Cloaked Websites

The whole idea of cloaked websites is quite an intricate concept. As defined in class, this concept can be described as "Sites that are published by individuals or groups who conceal authorship in order to disguise deliberately a hidden agenda." This is most commonly used in cyber racism, where websites will appear to be innocent enough, whether it will be because of the domain name or even graphics. However, upon closer inspection the reader discovers that the information provided instead is biased and indeed racist to some degree.

Shockingly, as I have come to learn through research done online, it is rather easy to hide authorship so when reading information on the Internet, websites can remain anonymous. For example, there is a how-to guide on Yahoo Answers about how to conceal authorship ( http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080209180156AA90zlU).

Information like this should not be provided on the Internet. Individuals should not be able to hide who they are if they are going to post information online for others to read. Authors should be held accountable for what they provide to readers. Without associating a name with information, how will the Internet be able to monitor what is happening if they cannot know how to watch?

Although I know it would be difficult to regulate, there should be guidelines put in place to make sure that authorship is required and used for every website or post that is put on the Internet. Without it, responsibility could not be properly dictated and discussed with users. In order to make sure that the Web provides the most up-to-date and honest information, we have a responsibility as readers and managers to report such behavior when it is questionable.

Cyberbullying: The 21st Century Form of Torture

This video above depicts only one of the many cases of cyber bullying which ended in tragedy. Megan, the girl shown above killed herself after she started talking to a boy online. At first everything was fine, but then he started calling her names. It got so excessive that she ended up killing herself. Only after an investigation was done did it in fact show this teenager was being bullied by a grown woman, posing as a boy.

Cyber bullying, which has really started occurring more frequently in the past couple of years, is a new form of torture. This attack can occur either over texting, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, e-mails, etc. Once it is out there in cyberspace, it can be uploaded for the whole world to see. More importantly, it seems to me that cyber bullying stings more than verbal abuse. When you see words in front of you in a document, they are forever etched into your head. First of all, more people can see it and take part in it. It is easier for people to join in on the torment because it is more open to everyone as opposed to just a phone call. Secondly, the information never disappears, as opposed to voice mails that can be deleted.

There needs to be more done in order to stop such atrocities from happening. Whether it would be in forms of stricter legislation or just better regulation of such social networking sites. This is preventable, but we need to take measures to make sure this doesn't happen. Individuals have already taken steps to help eliminate cyber bullying by creating online groups such as "STOP cyberbullying" which discusses why this happens and things that can be done with regards to prevention (http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/index2.html). However, much more can and should be done so that teenagers do not end their lives over something that is said over the Internet. Even though at the time they might think their life is over, they need to realize that it is not.

Democratizing Knowledge: Can it Ever Happen?

Every week I try to read one of my magazines so that I can recycle them and start to de-clutter my room. This week's challenge was November's 2009 InStyle which is pictured above. One of the articles, as advertised on the cover, discusses their favorite websites online. In the section, 10 Essential Bookmarks, the editors promote one site, Straightup Headlines (http://www.straightupheadlines.com/). As the article says:

We love this site, which serves up scoops according to your specific
area of interest, whether it's fashion, food or politics. You can scan for
a quick overview of all the important news and then click to see the complete
stories (InStyle, November 2009, pg. 245).

I thought this piece was very interesting because it related to what we were discussing in class about the democratizing of knowledge on the Internet. Sites such like these tend to promote the idea of personalization, which when all is said and done, do nothing to increase the reader's knowledge of other topics. Because users are able to pick what they want to read, they will bypass all the other news articles that don't appeal to them for whatever reason.

Although I believe that having favorite websites that discuss the kind of information you love is good, it takes away from everything else that a person should read to be able to make an informed decision. In that respect, I believe Sunstein's argument that without expanding a person's horizon of knowledge, individuals will not be able to come together in order to make important decisions that impact society. Everyone needs to have experiences from different backgrounds to make informed choices. Without it, how will they know if their decisions are right?

Furthermore, Internet websites should take a more active stand in being able to make regulations for information posted online. There should be requirements to tell all websites to provide opposing information to allow the readers the option to click on the link (although that doesn't mean they always will). Without some regulation, the gap between opposing minds will only increase.