Social networking - friend or foe?

Nine out of ten people want specific guidelines for the media on the use of personal information published online.
According to the study carried out by the Press Complaints Commission, 89% of those questioned believe clear regulations were necessary and would help them more easily seek redress if material is wrong or intrusive.
Concerns about the amount of [...]

Employers banning Facebook…again

You would think IT managers would know better.
Well, at least I would think that.
But, according to IT Week, a new survey of IT managers shows a majority in favour of banning Facebook and other social networking sites in the workplace.
I can well imagine situations where personal use of computer systems is a bit iffy - [...]

Why is IT such a bogeyman?

I subscribe to various e-newsletters supplied by The Birmingham Post, including the E-Business News.
A regular client also provides a daily email bulletin on all things IT-related and as a confirmed news junkie I look forward to both dropping into my inbox.
They help point me in different directions and in the case of the client’s bulletin to [...]

Do you and me need another social networking site?

Another social networking site goes live on April 14 with ambitions to become the largest in the UK.
Youmeo.com is being developed out of the Coventry-based PPLparty site set up by 19 year-old Calum Brannan and aims to prove to companies and large organisations that social networking can be their friend too.
The new site is looking to challenge [...]

AOL buys Bebo, so who’s next?

If business in general and large companies and organisations in particular needed any further indication of where the future major growth lies then they should look no further than AOL’s decision to buy Bebo for £417m ($850).
The social networking site was bought in a cash deal and one stark statistic explains the reason - Bebo [...]

Freedom of speech denied in the not so civil service

Large public and private sector organisations have continually got their knickers in a twist in recent years over the rise of the blogging and social networking.
Whether it is banning personal internet use during working hours, or sacking employees who set up critical (and not so critical) blogs or websites, they have been running scared of such [...]

MP calls for Facebook lessons

Schools should set aside time each week to give pupils lessons on the responsible use of Facebook, other social networking sites and the internet in general.
That is the view of Madeleine Moon, the MP for Bridgend who was so quick to indulge in some bandwagon jumping when news first started to break about a number of [...]

Web 2.0’s influence on higher education

Higher education is finally attempting to come to terms with technology.
In much the same way as some forms of media - newspapers in particular - have viewed Web 2.0 with deep suspicion rather than a source of new opportunities, higher education has focused more on the negatives than the positives in recent years.
Now the use of social [...]

Media fuelling teenage suicides

News of the 17th suspected suicide in South Wales has been quickly followed by a plea for the media to adopt a more measured approach to the story.
Both the Assistant Chief Constable of South Wales Police, Dave Morris, and the parents of one of the teenagers who took his own life believe the glare of the [...]