E-Government

E-government: is the term given to  anything that the government askes the public to  do in terms of participation such as Paying Taxes and E-Petitions or tells us to do in terms of information for example Direct Gov and Government Gateway.

E-Petitions:

E-petitions is an online voting technique which allows anyone to vote on a current situation such as placement of speed bumps for an example. On most local government websites you are able to create your own petition and search through previous petitions that have been put forward by other members of the public. E-petitions on any local government website can be voted on by anyone who lives in that area, this allows everyone in the area to have an equal say in what goes on in their area. Once an online petition reaches a certain amount of signatures it is debated. On my local council websites it is possible to watch the debates online after they have happened.

Advantages

One advantage of e-petition is that everyone in the local area gets an equal say in what happens. Another obvious advantage of an e-petition is that it saves time; previously when voting you would have to go to your local town hall but in this case you can do it with the click of a button. As with all online activities it saves a lot of paper and is easier to organised and keep on top of.

Disadvantages

One disadvantage with an e-petition is there is nothing stopping people from going online and voting even if they do not live in that area; this can disrupt the balance of votes. Another disadvantage of e-petitions is that not everyone in the area would have access to the internet; this is especially common for elderly people who may have trouble voting online. A third disadvantage of e-petitions is that you usually have to sign up in order to vote, this may cause problems as some people do not like giving their details way online. 

Personal Experience

I have had limited experience with E-Petitions. I once took part in signing a petition in order for 16-18 year olds to have a Kent Freedom Bus Pass. This involved me, along with hundreds of others submitting our votes online; however the petition did not reach enough votes and therefore was not passed.

Paying Taxes:

There are many types of tax that you are now able to pay online such as car tax, you can also claim your tax repayment and complete your self-assessment tax return. Some websites also offer information on whether people would be entitled to benefits, for example people who are unable to obtain a job need certain types of benefits.

Advantages

One advantage of websites that offer this service is  that it makes it easier for people to pay taxes and that it can save people a lot of time by giving out a lot of information on the website.

Disadvantages

The disadvantages of paying taxes online are that it may be difficult for some people to understand where they find the information and generally navigating their way around the page. This could be seen as a waste of time.

Personal Experience

As I do not pay taxes I do not have any experience with this but I can see that it could be a useful way of paying taxes.

Vehicle Licensing/ Insurance:

Today there are countless numbers of insurance sites on the web all offering different and supposedly better offers on car insurance. The most widely used sites are ‘comparison sites’ e.g. www.comparethemarket.com or www.gocompare.com these sites evaluate all the different insurance sites and compare them against one another, this makes it easy for people to get the best deals.

Advantages:

There are two major advantages of buying car insurance online; it is both convenient and you can find the best deals. It is convenient to be able to go online from the privacy of your own home and compare many auto insurance companies, their policies, and how much they charge for the premium.

As I previously mentioned doing it online offers you both the opportunity to visit multiple website or comparing websites. This, in my opinion, beats calling up different insurance companies around town trying to find the best quote. Insuring your car online is easy and simple. You can have your quote in minute, and you can usually get as many quotes as you want free of charge. Another advantage of insuring online is that you can find the cheapest deals that you may not be able to otherwise.

Disadvantages:

Although there are a number of advantages to online car insurance, there are a few disadvantages. Trust is a big part of insurance and if you do not have physical contact with something some people find it hard to trust it, this problem could be common with online car insurance companies.

Personal Experiences:

As I have recently started to drive I have been looking into many insurance sites to get myself a cheap deal. As a 17 year old male it is hard to get a cheap deal anywhere but comparison sites are a huge help.

NHS Direct: 

NHS Direct offers help and advice on health issues that you may have. NHS Direct is the most used health website in the UK and caters for the needs of those in England, Scotland and Wales. As a part of the National Health Service, all NHS Direct services are free. NHS Direct first started with a 24 hour telephone advice line and from then on, it has developed. As the internet started to develop the NHS were able to set up a website that offered the same services as their phone line did. Their websites aim was to be a good source of accurate and up to date health information. The website allows people to access clear and straightforward health information whilst remaining anonymous.

