Reflection of News story

Reference details:

Geoffrey Fowler, “Facebook defends Places”, The Wall Street Journal (August 23, 2010). http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/news/facebook-defends-places/story-e6frg90x-1225908791066 (accessed 1/10/2010).

Relevance:

This news report article could be important and useful in a research essay, as it focuses on the social network site facebook, and that things may have been taken too far, with the release of ‘places’ where people tag where they are. Social networking sites and privacy have been discussed extensively throughout the unit, so there is no doubt that it has relevance to the uni and would be useful to use as an example in an essay question. It is important because it is up to date, and provides insight into what is happening now, as technology moves very fast. Journal articles and books from 2008 would not be as relevant to the topic in comparison with this news report. The article provides new information on the release of the places application.

What:

The release of Places application for smart-phones, allowing people to share their location with facebook friends and tag friends in these updates. It consists of quotations from various people. Cameron Heibert (36 year old in Ohio) likes the Places application however believes that tagging friends in these places too is alarming, as he made up a fictional place that had negative connotations and tagged himself and his friends there. With Places the friend has the ability to remove tags though, but the privacy issue still remains. Ana Yang (Facebook Places product manager) says “If you have a friend that is tagging you in illicit places, you can tell them to stop, or you can de-friend that person, or block them entirely”, so she if shifting the power into the individuals hands, saying that they are also in control of being tagged. I agree with this statement to an extent, but some facebook users do not use facebook every day, and may be tagged in illicit places without their knowledge, and find out weeks later after everyone has seen it. Ray Lin (24 year old from New York City) said that he liked the idea of Places and how he can tell friends where he is without sending a text message. The article offers a range of views towards Facebook Places.

Issues:

The main issue discussed in the article is whether Places is taking facebook too far, and provides arguments for and against the application. I agree that Places is taking social networking too far in the sense that nobody needs to know where you are exactly. If someone wants to know where you are, you can contact them privately via phone calls or text messaging. I do think that the places concept can be used without using the application. People tend to say where they are if they want to i.e. (Elizabeth is at the Royal show) and people can still be tagged in the status. I don’t think the Places application is really that necessary.

Use in forming argument:

This article would be useful in a question about social networking sites, and can be used to support or go against an argument as it contains quotations from people with opposing views. I would use this article because it contains evidence and is commenting on a controversial issue. I would use this text to support an argument that social network sites offer no privacy however its one’s own decision what to reveal about themselves and who sees their actions.

Relationship to other references: I don’t have any other research material to compare with, however this text would most likely be an additional idea that could be discussed in an essay and contains similar issues that would be present in other texts about social networking sites such as privacy.

Critical Evaluation:

1. Character:

• Source Title- Facebook defends Places
• Type- news article
• Online- http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/news/facebook-defends-places/story-e6frg90x-1225908791066
• Primary/secondary- This is secondary source as it is an article and contains quotations from people however this would have been edited and constructed to convey certain ideas and issues.
• Edition / revision-As this is a news article is contains a sense of bias and is created to position the reader to respond in a certain way. The article is about how facebook is defending the launch of the Places application and the way that it is constructed and written creates this idea.
• Bibliography-There is no bibliography, because newspaper articles do not contain them
• Evidence- The information doesn’t seems to contain any theories, only providing brief information about Places and quotations from normal people, and people in positions of authority such as facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt, which was probably from a press conference. The information appears to be valid and reasonably researched as it contains quotations from people of authority and credibility.
• Writing style- this news article seems to have a passive voice and does not argue for or against anything in a significant way. Its main purpose is providing information on the launch and how privacy concerns have increased due to the Places application. It seems to present the facts and include opinions from two different views.
• Reliable- It is reliable as the quotations would be correct considering it is published in the international newspaper the Wall Street journal. It is presenting factual information and commenting on issues circulating in society. It shouldn’t be used as a primary source for research or focused on, however it can be used to provide additional information for an argument.

2. Currency:

• Date- August 23 , 2010
• Current-The article is current and provides insight into today’s society and an up to date view upon social networking sites and privacy.
• Location-The source is written for an American publication that is distributed internationally. Most research on social networking sites is from America anyway so it is relevant towards other research that could be used as well as the fact that Places has now been launched in Australia, so the same issues are circulating in our society.
• Links-the link works at this present moment, I am not sure whether it will remain that way, however the article was published in hardcopy so this would be easily found in most libraries.

3. Intention- why was it written and for whom

• Author- On this link, there is no preface, contents, index or information about the author, however if you visit: http://topics.wsj.com/person/f/geoffrey-fowler/1345 there is a brief description of Geoffrey Fowler and links to other articles he has written. The list of articles all are about technology and most focus on issues and debates revolving around facebook.
• Source-The source is addressing the Wall Street Journal audience as well as those interested in technology. I personally came across this article through the news website www.new.com.au so the source is not only addressing those who read the Wall Street Journal but a wider audience on the internet. The website does not seem to be advertising, it is presenting information and the quotations would be very useful in an essay question.

4. Authority

• Author- Geoffrey Fowler
• Credentials-Geoffrey Fowler is qualified to write this article, he joined the Wall Street Journal in 2001, so he has 10 years experience working for the newspaper. He has also had experience in writing for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
• Institution-The Wall Street Journal is an American newspaper that is read internationally, it is a successful and popular newspaper, covering corporate news, daily news, politics, business and economic news.
• Expertise- Geoffrey Fowler is a Reporter
• Reference-The article is definitely in the area of the authors expertise as he has written a lot of other articles on social networking sites which can be viewed on http://topics.wsj.com/person/f/geoffrey-fowler/1345

Notes:

Overall this article is very interesting and informative on the release of the Facebook Places application. It is not scholarly, and does not contain any theories that could be used as the central basis for an essay however it can be used as an extra piece of information to help support an argument. It is relevant to the course and relevant to our lives as well, so I do encourage you to have a read, as facebook users could be affected by this new technology.