According to many recent news reports, the email will be defunct in 10 years as the growth of social networking sites and instant messaging increases ever rapidly. But is this really true? Will people actually stop using emails to communicate in their personal and professional lives?
There are many crimes that are on the increase. If you watched the BBC’s excellent (in my opinion) three part series called “The Truth about Crime” a few weeks ago, you will know that is true (although the people of Oxford, the city that was the focus of the series, may not agree). It was reported today that the police are cracking down on people who drive while under the influence of drugs. We are told that it is just as dangerous as drink driving (I would have thought that was obvious).
However, one of the ways that the police are doing this is by using social networks, they are jumping on the bandwagon and using a successful medium with a massive captive audience - many of which may be the exact people they need to get the message across to. The one(s) that will be targeted have yet to be specified, but I think it is a great way for them to be used.
I have recently returned from the USA, after visiting New York City for a week. We, obviously, didn’t watch television much during the holiday as we were too busy visiting as many tourist attractions as possible in the 168 hours that we had. But when we caught up with the headlines via CNN (UK news channels did not seem to be available) it was interesting to notice that every anchor, newsreader and journalist displayed their Twitter usernames, while reporting the daily news, ensuring the public could follow them to find out more.
I know Twitter is huge in the UK, but it is still up and coming i.e. a lot of people who use social networks like Facebook and MySpace are yet to make the move onto Twitter. However, across the Atlantic it is definitely second nature.
The European Commission has reiterated the importance of an individual’s online and technological privacy, through an online video posted by Viviane Reding’s (Commissioner for Information Society & Media) office yesterday. She forcefully reminds EU member states that all “Europeans must have the right to control how their personal information is used”.
Facebook, Twitter and blogs are now more popular than email says a report which was highlighted in the Telegraph this week. This is more evidence of the current growth in usage of social media tools.
The annual fundraising event that is Comic Relief takes place on 13th March, but as is always the case, the publicity drive has started much earlier. This year you will find the Red Nose Campaign on the usual TV channels, radio and newspapers but also the social networks Twitter, Facebook and Bebo as celebrities and the public alike don their red noses to raise millions of pounds for UK and African causes.
What does the average Joe on the street know about how galaxies are formed? Well, apparently we know more than we think: www.GalaxyZoo.org allows anyone to help researchers at Oxford University identify the shapes of one million galaxies photographed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey telescope.
This is the latest example of how computers and humans can not only co-exist, but can combine their strengths in new and innovative ways to achieve things that neither could achieve alone. More - What do you know about galaxy formation?
Ed Gibson, Chief Cyber Security Adviser at Microsoft
Next Tuesday is International Safer Internet Day, which provides a focus to look at how to help our youngsters stay safe online and ensure that they grow up knowing how to behave and act responsibly when surfing and chatting on social networking sites or even gaming online.
The internet is probably one of the most significant digital technologies for the children of our time - it’s become a vital tool for homework, as well as being their playground and entertainment centre all in one. Facebook celebrated its 5th birthday on Wednesday with a staggering 150 million users where many see it as central to keeping track of their social life and what’s on. More - Being safe and secure online is paramount
Hearing today that a woman is claiming the first she knew about her impending divorce was when her husband updated his Facebook status, saying he was no longer married to her, has shocked me somewhat. I thought it was a bad show if one of my friends dumped their boyfriend of 3 months over the phone, by text was even worse - but now people are ending their marriages over a social network, that can be viewed by anyone (depending on the user’s security settings)? What is the world coming to?
The Airbus that collided with a flock of birds last week in New York, and ended up (by the amazing precision of the Captain and his co-pilot) safely landing in the Hudson River, is what everyone is talking about. Very rarely do planes, which have to land prematurely due to failed engine(s), have a happy ending in which everyone (155 people) survives with little more than bumps, bruises and shock.
Picture of Airbus floating in the Hudson River
Many saw images of the dramatic incident, along with accompanying explanations, across the world before the newsrooms broadcast anything. Janis Krums, a New Yorker, who happened to be on one of the ferries that was despatched to the stricken plane to start to rescue the passengers, took a birds eye photograph of the Airways Airbus on his mobile phone and posted it straight onto his Twitter profile. At the same time, professional news photographers and cameramen were still trying to locate where on the Hudson the actual plane was!
Digital Birmingham is a Birmingham City Council initiative and part of a city wide strategic partnership of more than 30 public, private and voluntary organisations
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