Advantages

The main advantage of NHS Direct is its easy access and instant information; people prefer this over making a personal appearance at the doctors with things they may want to keep to themselves. As I have mentioned the NHS Direct website offers quick results, hence the ‘direct’ I suppose. Another advantage of the NHS Direct site is that it offers 24/7 help.

Disadvantages 

One disadvantage of the NHS Direct site is that you need internet connection, some people do not have this or have difficulty using a computer. Another more personal disadvantage is that some people prefer to see a doctor face-to-face rather than trusting a computer.

Personal Experiences

I have had no previous experience with NHS Direct but I have heard from friends that if you have a cough or a cold you can go and diagnose yourself to see if it is anything serious, which I think is very useful.

Local Government:

My local government is Kent County Council (www.kent.gov.uk). K.C.C offers services on adult and children social services, business, community and living, environment and planning, education and learning, health and welling, leisure and culture, jobs and careers, news and events and roads and transports. K.C.C deals with anything happening in the Kent area. It also offer e-petitions which I have talked about. One of the key features on the K.C.C website is the latest news section which offers all the latest from Kent.  

Advantages:

I believe there are a number of advantages of Local Government. It offers the people who live in Kent information on their local area they may not know. Another key feature of the website is its ‘have your say’ section which allows people to voice their opinions towards the local council.

Disadvantages:

I can’t see any disadvantages with the K.C.C website.

Personal Experience: As I have previously mentioned I have taken part in e-petitions on the Kent County Council website. 

Education

Online education is now very popular. Many students now use the internet to revise, research, and receive information from; it is now more widely used than textbooks. Due to the growing popularity of online education many websites have been set up such as: MyMaths and BBC Bitesize being the most well known. Alongside these websites forums and student rooms are being set up. Some teachers have also adopted the use of online services to use as a teaching aid. Online education helps people who lead busy lifestyles and don’t have the time to go through pages and pages of books to find the information; they need it at the click of a mouse.

Revision:

Revising online is easy, and with the huge number of resources you have, informative too. BBC Bitesize leads the way in online education but smaller sites such as MyMaths as catching up. Most exam boards also offer sites where students can go and pick up past exam papers.

Buying books and other resources:

Different websites now sell school books, textbook and revision guides which students can purchase online. These are helpful for revising throughout the year as well as before exams. Using different sources of information give the student a wider range of information to use.

BBC Bitesize:

BBC Bitesize is the most popular and most widely used online revision site. Its revisions tools range from KS1 all the way to higher A-Levels; this is a good thing because it has a wide audience. It also has different sites for different regions of the UK who may have different exam boards.

Advantages:

There are many advantages of BBC Bitesize. One advantage of Bitesize is the wide range of subjects it offers and that no matter what course you are studying Bitesize always has resources for you to use. A second advantage of Bitesize is that it is all online, in one place; this means that there is no need for any paper or spending money on textbooks. A final advantage of Bitesize is how interactive it is. I find interactive learning a lot easier that just reading out of a book etc.

Disadvantages:

In my experience I have found no disadvantages with the site.

Personal Experience:

From my personal experience I have found BBC Bitesize to be an extremely useful asset. I used it mostly for my GCSE’s but also for my A-Levels. I found it to be an easy to use, fun and interactive way of revising. I didn’t find myself getting board. Overall a great revision site.

VLE’s – Virtual Learning Environment

VLE’s are a great tool used by multiple schools today. More and more schools are starting to use state of the art systems such as frog. VLE’s such as frog allow you to access work from virtually anywhere with an internet connection. Many teachers now set work via VLE’s students are then able to log on using a username and password and then you are able to view resources from your school files.

