As the date is approaching, one needs to start reading. I googled scholar a bit, and found my topic things:
1) Learning by Sharing by Thomas J.P. Thijssen, Rik Maes, and Fons T.J. Vernooij (Amsterdam Institute for Infopreneurship & University of Amsterdam) [Read the description]
2) Bias Learning, Knowledge Sharing - this article was not exactly what I was looking for.
4) Learning by Sharing - this doesn't suit my expectations. A Google book preview, an old research about intergenerational approach.
27.10.09
The fifth read: The future of education - I found some good videos.
I will count this post together with the unfinished book of Introduction to Digital Media as the fifth read. I find the videos very educative, and thought that I should use them as sources as well.
Here Michael J. Trout tells about the future of Education.
Mr. Trout wants to change education radically. He's found a chance what would help doing it. Education Singularity - in the near future one organization is going to make education accessible worldwide regardless of the time, location. He hopes that he would be able to start the concept. Watch, listen and touch - you'll be able to learn everything.
A sweet little video about the students' opinion of learning. I agree with the computer part, it is a nuisance in the lectures, yet you will need it in the end. Lots of important information is hidden in the internet.
Alvin Tofler on the current situation of education:
Alvin Toffler is talking about the history of public education, when in the 1800s the poor needed to work and could not study because of that. Only wealthy people could afford school. Those educated people needed industrial discipline (show up in time and do the work all over again). Because of that the schools were designed which simulated factories. You have to be in school at a fixed time. Schoolbus-system prepares the pupils to commute to work. We do not need that anymore, because people work from home and in odd hours.
He thinks that the entire system is obsolete. According to Toffler, the system is prepared for yesterday, not tomorrow. Bill Gates has said: "We cannot reform our education system, we must replace it." It would be dangerous for the workers in terms of losing jobs.
There are going to be battles about education in different countries until the system is broken and replaced.
All the videos originate from the Ning-based webpage The Future of Education
Digital Ethnography blog is also a worthy read :)
Here Michael J. Trout tells about the future of Education.
Mr. Trout wants to change education radically. He's found a chance what would help doing it. Education Singularity - in the near future one organization is going to make education accessible worldwide regardless of the time, location. He hopes that he would be able to start the concept. Watch, listen and touch - you'll be able to learn everything.
A sweet little video about the students' opinion of learning. I agree with the computer part, it is a nuisance in the lectures, yet you will need it in the end. Lots of important information is hidden in the internet.
Alvin Tofler on the current situation of education:
Alvin Toffler is talking about the history of public education, when in the 1800s the poor needed to work and could not study because of that. Only wealthy people could afford school. Those educated people needed industrial discipline (show up in time and do the work all over again). Because of that the schools were designed which simulated factories. You have to be in school at a fixed time. Schoolbus-system prepares the pupils to commute to work. We do not need that anymore, because people work from home and in odd hours.
He thinks that the entire system is obsolete. According to Toffler, the system is prepared for yesterday, not tomorrow. Bill Gates has said: "We cannot reform our education system, we must replace it." It would be dangerous for the workers in terms of losing jobs.
There are going to be battles about education in different countries until the system is broken and replaced.
All the videos originate from the Ning-based webpage The Future of Education
Digital Ethnography blog is also a worthy read :)
19.10.09
Ethics and Law in New Media, week four.
Investigate and describe (in your blog) an illustrative case of digital divide in your country.
In Estonia digital divide is found mostly between elderly and younger people.
While surfing the Internet in hopes of finding data about digital divide, I found the following document: "Digital Divide in Estonia and How to Bridge It."
According to that document in 2002 58% of Estonian population is non-users. They may know the benefits of computers, but are disturbed with lack of motivation or skills. Half of non-users are not aware of the benefits of the Internet. Those willing to use the Internet are open-minded and can manage technological difficulties. The other people who cannot or will not use the Internet are either retired people, "passive people", and "blue collar" individuals. Retired people mostly have not got in contact with computers and thus lack user knowledge and are not aware or do not want to understand the benefits of the Internet and computers.
"Passive people" see no benefits from using a computer, they do not have the need to use it, they are against technology and prefer to use traditional media. They have little interest outside their daily life. They are in trouble handling the user interfaces and computers in general.
"Blue Collars" are mainly workers who do not use computers in their work. About a half of the group has the same characteristics as the previous group, with the exception that personal monetary gain would attract them to the Interent. This group is characterised by psychological, monetary and technical barriers.
