Glossary

Add (or Friend)

Used as a verb, this means the action of requesting friendship via an SNS.

Aggregator

A program or website that continuously collects data and information from other websites as changes and updates occur.

Avatar

A person’s visual depiction of him/herself in cyberspace, used to interact with other users in virtual worlds such as Second Life. This visual image does not have to be realistic, thus allowing a person to choose any desired self-depiction.

Bandwidth

The data handling capacity of high-speed Internet cables. There is a physical limitation to the bandwidth available on a network, therefore the amount of data transmitted over a network affects transmission speed. For example, more users on one network may slow the network down, likewise more data being transmitted over a network will slow the network.

BitTorrent

A Web 2.0 method of downloading a file via a network, or “swarm,” of computers. A file is broken up into thousands of pieces, then the user can download pieces from different users as they become available. Once all the pieces are downloaded, they are reassembled into one file.

Blogs

Online journals written by individual users. The term comes from “web log.” Blogs range from personal diary-type entries, to interest-specific musings, to highly political subject matter. Blogs are written by individuals, companies, and increasingly, news organizations.

Chat Rooms/Chats

Real-time instant messaging forums where multiple users can chat using a shared window that displays each user’s messages to the group.

Civic Activism Online

The use of internet by political and social organizations spread awareness, recruit volunteers, organize efforts and raise money for their causes. Many organizations now use email newsletters and online petitions as main forms of publicity.

Civic Engagement Online

The use of online conduits such as blog communities, forums, and neighborhood webpages to become more connected within their community.

Copyright

The legal declaration of sole ownership of the rights to use ideas or information, in works including software, pictures, music, and literature. Due to the ease of uploading these works on the internet, it is becoming more difficult for owners to enforce their copyrights to prevent the unlawful distribution, duplication, and re-use of copyrighted material.

Cyberbullying

Harassment and bullying occurring via digital mediums such as email, text messaging, websites, chat rooms, or instant messaging. The mediated and often anonymous nature of digital communication may embolden cyberbullies to engage in behavior that they would otherwise not. For victims, the digital marks left by cyberbullying (such as hurtful messages on cell phones of MySpace pages) in combination with the difficulty they face in attempting to escape this torment while constantly connected via digital technologies may increase the impact of cyberbullying.

Deep Dive

Exploring more deeply information learned from grazing through the mass amounts of information that an individual receives and scans. A “deep dive” signifies a further, purposeful engagement with specific information. For example, in grazing through One’s RSS feed, an individual may choose to “deep dive” on a particular blog post – going to the site to read the entire post, read other’s comments, search the topic to learn more, and finally, enter into the feedback loop.

Digital Dossier

The compilation of all pieces of information collected and retained in digital form about a person. Components of the digital dossier include information such as hospital records, GPS data (usually time and global positioning location) collected by phone companies, web service providers cookies or login records, as well as elements users contribute themselves, such as photos or blogs they post online.

Digital Exposure

Documentation, such as emails, records of instant message chats, or photos, of questionable activities can be easily captured, duplicates, and posted online. This documentation may later cause embarrassment to the exposed party, and has been in the past used as evidence of violating school rules or laws.

Digital Immigrant

A person who has adopted the Internet and related technologies later in life, typically after adolescence and young adulthood. Like a geographical immigrant, this person may adopt some aspects of a digital native while still retaining old habits. For example, this person may purchase a CD to play on his/her computer instead of purchasing digital music from the internet.

Digital Information Overload

The potential of increasingly available digital information to render itself inaccessible due to the sheer abundance of data and/or lack of efficient organization.

Digital Literacy

An individual’s fluency and comfort within the digital environment. Growth of digital technology imposes a need to educate all members of society to use Internet and other digital technologies in knowledgeable ways in order to actively participate in society.

Digital Native

A person raised in a technological environment, who accepts that environment as the norm. This person often has grown up surrounded by digital devices, such as MP3 players and cell phones, and regularly uses these devices to interact with other people and the outside world.

Digital Tattoos

Content added to cyberspace that can be retained even after the original content is subsequently removed, making it difficult to permanently remove from the internet.

Facebook

Facebook is a popular Social Networking Site which today has more than 64 million members (Feb 2008). Beginning at Harvard but then opening to other colleges and universities in 2004, Facebook expanded to high schools in 2005 and the general public in 2006. Users may upload textual content and photos, join common-interest groups, and “friend” others. Profile layouts share a common structure but a wide variety of content may be added to customize them through the use of "applications."

Feedback Loop

The “talk back” element of information navigation via digital technologies. Feeback refers to engaging with the information one acquires in a public fashion, weather by commenting, blogging, categorizing, or simply sharing. For example, an individual may engage in the feedback loop with a particular news story: he or she may post a comment on the news site, “tag” it on del.icio.us, write a blog about it, post a link about it on a message board, and send it to friends.

