Since the other topic this week involving hardware can't really be connected to an idea focused on social media, my post for this week will focus instead on identity theft. And like last week, with the great amount of personal info put into this idea keeping identities secure is more important than privacy. Most of the information or photos supplied won't focus on areas such as these, but any ones that can will need to be carefully monitored and controlled.
In the area focusing on spreading and exploring different ideas other people choose to contribute, any posts that request financial info such as PIN or SS numbers will be immediately be found and deleted. A word recognition software could be used to find these keywords such as "social security", "PIN", "or "ATM" to eliminate or prevent posts with these words from being used, or submit them for review to judge if they're an attempt to steal financial info or not. This would include direct attempts to ask, real or fake advertisements, or scams/tricks to get any vital info. For anyone adding posts, there would also be a reminder on the page where they write their post not to share any personal information.
For the profile page, despite it requiring a large, customizable amount of information to be shared, none of it will ever be personal info. The service will be free, similar to Facebook, and won't ever request any monetary or important identity information. There will also be a disclaimer in the beginning that says any page or person saying this kind of information is needed on the site is fake and should be reported immediately, in case there are people who try to trick people in revealing their info.
Lastly, any applications created or spread on the website related to areas like credit scores, social security, or bank statements claiming to be software to help manage private info will not be allowed, and immediately banned if located in use on the site. This is case users attempt to steal the information through creating or circulating fake applications.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Week 2 - Online Privacy
Since my entrepreneurship idea is based in a very personalized form of social media, the issue of privacy is very important. Having a page so customizable and filled with personal details means giving away a lot of information so it would all have to be well protected. To protect against the casual or investigating observer a person's profile page could only be viewed by people who both have an account with the site and are also friends with that person. Only the person's name and the fact that they have a profile are visible otherwise.
Photos would also need to be blocked by google image search as well, including all the specific emotion pictures and any animated gifs. This could possibly be avoided by setting up photos on the site to need a specific action such as typing in a visible phrase to view them on the site. That way, with this protocol protecting them, they couldn't simply be viewed on google. That or some kind of blocking program against google images would be employed.
These kinds of measures could be changed, but their default is the most secure setting so that no one could see any details of their profile without being connected to them on the network. People sending friend requests would also need to include in the request their actual relationship with them as well as a small message to confirm who they actually are. This would make sure that the person receiving the request can judge if they really know this person and choose to reject of accept their request. And if someone has to lie about who they are in the request, this can be spotted by the user and appropriately reject or even report the person in question.
Photos would also need to be blocked by google image search as well, including all the specific emotion pictures and any animated gifs. This could possibly be avoided by setting up photos on the site to need a specific action such as typing in a visible phrase to view them on the site. That way, with this protocol protecting them, they couldn't simply be viewed on google. That or some kind of blocking program against google images would be employed.
These kinds of measures could be changed, but their default is the most secure setting so that no one could see any details of their profile without being connected to them on the network. People sending friend requests would also need to include in the request their actual relationship with them as well as a small message to confirm who they actually are. This would make sure that the person receiving the request can judge if they really know this person and choose to reject of accept their request. And if someone has to lie about who they are in the request, this can be spotted by the user and appropriately reject or even report the person in question.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Week 1 - Social Media
Time to finally get around to writing up my entrepreneur idea. I never fancied myself as one since I think maintaining a business can be thankless and repetitive, but if there was enough of a creative, self-dictating aspect to it then it would interest me a decent amount. This thought actually led me to my own little idea, a spin on what I've seen in typical social media.
My idea is essentially a social networking site that has a much heavier emphasis on self-expression and creativity. It would take several aspects of Facebook such as profiles and add features that allow a much greater form of self-expression. One simple way of pulling this off would just be to expand the types of files that can be used as profile pics. Instead of still images, videos or gifs would be allowed as well as thumbnail versions of them to create a wider range of possibilities.
The actual profiles of the users would also have much more freedom, almost like merging the aspects of a blog into it. Backgrounds, texts, and layouts of the profiles can be personalized through either pre made designs, popular user designs, or completely custom ones that are uploaded. Music can be played in the background (toggled on and off in case it isn't wanted). A drawing program that has both a simple version (for casual users) and a complex one with a wider range of tools similar to photoshop (for more artistic savvy users) can be accessed to create photos right on the site quickly if wanted.
There would also be a game section with games that are rooted in personal customization or lack of restraints. Some classic examples would be pictionary or hangman (words can be preselected or custom). Other newer ones could be a simple obstacle course game where a character must be guided through a variety of obstacles using different skill to reach the goal. The hook is that all stages (except perhaps a few tutorial ones) are entirely crafted by other users via a stage creator. There's a wide range of freedom for customization, and users can choose to play in courses solely by their friends, courses that have been ranked high by others, or even just one absolutely at random.
One last area would one focused more on the free expression of ideas and opinions. There can be a wide range of topics, from mathematics and philosophy, or controversial ones such as gay rights. Users can enter these specific topics and either search through any started areas of discussion by other users, or go to a randomly created one to get a new perspective from anywhere. Users can simply read, comment (anonymously if wanted), start their own topics, or browse for specific ones. It essentially functions as a giant message board for a wide range of topics, but it allows users to become connected on a more casual and less serious level if they only want to get their feet wet much more easily.
There are definitely other things I may think of, but these are the only areas of such a site I've thought of so far. The entire idea is rooted in social media and will allow people to connect with others while making personal expression much more abundant and easier. Some of the functions are similar to that of Facebook, but expand on many of the features and add new ones as well.
My idea is essentially a social networking site that has a much heavier emphasis on self-expression and creativity. It would take several aspects of Facebook such as profiles and add features that allow a much greater form of self-expression. One simple way of pulling this off would just be to expand the types of files that can be used as profile pics. Instead of still images, videos or gifs would be allowed as well as thumbnail versions of them to create a wider range of possibilities.
The actual profiles of the users would also have much more freedom, almost like merging the aspects of a blog into it. Backgrounds, texts, and layouts of the profiles can be personalized through either pre made designs, popular user designs, or completely custom ones that are uploaded. Music can be played in the background (toggled on and off in case it isn't wanted). A drawing program that has both a simple version (for casual users) and a complex one with a wider range of tools similar to photoshop (for more artistic savvy users) can be accessed to create photos right on the site quickly if wanted.
There would also be a game section with games that are rooted in personal customization or lack of restraints. Some classic examples would be pictionary or hangman (words can be preselected or custom). Other newer ones could be a simple obstacle course game where a character must be guided through a variety of obstacles using different skill to reach the goal. The hook is that all stages (except perhaps a few tutorial ones) are entirely crafted by other users via a stage creator. There's a wide range of freedom for customization, and users can choose to play in courses solely by their friends, courses that have been ranked high by others, or even just one absolutely at random.
One last area would one focused more on the free expression of ideas and opinions. There can be a wide range of topics, from mathematics and philosophy, or controversial ones such as gay rights. Users can enter these specific topics and either search through any started areas of discussion by other users, or go to a randomly created one to get a new perspective from anywhere. Users can simply read, comment (anonymously if wanted), start their own topics, or browse for specific ones. It essentially functions as a giant message board for a wide range of topics, but it allows users to become connected on a more casual and less serious level if they only want to get their feet wet much more easily.
There are definitely other things I may think of, but these are the only areas of such a site I've thought of so far. The entire idea is rooted in social media and will allow people to connect with others while making personal expression much more abundant and easier. Some of the functions are similar to that of Facebook, but expand on many of the features and add new ones as well.
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