Netiquette, Security and Interactions
7. Netiquette
Netiquette is the online, correct way to interact with other people and the online world around oneself. While it is not mediated by any one person or organisation, it is a broadly monitored aspect of the online world. Just like in the offline world there are expectations from people of what is right and wrong in the online world and what behaviour is inappropriate for anyone to partake in. Face to face communication has the luxury of voice tone, and facial expression, but the internet primarily uses text (with the exception of VOIP and similar programs). It is crucial then for people to pay close attention to what they’re typing.
Poor netiquette can create a harsh and offensive environment for many people, and usually the public tool they’re using (if they’re using a public tool) will notice a demise in users due to their being offended (Patterson, 2002). This action appears to be the best way to deal with poor behaviour. Also, a poorly designed, slow loading web page, which is often a poor setup in the online world, will suffer as people become impatient and leave. This is the same for public chatrooms when they become rude or irrelevant (often followed by mass exodus). It’s difficult for poor behaviour not to have some ramification in the online world, if only for the user who is behaving poorly being left alone in the world.
It is often understood by advanced users, that appropriate behaviour is used to help create a world where users feel comfortable and safe, however many don’t abide by these techniques. A good example of this is that of online Role-Paying games. While these games are mediated, many also get away with poor actions, as other may feel it’s inappropriate to ‘dob’ them in. One example of poor behaviour however was that of Cynewolf, who ganked (killing newbies mercilessly), and as such was punished in the game of Roma Victor by being crucified on a cross. Usually punishment consists of a harsh email or ban from the game, but here other creative forms have been used to help instill the fear of punishment.
On that note, newbie’s are often the problem with online netiquette. They’re usually the ones who type in Caps Lock when they want to bring something to the attention of others, without realizing that this is interpreted as yelling. Patience is required with newbie’s, and while it can often be noted that correcting someone’s typing is considered poor netiquette, it can be a good idea to point out these mistakes to a new user. This should not offend new users the same way it may offend advanced users, as it is a learning experience, and useful knowledge, especially when this knowledge is required in formal communications. Once these tools have been taught to the new user, the cycle continues, with the new user then able to pass on this knowledge to the next user.
So what helps define what can and should not be done? People generally should only do what they would like done to themselves. This is a good rule of thumb for any new user, and is often the rule followed by advanced users. Be polite, and helpful, and don’t yell or abuse others in personal or public forums.
Annotations
*Cyber Creations. (2008). Retrieved October 1, 2008 from http://www.mmorpg.com
This website is a compilation of information and articles about online role-playing games. It mentions online gaming netiquette in articles and forums, and is a good place for people to get a good understanding of how these games work, and the behaviour expected when playing them. The site gives an up to date account of most MMORPG’s. The website is a little cluttered and disorganized but offers a lot of tools for users.
*Email Etiquette. (2008) Retrieved October 1, 2008, from http://www.netmanners.com.
This website is a great little tool to learn all about etiquette. It mostly mentions emails, but this tips can be used across a range of online mediums. It offers Email Etiquette 101 as a course for beginners, and also has sections for advanced internet users. It also is trying to encourage uniformity amongst users, offering the ‘pledge’ for users to put on their sites to state that they abide by these rules. The site is clean, easy to use, and very helpful for any user, no matter what their skill.
23. Human-Computer Interfaces
The internet is well known as a tool which has been designed for human use, by humans (Leiner et al, 2003). With the development of the internet comes a new world with a highly complex social organisation that many people fear due to the unknown factors which come with this world. What seems to be forgotten when this fear arises in people is that all technology designed to be used as a tool by users has been thought about and directed in a certain fashion to create these products, and to further develop them (Tay 2008).
With this online world also comes artificial intelligence, new forms of interaction and the possible demise of human values and decision making (Tay, 2008). The interfaces may seem colder to some, but perhaps this is due to users bringing personal expectations to this world. An example is of a study of distance communication on the internet. When two people were told that they were talking long distance (over a thousand kilometres away) and two other told they were talking within the room to each other, the long distance communication was more likely to be deceptive, than the close communication (Moon, 1998). Despite the fact that both forms of conversation were virtually no closer than each other, it appears that it is the user which brings social expectations to this online world.
People expect behaviour from people as if they were talking face to face with one another. So do people feel fooled when they mistake artificial intelligence to be human, or feel comforted by their computer games, despite having no human interaction?
Artificial intelligence is a tool to be used by humans to make life that little bit easier, and maybe it is colder than humans expect, or maybe it is just human expectation which makes it seem cold. What it really is offering is another form of communication and interaction which is so new, that humans have not yet developed proper online expectations, and often seem disappointed by what they achieve otherwise.
Mistaken identity was apart of the offline world also. An elderly man might think a statue is actually a person, a child might think that the life-like-dog-robot is real. Mistaken identity is nothing new. But perhaps this technology and artificial intelligence can offer something that can’t be received in the offline world. When someone is alone and seeking comfort, perhaps they can achieve that through artificial intelligence. It may not be a human, or they may mistake AI for being human but it does offer interaction. Humans may simply be accepting machines because they are convenient, but maybe this technology is also filling a void in humans, creating a more productive, efficient lifestyle.
