Abstract This paper examines the phenomenon that is MySpace. It provides brief background information on the founders of MySpace and examines the implications of the site as well as how the site affects people socially. Also discussed are the relationships that are developed on MySpace and the good aspects of the website. Several graphs are included with the paper.
Table of Contents:
Abstract
Introduction
MySpace Founders
Implications and effects of MySpace Creating Cyber Networks
Cyber Bullying
Online Child Predators
Music and Recording Artists
Colleges and Employers
Relationships
Parental Monitoring of MySpace and making MySpace safe
Utilizing MySpace for Good
Summary
From the Paper "Although a central location for social networking can be a positive thing, there are also negative circumstances that can arise. One such circumstance is Cyber bullying. MySpace has been at the center of two recent cases where cyber bullying led to the suicide of one child and the brutal beating of another. In both cases MySpace was used to convey derogatory messages that led to these incidences. In addition to Cyber bullying, child predators have also been a prevalent problem for MySpace. In several cases pedophiles have used MySpace to find and lure children who have been raped or molested. This is such a significant problem for MySpace that it has agreed to several new rules and oversights occluding outside monitoring."
Abstract This paper explores the Internet service, MySpace, as primarily a ritualistic medium and secondarily as a transmissive medium. The paper further loooks at how MySpace and its imitators and competitors function as a medium of social and cultural re-tribalization. Lastly, the paper relates the ways that the unique qualities of MySpace tend to blur the traditional old-media distinction between audience and producer.
From the Paper "Social networking on the Internet, by its very nature, is a ritualistic model of communication. The purpose of the social networking is first and foremost to bring people together into a common environment to discover and to share their common values and interests, rather than merely transmit a given packet of information. That this environment is a virtual one rather than a physical one (such as a community center, for example) is part of the uniqueness of Internet-based social networking technologies such as MySpace."
Abstract This paper takes a look at myspace.com, the website that is said to be a pantheon of social interaction. According to the paper, everyone who is anyone has a myspace page. The paper reports that originally it was set up as a place for unsigned and independent bands to showcase their music, but has developed into one of the most highly populated social, professional, artistic and romantic networking hubs on the Internet.
From the Paper "There are always concerns in online environments that you're not chatting with the person that you think you're chatting with. Well, Myspace has some strict policies that keep the creeps away. You always have the option to set your profile to private, so only the people on your friends list can view your profile. Also, during the sign-up process you are required to give your age, and this is listen on your profile as well, so if you're a young person and you see that the person who is sending you a message is older, you can simply ignore them. The sense of community on Myspace will help to keep you safe as well. People on Myspace strive to present a clear, honest picture of themselves so they can find kindred spirits to network and bond with. Seeing as this is the spirit of Myspace there seems to be no room for dishonesty or bad intentions. The connectedness of the site really appeals to a general sense of integrity that most human beings have, so it's an unspoken rule that profiles are an accurate snapshot of the real person. Lying or doing anything particularly underhanded or illegal (or just dirty) goes against all the Myspace is about (Lapinsky, 2006). "
A rhetorical and semiotic analysis of a CBS news item, "Myspace: Your Kids' Danger: Popular Social Networking Site Can Be Grounds For Sexual Predators," by Sandra Hughes.
Abstract This paper presents a rhetorical analysis of Sandra Hughes' CBS news item, "MySpace: Your Kids' Danger? Popular Social Networking Site Can Be Grounds For Sexual Predators." It aims to move beyond the implicit and relatively superficial review of the text to a fuller understanding of how the text creates meaning, how it helps the reader to construct knowledge and how it sways us to take action. The paper specifically looks at how the language of this article works.
From the Paper "Visually, the story is arranged as a headline, a smaller-font secondary headline, and then twenty-two paragraphs, this for a story containing not quite 650 words. Immediately below the headlines, half of the reading column is taken up by a graphical image showing a computer in silhouette with transparencies of several young children, mostly girls, and several of them using cellphones. Below the graphic is a quote, suggesting the danger the article warns of. The effect of the graphic, the quote, and the headlines is to draw readers to the story that follows, a story that opens with three suggestive vignettes about children being approached in a sexually explicit manner on the Internet. Two of the three teenage girls described in the opening vignettes were murdered."
Abstract This paper examines the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution, which discusses the right of an accused person to cross examine his accuser. The paper discusses the history of the Confrontation Clause and looks at the use of the Confrontation Clause in past and present court rooms. It also provides a few case examples of how the Confrontation Clause is put into practice.
From the Paper "The use of the Confrontation Clause in past and present court rooms has served the court system well although when to use it and often times how and when it applies has proven to be a little blurry. The Confrontation Clause allows accused defendants to cross examine their accusers to gain as much insight as possible as to the factuality of their accusations except in situations where a child, person on their death bed, or a person who is deceased in concerned then testimony collect by law enforcement or stated in previous court cases is admitted in lieu of personal account. This clause will in effect prevent anyone from simply accusing us of a crime without the chance to defend ourselves in front of our accuser."
