Up until this year I have never really expanded my interest in social networking sites, but have been pleasantly surprised at how non-cliche and mindless I had once thought them to be. It's facisnating to see how innovative people have become in finding ways to hit you with any news or information in the fastest and most compact way possible, especially how vital it can in times of urgency. Twitter allows instant alerts coming from multiple sources all at once. You can always find someone who is wondering or knows what you are thinking and discover more about the subject in depth. Thankfully for Iran in it's current time of war,  twitter has become an overwhelmingly crucial source of warnings, secret tatics, and survial skills for it's people.

Fraud swept Iran in their recent election, when “Against expectations from pollsters and pundits alike, Ahmadinejad did surprisingly well in urban areas, including Tehran -- where he is thought to be highly unpopular -- and even Tabriz, the capital city of opposition candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi's native East Azarbaijan province.” Iranians are in total shambles over this staged election and president elect, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not only killing their way of government, but literally murdering it's society. Authority is stealing the people's right to communicate by cutting off phone lines and filtering the internet throughout the whole country. Protesters are enraged by their loss of freedom and the fact that their once theocracy has turned into almost the complete opposite.(theo-craaazy! no?)  Tim O'reily tweets, "Iran will turn into Egypt,"--meaning a regime in which guns, rather than ideas, hold things together behind a façade of politics."

Twitter has been so helpful to the protestors because they have found a way around the system; confusing the government by using tweets since depending on their location their IP adresses are never the same, disabling the government from tracing them. Twitter users report where there are protests going on, information on number of deaths and warnings about police tracking high cell phone use to find internet users. Razzmichi warns his peers through twitter with, “Rumour they are tracking high use of phone lines to find internet users - must move from here now -"

Twitter has definitely provided Iran with more education on their current situation than many of the top news sites. CNN has gained an unfavorable reputation for their lack of coverage on this election and CNNfail.com shows just how much people rank on how illigitamate the so called "go-to" news sites can be." In the case of Iran’s election, Twitter once again served as the lifeline to news and information for a monumental and historical event." - Islamics can site news websites like CnnFail.com with quotes from Islamic leaders, as well as post videos and pictures to spread awareness about the status of their country. The use of hashtags, a.k.a. this thing # in front of a word, a immediate search of every tweet related to the subject. Iranians can find shelter and safety through a few mere key words.

Iranians tweet about Freegate, an anti-censorship website where Iranians can post things with secure and fast Internet access. There is a huge demand for these sites and recently Freegate posted, "We tried to make our service available to Iran users in this special time. But after our Iran traffic reached historical 340 million hits on June 21, traffic grow further. We do not have the resource to handle such load. "The significance of the internet is clear in the numbers. 

Thanks to networking sites like twitter one can feel cool and intellectual by telling peeps they are essentially becoming a journalist of the future.

Who are the publishers of the future?

A huge controversy over the past decade or so has been over the piracy of file sharing and the legality involved. There are pros and cons either way, but the pros are proving to outweigh all the rest. Tim O'Reily defines piracy as comparable to shoplifting, because that is the action being performed...robbery of the artist. Is it robbery though if it's ultimately building a fan base through mass exposure? Progressive taxation is in other words artists getting screwed and not getting paid but still are letting people access their work in hopes of gaining their money back through fan loyalty. Tim say's "obscurity is a far greater threat to authors and creative artists than piracy." Without taking a risk, there is a loss of business.

As the use of technology devices and internet services find new ways of selling products, books in this case, are dwindling in the number of hard-copies, or printed documents sold in retail stores. In addition to the slim chance you even get whatever you are selling into the store, it's likely it won't be on shelves for a substantial amount of time anyway. If the store's inventory says the product is in stock, and it gets shoplifted, it may take months or forever even for them to even notice its gone and order a new one. That's where the phenomenon of online publishing comes in. It will never go away because no matter what the medium, buyers of all sorts (customers, retailers, wholesalers) depend on the publishers and vice versa.