Advantages:

One advantage of VLE’s such as Frog is that teachers can set work for students that are ill or away or if the teacher is ill themselves this means students can easily catch up on work they may have missed.  Another advantage of sites such as Frog is that all of your files are in one place and can be easily accessed and, much like BBC Bitesize, there is no paper involved. A final advantage of VLE’s is the huge amount of resources that are available to students.

Disadvantages:

One possible disadvantage there could be with Virtual Learning Environment’s is that they can be very expensive to set up. Another disadvantage that there may be with VLE’s is that younger students may find it complicated and difficult to use.

Personal Experience:

In my experience our schools VLE has been good for when I forget to transfer stuff and email it home. Also in the winter if we have a lot of snow and our school is closed, all of my teachers can set school work via the VLE and we could hand it in via it as well. It worked great and the teachers approved of it!

MyMaths

MyMaths is an online-based maths revision site. You have interactive tasks for different topics on there and they show you how to do a certain thing; so essentially it’s just like a teacher! Your maths teacher can also set online homework though it; you complete it and it the mark will be submitted to your teacher. Lots of schools now use this just because of the use of ease of it.

Advantages:

MyMaths has a number of great advantages. One advantage of MyMaths is that you can go over and revise work you would have covered in the lesson that day, but in a different way. MyMaths caters to all different learning styles. A third advantage of MyMaths is that if you do badly in homework you can go it again and improve

Disadvantages

One disadvantage of MyMaths is that the only thing that gets set to your teacher is your overall mark; this means they can’t see any of your working or where you can improve.

In my personal experience MyMaths was a huge help during my GCSE exams, if I was unsure on a certain topic I could log onto MyMaths and learn it. I liked the revision side of MyMaths more than the online homework because it doesn’t tell you were you go wrong, just what your mark is; so it is hard to improve on it

Online tutoring

Online tutoring has taken off in the last couple of months with the use of programs such as Skype. Online tutoring can be much easier because mainly everyone has a computer, and you may not always be able to find a good tutor for that subject in your area. A 1-1 tutor will help you immensely because all of their focus and attention is centred on you and it can help improve your grades dramatically.

Advantages:

One advantage that an Online Tutor has over a regular one is that they don’t always have to live near you, they could live anywhere! Another advantage of an online tutor is that they are usually cheaper due to the lack of travel they have to make.

Disadvantages:

One disadvantage of online tutor is that your Internet might not be very reliable and if you don’t have an internet connection then you can’t connect with your tutors. Another disadvantage of Online Tutoring is that it might be too time consuming writing out equations on the computer for subjects such as Maths and Chemistry.

I have had no experience with online tutoring although I have a friend who has one and he says it’s really helpful and just as good as a in person tutor.

E-Commerce

What is E Commerce?

E Commerce, also referred to as electronic commerce, involves any business or commercial transaction which takes place over the internet. E Commerce covers a number of different businesses from retail sites, auctions, music sites, to business exchanging trading goods. Ecommerce first emerged in the late 1970s. Ecommerce provides a 24/7 online ‘shopping’ experience with no barriers regarding distance.

Advantages of Ecommerce

Ecommerce offers a quick way of buying and selling products in an environment with no time limit or distances restrictions. Ecommerce also allows small businesses that have no have retail stores open to ‘open’ online; this gives smaller companies more of a chance to compete against bigger businesses. Ecommerce is easy to set up and manage and allows the customers to easily select the product they want, read details and reviews about that product and even compare it to similar products.

Disadvantages of Ecommerce

There are some disadvantages to Ecommerce. Many sites can take the customers money for the product that they are buying without any guarantee that the quality will be as promised, this is particularly common with auction sites such as EBay. Security is also a massive part of Ecommerce; many hackers/ viruses are able to access sites and take credit card details and then use them for other purchase without the knowledge of the customer.

Personal Experience:

In my experience E-Commerce offers so many different advantages such as shopping online for clothes, controlling my bank balance using Nationwide’s Online Banking sites. It saves me so much time and effort.

