OK so you may have heard all the hype recently about the Stop Online Privacy Act or SOPA being discussed. First off the main thing to remember is that this act will only be in force in the USA, although the idea of it is good to protect peoples online IP and privacy, it is also solely aimed at protecting American online privacy, nowhere else.
The basis of the act is simply is will give additional powers to the US attorney to combat privacy from websites that are hosted outside the USA, this means that anysite hosting or offering information on how to infringe copyright will be a target, such sites includes torrent sites (hosting illegal movies, games, software, etc) and sites giving away source code for copyrighted materials.
Now I fully agree with the idea of protecting peoples IP and what this means for the world, I am not fully on the side of the Web giants on this one. It appears to me that the have not fully read and understood the new act, namely the fact that the act is not seeking to be a censorship of content, but simply to protect what people have created.
If we take youtube as a prime example, there a literally millions of videos on there, and not all of them are on there legally. Now whilst Google owns and hosts this site, it is Google that takes the wrap for this, yet under this new act Google will have additional powers to not only take the normal steps to remove the content, but can now take additional action outside the US on the people who uploaded the content and the ones who actually broke the IP.
So what I am saying is thay in my view this act is not intended to be a censorship act, more a protect the US act from foreigners. Now this is where I see the problem, we have a major organisation for keeping world peace, known as the UN or United Nations, it is in my view that there should be a higher act in place to protect everyone from IP theft, not just the US. Whilst I do understand that the US congress can only enforce US law, we all need to work to stop privacy and need to realise that there are lots of things online that are stolen, such as
- movies
- games
- software
- software code
- documents
and many many more items, all of which need protecting. So I do not see why the major web giants are so oppossed to this act, as the act itself specifically states that it is not censoring the internet, and does not require the social media sites to constantly monitor its users or censor content. It is also only an addition to existing US IP law.
What I think needs to happen is that the major web giants, Google, FaceBook, AOL, etc need to work together with all countries in order to come up with a more global act to protect their and everyone elses IP. After all its unfair to blame Google, FaceBook, AOL or anyone else for one of their users posting links to illegal content.
So in short the act is a step in the right direction, but we need a more universal solution that covers all countries and not just the US, after all the internet and more specifically the World Wide Web is global (and a british invention).
Thanks
Sean J Connolly
FaceBook Me
BuzzProperties.co.uk - Online Property Sales and Letting
Well after months of invites, BETA testing and alike the new kid on the clock has finally arrived. Google + is now live to the public. So what does this mean for you, me and FaceBook, LinkedIn.
In reality it means that with this launch there are now two big social networking sites to use for your social side of life, LinkedIn is still the only truely business social networking site.
But what about Twitter you ask, well in reality nothing will change for Twitter as it is and always has been a social media micro blog or stream, simply put its like a hit of espresso to keep you up to date with stuff that interests you, unlike the more cappuccino like take a seat you may be here a while approach of FaceBook and Google +.
In my view the launch of Google + going public will pretty much leave twitter untouched, but as for FaceBook there will be some people who more over to the new player, and others who stay put. I still think at present FaceBook is a bit more interesting than Google +.
I am going to stick my neck on the line and say FaceBook will continue to dominate this area for a while at least.
But what about the New FaceBook Changes?
As you may have noticed FaceBook's response to this go live of Google + has been to add new features to its platform, side news feed, larger photos, sharing etc. This is aimed at retaining FaceBook users, however I dont really see the benefit of copying Google +, after all that is just like admitting "yes it is better than FaceBook". I think FaceBook does know some users will leave to go to Google +, but I think overtime FaceBook will continue to have a larger continuous userbase than Google +.
So although Facebook feel it necessary to fight and copy the new platform, it seems daft to copy. Why not keep FaceBook as FaceBook and come up with new original ideas, not copied ones.
The Future
This is pretty simple really I think that the following will become reality for the platforms.
FaceBook - Continue to have the largest base of users on a regular basis, and introduce new features like video chat, etc.
Google+ - Will have the largest overall registered users, but a lower daily user rate.
Twitter - Will continue to be the daily aggregator of everything social, news and media. Users levels will continue to grow as people want and need instant updates without all the bells and whistles.
LinkedIn - Continue to have a large following with people keeping this platform solely for business and business connections. In most cases having totally different social circles than Google+ or FaceBook.
What About Me
Well at present I still use FaceBook, Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter. My most used platform has to be Twitter (its the only one I use on my mobile), it gives me the quick hit of info I need on the go. I keep social side of my world to FaceBook and Google+ and my business side solely to LinkedIn.
Feel free to connect with me on which every platform you choose.
Follow Me on Twitter
Add me on FaceBook
Connect on Google +
Add me on LinkedIn
So as it what the future holds for social networking, only time will tell, but in the mean time please feel free to connect.
Thanks
For Reading
Sean J Connolly
FaceBook Me
BuzzProperties.co.uk - Online Property Sales and Letting