Abstract This paper explains that victims of sexual abuse are typically in a very fragile state so that they must be treated with the utmost care. The paper further explains that this must be taken into consideration when using confrontation to deal with victims of sexual abuse. The paper looks at when and how confrontation should be used, and what can be gained by its use. The dangers inherent in using confrontation are also pointed out.
From the Paper "Victims of sexual abuse may be in a very fragile state emotionally and so must be treated with the utmost care. Social workers have the responsibility of establishing and maintaining an appropriate therapeutic relationship with their clients and paying careful attention to the management of boundaries between the two. The social worker must recognize that the client may be influenced by their opinions, conjecture or suggestions and so must take care in expressing them. The social worker must not minimize the power and influence they have on..."
Abstract This paper looks at why and how specialised skills in interviewing have been developed in the treatment of offenders to prevent recidivism. It examines confrontational and motivational techniques in working with offenders and discusses how these techniques are employed and how they work. It also evaluates the benefits and hindrances of these techniques and assesses which technique is more beneficial to preventing offending behaviour.
From the Paper "Research carried out in the 1970's argued that imprisonment and rehabilitative with offenders did not make a significant change to the recidivism rates of offenders and this led to more critical analysis which showed that some interventions could work. The ?Criminal Justice Act 1991? put more impetus to this by reconstructing the sentencing framework and recommending community sentencing for offenders unless the offence was serious enough to justify a prison sentence. "Punitive measures have done little to arrest the increase in crime and it is difficult to demonstrate that punishment achieves the effect of deterring offenders from re-offending" (McGuire 1995 cited HTO Davies, S Nutley and P Smith 2001 p93) Research showed that offender treatment programmes could work to reduce rates of re-offending."
Abstract This paper explains that cyber bullies are Internet users who prey on their victims through threats and intimidation. Just like bullying on the playground, individuals victimized by bullies can feel the negative effects for a lifetime and, in extreme cases, can lead to death. The author presents a case study of cyber bullying between two female students. The paper concludes that it is the responsibility of educators and administrators to take a pro-active approach to mitigate incidents of cyber bullying in the early stages. The author also presents some solutions to this problem, which can be used by teachers.
Table of Contents:
Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Case Study of Anna and Dana
Results
Solutions
Summary
From the Paper "The MySpace incident was the first of at least six additional incidents involving the use of this website. Anna began hearing from others in the school about what they had read. Anna was outraged and went to her parents. Her parents were upset also and took the matter to the school administrators. The school agreed to convene a meeting with both sets of parents and a counselor from the school.
"In the end, the friendship between Anna and Dana was definitely over. Dana stopped posting fabrications about Anna on her MySpace webpage."
Tags:confrontationsmyspace, spreading rumors, fire walling, symptoms
Abstract The paper considers the ethical questions raised by the Marine MySpace.com recruiting campaign. The paper argues that teens may be swayed by the impulsivity encouraged by the virtual media to explore a path they may not be psychologically or even physically capable of undertaking. The paper concedes that desperate times call for desperate measures, but asserts that desperation combined with the Internet could create a potentially ineffective fighting force.
From the Paper "Point and click--you're in the Marines, now! While the current marketing campaign to solicit new recruits to the armed forces of America has not deteriorated to the point where the click of a mouse can result in conscription, even the current uses of online soliciting can elicit troubling questions about the ethical nature of modern advertising in the military. Anecdotally, almost every person can think of a poor decision he or she made as the result of the availability and ease of online shopping, and even perhaps some poorly worded personal emails sent that he or she has lived to regret. An expensive pair of shoes or the ruffled feathers of a boyfriend or girlfriend are easier to remedy, however, than the decision to risk one's life by joining the United States Marines."
Abstract This paper debates the benefits and limitations of social networking, both from a personal as well as an organizational perspective. It defines social networking and discusses how social networking exemplifies the capabilities of the Internet's development, collaboration and publishing technologies in the development of Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and other sites that are at the epicenter of social networking today. The paper contains tables and figures.
Table of Contents:
Executive Summary
Putting Social Networking into Context
Benefits of Social Networking
Assessing the Limitations of Social Networking
Ethical Issues of Social Networking
Summary
From the Paper "Instead of fighting and resisting the major change that social networking brings to communicating, collaborating, sharing and learning, organizations must throw off their preconceptions and pilot these technologies. The life forces in any organization aren't physical assets, its knowledge and the ability to learn as an organization. Social networking is the catalyst, the nurturing agent of this change. Its effects permeate and can improve communications skills between individuals and departments, organizations and even divisions scattered across the globe. To ignore the growth of social networking and its potential contributions to personal, professional and organizational goal attainment is to become myopic and miss the opportunity to be transformed by greater insight and knowledge shared with and gained from others."
Comparative essay of each of the main characters in the stories "Shiloh", "A&P", and "A Rose for Emily". Looks at how the characters confront their freedoms and their limitations.