Online Banking

Egg.com Logo

Many of the well known banks such as NatWest, HSBC and Nationwide now offer online banking for their account holders. These are referred to as ‘Brick and Click’ banks. There are a number of ‘Brick and Click’ banks, although sites such as Egg Banking (www.egg.com) that operate entirely online, which started back in 1998 and has been growing ever since. There are many advantages and disadvantages of online banking:

Advantage of Online Banking for the Customer

With all Online Ecommerce, you can access your latest online bank statement any time of day, unlike the high street branches this makes it extremely convenient people who may have busy lives. Another advantage of Online Banking is that you can make transfers in to your bank or transfers to other accounts anywhere in the world. This makes Online Banking very much an international business; this compared to high street where it usually takes 3-5 working days. Online Banks also set up ‘app’ with both Android and iOS compatible devices which allow customers to make transfers on the go.  With Online Banking no paper is being used, which could be seen as an advantage and a disadvantage (for the more old fashioned).

Advantage of Online Banking for the Bank:

One advantage of Online Banking is the attraction of more customers and the bank itself can begin to gain more profit. This then increases how well the bank is known on a global scale.

Disadvantage of Online Banking for the Customers:

There are, however, some disadvantages of Online Banking.  Trust is a big part of Online Banking; trusting a computer with what can be, your life savings, is a big risk for some people. Although banks always have very complex security systems, your money could still be at risk. There is no human interaction for the customer, a friendly face is always useful if you need someone to trust, if anything goes wrong you can go back to that person, this doesn’t happen with Online Banking.

Disadvantage of Online Banking for the Banks:

Setting up of an Online Bank for the Bank can be very expensive with the setting up of security and the website itself.

Personal Experience:

As I previously mentioned I use Nationwide’s Online Banking site, it allows me to cheque my balance etc and is a really useful asset to have.

Online Shopping:

Online Shopping is one of the most successful additions to the web since it was created. It is now easier and quicker to buy things online than it even has been with next day delivery as an added option. There is also no need to travel which saves the customer money on car/bus/train.

Advantages of Shopping Online for the Customer:

One obviously advantage of online shopping is the lack of queues, you can now have your product delivered to your front door the day after you have ordered it; again like all Ecommerce online shopping offers 24/7 service. Online shopping allows you to save your favourite item and come back for it later, you can also leave comments and reviews on products for other customers to read and ‘like’ or ‘dislike’. One of the biggest that Online Shopping offers is the range and size of the stock they have.

Advantage of Shopping Online for the business:

There are a number of obvious advantages that Online Shopping offers to stores. It boosts the store appearance and makes the shop look good; it increased their popularity and brings in far more revenue then retail stores. Online shopping is also a fantastic way of expanding newly formed businesses.

Disadvantages of Shopping Online for the Customers:

Online shopping doesn’t give the customer the option to try out the product he/she are buying, sizing, quality etc. When buying online you have to pay for P&P (Postage and Packaging). There is a possibility of delays with the delivery therefore you may not be at home when it arrives and miss the delivery.

Disadvantages of Shopping Online for the Business:

Websites may not seem it but they are very expensive to run and maintain. Another disadvantage of online shopping for the businesses is the amount of competitions around.

Personal Experience:

I online shop, A LOT! I find it so much easier than going down to the nearest town and into store, it also gives me the option to shop on sites that may not be near me.

Online Auctions

The days of auction houses and hammers have gone and in their place are computers and the sound of mouse’s clicking. The most well known online auction site eBay was found in 1995 and has expanded to a global phenomenon. EBay allows customers to list an item up for auctions, other members then bid on that item in an attempt to get the highest bid.  

Advantages of Online Auction Sites for the Customer:

Online Auction sites allow customers to find items for great prices that they wouldn’t find anywhere else. Auction sites such as eBay allow you to see how trustworthy the person you are buying off is, it shows you a percentage of how happy people were with their products. If you already a product which is broken, you can buy parts for that product.