In 2002 there were an estimated 176,000 retired people in Estonia who belong to the
“Passive People” group; “Blue Collars“ include 151,000 workers plus 42,000 medium-level specialists and client service personnel. To most of these people lack of motivation is the main reason not to use the Internet.
I think nowadays the situation has not changed much. In my workplace there are around 60 workers all of whom have to use a computer one way or another. There are at least 5 people aged 40-60 who are not willing to use a computer outside work, they fill in e-Kool only. One of these people does not even fill in e-Kool, she has delegated her rights to another person. Another example is a person with principles, she is over 40, she fills in e-Kool, but does other things manually. As everyone does not hand the reports anymore since parents can see their childrens' marks from e-Kool, she still fills in report cards for pupils. I would say that 2/3 of workers in my workplace are active Internet users either for finding materials, browsing through their documentation, etc.
Analyse and describe (in your blog) Internet availability in your country. How big is the availability difference for urban and rural regions? Do you consider this a problem?
I think that in our country the internet coverage is almost everywhere. Visitestonia says that nearly 100% of our capital city is covered with wifi. Internet World Stats suggests that out of almost 1400000 people 760000, or 57% of population are active Internet users. ICT Statistics Newslog provides us with the fact that Estonian Government expects 90% of the country to have access to 100 Mbps network by the year 2012.
According to Estonian Informatics Centre, a year 2008 initiative KülaTee3 has managed to get providers of connectivity for low-density population areas in every county.
The abovementioned statistics show that there should be no problem connecting to the Internet, but perhaps these two topics - digital divide and Internet availability are in connection? Nowadays the Internet expenses should not be a problem to many households. I think that the economical situation in Estonia has perhaps increased the number of households without the Internet, but there are other places where a person can access the Internet, like libraries, wifi networks in different places, etc. I do not consider internet access a problem, but I think the problem lies in those people's minds who do not want to use it.
For Estonians: compare the current situation in Estonia to the four scenarios of "Estonia 2010". Which one is the closest to the reality?
The four scenarios of "Estonia 2010" are the following:
I would say that innovation is the key word of Estonia's future. I will try to comment on these scenarios from my own perspective. The fist situation is impossible, because our troops would never achieve the size they are in the "angry little country". Technologically other big countries are way ahead of us, and I would never believe Estonia would start inventing a nuclear weapon-like monster. What concerns the second scheme, I think that Estonia has a fear for Russia and with nearly 26% of Russian population (CIA World Factbook) we just cannot break apart from Russian influence. Still, being closest to reality, I believe this could be mixed with Grand Slam and get the current situation with Estonia striving for innovative outcomes to save the current economic situation and somehow raise its position in the world perspective. The ferryman scenario would be excluded, because to my mind Estonia cannot be only a transit country.
How important do you deem the social cohesiveness (or caring) in reaching ubicomp?
I think that caring as a notion is still a high value. It is important, even in ubicomp.
In Estonia digital divide is found mostly between elderly and younger people.
While surfing the Internet in hopes of finding data about digital divide, I found the following document: "Digital Divide in Estonia and How to Bridge It."
According to that document in 2002 58% of Estonian population is non-users. They may know the benefits of computers, but are disturbed with lack of motivation or skills. Half of non-users are not aware of the benefits of the Internet. Those willing to use the Internet are open-minded and can manage technological difficulties. The other people who cannot or will not use the Internet are either retired people, "passive people", and "blue collar" individuals. Retired people mostly have not got in contact with computers and thus lack user knowledge and are not aware or do not want to understand the benefits of the Internet and computers.
"Passive people" see no benefits from using a computer, they do not have the need to use it, they are against technology and prefer to use traditional media. They have little interest outside their daily life. They are in trouble handling the user interfaces and computers in general.
"Blue Collars" are mainly workers who do not use computers in their work. About a half of the group has the same characteristics as the previous group, with the exception that personal monetary gain would attract them to the Interent. This group is characterised by psychological, monetary and technical barriers.
In 2002 there were an estimated 176,000 retired people in Estonia who belong to the
“Passive People” group; “Blue Collars“ include 151,000 workers plus 42,000 medium-level specialists and client service personnel. To most of these people lack of motivation is the main reason not to use the Internet.
