Intro to Online Journalism

Readings Two
When Google is not your Friend, The Coming Tug of War Over the Internet, and Journalism Students Need to Develop Their Personal Brand

When Google is not your friend:
http://news.cnet.com/FAQ-When-Google-is-not-your-friend/2100-1025_3-6034666.html?tag=nefd.top
This article actually surprised me a bit. I cannot imagine how much information google must hold because I alone have searched google many times. Just for keeping the records of one city would be an overwhelming job. It makes me a bit nervous though to feel like privacy is unprotected. I know that our privacy really isn’t strong anyway even with the laws holding it in place but I feel like I could more easily be manipulated by a company just through the results google collects.
I think that by storing this information it can be a really good thing or a really bad thing. The man who was almost prosecuted after his wife’s death in November because he googled words like “neck”, “snap”, “hold” and “break”. If this man is guilty the information received from his googled words could be beneficial in coming to a conclusion with the case but if the man is not guilty simple searches such as those could be for millions of things and would unfairly prosecute him.

The Coming Tug of War Over the Internet:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/21/AR2006012100094.html
Wow this article reminded me a lot about the power people have over manipulation through the internet. It basically was saying that the nations largest telephone companies can control which search engines are faster. Over time people will switch to the faster search engine and although they believe they are making these decisions for themselves it’s all a manipulative business tactic.
Many companies like Google and Yahoo are encouraging the government to make a law that ensures the telephone companies stay on neutral ground and that the best website will win. The companies do not want phone or cable companies to influence the content on our computer screen.
I would definitely have to agree with these companies. I don’t want to be manipulated like that because technically I do want to go to the fastest search engines or the better websites but I do not want that to be determined by phone or cable companies but by myself. This article got me thinking and it slightly disturbs me.

Journalism Students Need to Develop their Personal Brand:
http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2009/08/journalism-students-need-to-develop-their-personal-brand231.html
This article I agree with but I don’t feel like it’s any new information. I think it’s vital to make sure your information is out there on the web because it can determine a lot about a person and often times will create a first impression. Luckily I have this blog which has my name in the domain and I actually purchased a domain name mweventplanning.com for my future business already. I believe I am holding up what is stressed in this article.
This article also says to make sure when your name is googled that you are one of the first ten links. Fortunately for me, I have a unique name so when I go through a search engine, links connecting to me come up. Unfortunately simple pointless things like facebook and friends on facebook come up as well so it may not appear as professional.
I am hoping to soon learn more about withholding and creating a better online reputation.