Advantages of Online Auctions site for the sellers:

Sites such as eBay can make a business out of selling other people items and even take commission on the profit that people make. eBay offer a service where if you build up a good enough reputation on their site you can become a ‘Power Seller’ and have your own section on eBay.

Disadvantages of Online Auction Sites for the Customer:

Online auctions are well known to be full of ‘scammers’ whose sole purpose is to rip people off. Some people sell fake products, to make people buy them and then sell them nothing. The customer is unable to test out products before buying them. The product that the customer receives may be broken or damaged.

Disadvantage of Online Auction Sites for the sellers:

As previously mentions eBay take commission (10%) on some good that you may sell. Selling on an online auction can be very time consuming as well. 

Real Time Information

The internet offers us the possibility to view up-to-date information on demand; this is called ‘Real Time Information’. There are a growing number of services that offer this on demand services such as: News Updates, Traffic Updates, Parcel Tracking, Cinema Booking and Rail Information. 

News Updates

There are many sites on the internet that offer real time information on the latest breaking news. One of the most prolific online news services is the BBC’s website (www.bbc.co.uk/news). The BBC’s news website offers a wide variety of topics such as: news, sport and weather all encompasses the real-time information aspect that people need. 

News

The News section on the BBC’s website is very easy to use, informative and most importantly offers up to date information with new news stories appearing in the ‘breaking news’ section. The News’s section has a number of different corridors to go down with the option of; World, UK, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales with each of these having their own sub headings of Business, Politics, Health, Education, Science/Environment, Technology and Entertainment/Arts. This wide range of topics allows people to search through the site easily and acquiring the information they were after. There is also a most popular section which includes‘Top 5’ news stories of the week; this can help people stay up to date with the news that everyone else is hearing about.

Sports

Sports updates on the BBC Website are also useful. If you miss a match you are then able to find the results. Real-Time Information also allows you to get up to date sports commentary; if you are un-able to watch the match you can get step by step news updates on it. They also offer news on transfers and other sporting news that you could want.

Personal Experience:

As a huge sports fan I find real time information on sports hugely useful. I have read step by step matches on the BBC Website countless numbers of times because I am unable to access a TV.

Weather

Real-Time Information is used to its full potential on weather updates. On the BBC Weather Site shows the 7-day weather, monthly weather assessment and the hot and cold spots in the UK.

Personal Experience

Before leaving the house I always check the BBC weather site which tells me what the weather is going to be like and ultimately whether I need a coat or not!

Air Traffic Information

‘Plane Spotting’ is now seen as a hobby for many people, and with the help of real time information sites offer the public access to plane times and the location of thousands of planes worldwide. Sites such as Flight Rader (http://www.flightradar24.com/) allow people to track the location of planes, the destination and where it came from as well as the air line it belongs too.

Advantages

One advantage of a site like Flight Rader; is that it allows people who enjoy the hobby of plane spotting to have greater access and more information about the planes they are looking at. Another advantage is that Flight Rader shows if there is a delay on the flight, this could be an advantage for people picking people up for the airport and knowing when to be there.

Personal Experience

I have had limited experience on Flight Rader but I can appreciate how useful it is, the plane selected in the image below I could actually seeing flying in the sky above me, I think that it is amazing to be able to do that.

Parcel Tracking:

Real time information allows us to track parcels that we have ordered, this allows us to see where the parcel is, how much it weights etc. A lot of websites now offer this option the most successful ones I have used have been from Amazon and the Online Apple Store; both allow you to see the location and the weight of your parcel.

Advantages:

There are multiple advantages to parcel tracking such as: being able to see where your parcel is and if there are any unexpected delays this then allows you to make sure you are at home or the place of delivery where the parcel arrives thus avoiding trips to the local post office to receive it. You can also see if the parcel has been delivered to the wrong address which is helpful. Below is an image showing the parcel tracking on the Amazon website; notice how it shows the location of the parcel.

