Ramon Thomas

Video Professor offers Protect Yourself Online: Viruses, Scams and Social Networking Tutorial

by Ramon Thomas in Advice/Video on 0202/020202/2008200820082008 • 2 Comments • facebook, myspace, tutorial, video professor

Leader in self-paced computer training combats Internet security fears with the launch of its newest tutorial, Protect Yourself Online: Viruses, Scams and Social Networking.

VIDEO PROFESSOR-the leader in comprehensive, self-paced computer software tutorials—is offering a three-lesson Protect Yourself Online: Viruses, Scams and Social Networking tutorial to teach people how to protect themselves, their loved ones and their computers from identity thieves, scammers and viruses.

Millions of kids create social networking profiles that make them susceptible to online predators. Dating sites can open the door for deception and cyberstalking. Ten million people buy and sell on eBay every month.

What makes the lesson stand out is the source and motivation behind it: the best-selling book, Net Crimes and Misdemeanors: Outmaneuvering Web Spammers, Stalkers, and Con Artists, by cybercrime expert Jayne A. Hitchcock. “What you know and more Importantly, don’t know about things like shopping online, web sites such as MySpace and Facebook, identity theft and even online dating, will surprise you,” said Hitchcock. “Simply put, you have to be prepared for every conceivable misfortune that could occur to the unsuspecting on the Internet.”

“When I read the book, I was very surprised to see how so many people are so trusting when they use the Internet. They believe that modern technology is keeping them safe. But you first have to understand the technology,” said John W. Scherer, CEO and founder of Video Professor, Inc. “The reality is, there are even more bad people who’ve figured out new and very devious ways to hurt you. That’s why we partnered with Jayne on this lesson. It provides the latest and best tools on how to protect yourself, your family and your finances. It’s designed to help keep you safe.”

The VIDEO PROFESSOR Protect Yourself Online tutorial helps consumers guard themselves against phishing, cyberstalking, online harassment and identity theft. The Protect Yourself Online tutorial teaches users the safety measures to take when making purchases online, the warning signs to look for that indicate you might have become a victim to identity theft or credit card fraud and the top ten online scams. Specifically, VIDEO PROFESSOR’s Protect Yourself Online tutorial provides three hours of in-depth, one-on-one instruction about keeping yourself and your kids safe while participating in social networking sites, online auctions, online banking, online shopping and online dating.

VIDEO PROFESSOR’s Protect Yourself Online tutorial makes it easy for users to learn how to protect themselves when buying and selling online, socializing online or just browsing the Internet. This new VIDEO PROFESSOR tutorial will teach you how to interact online safely and securely and how to portray yourself effectively while guarding yourself from becoming a victim. The Protect Yourself Online tutorial systematically introduces online hazards, such as:

Phony photos on online auction sites
Phony e-mail from major corporations and e-mail forwards
Reverse auction fraud
Firewalls, Internet security, passwords and cookies
Online impersonation
Dangers of blogs, journals and profiles on social networking sites

Identity theft is a particularly important issue for most computer users, and VIDEO PROFESSOR’S Protect Yourself Online tutorial provides detailed instruction about how to avoid becoming a victim. The Protect Yourself Online tutorial describes how to teach your kids to protect themselves and how to use parental controls to keep them out of trouble. VIDEO PROFESSOR’s Protect Yourself Online tutorial also explains computer viruses and how to steer clear of them. After completing the Protect Yourself Online tutorial, users will have all the information needed to protect themselves, their loved ones and their computers from identity thieves, scammers and viruses.

VIDEO PROFESSOR’s Protect Yourself Online tutorial is ideal for anyone wanting to enjoy the Internet safely without worrying about falling victim to criminals. The Protect Yourself Online tutorial is designed to be useful for beginner, intermediate and advanced skill levels. VIDEO PROFESSOR recommends a basic knowledge of using the Internet before starting the Protect Yourself Online tutorial. Once a user has completed all three lessons in the Protect Yourself Online tutorial, he or she will be able to surf the Internet with confidence.

“Like all of our lessons, this tutorial takes you step by step through the learning process,” said Scherer. “You learn at your own pace and schedule. But you learn. And when the subject is as important as protecting you and your family online, that’s key.” To learn more about VIDEO PROFESSOR and its complete line of computer tutorials, or to view a demo of the VIDEO PROFESSOR Protect Yourself Online: Viruses, Scams and Social Networking tutorial, visit VIDEO PROFESSOR and click on the CD Products link.