Friends

A feature of all Social Networking Sites, users accumulate “friends” – other users with profiles to which they are most often publicly linked. “Friends” enjoy special privileges such as being able to view their friends’ profiles and pictures, or being able to publicly comment on the user’s profile. Users are afforded privacy settings of varied level of sophistication to enable them to control who can view various parts of their profiles.

Grazing

A form of obtaining and lightly engaging with mass amounts of new information. This information may be accessed through websites, RSS feeds, text messages, and other disseminators of digital information. For example, one may “graze” the latest news by looking through one’s RSS feed, scanning one’s email inbox, and glancing over a media outlet’s homepage.

Groups/Communities

Within SNSs, there are groups/communities that users can join based on common traits, such as geographic location or school attendance, or common interests, such as hobbies or political affiliations These groups have communicative features such as discussion boards, photo-sharing, and event planning.

Instant Messaging (IM)

Real-time Internet communication via pop-up windows with a constantly updating transcription of the conversation. Instant Messenger communication is increasingly occurring via cell phones as well as computers. IM services provide a “buddy list” or “friend list” where one can see when contacts are online.

Intellectual Property

A broad legal term that refers to creative works and ideas, along with their associated rights and ownership. The term “works” generally refers to content such as photographs, artwork, movies, music, books, software, and television broadcasts. “Ideas” can refer to inventions or certain business processes.

Media Industry

Includes various media firms, such as record labels, motion picture studios, television studios, and publishers. These firms dominated the physical retail channels and are learning how to effectively promote and sell products using the Internet. This industry is also most affected by piracy.

Mobile Technology

Technology that allows information to be accessed nearly anywhere at any time. Examples of mobile technology are cell phones, mp3 players, and mobile game consuls, many of which include or will likely soon include access to internet.

MySpace

MySpace is a popular Social Networking Site, which as of January 2008 boasts over 200 million users. This Web 2.0 network allows friends from across the globe to create and share personal profiles, blogs, photos, videos, and music internationally. Users can 'befriend' others, send private messages, post public comments, join interest groups, and discover new musicians and artists by browsing users' pages. MySpace allows users to have a great deal of freedom in creating their profile content.

Online Politicking

The use of Internet by politicians to connect with voters and learn about issues facing their constituents. In election years, politicians’ websites can also be used to solicit campaign donations an inform voters about politicians’ views on key issues.

Online Predator

An internet user who seeks to exploit other users, usually for financial or sexual purposes. Media attention has focused on sexual online predators, particularly pedophiles and sex offenders who create false and/or misleading digital identities to interact online and even arrange real-world meetings with minors. Less vocal yet growing concern exists about the abundance of unsolicited advertising aimed at young users who inhabit online spaces.

Ownership

A philosophical dilemma becoming increasingly pertinent that addresses what can be owned, who can own it, and for how long. A related issue is how work owned should be treated in the Internet era, which provides new channels for distribution.

Participatory Culture

A culture where people create and share, enabling the exchange of ideas and collaboration. [Henry Jenkins defines Participatory Culture through five key points: 1) There are relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement; 2) There is strong support for creating and sharing what you create with others; 3) There is some kind of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced gets passed along to newbies and novices; 4) Members feel that their contributions matter; 5) Members feel some degree of social connection with each other, at least to the degree to which they care about what other people think towards what they have created.

Peer-2-Peer (P2P)

A method of downloading a file via a computer-to-computer internet connection, generally involving two personal users. The entire file is transferred via a software platform from one computer to the other.

Personalization (Customization)

The ability of a user to alter, add, or remove features on personal pages of social web platforms to fit his/her particular tastes. For example, MySpace allows users to customize the screen layout with HTML, Facebook users can add various applications to their profiles, and Second Life users can create customized avatars.

Photo-Sharing Services

Websites that allow users to post images that can be viewed and commented on by others. Most such sites enable users to enact privacy settings that control if photos are viewable by the public or just a select audience. In addition to Facebook’s photo-sharing feature, popular photo-sharing websites include Flilckr and Photobucket.

Platform Provider

The term for an organization that runs a website. The organization includes coders, programmers, website developers, and business developers.

Post/Upload

The action of contributing content to a website. Generally, “post” refers to textual information entered on a website, such as a user comment or blog entry. “Upload” refers to uploading a file, such as a picture, song, or video onto a media-sharing website. However, the terms are often interchangeable.

Profile

A web page that serves as a digital interface for SNS users. Profiles can be personalized though the use of text, photos, music, and videos. Profiles usually contain interactive features, allowing friends to interact with and comment on various elements of the profile.

Profit/$$$

The content and organization of commercial websites is often designed with profitability as one of the major factors. This profit-based motivation can impact users’ experiences of the websites.

Real-Time

Describes actively updating technology that can sustain text-based or Internet communication at a rate very close to in-person interaction.

Revver

A video-sharing service that allows users to download files and earn money through the uploading of videos and sharing of other content on the website.