Disadvantages

Parcel tracking heavily relies on the delivery driver updates his delivery as he goes along. But I can’t think of any more disadvantages of parcel tracking from my experiences it has been very useful.

It is not only parcels that you can track; other delivery services such as Dominos Pizza offer you a parcel tracker. Unlike other parcel trackers from websites such as Amazon the Dominos Pizza Tracker allows you to follow your pizza as it is being prepared, cooked, boxed and delivered; this screen print below shows the different stages.  

 

The Dominoes Pizza Tracker also gives you a rough estimate on how long it may take to get to your front door, as well as giving you the option to give Dominos feedback on your delivery; as customer feedback is vital this is a important feature.  

Personal Experience

In my experience parcel tracking is a huge advantage, it allows the customer to know when there parcel is arriving and therefore be there for when it does arrive.

Bookings (Cinemas, Theatre)

As I have previously mentioned more and more sites are now adapting real time information. Odeon (a well know cinema in the UK) use real-time information to their advantage, they use it to show customers what films are showing, what times and more importantly which seats are available. Below is an image showing the booking of seats for a film.

 Advantages

I find being able to book tickets online a huge benefit. It allows you to get the best seats possible, and sometimes offers you online deals you wouldn’t get buying over the counter.

Personal Experience

Whenever I am going to the cinema I always book ahead, it allows you to get the seats you want, and avoiding the embarrassing situation when you are told there are no seats to see the film you want!!!

Rail Information (London Transport)

Another great option that real time information can offer us is information on train times etc. Sites such as National Rail Enquires (http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/) allows the customer to enter where they are, their destination and the site will automatically produce a list of trains and times; the site also tells the customer if the train in delayed or if there are any problems.

Advantages

An advantage of this service is knowing whether your train is being delayed or not; this allows people who are commuting on the train to know of any delays before they even leave the house. With sites like this now having ‘apps’ people can book tickets, check times and delays on the go.

Disadvantages

There are no disadvantages with this site or any others offering real time information on train times.

Personal Experience:

Whenever I am travelling on the train, before I even leave the house I always check the train times, cheapest fares and whether or not there are any delays I need to avoid.  

Communication Online

Communication online is gradually becoming more important in the world we live in today, with the variety of ways you can communicate with each other constantly increasing. In this blog entry I will talk about the ways of communicating online, advantages and disadvantages of the different ways and also my personal experience of using the different online communication tools.

Email 

Email or Electronic Mail allows you to send a piece of text, photo, document, video file etc from one computer to another. Since it was founded in 1971 it use has grown exponentially as the internet has developed. Using email is simple, a message is sent to an individual post box on a mail server where it waits until an email client picks it up.

What is an email client?

An email client is a program run by a user to send and receive email. It retrieves all email for its user from the mail server to which it is connected. It sends all mail from its user to the same mail serve, for distribution to other users of email on other servers. The server therefore manages the communication of mail between internet domains (such as hotmail.com and yahoo.com).

With the technological advances now a day’s email can now be used on smart phones for example: iPhone. An email system essentially allows you to:

See a list of messages in your mailbox, showing the senders name, the subject of the message, and the date and time it was sent.

Select individual messages to view

Compose messages with a subject heading and textual content, and sent them to any other email address.

Add attachments to mails and save attachments from mails

The message is usually composed in an editing window or frame within the mail client. This used to be entirely text-based but can now also be HTML-based. In modern computers this message can be cut and pasted from another application.

Advantages of Email:

Emails are easy to use

Emails are fast, they are delivered at once around the world. Email is the quickest form of written communication in the world.

The language used in emails is simple and informal.

Emails do not use paper!!

Disadvantages of Email:

Emails may carry viruses; these are small programs that harm your computer system.

