post do not represent me negatively.

AN example of where this had a great impact was when a friend of mine almost got fired from her RA position at Oregon State because there was a picture of her online at a party with a girl that was under 21 that lived in her dormitory. I remember her avoiding cameras all night because of face book and she would announce it to each of her friends when they were trying to take pictures, but she got put on face book anyways!

Cut off from the World!

On Thursday (June 26^th), I was cut off from the internet! This event was supposed to be on of my own doing, but was actually forced upon me by my own circumstances. I had to drive down to Corvallis to move and I had cancelled my Comcast account. So there I was in my old apartment all by myself with no cable or internet and only my phone to make me feel somewhat connected to the rest of the world. This is an even more severe situation than the original idea of cutting me off from the internet for 24 hours. There were a few times that I really wanted to go onto the internet! It’s amazing how much we feel like we need the internet these days. I also felt the silence of my apartment to be alarming at a certain point and needed to have a movie on while I packed. It made me realize how television has become a way that I feel connected to humans and it makes a space feel familiar to me (OMG, how sad is that?).

In the afternoon, I had pushed a wooden desk and miscellaneous items onto the sidewalk for people to take, kind of a moving free stuff deal. 3 hours had passed and no one had taken the desk and I knew that it was because it’s hard to take a desk home with you and people would need to know about it in advance and drive their vehicle over to get it. I had to text my friend and tell him to post a ad on Craig’s list(does that count as cheating?) well anyhow, I felt this panic feeling like “oh no I can’t do this!” and it made me feel helpless and I have to say it was a really weird feeling to have over the internet!

I also usually pass the time by playing around on the internet, so that made it very hard to delay the whole moving process and made me work even harder. I can spend so much time on the computer (and TV) wasting my precious time until the day goes by and I have gotten nothing done. It was nice in the long run to not have a diversion. I actually found myself doing other things like walking over to the neighbor’s yard and feeding their chickens (yes, my neighbor’s have chickens) and sitting on my porch and looking out over the neighborhood drinking some java. I actually warmed up to the silence and enjoyed the last day in my apartment.

This was a very enlightening experience. I realize how much the computer and TV (and other new entertaining technology) can easily be a major distraction in our everyday life. You realize how much of your time you give to these things once you have to fill the holes. Neil Postman, author of Technopoly, talks about how technology is both a burden and a blessing. In this experience I have been subjected to both how technology is a burden in my life and a blessing. It is a blessing that I can post an ad on Craig’s list and get rid of my unwanted items. It is a burden when it becomes a form of entertainment and communication that takes up a big part of my life.