Google's new service

Technology offers some really amazing possibilities nowadays. Today’s edition of The New York Times offers us a very interesting story called “To aid Mexico, Google expands flu tracking”.

Basically, Google has designed a special version of its “flu-tracking service” designed to track down the spread of the now sadly famous swine flu. The idea is that the service counts and tracks where people are “googl-ing” for information related to the swine flu and influenza. However, because there is no historical record of the searches people have made in the past, the service is not exactly perfect or scientific (supposing the simple fact that a person looks up the term is scientific…).

I thought this article was interesting because it really illustrates how technology and the Internet offer a plethora of uses, there is just a need for a little creativity.

Ethics on Internet

Facebook and all the other social-networking sites that exist nowadays have become such a regular part of our lives that we rarely stop to reflect about the way they are changing our society and ourselves. Thanks to the instant, 24/7, availability of Internet anyone anywhere can, technically, obtain any kind of information about any place, company or person in the world. This “advantage” of Internet if often taken for granted, and it’s somewhat dangerous side effects are seldom discussed or considered. Perhaps one of the least discussed aspects is the way they affect our ethical stands.

Personally, I believe that, when it comes to ethic in Internet, one of the most important points to take into consideration is the accountability of the content’s writer/producer. While many web sites are useful and strive to post accurate, confirmed information, there also exists many others where this is not the case. While in certain situations this does not represent a problem, the opposite is also true. A good example of this would be a medical website.

Most of the people who access a medical website looking for advice or reference automatically assume that the content that is posted there is true. However, there is no way to guaranty this every time and, furthermore; there is nothing that prevents a person from starting a completely false website dedicated to health.

This exemplifies some of the ethical implications of this “democratization” of the new digital communication means: just because you are able to write anything in a somewhat anonymous way, this does not mean you lose the responsibility to back the facts you are stating with some sort of proof. In this sense, there is not much difference between the ethics that are supposed to lead the journalist of any print media and any blogger, webmaster or writer online.

Nevertheless, there is also the need to pose the question: what are the obligations of the site’s users? Ethical rules should not be a concern only for content writers, but to every user. This is the case, for instance, of the use of the anonymity granted by the system’s platform.

In the same way as a blogger can post false information in his site sheltered in this ambiguity, any reader can break his usual pattern of behavior in the online world, accessing contents that he would ordinarily condemn or reject.

Basically, I consider that many of the ethical rules we apply in our interactions in the offline world everyday are easily transferable to the online world. This does not mean, however, that there are not some very specific and complex new ethical conflicts that emerge thanks to the new media available. Nevertheless, if some of the basic society-rules are maintained, it is easier to judge these ethical dilemmas.

International Ball

One of the features I have found most useful lately is the “event” feature. This feature has proven to be really helpful when needing to advertise events or parties. As a part of my “work” with IFA (International Friendship Association, a club on campus), the latest project I have had to work on is the publicity for the International Ball. These are some of the flyers I have designed (they are still in the sketching part of the process).

A few positive points

After my last post, and in order to maintain a certain balance, I find it is important to mention a few reasons why I keep using FB even when it’s “that evil”…

Firstly, its email possibilities and chat option makes it an excellent way to communicate with others (particularly if, like me, you do not have a cell phone). You want to go to lunch? Go online and check which of your friends are there (there is ALWAYS someone), and send them a message. Want to send an email to many of your friends and make sure they read it? Send it via Facebook.

FB is also a great way to get in touch with friends who are far away, or whom you have not seen or talk to in a long time. I have a friend who is studying in France and seeing is profile in FB is a good way to keep in touch, know what he has done lately and seeing his life in France. Evidently, it is never the same as talking to him on the phone or in person; but when that option does not exist, FB is quite helpful.

Facebook is evil..

Why do I say Facebook is evil? Well, there are many reasons…

I was talking to a friend about Facebook yesterday, and she told me she was becoming more and more sure that when we go back to Costa Rica (we are both exchange students in the United States), she would close her account. Why? Because, among other things, every day she finds that one more person she did not want to see again is a member of Facebook.

This is true: the ever growing popularity of Facebook makes it so that almost “everyone” is there: the high school “friend” you did not want to see ever again, the ex-boyfriend who keeps stalking you, the aunt that always reports everything you post back to your mother… All the different species that reside in the FB biosphere.

In her case, the ex-boyfriend was truly reaching the “stalker” status. Because she had not deleted him from her friends list, he was still commenting on her pictures, posting on her wall, and reporting to her family about every new thing she uploaded or modified on her profile.


But this is not the only reason why. One of the most used features in FB is the photo upload. According to the web site web-strategist.com, 14 million photos are uploaded to FB every day. With these enormously high numbers, chances are that at least one of these photos involves you or one of your friends. When you start to think about it, is there really any sane reason why you would like to share with the rest of the world, forever and ever, the memory of that party when you got really drunk? Or the weird faces your friends convince you to do? Sure, it might be fun for a while, but how are you going to feel about that when you do not get that job because of the pictures you appear on? Or even 10 to 20 years from now when your kids ask you about them?


Finally, I think my main reason to say Facebook is evil would be that, despite all of these negative sides, I still find myself checking FB at least 4 times a day, and I’m sure I am not going to close my account any time soon…