I came across an article in Cosmo Girl that grabbed my attention right away. With all the talk of CMC and how popular it has become its not hard to find articles informing people and sharing stories. Usually, like most news the articles I find, they are to warn people and make them aware of the dangers of CMC and how to be more cautious.
The article I recently read in Cosmo Girl, "I got scammed on Crigslist," was a good article about research and trust. It was about a girl who received and internship in London and posted a seeking house ad on Craigslist. She was thrilled when a girl named Jolleen responded to her ad and was accepting of her budget. She kept in touch with Jolleen after seeing photos of her and the apartment and sent a down payment to her. She thought they had become friends and she trusted her. She trusted her enough that when Jolleen said she had someone else interested in living with her who could pay upfront that she wired her the rest of the money to hold her spot. Then a friend of the girl saw Jolleen's photos and showed her a Craigslist ad for an apartment in Spain that had Jolleens picture and same apartment.
She had been scammed. She thought she could trust Jolleen. Here she searched Jolleen on Google and was able to find out that she was a fraud. She should have done this prior to sending the money. This just goes to show that you never know how much you can trust someone through an online relationship. It is good that they place these articles in magazines because as CMC is growing I believe it is important for people to know that things like being scammed really do happen. It was funny to me too that all the girl had to do was search Jolleen on Google and she was able to find out different things about her. That also shows that privacy can be a very big deal with CMC. Try googling someone, anyone and you could probably find out something about them.
Everything worked out for the girl in the end, however they haven't found Jolleen and her money has not been recovered. I don't think it would ever be same to send someone money without meeting them in person. Also in their case because it was a housing arrangment there should have been a contract agreement.
Like I said earlier, it is easy to find the bad in CMC because it is the bad that people like to read about. I do not believe that all CMC is bad. It is just a matter of being smart and cautious.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Fatal Desire
Recently I watched a Lifetime original movie, Fatal Desire. A movie based on true story. This movie is about a divorced ex-cop who meets a young, married woman in an online chat room, and they begin a love affair. As his new girlfriend convinces him that she is trapped in a dangerous and physically abusive marriage, She ends up going to see him a couple of times to make him trust her and then lies bout being pregnant with his child. He goes to great lengths to protect her from her violent husband. After he commits murder, he is shocked to learn that the woman of his dreams is not at all who she seems to be.
The woman lies about her life, the baby and her identity, she used him to kill her husband so he would be out of her way to do what she pleases. When he finds this out, after she stops responding to his e-mails, and he finds her, he commits suicide. At the end of the movie there was an epilogue that said the lady in question is now serving a life sentence for conspiracy to commit murder in a state prison.
As we discussed in class online relationships can have problems. For the ex-cop, he reached every one of the 10 stages of an online relationship even trying to make it work. However, he was falling for someone who wasn't real. This is a great example of why meeting people online can be and issue. There is no way to decide if they are telling the truth.
This also brings up another topic we briefly discussed in class. Although she physically did cheat on her husband in the movie, their relationship started off innocently in a chat room. This is how many relationships start. So is that considered cheating or having an affair? I think that people who engage in online chats believe what they are doing isn't necessarily wrong because they're not having any physical contact with the other person. They also may use the excuse that these online affairs harmlessly fulfill a need which is not being met by their off-line relationships. I have heard of emotional affairs. I think that becoming close and personal with someone online would be considered an emotional affair.
I was sad to see that this movie is based on a true story because it proves that things like this can happen and affairs do occur. This shows how innocent communication on line could lead to harmful and inappropriate affairs.
The woman lies about her life, the baby and her identity, she used him to kill her husband so he would be out of her way to do what she pleases. When he finds this out, after she stops responding to his e-mails, and he finds her, he commits suicide. At the end of the movie there was an epilogue that said the lady in question is now serving a life sentence for conspiracy to commit murder in a state prison.
As we discussed in class online relationships can have problems. For the ex-cop, he reached every one of the 10 stages of an online relationship even trying to make it work. However, he was falling for someone who wasn't real. This is a great example of why meeting people online can be and issue. There is no way to decide if they are telling the truth.
This also brings up another topic we briefly discussed in class. Although she physically did cheat on her husband in the movie, their relationship started off innocently in a chat room. This is how many relationships start. So is that considered cheating or having an affair? I think that people who engage in online chats believe what they are doing isn't necessarily wrong because they're not having any physical contact with the other person. They also may use the excuse that these online affairs harmlessly fulfill a need which is not being met by their off-line relationships. I have heard of emotional affairs. I think that becoming close and personal with someone online would be considered an emotional affair.
I was sad to see that this movie is based on a true story because it proves that things like this can happen and affairs do occur. This shows how innocent communication on line could lead to harmful and inappropriate affairs.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Plastered Pictures
I came across an article in glamour magazine, Totally Wasted and Proud of It. The article seemed very interesting. As I skimmed through the article I noticed the pictures that apparently these young women were putting on Facebook. In my communications class we have been discussing CMC and Facebook is a huge topic because it has become a means of communication for many people. We have also discussed in class how people use the internet for right and wrong reasons. Also we tried to decide how much information is too much for others to view, on these social network sites.
My attention was immediately drawn to the pictures of young women lying on the floor, passed out, and in the bathroom. What were these women thinking when they posted these pictures on Facebook? The women were contacted to explain their reasons behind the posting of the pictures. One girl commented that she wanted her friend to take a picture so she could remember how stupid she was for drinking too much. Another girl was just taken advantage of and her picture was posted on Facebook. These women think these pictures are obviously not a big deal because they have a problem with drinking. Many people may view photos like I am describing on Facebook. Sometimes they can be disturbing and inappropriate. Yet viewers are able to see these pictures and the feel better about themselves because they feel more normal.
This makes me believe that there has to be some restriction to what can and is posted on networks like Facebook. I think that those pictures share too much information. They are nothing to boast about and yet these women laugh at them and viewers comment things like, “Haha, cute picture.” This may make people believe that doing things like drinking until you pass out are ok, that is funny and people will laugh. Women like this are using the Internet in the wrong way trying to gain instant Internet notoriety. Is it really ok to do that? Also is it ok to view these pictures just to see others being outrageous because it makes the viewer feel more normal?
My attention was immediately drawn to the pictures of young women lying on the floor, passed out, and in the bathroom. What were these women thinking when they posted these pictures on Facebook? The women were contacted to explain their reasons behind the posting of the pictures. One girl commented that she wanted her friend to take a picture so she could remember how stupid she was for drinking too much. Another girl was just taken advantage of and her picture was posted on Facebook. These women think these pictures are obviously not a big deal because they have a problem with drinking. Many people may view photos like I am describing on Facebook. Sometimes they can be disturbing and inappropriate. Yet viewers are able to see these pictures and the feel better about themselves because they feel more normal.
This makes me believe that there has to be some restriction to what can and is posted on networks like Facebook. I think that those pictures share too much information. They are nothing to boast about and yet these women laugh at them and viewers comment things like, “Haha, cute picture.” This may make people believe that doing things like drinking until you pass out are ok, that is funny and people will laugh. Women like this are using the Internet in the wrong way trying to gain instant Internet notoriety. Is it really ok to do that? Also is it ok to view these pictures just to see others being outrageous because it makes the viewer feel more normal?
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