Q&A about the Future of Social Networking

by Ramon Thomas in Social Networking on 2929/010101/2008200820082008 • 2 Comments • facebook, google, microsoft, opensocial, orkut, profiles, technorati, trends, yahoo

Using Microsoft’s recent acquisition of a $240 million stake in Facebook as the point of departure:

1. What does Microsoft’s stake in Facebook practically translate into for the company? And for the site’s users?

Facebook now has a partner who can fund further expansion and growth as the need arises. Microsoft gains a very strong foothold into the Social Networking industry, which it has been lacking for a long time. Most user activity is now taking place online and not on the PC Desktop so this was crucial for Microsoft. For Facebook users it does not mean much because its only an advertising relationship which has been confirmed and solidified by the investment from Microsoft. Most people, and especially Facebook users, have become very savy in avvoiding online advertising.

2. Why the interest in social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace by internet giants like Microsoft and Google? What is the motivation behind buying/attempting to buy stakes in these sites? Is it straight access to a demographically-specific marketing database?

Yes, part of the reason is the detailed demographics available so advertising can be customised in a very specific way. The bigger reason is that next to search engines, social networking is where the majority of Internet users are starting there online journey. Google already owns Orkut, which is very popular social networking website in Asian countries like India. And that also explains why its not well known in South Africa.

3. One of the views I’ve come across suggests that the social networking space will tend to move towards a monopoly because people need to communicate with each other in the same “language”. Basically, if most of your friends are on Facebook, then it makes sense for you to join that as opposed to MySpace to communicate with them. Others argue that users of social networking sites are non-specific. If you have a Facebook profile, you probably have a MySpace profile and you use both. What do you make of the debate?

Social networking sites can either be specialised on generalised. The roots are always in a niche community. For example MySpace started out among independent music scene in San Fransisco to allow their fans to connect with the bands, sample music and get a full gig guide. So MySpace has and will continue to have a strong foothold in the music and entertainment industry. Most of my MySpace friends in South Africa have moved to Facebook. Facebook started among university students and has spread from there. MySpace is a behemoth with over 207 million registered profiles while Facebook only has about 45 million users. LinkedIn on the other hand is the #1 social networking website for business people with over 15 million users worldwide and almost 40,000 users in South Africa.

There is a trend towards websites that allow you to tap into all your social networking profiles from one place.

4. Do you think fears of a monopoly within the social networking space drive the market price?

Yes, there is a vicious competition between Microsoft, Google and Yahoo for control of the Web. They are the biggest online publishers by a far margin because they control 3 biggest search engines. Microsoft in particular is paranoid as more and more user activities takes place online and not on the Desktop.

5. Why has Facebook taken off in a way that MySpace never did? What are the key differences?

As I said before it’s a myth in South Africa that MySpace is not important. You may consider that MySpace has been around since August 2003 and Facebook launched in February 2004. And until late last year Facebook was limited to university students only. It does seem like MySpace’s growth is slowing down.

6. What is the future of social networking? A Datamonitor report estimates social networking sites will enlist 230 million active users by the end of the year, continue attracting new users until 2009 and then plateau in 2012. What do you make of this?

That Datamonitor report is wrong because MySpace is over 207 million and Facebook is over 45 million alone. That is excluding Orkut with about 67 million users and LinkedIn with over 15 million users. Even with some overlap of users the is at least 300 million active users worldwide. We currently have 1.1 billion Internet users and almost 3 billion cellphones users. My view is that by 2010 the grow in the Web will come from people using cellphones to access search engines and social networking websites. Most social networking sites already support access via a customised mobile interface.

7. The same report suggests social networking services revenues will reach $965 million this year and $2.4 billion by 2012. Is this income generated purely through targeted advertising on these sites?

Yes, most of the revenue is from advertising. Some websites like LinkedIn is generating 1/3rd of its revenue from paid members. Most of the rest do not have any paid subscription options – just yet. Google struck a deal in 2006 that guarentees MySpace $900 million over the next 3 years for exclusive search and online advertising rights. Remember Rupert Murdoch’s Newscorp bought MySpace in 2005 for $580 million and everyone thought he was crazy.

8. Google’s own social networking site, Orkut, hasn’t gained as much popularity as MySpace or Facebook. Do you think Google’s launch of OpenSocial is aimed to popularise it so it can join the big social networking players?

OpenSocial is a application programming interface (API). What that means its an easy way for programmers to develop applications on social networking websites. Google wants to be the interface to all the social networking websites. Most users still do not know how to get directly to websites. What they typically do is Google words like “Facebook” or even “Yahoo” to find these websites. So Google will remain influential. They are appealing to the technorati, the early adopters, to built loyalty to Google, not necessarily to Orkut.

Deleting my MySpace profile and loosing faith in Facebook

by Ramon Thomas in Social Networking on 1818/010101/2008200820082008 • 8 Comments • arthur goldstuck, facebook, friends, myspace, Tom Hodgkinson

There is a idea that I know is true. That idea is that I prefer to speak to a friend face to face. Maybe over a cafe latte or a glass a wine. Why do I prefer this type of interaction over social networking? Because I can SEE the person, I can READ their body language, maybe I can SMELL their perfume (if its a woman); I can TOUCH them and of course if there’s chemistry with someone from the opposite sex I can TASTE (kiss/bite) them.