I think nowadays the situation has not changed much. In my workplace there are around 60 workers all of whom have to use a computer one way or another. There are at least 5 people aged 40-60 who are not willing to use a computer outside work, they fill in e-Kool only. One of these people does not even fill in e-Kool, she has delegated her rights to another person. Another example is a person with principles, she is over 40, she fills in e-Kool, but does other things manually. As everyone does not hand the reports anymore since parents can see their childrens' marks from e-Kool, she still fills in report cards for pupils. I would say that 2/3 of workers in my workplace are active Internet users either for finding materials, browsing through their documentation, etc.
Analyse and describe (in your blog) Internet availability in your country. How big is the availability difference for urban and rural regions? Do you consider this a problem?
I think that in our country the internet coverage is almost everywhere. Visitestonia says that nearly 100% of our capital city is covered with wifi. Internet World Stats suggests that out of almost 1400000 people 760000, or 57% of population are active Internet users. ICT Statistics Newslog provides us with the fact that Estonian Government expects 90% of the country to have access to 100 Mbps network by the year 2012.
According to Estonian Informatics Centre, a year 2008 initiative KülaTee3 has managed to get providers of connectivity for low-density population areas in every county.
The abovementioned statistics show that there should be no problem connecting to the Internet, but perhaps these two topics - digital divide and Internet availability are in connection? Nowadays the Internet expenses should not be a problem to many households. I think that the economical situation in Estonia has perhaps increased the number of households without the Internet, but there are other places where a person can access the Internet, like libraries, wifi networks in different places, etc. I do not consider internet access a problem, but I think the problem lies in those people's minds who do not want to use it.
For Estonians: compare the current situation in Estonia to the four scenarios of "Estonia 2010". Which one is the closest to the reality?
The four scenarios of "Estonia 2010" are the following:
- "Militaristic information oasis"
- "South Finland"
- "The Ferryman"
- "Grand Slam"
I would say that innovation is the key word of Estonia's future. I will try to comment on these scenarios from my own perspective. The fist situation is impossible, because our troops would never achieve the size they are in the "angry little country". Technologically other big countries are way ahead of us, and I would never believe Estonia would start inventing a nuclear weapon-like monster. What concerns the second scheme, I think that Estonia has a fear for Russia and with nearly 26% of Russian population (CIA World Factbook) we just cannot break apart from Russian influence. Still, being closest to reality, I believe this could be mixed with Grand Slam and get the current situation with Estonia striving for innovative outcomes to save the current economic situation and somehow raise its position in the world perspective. The ferryman scenario would be excluded, because to my mind Estonia cannot be only a transit country.
How important do you deem the social cohesiveness (or caring) in reaching ubicomp?
I think that caring as a notion is still a high value. It is important, even in ubicomp.
15.10.09
Ethics and Law in New Media, week three.
Read the "Inside Echelon" by Duncan Campbell. Write a blog opinion about the present situation of the system, what it is used for and how it can influence the global community. You can also draw a couple of hypothetical scenarios (what if...).
Duncan Campbell easily describes Echelon system's history and the current situation. Although, when reading the articles that date from 2000-s, I think it is old information and I need further research on the topic.
The systems now have been automatised and computers process information faster and more efficiently. During war time the system was used to detect possible threat to US, but nowadays it is probably concerned with economic spying.
Since I am not fully aware of the causes of 911, I do not understand how this kind of operation could not be foreseen with the help of Echelon. Was it done face-to-face, without any telephone-, internet-, telex-, and fax communication? There are certainly plenty of conspiracy theories, one of which being the US Government finding solutions to start a war in Iraq, which might be true due to such vast network of information available to the US. In further research I found a blog post on 9/11 and Echelon: Key Players Unearthed, where the author states that lots of big companies work with Echelon, but I did not get the answer for my question of how the actions before 9/11 could not be spotted. However, Campbell's article showed that government leaders and other significant people used the information for their interest, which might lead to the conspiracy theory I pointed out.
