Unit 5

Hands up, those of you who have a Facebook or Twitter account. I sure see many hands over there! Facebook and Twitter have is very popular among internet user especially teenagers and youths as a communication tool. They use it to keep in touch with each other and also to post small bits of information about their daily lives and activities. In fact, it has become so popular that you can see people using it in internet cafes, public domain computer stations, schools and even the work place!

Why do people use Facebook and Twitter to communicate over the tradition telephone. mobile phones or even text messages and what benefits do they offer? Well, for one, they are convenient and users can post not only text or audio clips but pictures and videos as well. They can also post links to other websites which they think their friends may find interesting. It is this convergence of voice, video and text that pulls users to utilise it. Compared to telephones which only allows voice to travel through and text messages which allows only text, Facebook allows users to communicate via many other means.

Telephones and landlines require the usage of a cable to transmit voice data between users and may be expensive to install and maintain. Facebook and Twitter can be accessed via mobile phones which do not require a fixed landline and only need a mobile signal for date transmission. In fact, it is also due to this convenient that allows the world to know the situation in Haiti after the earthquake struck and knocked out communication lines. It allowed humanitarian and disaster relief organisations to understand the situation and who or what to send in to aid the survivors and citizens.

However, Facebook and Twitter being forms of Computer Mediated Communication or CMC for short, have their downsides as well. Just like how we leave behind footprints when we walk through a field or snow, CMC users leave behind cyberprints in the cyberworld as well. These cyberprints are traceable and allows companies or even hackers to snoop on user's activities and internet habits. Sensitive information such as credit card details and personal details may also fall in the wrong hands and used for fraudulent and malicious activities like unauthorised purchases. Activities like these are being more and more common that laws have been amended to include these cyber crimes as well.

Another pull factor for CMC is that it allows users to assume a fake identity. In other words, people do not have be themselves and can be anyone they wish to be. A female that you see online in a chatroom or online game may actually be male in real life. Similarly, an introverted and reserve person may turn to CMC for solace as a cyber bully and bully others online or even become a hacker to vent their anger. This anonymity is a double edged sword. It allows people to seek help or even counselling services online anonymously for anything problems they may have ranging from addictions to just needing a listening ear as some people are shy about going to see a counsellor and talking about their problems face to face with a stranger. On the other hand, it also allows dubious characters like hackers to commit cyber crimes under the guise of someone else. In fact, cyber crimes has become so prevalent that authorities have amended laws to make cyber crimes illegal as well.

Despite all the negativity that CMC has brought along with it, it has other plus points as well and there is no doubt that it will continue to dominate and change the way that we communicate with one another as well. Now excuse me while I go and update my Facebook status about this blog entry.