Betty teaches you the importance of keeping your OFFLINE identity separate from your ONLINE identity
Betty
Cyber Defender & Clubhouse Supervisor
Betty learned the hard way about sharing too much information online when rumors she had spread through her online blog upset some of her friends. Since then she has made it her goal to educate everyone about what information is inappropriate or unsafe to share online to prevent others from getting hurt.
As a Cyber Defender, Betty focuses on the most important information you should never share online, your offline identity.
A stumble may prevent a fall
- English Proverb
Tea and crumpets
Interests:Chatting, macrame, collecting teacups
August 19 2008
Safe Online Communication: Online/Offline friends
Sometimes it's very difficult to tell if someone is really telling you the truth in Cyberspace. People can hide behind a false identity, and some are so good at it that they can trick you for months, even years. You may be so convinced that the person you are chatting with is a kid just like you, and that you’ll be perfectly safe if you meet up with them offline to go get ice cream. But some kids who have been just as convinced have gotten themselves into some very dangerous situations.
Like Kacie Rene Woody, a 13-year-old girl who was kidnapped and killed by a man she met in an Internet chat room, a 47 year old man whom she thought was a 17 year old teenager. People like the man who killed Kacie are called cyber predators, and they frequently develop elaborate lies to try and trick kids into being friends with them and meeting them in person. Kacie believed the person she was chatting with was her friend, and that he just wanted to spend some time with her. Kacie's misplaced trust ended up costing her dearly.
My dear Cadets, learn from Kacie's story. If you have online friends, keep them as online-only friends. If you want to meet up with people to go get ice cream, only meet up with your offline friends, kids you go to school with or play sports with. Better yet, only chat with your real, offline friends in Cyberspace. You'll be much safer that way.
posted by Betty
topics: Safe Online Communication, Case Studies
August 5 2008
Personal Information: Creating a safe Alias
Your alias or screenname is the most important part of your Online identity, so you want to take care when choosing it. You want it to be something fun that you're going to like, but you also want it to be as safe as possible. Here are some tips for creating a good alias:
- Don't use any of your personal information in your alias. This includes your name (even if it's just your first name), your age, or where you live.
- Choose something that is gender-neutral, meaning that people won't know right away if you are a girl or boy.
- Follow good netiquette and choose something appropriate and respectful.
An unsafe alias can make cyber criminals and weirdo strangers think you are an easy target, and you might get more attention from them than you'd like. Be sure to choose carefully, especially if you plan on using it for a while.
Here's a list of aliases, some are good choices and some are not. Do you know which ones are unsafe?
PittsburghPete
i8aBug2
BananaMonkey
SparklesGrrl
uRstupid
GreenMonster44
CoolBeans
ToughGuy13
posted by Betty
topics: Personal Information
July 29 2008
Netiquette: Be the Better Person
This is the last post for my month-long Netiquette feature. If you missed any of the others, you can find them in the Netiquette category.
I frequently stress the importance of being anonymous when you are in Cyberspace, by using an alias to protect your Offline identity and never sharing any of your personal information. I tell you to do these things so you will protect yourself and your friends. However, for some people, being anonymous in Cyberspace becomes an excuse to behave rudely towards others. If they don’t know who you are, it’s okay to be mean to them, right? Wrong.
From time to time you may be confronted with a tricky situation in Cyberspace. Your email inbox might become flooded with spam or you might receive a nasty email from someone you thought was a friend. You might become the target of a cyber bully or have to deal with flaming on a message board or social networking site. Unfortunately, there will always be people who don’t respect others, and Cyberspace can bring out the worst in them. The best thing to do as a good cyber citizen is to Be the Better Person.
If someone is being rude in Cyberspace, you have a choice between joining in and making it worse or just walking away from it. If their attacks are directed at you, you can talk to a trusted adult about how to best deal with them before responding. You can also simply block them.
Sometimes honest mistakes do happen, even between friends. If that's the case, you can talk about it and work out an understanding. I recently had to tell one of my dear friends that while I love to receive emails from her, I don't like receiving 10 forwarded chain letter emails a day. She agreed not to forward them to me anymore and our friendship is better because of it.
As a good cyber citizen, you should help others out and always remember that there is a person with feelings behind that computer. Good Netiquette helps make Cyberspace a more enjoyable place for everyone. Try out my Netiquette Quiz game to test your Netiquette know-how!
posted by Betty
topics: Netiquette
July 22 2008
Netiquette: Internet chat slang
Welcome back to the month-long Netiquette feature. Every week for the month of July I will be posting a tip on proper Netiquette, the etiquette of the Internet.
Have you ever been chatting with someone online and they start typing something that makes absolutely no sense to you? Things like AFK, j00 and 8-)? Internet chat slang has become a major part of Cyberspace, and many people use it when chatting online or with text messages to save time and show emotions.