Going on from here, the article states that critical information is gathered only to monitor the people of interests, like political leaders and other activists, nowadays of international companies. First all the information, including unnecessary birthday greetings, were gathered, but as the system has automated search criteria, it chooses between the necessary and unnecessary information. Virtually all information of the world can be gathered, and it is monitored mainly by the United States of America and the United Kingdom as main controllers of such network. As we discussed in Introduction to New Media, people might be monitored via cameras on Google Street View, or just plain cameras in the streets; added with Echelon and similar information gathering networks there is virtually no privacy. Nowadays the information is used on spying international companies on new technologies so that America would remain the leader of world's technology, as I read from the article of US Economic spying. The article confirms that there is not much possibility in creating anything new for smaller countries, because ideas are being stolen and perhaps sold to bigger companies.
I think that such network of information processing is not an important threat to insignificant people. Probably for Estonia, as being the part of former Soviet Union, there is not much threat either, since the Soviet Union has disassembled and is not of such interest now as it was in war-time.
Write a blog description of an Internet fraud (scam) scheme.
A simple fact, that it is not allowed to ask 100% of money before having sold the good(s), is widely ignored in e-commerce in Estonia.
A famous scam in Estonia in 2007 was initiated by Mari Aid, and Sulev Kits, members of the executive board of Trendshop OÜ which was owner of the portal Tsiigu.ee. First, people were tricked into buying very cheap things from Tsiigu e-shop, and the first customers really got their goods and gave good reviews on the shop. When time moved on, the scam began to work - 100% of money was taken beforehand and no goods were given to customers. As the customers became troubled, they discussed the matter in different forums like Perekool, Buduaar, Osta.ee etc, where Aid also sold her goods, and found similar victims. They turned to police.
Being in debt, the website was closed, as you can still see, but Mari Aid had the blatancy to open a shop in Viljandi, and continue selling the non-existent goods to mothers. Finally, in 2009, she was accused of cheating the amount of 283 644 kroons from more than 130 people. On Oct. 2, she finally got a sentence, but she still denied scam.
References:
http://uudised.err.ee/index.php?06130943
http://www.tarbija24.ee/281207/esileht/olulised_teemad/tarbija24/kasu/303516.php
http://www.tarbijakaitse.ee/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=5115&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
http://www.tarbija24.ee/?id=127535
http://www.nupsu.ee/index.php?menu=news&page=viewnews&item=21806
http://www.tarbija24.ee/?id=170748
Review the scambaiting websites mentioned above. Analyse them from an ethical point of view.
I remember getting a Nigerian "lottery-mail" once and getting interested in similar cases. I Googled (or at that time maybe AltaVistad) the mail and ended up in mugu-baiting web-page, which is similar to "What's the bloody point?" site. It was so amusing, I laughed till the late hour. In fact I think it was the very same site.
From an ethical point of view I think it is not ethical nor it is safe to try it at home. If I am not mistaken, there was a warning that the people they are dealing with are criminals and people should take caution in answering to those e-mails.
I think that it is unethical to send such e-mails to 'mugus' (I just started to like this word), because as seen from the example of a poor American Rupert Sessions, it is possible to get money from simple people. On the other hand, it is not ethical to start joking with these criminals. I think the wisest thing to do is to report to certain authorities who can continue dealing with such cases. The author of the website takes it too far, even getting some money out of the criminals themselves, which proves that some of them are not that wise as to understand that the author is taking the same measures out of them. But by insulting them in the end he is no wiser than the criminals. Anyway, it is a good laugh from both sites!
Duncan Campbell easily describes Echelon system's history and the current situation. Although, when reading the articles that date from 2000-s, I think it is old information and I need further research on the topic.
The systems now have been automatised and computers process information faster and more efficiently. During war time the system was used to detect possible threat to US, but nowadays it is probably concerned with economic spying.
Since I am not fully aware of the causes of 911, I do not understand how this kind of operation could not be foreseen with the help of Echelon. Was it done face-to-face, without any telephone-, internet-, telex-, and fax communication? There are certainly plenty of conspiracy theories, one of which being the US Government finding solutions to start a war in Iraq, which might be true due to such vast network of information available to the US. In further research I found a blog post on 9/11 and Echelon: Key Players Unearthed, where the author states that lots of big companies work with Echelon, but I did not get the answer for my question of how the actions before 9/11 could not be spotted. However, Campbell's article showed that government leaders and other significant people used the information for their interest, which might lead to the conspiracy theory I pointed out.