According to Tim's argument, sites like Amazon.com are keeping books alive that otherwise would have no outlet at all and can be bought. Authors feel lucky if their publishers give them the rights to make their work accessible free of charge, simply because of the exposure. Because the internet allows for such advanced searches on just about anything, people are able to find rare material that is not available in stores. By discovering this hard-to-find product, artists get to showcase their skills and up their reputation leading to increased sales. Many artists can agree with Michael Moore's recent statement at a press conference, " I make these books, movies, and TV shows because I want things to change and so the more people who get to see them the better. So I'm happy that that happens. Should I not be?"

Record companies can answer a big fat no to that question. Like authors with their books, the music industry self-proclaims itself as soon to be dead because of lack of record sales. According to CNET "Labels point to unauthorized CD copying as one of the most powerful trends, along with Internet file sharing through services such as Kazaa or Morpheous, that is undermining the music industry's core business." Recently these record labels have been pushing to make all CDs unable to be burnt. This has sprouted a legal issue because of the law known as the Audio Home Recording Act. It states the "key purpose of (the legislation) is to ensure the right of consumers to make analog and digital recordings of copyrighted music for private, noncommercial use."

I can understand record labels and publisher's frustration when it comes to file-sharing because obviously they are initially going to think they are losing money. I agree with Tim's belief that in the long run mass exposure equals mass revenue. In a way I feel like that's why consequences for piracy aren't harsh at all. Deep down the facts are there to prove that people will buy things that offer the best over free things that are only ok. Why have only what's available, when you can have anything and everything for a small monthly fee? People's behaviors won't change, business survival won't either, and eventually the two will live in harmony. Until then, I know borrowing a CD or book from someone isn't robbing squat, but rather educating myself about something that may be an interest of mine in the future.

Myspace is a social- networking site with lots of positive and negative effects on the way people communicate.  It was created in 2003 and in June 2006 it was the most popular social-networking site in the U.S.  The headquarters are in Beverly Hills and Myspace’s popularity continues to thrive. Musicians, clothing companies, businesses and individuals all use Myspace as a way to view pictures, read and post blogs, network with each other and so much more. There are many legal, personal, and privacy issues involved with Myspace branching from stalkers to catty gossip between friends.  Although many controversies have evolved from Myspace profiles, the service is reshaping the way people market and promote their businesses and projects.  According to the New York Times, “Myspace’s initial popularity came not from word-of-mouth as it is often assumed, but from an intense email campaign.” Thousands of emails were sent out after the creation of the site in order to gain users. The New York Times also touches base on the idea that “Myspace is more of a marketing tool than a social-networking site.”

            I have discovered most of the music I listen to by searching and viewing band’s profiles on Myspace. Also I have found communities where I have met people with similar interests to myself. Myspace is the original online communication tool for people to get in touch with friends while looking at cool pictures, graphics, videos, and listen to good tunes all at once.  There are clubs and events that I would have never known existed if not for Myspace.

            Although Myspace has lots of benefits to improve the quality of life, there are still lots of negative issues surrounding the site. MSNBC has reported, “Social-networking sites like Myspace are turning out to be hotbeds for spyware.”   Phishing is also related to the privacy of people’s accounts too. It’s when hackers steal passwords and information from users by tricking them into giving personal information out. A lot of schools have also banned sites like Myspace and Facebook for security reasons. Many cases of stalking and sexual predators have been reported from unsecured profiles of people.

            For this reason I chose to create a blank account strictly for the purpose of looking at pictures and profiles and not so much the display of my own life and interests.  It freaks me out having all internet friends that I have never met. I believe in real-life pals because physical connection I feel is much more genuine. The flakey people who lie about their age and where they are from are creepy too. You can’t trust anyone these days and the internet can be a scary place because of the lack of security on websites.

            Myspace has changed the music industry as well as the way people contact each other. New sites are being created all the time that are based off of this idea of friend adding and networking. Myspace will continue to change communication for society as well as be a great source of entertainment.