Chapter 8 - Communication and Sharing: The Social web

Synchronous Online Communication

• Online communication that happens in (near) real time, with two or more people online at the same time

• Examples: IM, chat, VOIP

IM (Instant Messaging)

• A real-time text-based communication over the Internet

• Primarily between two users, though more can be added

• Conversations not persistent (i.e. not saved by the IM service)

Chat (IRC – Internet Relay Chat)

• Primarily for real-time group communication over the internet

• Chat rooms are text-based and persistent, and users come and go, often without knowing each other

• Chat rooms geared towards common interests (travel, cooking, class, tech support, etc.)

• May be moderated (though most are not)

VoIP (Voice over IP)

• Originally allowed phone calls to be transmitted over the internet instead of traditional phone lines

• Later expanded to include video calls as well

• Need fast bandwidth (especially for video)

• No need to ever pay expensive long distance fees again (especially for internal calls)

  • Examples: Zoom, Teams, Skype, Google Voice

Asynchronous Online Communication

• Online communication that does not require all users to be online at the same time

• Examples: Email, SMS/MMS, mailing lists (listserv), newsgroup (discussion boards, forums)

Email

• First Internet service

• Uses store-and-forward technology (an email server holds your messages until you request them)

• Two ways to access

  • Email client (MS-Outlook)

    • Downloads messages from an email server

    • Can read messages in client even when offline

    • By default, messages are removed from email server when downloaded

  • Webmail interface (using a web browser)

    • Can access from anywhere (with internet access) 

    • Must be online to read messages

    • Messages not removed from email server when read

• Can configure email client

  • Try and filter out spam mail (spam filters)

  • Create folders to sort messages

  • Archive old messages in case you need to retrieve them

• Deleted messages to a trash folder and can be un-deleted (until you empty the trash_

• Can have multiple email accounts (one for work, one for school, etc.)

  • ISPs provide at least one email account (usually more)

  • Plenty of free email services

    • gmail, yahoo, hotmail, etc

    • Not tied to your ISP, work, or school]

• Email is not secure

  • A message can be intercepted as it travels through different networks before reaching its destination 

  • Email provider may scan messages

  • Employer (or school) network administrators can read messages (and it’s legal)

  • Analogy: an email is like a postcard, not a letter in a sealed envelope

Parts of an Email Message

• Address (To, Cc, Bcc)

• Subject line (can be read in most email clients without opening the message)

• Body (contains the message itself)

  • Technically can only contain text

  • HTML email messages the norm these days; most email clients can read, but those that cannot (or configured not to) will only be able to see the text

• Signature (a block of text that is automatically put at the end of messages)

• Can also attach file(s)

Responding to an Email Message

• Reply 

• Reply All

• Forward

SMS (Short Messaging Services)

• Also known as text messaging

• Used to send brief electronic messages to mobile devices

MMS (Multimedia Messaging Services)

• Used to send electronic messages that include text, graphics, video animation, and/or sound content to mobile devices

  • Example: Snapchat (messages viewable for brief amount of time and then defeated)

Mailing Lists (listserv)

• Allows communications with (potentially large) groups of people using email

• On the Internet, there are thousands of listserv mailing lists for different topics that users can sign up for… when user sends an email to the lost, it is automatically sent to all signed-up users

• Private mailing lists also commonly used in businesses and schools

Newsgroups / Discussion Boards / Forums

• One of the first forms of social media… Usenet Newsgroups developed in 1979

• Thousands of different newsgroups on different topics, so people with common interests can ask questions, discuss, etc. 

• Similar to chat rooms, but not real time

• An original message, and all the responses, is called a thread

• Private discussions boards / forums common

  • Companies use for questions and answers about their products

  • Schools can use for different classes

Web 2.0

• Email and newsgroups have been around since the 1970’s 

• The web developed in early 1990’s, and in the first several years, most users were only consumers of information

• However, today much of the content on the web is user-generated

• Web 2.0

  • Technologies used to communicate and collaborate on the web that enable a user to be a creator, not just a consumer, of content

  • More of a marketing term.. a new World Wide web service was created

Social Media

• Websites that use Web 2.0 technologies that allow a user to create user-generated content, connect, network, and share

• Meme – A funny image or catchphrase that is spread by Internet users across social media

• Second Screen – Using a computer or mobile device while watching television to interact with other viewers or view enhanced content

Social Networking Sites

• An online community where people with common interests can communicate and share content with each other

• Combines many of the features of other online tools

• Facebook: The largest social networking site (by far) with over a billion active users

• Linkedin: Most popular professional social networking site

  • For job / business opportunities

  • No games, etc.