Many people send unwanted emails to others, these emails are known as ‘spam mails’

You mailbox can get flooded if you don’t regularly clear out your inbox.

My Personal Experience:

I, as a student use emails a lot! The majority of the time I use them for school work, to send work I have done at school home or vice-versa. Emails allow me to contact teachers if I find work hard or am having trouble with it. Email also allows me to contact relatives who live abroad; for example my uncle lives in Spain and without emails I would never be able to contact him. Emails are vitally important for me in the way I work both at school and at home.

Social Media

Social Media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are now used worldwide for communication and are an integral part of today’s society. Social Networking allows people do a variety of things such as: Favourite, Like, Follow, Re-Tweet, Tweet, Update their Status and the list goes on! The average Facebook user spends 1.2 days a month on the sight.

Facebook

Facebook is by far the most dominant social networking sight today with 750 million users currently using the site. Facebook was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and exploded onto the social networking scene and laid down the guidelines for social networking sites following it.  Facebook allows users to create a profile, where they can share information about themselves. After making your profile you can then add friends; this allows you to look at their profile page, you can also post on their ‘wall’.

Social Media Revolution 2012

Advantages

Facebook is free and its one of the best medium for communication.

With Facebook you can connect to any type of people from anywhere in the world.

Facebook is a great way of finding old friends that you may have lost contact with.

Facebook allows you to openly share your feelings and views.

Facebook allows you to receive news on celebrities and other news you may be interested in

Disadvantages

Fake Profiles are easy to make so there could be someone pretending to be you.

Facebook sometimes bring about bad results to students with them spending a lot of their time on the site.

FACEBOOK IS ADDICTIVE! Can lead to the death of a social life.

My Personal Experiences:

I have been on Facebook for about 4 years now, it allows me to talk and communicate with friends which I love. It also allows people to make groups and events; this is useful if organising a party where you can have all the information in one place. I do find Facebook incredible addictive however and I would be the first one to admit that I spend way too much time on the site.

Twitter

Twitter is the second largest social networking behind Facebook. Twitter has around a third of the users than Facebook does. Twitter allows you to ‘tweet’ which involved contacting other people with Twitter with the use of the ‘@’ symbol for example @SimonMatthewsBlog. Other ‘tweeters’ can follow you, re-tweet you or favourite your tweets.

Advantages:

Twitter is easy to join: takes less than a minute to create an account with Twitter and start ‘tweeting’

Twitter is easy to use: twitter limits its updates to 140 characters, so there’s no need to launch into long-winded prose or to over-explain your thoughts.

Twitter can be anonymous: unlike Facebook, which insists that you can use your ‘real name’ whereas Twitter allows you to choose any available user name you’d like

Disadvantages

Impersonal Relationships: it is not uncommon to hear someone boast about how many followers they have on Twitter.

Internet Predators: As with any social platforms provided through an online service, subscribers can fall prey to predators

Time Consumption: Twitter can consumer your time. Work, real social interactions and rest can all suffer if you are always tweeting.

Personal Experience:

I have recently created a Twitter account and I find it extremely entertaining. Unlike Facebook and other social networking sites there is always something going on, it also allows me to receive news from celebrities that I follow.

MySpace

MySpace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. MySpace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverley Hills, California. MySpace has many features such as: Bulletins, Groups, MySpace IM (Instant Messenger), MySpace TV and MySpace News.

Advantages:

Easy Access

Easy profile customization

Includes Blogging

International

User Friendly

Disadvantages:

Many fake identified users

Privacy

Safety

Security

Stalkers

Personal Experience:

I do not actually have a MySpace account but I have heard that it is a great way to communicate and express your views; it is also very closely knit with the Pop Music culture of today.

Forums 

An Internet Forum, or Message Board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from other sites such as chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived. Also depending on the access level of a user or the forum set-up a posted message might need to be approved by a moderator before it becomes visible.