RFID

Radio Frequency Identification. This technology uses radio waves to scan “tags”, which are small micro-chips placed in items such as clothing, library books, and credit cards. An antenna on the tag receives the radio wave and transmits back information stored on the tag, such as an item number or credit card information.

RSS (Reader)

A program that monitors updates from websites and displays those updates as a real-time information feed. RSS users may go to one site, or receive on their mobile phone, all updates for sites they have elected, such as news sites and blog sites.

Rip

The transfer of digital material from a media format (i.e. CD, DVD) to a hard disk. This term often refers to illegal duplication of copyrighted material, as copyright protection can be removed while the rest of the digital material (i.e. song or movie) is transferred.

Search Engines

A service used for searching information by typing in key words. One of the most commonly used features of the Internet, these services organize the vast array of information into an ordered list based on relevance to key words, according to an algorithm.

Second Life (Virtual World)

Second Life is an Internet-based virtual world released by Linden Lab in 2003. Inspired by the cyberpunk literary movement, Second Life is a user-generated world in which people play, interact and do business, using an avatar interface and a virtual currency.

Skype

Skype is a peer-to-peer Internet telephony network. Skype allows users to make free voice and video conferencing calls with other computer users over the Internet. For a fee, a Skype user on the internet can also make calls to a mobile or landline telephone.

Social Networking Site (SNS)

A site, like Facebook or MySpace, that connects communities of people and enable the flow of information among users. Users create profiles, upload textual or visual content, and interact with and “friend” other users. According to a Pew report in early 2007, 55% of youth (12-17) use SNSs, mostly to reinforce existing relationships.

Telecom Industry

Telecommunications and related companies which control the physical backbone of the Internet and other digital technologies. These companies own the cables and towers which transmit data for the Internet and wireless devices.

Text Messaging

Text messages sent from one mobile phone to another. Unlike instant messaging, text messaging occurs in discrete messages with no shared window.

Tagging

The process of labeling internet content, including web articles or other sites, photos, videos, or music. Online tagging differs from traditional labeling forms in that content may be tagged with an infinite number of tags, and each individual may tag content with different labels, allowing for multiple organization systems to function simultaneously.

User Base

An estimate of the number of consistent users on a website, most of whom likely have registered accounts. The number of unique visitors a day is also a widely used performance metric. The larger the user base and site membership, the more appealing it is for users, investors, and advertisers.

User Directed Content

Users of Web 2.0 sites often play a growing role in how content is organized. User directed content is content that people discover via others and also refers to the general schema of content organization within a website. Examples of user directed content is “tagging” and RSS feeds.

User Generated Content

User generated content is a driving force behind the rise of Web 2.0, and refers to the unique content (music, blogs, vlogs, etc.) created by Internet users, uploaded onto websites, and often commented on by others.

Video Mash-up

A video collage that consists of clips from multiple video, image and/or audio sources. Users collect content from movies, television, other users videos, photos and images, and music and sound, and cut, paste, and reconfigure this content to create a new video out of these disparate pieces.

Video-Sharing Services

Websites that allow users to post video files that can be viewed by others. Content typically includes both original footage and video clips from popular movies and TV shows as well as original footage. While personal users may face legal battles for posting copyrighted material online, major media companies have started uploading their own clips in exchange for advertising and product placement deals on these websites. Popular video-sharing websites include YouTube and DailyMotion.

Virtual Products

Digital items that can be purchased and gifted. Examples of virtual products Second Life accessories that users build or buy to customize their avatars, such as purses, hats, or other custom-designed clothing. Facebook also offers a “virtual gift” service to members, where “friends” can purchase and give virtual gifts – small pictures which are placed in the “gift” section of a user’s profile- such as a present boxes or teddy bears.

Vlogs

Video logs, or video diaries, are video recordings created by individuals in which the creator usually speaks directly into the camera, and then uploaded to video-sharing sites. These are generally personal, comic, or issue-based in nature. Vlogs are particularly popular among youth.

Web 2.0

A term describing a set of web sites and internet platforms, in which users generate, catalogue, and distribute content. Examples of web 2.0 are social networking sites like MySpace, social bookmarking sites like del.icio.us, and blogging sites like Wordpress.

Wiki

A web page and information resource in which information may be added, edited and deleted by users. This is a stand-alone wikipedia-modeled webpage focusing on a single topic or theme, with relevant subtopics.

Wireless Network

A technology that broadcasts wireless waves so that Internet devices can send and receive data without any physical connections.

Wikipedia

A Web 2.0 encyclopedia. Unlike traditional encyclopedias, the topics and informational content are created directly by users. Users may also edit topics and content submitted by other users to correct or expand the information available.

YouTube

The most widely used video-sharing service in the world and accounts for around ten percent of all Internet traffic. While YouTube faces the same problem as other video-sharing services with users uploading copyrighted material, it also houses an abundance of amateur video recordings. In addition to allowing users to post textual comments on other users’ videos, YouTube allows users to post video clips as comments.