Virtual Worlds

• MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game)

  • An online game in which players interact with people in realm time in a virtual world using an avatar

  • Avatar – a virtual body used to interact with others online in virtual worlds and games

  • Started with MUD, World of warcraft, most popular today

Youtube

• The largest online video-hosting site in the world

  • Users can subscribe to other users channels, send messages, and recommend videos

  • Viral Video – a video that becomes extremely popular because of recommendations and social sharing

Flickr

• One of the largest image-sharing sites in the world

• Can post up to 1,000 pictures or videos

• Can adjust the copyright of an image to allow others to use it legally

• Can tag an image with keywords so it can be found in searches

Spotify / Pandora

• Recommended music to you based on what you and your friends listen to

• Can follow friends to see what they like

Digital Footprint

• All the information that someone could find about you by searching the web, including social networking sites

  • May include not only content you post, but content posted by others

  • A disgruntled employee, unhappy customer, or former partner can post negative, untrue, or unflattering information about you

  • Once something has been posted on the Web, it is almost impossible to completely get rid of it (for example, you can delete a tweet, but it has been retweeted)

  • When using social networking sites, make sure you understand the privacy settings (which can be complex and sometimes are changed)

  • Some people use aliases for personal social networking accounts

Blog (Webblog)

• An online journal that anyone can set up using simple blog tools to write about whatever they like

  • Can post as frequently (or infrequently) as you like

  • Readers can post comments about your blog posts

• Blogosphere – all the blogs on the web and the connections between them

• WordPress and Blogger are popular blog sites that allow users to create accounts and blog for free

Microblogging / X (Twitter)

• A form of blogging in which posts are limited to a small number of characters

• X (Twitter) is the most popular form of microblogging

  • Posts are called tweets and are limited to 280 characters (used to be 140)

  • Users have followers

  • A hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by a # that is used to organize and make tweets searchable

Podcast

• A prerecorded radio—or TV—like show that you can download and listen to or watch any time

• Distributed over the web and played on a computer or a portable media player

• Podcast client – a program used to locate, subscribe to, and play podcasts

  • Example: iTunes

Crowdfunding

• Project funding from multiple small investors rather than a few large investors

• Most popular sites: gofundme.com, kickstarter.com

  • Example: Veronica Mars movie funded in 2013 by kickstarter campaign

Crowdsourcing

• Trusting the collective opinion of a crowd of people rather than the individual opinion of an expert

• Social Review Sites: Yelp, TripAdvisor

• Almost all e-commerce sites show ratings and comments for products 

• Waze–a mapping app that uses only user-generated content for real-time traffic and route information

Social Review Sites

• A website where users review restaurants, hotels, movies, games, books, and other products and services

• Reviews are from regular people, not experts

• Yelp, TripAdvisor most popular

Wikis / Wikipedia

• Wiki - A website that allows users to edit content, even if it was written by someone else

• Wikipedia - The most popular wiki site in the world

  • A massive free encyclopedia where articles written and edited by users

  • If an article contains incorrect information, it can be updated by a user who knows more

  • Generally frowned upon for use as a primary source in academic research (though not as much as in the past)

Social Bookmarking Site

• A site that allows you to save and share your bookmarks or favorites online

• Most popular: Pinterest

Social News Site

• An online news site that allows community members to submit content they discover on the web and puts it in one place for everyone to see and discuss

• Content that is submitted more frequently or gets the most votes is a promoted to the front page

• Most popular: reddit, Digg, and Slashdot

Social Media Marketing (SMM)

• The practice of using social media sites to self products and services

E-Commerce

• Doing business on the web

B2B (business-to-business)

• One business provides services to other businesses (website hosting, Paypal)

B2C (business-to-consumer)

• Most common form of E-commerce

• Businesses such as Amazon sell goods and services online

C2C (consumer-to-consumer)

• Auction sites, such as eBay and Craigslist

• Airbnb, ride-sharing services (Uber, Lyft)

• Shopping services (Instacart)

Is E-Commerce Safe?

• Fraud can never be completely eliminated

• Before entering personal or credit card information on a page, make sure the URL is using the https protocol

  • The https protocol tells the web browser and web server to encrypt all data sent using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), recently re-named TLS (Transport Layer Security)

• Spending money to others can be done securely using services such as PayPal, Venmo, Google Wallet, Zelle, etc.

Online Tools for Business

• Facebook Pages – Linked to a business or organization instead of a person 

• X (Twitter) – Only one type of account, but can be created for a business instead of a person

• SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

• Methods used to make a website easier to find by people and web crawlers and to increase the webpage ranking in search engine results

• Some SEO methods are highly discourage by Google and others can lead them to remove your site entirely

Digital Communication Tools

• Online Collaboration Technologies, such as Microsoft Sharepoint, make it easy for team members to share documents and access them from almost any device

• Slack – combines chat and IM – can create channels (similar to chat rooms) for group communication or talk to users individually like (IM)

• Web conferencing – Zoom, GoToMeeting, Microsoft Teams, Slack, etc. 

  • Can allow users to share screens use chat