Going on from here, the article states that critical information is gathered only to monitor the people of interests, like political leaders and other activists, nowadays of international companies. First all the information, including unnecessary birthday greetings, were gathered, but as the system has automated search criteria, it chooses between the necessary and unnecessary information. Virtually all information of the world can be gathered, and it is monitored mainly by the United States of America and the United Kingdom as main controllers of such network. As we discussed in Introduction to New Media, people might be monitored via cameras on Google Street View, or just plain cameras in the streets; added with Echelon and similar information gathering networks there is virtually no privacy. Nowadays the information is used on spying international companies on new technologies so that America would remain the leader of world's technology, as I read from the article of US Economic spying. The article confirms that there is not much possibility in creating anything new for smaller countries, because ideas are being stolen and perhaps sold to bigger companies.
I think that such network of information processing is not an important threat to insignificant people. Probably for Estonia, as being the part of former Soviet Union, there is not much threat either, since the Soviet Union has disassembled and is not of such interest now as it was in war-time.
Write a blog description of an Internet fraud (scam) scheme.
A simple fact, that it is not allowed to ask 100% of money before having sold the good(s), is widely ignored in e-commerce in Estonia.
A famous scam in Estonia in 2007 was initiated by Mari Aid, and Sulev Kits, members of the executive board of Trendshop OÜ which was owner of the portal Tsiigu.ee. First, people were tricked into buying very cheap things from Tsiigu e-shop, and the first customers really got their goods and gave good reviews on the shop. When time moved on, the scam began to work - 100% of money was taken beforehand and no goods were given to customers. As the customers became troubled, they discussed the matter in different forums like Perekool, Buduaar, Osta.ee etc, where Aid also sold her goods, and found similar victims. They turned to police.
Being in debt, the website was closed, as you can still see, but Mari Aid had the blatancy to open a shop in Viljandi, and continue selling the non-existent goods to mothers. Finally, in 2009, she was accused of cheating the amount of 283 644 kroons from more than 130 people. On Oct. 2, she finally got a sentence, but she still denied scam.
References:
http://uudised.err.ee/index.php?06130943
http://www.tarbija24.ee/281207/esileht/olulised_teemad/tarbija24/kasu/303516.php
http://www.tarbijakaitse.ee/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=5115&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
http://www.tarbija24.ee/?id=127535
http://www.nupsu.ee/index.php?menu=news&page=viewnews&item=21806
http://www.tarbija24.ee/?id=170748
Review the scambaiting websites mentioned above. Analyse them from an ethical point of view.
I remember getting a Nigerian "lottery-mail" once and getting interested in similar cases. I Googled (or at that time maybe AltaVistad) the mail and ended up in mugu-baiting web-page, which is similar to "What's the bloody point?" site. It was so amusing, I laughed till the late hour. In fact I think it was the very same site.
From an ethical point of view I think it is not ethical nor it is safe to try it at home. If I am not mistaken, there was a warning that the people they are dealing with are criminals and people should take caution in answering to those e-mails.
I think that it is unethical to send such e-mails to 'mugus' (I just started to like this word), because as seen from the example of a poor American Rupert Sessions, it is possible to get money from simple people. On the other hand, it is not ethical to start joking with these criminals. I think the wisest thing to do is to report to certain authorities who can continue dealing with such cases. The author of the website takes it too far, even getting some money out of the criminals themselves, which proves that some of them are not that wise as to understand that the author is taking the same measures out of them. But by insulting them in the end he is no wiser than the criminals. Anyway, it is a good laugh from both sites!
11.10.09
Ethics and Law in New Media, week two.
This summary is not available. Please
click here to view the post.
8.10.09
Ethics and Law in New Media, week one.
Read Pekka Himanen's paper "Challenges to the Global Information Society" and write a blog review of Himanen's paper.
Himanen talks in his paper about the challenges that are going on in welfare society or in the information society. He describes the information society as creative and based on interaction, relying on innovation and collaboration. I think a lot of his predictions can be transferred to the current situation where desperate change is needed and new ideas are welcome.
His ideas on the one hand are true, because work is done faster, people need less time to do the jobs, but on the other hand he kind of draws a very illusionistic picture of the future. Almost prophetic.
I think most of his paper can be applied to current Estonian situation, where deaths exceed births, and there are more old age pensioneers and lots of workless people. The number of workless people is still growing. I also think this prophecy (although he did not mean it like this) would be of use in this very moment, because this is the time for changes to occur.
This article gave me hope that I am not the one insane person trying to turn my colleagues to using computers in order to create a more fruitful and amusing lesson (of course there are a few of them interested). I believe that the generation after us is experiencing or will experience the signs of Himanen's prophecy.