Annotations
*Gary, P. (2008) Human-Computer Interaction Bibliography. Retrieved October 1, 2008 from http://hcibib.org/.
This website offers a highly exhaustive list of Human-Computer Interaction sources. This website also offers to users the use of columns, articles, and helpful tools, but it can be daunting to use as it is full of information, but has a poor website design. The author has compiled 40,000 publications fom different sources and organised them under useful headings to help users sort through them.
*AIResearch (2008) Retrieved October 1, 2008 from http://www.a-i.com/
The authors of the website research Artificial Intelligence, and this website demonstrates their analytical results and findings. The website holds Alan, a pattern matching conversational machine who talks back to the user, and Hal, who is a reinforced learning algorithm machine. The site also has forums, papers, online labs and demonstrations of their current studies, and is a neat and clean site to use. This website is useful for people learning about Artificial Intelligence, but is quite shallow for advanced users in this field.
26. Privacy and Security
It’s naive to believe that one, even an advanced user, is safe and secure once they connect to the internet. Hackers are often a step ahead in the war against intruders. These hacks can become quite creative, but can also often be a new twist on an old problem. Current issues are buffer overflows (when malicious users send more information than can be held by a machine and causes it to either crash or lose data integrity), USB bugs, and recently the DNS hack (a current major security flaw in the design of the internet ). The DNS is the ‘white pages of the internet’ (Lemos, 2004). It translates the address a user types in to the IP address. Hackers have then ‘poisoned’ the DNS to allow them to re-route a user to wherever they wish. This is a vulnerability which can allow theft of information without anyone noticing, and many organisations are still unpatched, despite being warned of this vulnerability (check out the DNS checker to see if you’re secure).Privacy is in a similar boat. No one is reliably protected online. For example the recent webmail hack on Sarah Palin’s email account which consisted of using information made available through articles written about her, and then using this information to attack her account.
Advanced users are cautious about giving out their personal information, and protecting themselves as best as possible, but this is often not enough. An advanced user is still vulnerable towards DNS attacks, and USB bugs. Computers left unlocked for any period of time are targets of attackers with keyloggers. (Locking accounts when left unattended help by increasing security but it should be noted that hackers don't need an unlocked computer to use a keylogger). A hacker left alone with any computer for just a few minutes can access data, or install malicious software. Secret Questions which have their answers online are unsafe (remember Sarah Palin above). Care should be taken when articles are written about organisations employees. Unnecessary information being published is a liability and should be avoided as much as possible. Similarly, care should be taken when talking to people in person. Information given to strangers in conversations are also dangerous. This information can be used in a similar fashion as that information which is given out online, and should be avoided. This act of getting information from employees face to face is a tool used to test corporate security. Physical security in an organisation, or even at home, should be secured just as strongly as the online security. Quite often people (the users) are the weak link in the chain, not the software or hardware.
If a determined attacker has a target (they have information they want) and they have enough time and money, then it is unlikely that they will be stopped. The best tips are to use secure, random passwords, do not let people write about you in public forums, be careful of who you are friends with on social sites, try to maintain a minimal-access firewall, and regularly use up to date anti virus programs.
Annotations
*Ethical Hacker. (2008). Retrieved September 30, 2008, http://ethicalhacker.net/
Ethical Hacker offers an up to date forum for the online community to discuss security, privacy and online vulnerabilities. It’s free and offers columns, features, and certification for users. It is widely used by the hacking community and is beneficial to many who need answers to their security questions. This community encourages the sharing of knowledge, and the developing of the knowledge of new users.
*Internet Privacy. (2008). http://www.privacy.gov.au/internet/internet_privacy/
This is an Australian government website which offers free information about internet privacy including Australian Privacy Law. It’s a good source of information for anyone seeking information about privacy online. It offers advice for anyone who is anxious about their security. Also available at this site is the “do not call” register, Step Guides to online privacy, and a complaint section for people who are having issues.
References
Lemos, R. (2004). Internet’s “White Pages” Allow Data Attacks. Retrieved October 1, 2008 from http://news.cnet.com/Internet%27s-%27white-pages%27-allow-data-attacks/2100-1002_3-5291874.html.
Wood, J. (2006). Ganker Crucified. Retrieved October 2, 2008, from http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm?loadnews=4849%2F&bhcp=1
Moon, Y. (1998). The Effects of Distance in Local Versus Remote Human-Computer Interaction. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 103-108. Retrieved October 1, 2008, from ACM Database.
Tay, L. (2008). Protecting Human Values from Human-Computer Interaction. ITNews. Retrieved October 1, 2008 from http://www.itnews.com.au/Feature/4411,protecting-human-values-from-humancomputer-interaction.aspx
Leiner, Barry. M., Cerf. V., Clark. D., Kahn. R., Kleinrock, L., et al. (2003). Internet Society: Histories of the Internet. Retrieved October 1, 2008 from http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml
Patterson, G. (2002). How to Avoid Being Labelled a Spammer. PGTS Journal. Retrieved October 2, 2008, from http://www.pgts.com.au/pgtsj/pgtsj0211d.html
Posts