However, it can be frustrating and embarrassing when the other person doesn’t understand what you are saying, and sometimes feelings can get hurt. A good cyber citizen is sensitive to other people’s feelings and level of expertise in Cyberspace and they try not to use too much chat slang if they think the other person won’t understand it.
There are several different types of chat slang:
- Acronyms like BRB, LOL, and FYI are abbreviated versions of phrases like Be Right Back, Laugh Out Loud, and For Your Information. They are much faster than typing out the entire phrase, and can be very useful when text messaging.
You can find a list of common Web Acronyms here, but try to limit yourself to the ones that everyone knows, such as ROFL, TTYL, and J/K.
- Emoticons, from the words “emotion” and “icon”, are facial expressions or other pictures created with letters and punctuation symbols. Many emoticons, like :-) and >:-( are meant to be read sideways, and can be a fun way to show people your facial expressions when chatting.
You can find a list of common Emoticons here, including a rose @--/-- and a cup of coffee c["].
- L33tspeak is a type of chat slang that is commonly used among gamers. The term comes from the word “elite” and is a special form of writing where numbers and combinations of character are used to replace alphabet letters. For example, 3 replaces the letter E and 4 replaces the letter A. It can also be further distorted through intentional bad spelling and poor grammar, so the phrase 1 4m l33t stands for “I am elite.”
There are also words and phrases unique to l33tspeak such as w00t, which is used for celebration, like “yay”, and n00b, which means “newbie” and is a term from someone who is new to something or not very good at it.
You can learn more about l33tspeak here, but be careful using it because L33tspeak can become extremely complicated and very few people in Cyberspace understand it.
Try out my Netiquette Quiz game to test your Netiquette know-how!
posted by Betty
topics: Netiquette
July 15 2008
Netiquette: Pay Attention to Format
Welcome back to the month-long Netiquette feature. Every week for the month of July I will be posting a tip on proper Netiquette, the etiquette of the Internet.
The Internet can be a very informal environment, but that's no excuse not to use good netiquette. To be a good cyber citizen, you need to pay attention to the format of your emails, chat messages, and online posts, just like you would if you were sending your grandmother a nice letter. Here's a list of formatting tips:
- Don't write a whole novel if you really have just a few things to say. Most people receive tons of email and text messages and having to read through a really lengthy one can waste their time. Keep it short, polite, and to the point.
- Pay attention to the overall tone of your message. What you might intend as lighthearted teasing may actually come across as being mean. You can use emoticons and acronyms to help get your message across in the right spirit, since the recipient can’t see you face-to-face (more on those next week). Avoid using ALL CAPS in your message, in Cyberspace it means you are shouting and is very rude.
- Always check what you have written for typos or other mistakes. Sloppy writing reflects very poorly on you and with the abundance of grammar and spell-check features out there, there is no excuse for having typos. Just spend a little bit of time reading your message over before clicking Send.
- Emails should be formatted just like a letter, beginning with addressing the recipient ("Dear Officer Ward," or "Ms. Adelaide,") and ending with a signature ("Sincerely, Betty," or "Love, Grandma"). If it's part of a long email conversation it's okay to relax the format a little though, but initial messages should be properly formatted.
- Make sure the subject line of an email is something that makes sense so the recipient knows what the email is about, especially if it's about something important. Confusing subject lines will probably just frustrate and annoy the recipient, and then they might not even read the email.
You can try out my Netiquette Quiz game to test your Netiquette know-how!
posted by Betty
topics: Netiquette
July 8 2008
Netiquette: Ask Permission
Hello everyone, and welcome to my month-long Netiquette feature! Every week for the month of July I will be posting a tip on proper Netiquette, the etiquette of the Internet. Etiquette is defined as “the conduct or procedure required by good breeding or prescribed by authority to be observed in social or official life,” so in other words, good manners! While being friendly and polite shows good manners both Offline and Online, there are some special manners you should also follow in Cyberspace.
This week’s tip is to always remember to Ask Permission. A good Cyber Citizen always asks someone’s permission before posting anything about them on the Web or sharing an email, photo, or chat conversation. I know you’re smart enough to make absolutely sure that what you are posting or sharing does not contain any personal information, but you also need to make sure they know you are sharing it and are okay with it.
If your friend emails you a funny story, ask them if it is okay to forward it to your other friends before doing so, and be sure to remove your friend’s name and email address first. It’s also a good idea to check through any previous conversation threads for personal information and remove them if they have nothing to do with the part that you want to share (most emails will list all the previously sent emails at the bottom as a thread).
This becomes especially important in the business world because lots of very sensitive information is sent with email. You could lose your job if you accidentally forward some information to someone who wasn’t supposed to know about it!
You can try out my Netiquette Quiz to test your Netiquette know-how!
posted by Betty
topics: Netiquette
June 27 2008
Pictures
As I was going through the rubble I found some photos of students when they attended all the parties and dances we used to host here. Some of the pictures go all the way back to the founding of the school. Ah, they bring back memories. I’ll ask Omni about the possibility of posting some of the faculty’s pictures.