Advantages:

You can start up a topic and discuss it with other people in the forum

You can post up different types of media

A moderator can edit and reply to other peoples posts to control the forums

Disadvantages:

Anyone can spam on the forums if not controlled by a moderator

Disagreements may occur and cause cyber fights.

Personal Experience:

I personally have used forums mostly for educational purposes. If you post a question on a sight such as wiki answers then you can receive feedback from professionals or experts in the field that you are asking the question about.

SMS – Smart phones 

One of the most unexpected ‘killer applications’ of the digital age has been the Short Messaging Service (SMS) or text messaging to the less technologically experienced people. SMS was originally devised to utilise the slack times in mobile phones transmissions to send short bursts of textual data; it has become the chosen means of communication for many people over the use of phone calls. SMS has become so popular with the public that a Short Messaging Language has been introduced with abbreviations and informal phonics such as BRB meaning Be Right Back and LOL which translates to Laugh Out Loud.

Advantages:

Private between you and the recipient

Quick and easy to do

Can get very quick replies

Disadvantages

Must have a mobile phone and phone signal

  Some people may prefer to talk in person

  Can make people feel isolated

Personal Experience

I can honestly say I am a ‘serial texter’ I all way have my phone on me and I am always texting, I find it so quick and easy to do; and with people my age in today’s age you usually get an instant reply. 

Blogs

Blogs or weblogs are a specialised form of website created for the purpose of keeping an online journal. Early on they replaced the personal home pages that any individuals kept to amuse and inform friends and family, or other individuals with similar interests. In order to keep blogs up to date and interesting, in a way that personal home pages rarely were, systems have evolved to facilitate easy posting of material. This usually involves a blog editor interfaced to a database system that:

Manages the posts

Manages links to other articles and websites

Archives old material

Allows for comments to be made on posts

Famous blogs such as the Huffington Post has received up to 26 million Unique Visitors in 1 month! (http://www.huffingtonpost.com)

Advantages

Blogging is really easy

Blogs can be set up quickly

Blogs are search engine friendly

Disadvantages

Need to keep it constantly updated otherwise you lose potential readers

Easy to start, hard to maintain.

Personal Experience

I am using www.blogger.com to set up and use my blog. I find having a blog very rewarding as you can seeing how many page views you have received and if you have any comments, although it does take a lot of maintenance it is worth it when you post each blog post.

Instant Messaging/ Chat 

Chat covers a range of scenarios across a range of different networking including:

Internet relay chat (IRC) – an open protocol no controlled by any one provider

Web-based  chat offered by ISPs (e.g. BT of Freeserve)

Website based chat offered by anyone with a site.

Chat rooms using SMS on mobile phones.

Instant Messaging also allows you to interact with other users in real time. It is usually more private than chat rooms, allowing a group of people to converse in real time without being snooped on by anyone they don’t specifically allow into the conversation. IM services allow two or more participants to communicate at the same time. 

Advantages:

Its free conversation can be held with another person without running up a large bill.

Messages are sent in real-time

Files and pictures can be sent in instant messaging conversations.

Disadvantages:

Messages can be intercepted

Virus via file transfers is possible

Can be distracting and time consuming

Personal Experience:

I used to use sites like MSN a lot more than I do now, I found them easy and fun to use; you can also use a webcam whilst you talk to friends which makes it more like a real conversation.

Podcast Logo 

Podcasts 

A podcast is a type of digital media consisting of an episodic series of audio video subscribed to and downloaded through the web.

According to the Apple iTunes Store in the UK the Top 5 most downloaded podcasts are

1. Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
2. Comedy of the Week from BBC Radio 4
3. Best of Chris Moyles from BBC Radio 1
4. Desert Island Discs with Kirsty Young from BBC Radio 4
5. The Infinite Monkey Cage from BBC Radio 4

Advantages:

Available anytime/ anywhere

Easy to create

New podcasts and auto-downloaded

Disadvantages:

Entire file is downloaded

Need sufficient space to download podcast

No interactivity.