Moving on to Himanen's statement that new information society is caring, creative and supporting, I automatically thought if this could be possible with all the criminals and people "with lower status", some of them are irreparable from my point of view. Otherwise I am quite pro Himanen's claims. It would be really positive if there could be such a world. I am left with imagining butterflies and flowers from a commercial of new Fanta without artificial ingredients, only natural fruit juice!
His ideas on the one hand are true, because work is done faster, people need less time to do the jobs, but on the other hand he kind of draws a very illusionistic picture of the future. Almost prophetic.
I think most of his paper can be applied to current Estonian situation, where deaths exceed births, and there are more old age pensioneers and lots of workless people. The number of workless people is still growing. I also think this prophecy (although he did not mean it like this) would be of use in this very moment, because this is the time for changes to occur.
This article gave me hope that I am not the one insane person trying to turn my colleagues to using computers in order to create a more fruitful and amusing lesson (of course there are a few of them interested). I believe that the generation after us is experiencing or will experience the signs of Himanen's prophecy.
Moving on to Himanen's statement that new information society is caring, creative and supporting, I automatically thought if this could be possible with all the criminals and people "with lower status", some of them are irreparable from my point of view. Otherwise I am quite pro Himanen's claims. It would be really positive if there could be such a world. I am left with imagining butterflies and flowers from a commercial of new Fanta without artificial ingredients, only natural fruit juice!
Study Theobald's question of 'mind-quake', find a real-life example and describe it.
As I am a teacher, I am probably going to give examples from the field of education. I think a good example of Theobald's mindquake is probably a shift from the rigid school system towards e-learning. There are lots of inflexible teachers whose working habits are based on books only. The new generation, or as they say "digital natives" feel comfortable with computers, but there are still a lot of teachers who do not apply computers or any other digital equipment to learning. I think it is of utmost importance to have at least some knowledge of computers nowadays unless you do not want to stay behind from your students. You are more competitive with good computer knowledge than without any.
Another example popped into my mind, a bit comical, perhaps. In the Soviet times people used to use magazines after the toilet procedures since there was not much money to buy toilet paper, which nowadays would be impossible to be considered normal, I suppose.
Pick one of Handy's paradoxes, find a good real-life illustrative case and describe it.
The paradox of aging. It is extremely obvious that in today's rapidly changing world it is quite impossible to follow all the new trends and changes. Some people attempt to keep in pace with the changes, but to many of them it is impossible to keep track of changes.
I am going to give a simplistic, down-to-earth example, perhaps. Elderly people usually tend to teach how younger generations should raise their children. They neither remember their difficulties nor feel that much of it has changed. For example in olden times parents did not have nappies, and there were few washing machines. Babies were wrapped in blankets and they moved less than the babies of current mothers. The children of today grow with technology and handle it flawlessly, even better than their parents, and can teach them a lot about different gadgets. Lots of grown-ups still are afraid of computers, thus they prefer not to work with them. Even dating new people is different nowadays - the Internet is a powerful means for it, you may have long conversations and wrong impressions before really getting together.
Pick one of Castells' features of network society and write a short analysis.
The culture of true virtuality. We can take different forums as an example of the culture of true virtuality. People have nicknames and in real life those people prefer to be called by their nicknames rather than their real names. Usually it is easier to communicate "through your computer screen", because you can open up more easily with your "false identity" than in face-to-face conversations. On the other hand it is easier to disguise in virtual reality where 1/3 of communication is held. By 1/3 I mean the row of words to which only the recipient can give meaning. It does not include body language, voice or facial impressions, only words.
People with similar interests usually gather to similar forums, chat rooms, games, etc. They use specific language, which may not be understood by outsiders (e.g. parents, people with different interests). They are targeted by ads from companies that satisfy their specific needs. Google AdSense is pretty skilful in finding those ads.
Another growing phenomenon in Estonia is Facebook. Since Rate.ee and Orkut have exhausted their users, a lot of people are moving towards Facebook. It is a more dynamic, flexible, cross-communicative social networking platform where people can choose between different options to be amused, to get information and to pass information on to the others. There are different options to keep users "hooked on", and to "feed" them specific advertisements. From my example pupils really like to spend time in the above-mentioned social networks and communicate with their friends via different IM-providers.
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