900 words (approx. 3.6 pages), 3 sources, 2002, $ 35.95
Abstract Norma Jean confronts her mother directly as the story develops. Sammy in A&P confronts his limits as a young man. A Rose For Emily, is a tale of achieved freedom, but at a cost much different than that of Sammy or of Norma Jean. The stories build up to a gruesome revelation after Miss Emily's funeral.
Analyses the Reagan foreign policy, and how it consistently confronted the Soviet Union in ways that forced it to spend huge amounts of money on defense. Makes the argument that this is the main reason that the Soviet Union collapsed.
Abstract This paper highlights the portions of Ronald Reagan's foreign policy that confronted the Soviet Union in ways that forced the United States to spend large amounts of money. The foreign policy issues that are examined include Afghanistan, The Iran-Contra Affair, Reagan's support of Eastern-European Dissidents and Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, (also known as "Star Wars"). Afghanistan is heavily analyzed, with a breakdown of significant historical points, such as the introduction of the US-made Stinger missile, which stripped the USSR of air superiority. The Iran-Contra affair is included as a way to demonstrate Reagan's willingness to confront communism everywhere. This was a marked policy shift from Jimmy Carter and caught the USSR off guard. The Strategic Defense Initiative is analyzed and is linked to an increased amount of money being spent by the USSR on research and development. The support of dissidents by Reagan is looked at as well, with the conclusion that with relatively little amounts of effort, Reagan's foreign policy fomented large amounts of political opposition to the Soviet Union in Eastern European satellite countries. This caused the Soviet Union to spend money combating this problem as well, with their spy apparatus. Definitive numbers are given that explain just how much the Soviet Union spending increased while Reagan was in office.
From the Paper "In the 1980's, a swirling of events converged to form a perfect storm that met the conditions for bringing down what Ronald Reagan termed the "evil empire." The first incident was that Old School communists in the Politburo sought to make an impression in Central Asia, but found stalwart resistance in The Gipper. Second, Reagan's abrupt shift from Carter's lax foreign policy took the Soviets by surprise, with the new administration's desire to challenge communism on every front possible; out of this desire came the ill-fated support of the contras, along with the hugely successful backing of Eastern European dissidents, namely the Solidarity movement in Eastern Europe. The third event in Reagan's foreign policy shift that took the world by surprise was the administration's renunciation of the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction; Reagan took the steps of beginning a Ballistic Missile Defense program, which he coined the Strategic Defense Initiative. The Soviets, with few options of recourse, were forced to make concessions that led to the implosion of the "evil empire" shortly afterward. Thus, by applying a policy of confrontation of spreading Communism, bleeding the Soviets in Afghanistan by supporting the mujahideen, and abruptly announcing a paradigm shift in American foreign policy with the Strategic Defense Initiative, Ronald Reagan certainly hastened, if not caused the downfall of the USSR."
Abstract This paper examines Hernand Cortes' confrontation in what is now called Mexico. It discusses the historical background to the confrontation and Cortes' aims and goals in the area. It looks specifically at the religious, political and economic goals related to the expedition to Mexico. The paper then looks at how the approach taken by the Spanish tried to be different than the one envisaged by the Portuguese in their expeditionary attempts.
From the Paper "There are different things the Spanish tried to achieve by conquering what is now Mexico. There were religious aims, political ones, and also economic goals related to the expedition to Mexico. However, the approach taken by the Spanish tried to be different than the one envisaged by the Portuguese in their expeditionary attempts. Unlike the Portuguese, Spain's main goal was to establish an entity based precisely on their own beliefs and customs thus create a new society. The Portuguese on the other hand, limited their action to the mere exploitation of the territories they discovered."
Abstract This paper reviews the book, "Criminal Justice: Confronting the Prison Crisis", by Elihu Rosenbalt; which is a collection of research done on the American prison system and the issue of abuse within it. The paper begins with a synopsis of the book's structure. The paper focuses on two articles in particular, "The Labor of Doing Time" by Julie Browne and "Gardens of the Law: The Role of Prisons in the Capitalist Society" by Joel Olsen. It summarizes and assesses the opinions of these two writers on the American prison system.
From the Paper "Two articles that caught my attention are written by Julie Browne and Joel Olson, entitled, "The Labor of Doing Time" and ?Gardens of the Law: The Role of Prisons in the Capitalist Society,? respectively. The piece by Julie Browne discussed the history of forced labor among convicts in prisons, and Browne provides historical and critical analyses of the said issue, citing different instances in history where human rights of the prisoners were violated, and where they are constantly exposed to abuse and poverty. Browne's article focused on the issues of inequality, economic profit to capitalist companies/businesses, and injustice to prisoners in US prison systems. Browne introduced us readers to the terms "convict leasing" and ?chain gangs,? terms that resulted from the Convict Lease System that was founded and implemented during the 19th century. Under this kind of system, companies team-up with prison administration on a business venture, with the arrangement that the former would provide greater funding for that particular prison, while the latter will provide the workers that will be needed for the production and manufacturing of the company's products or goods."