What do I mean by all of this? It means I am using all of my 5 senses. And there’s much more to social interactions like banter, flirting, reading body language or non-verbal cues like touching of hair along with a certain statement or question, the movement of eyes, etc. I think you get my drift that MySpace, Facebook or any other online social network is severely limited in allowing you to fully and completing interact with people.

So it comes as no surprise I’m extricating myself from most online social networks beginning with MySpace. I joined MySpace a few years ago, when exactly I don’t have any records, so it may even have been before Rupert Murdoch bought the company in July 2005. There’s been some very interesting people I’ve “met” on MySpace. For the most part I connected with people I know and as many women as possible, evaluating it as a possible replacement for paid online dating websites.

This past week I found an article by Tom Hodgkinson, who is fast turning into one of my favourite media critics: With friends like these… - a real scathing attack on the false premise on which most online social networking is built. When people are blogging about their Facebook interactions you know there’s something wrong with the world. There was a time when people used to blog about parties or interesting things that happened in the office. But now you more and more people writing about their online exploits more so than real-world exploits. It’s a sad state the world has come to when virtual interactions (read The Matrix) is preferred to sensory stimulus from other people.

Well deleting my MySpace profile was easy because most of my South African friends and many others have moved Facebook. Those who were never on MySpace, like Arthur Goldstuck, actually created a Facebook profile. Removing my own Facebook profile may be more of a challenge because I’m using it for marketing and promoting events.

You may be interested in downloading and reading this short little guide I’ve produced for HR managers and small business owners on the productivity dangers of Facebook use by employees and staff.

Taalgenoot interview on the impact of Technololgy on Human Relationships

by Ramon Thomas in Interviews on 2222/111111/2007200720072007 • 2 Comments • facebook, mxit, psychological impact, skype, taalgenoot, technology

1. How does communication technology change the interaction of people (for example: from as young as 11 years children start to MXit and spend as much as 3 hours per day in their own virtual world.. But on Facebook long lost friends can keep in contact. Kindly give positive and negative comment)

Technology allows people to stay in touch with friends or family in remote places that could be very difficult or expensive otherwise. One of the first stories I discovered about MXit, was that of a grandmother in South Africa who was communicating with her grandsons in the UK. She was using MXit, and they were using MSN Messenger on a PC. Skype also allows people to make free voice calls over the Internet at no cost to anyone in the world using Skype.

The problem with technology as a communication medium is that increasingly people do not take responsibility for their actions. So for example people are cancelling appointments or meetings using SMS. Teenagers and adults are breaking up relationships and asking for a divorce using SMS. So technology allows people to avoid any negative reaction from other people. And the really bad part of this behaviour is that you never get to learn, through feedback, a valuable lesson in human relationships.

2. What can parents do to keep tabs on their children’s technology use (such as MXit and Facebook)

With MXit parents can install it on their own phones and add their children as a contacts. This way they can see when their children go online and when they go offline. Be warned that many children will refuse or delete their parents as a contact. When they delete your contact, after accepting you. You will see them as offline all the time, which defeats the purpose of monitoring them. If you have a good relationship with your children this will work.

With Facebook, simply register with Facebook, and search for their profiles. Again be warned you cannot see their profile unless they have accepted you as a Facebook friend. And most teenagers will not do this because it’s just not cool. If you have an open relationship ask them to show you how Facebook works, including a detailed explanation of their profiles.

3. What does communication technology do to the one to one and group communication skills of teens and young people. (eg. to introverts MXit is a way to express themselves but they lack the ability to build relationships etc.)

It can both increase their social contact and decrease their social skills. On MXit, the chat rooms are anonymous because people use nicknames. You may be able to say something in a chat room you could never say in person. So you never learn how to be assertive. And if you are already shy you may after a lot of time practising improve your ability to communicate. The challenge is that when you communicate online, either MXit, or Facebook, you cannot read body language or voice tone, and this reduces the amount of information you have available. So it’s a short term solution for a introverted child to use technology to communicate with people. They should, with help from their parents and teachers, learn how to communicate face to face. Debating clubs and public speaking classes is very good for this

4. Does technology changes the psyche? (Do people become more directed towards technology than their fellow-men?)

There is a growing amount of research that proves that multitasking is a myth. Also with technology many people are learning how to intelligently avoid real work in companies. When people in an office is surfing the Web (including Facebook) it can seem like they are working and yet they are not doing anything work related at all. It’s likely that South Africa is loosing hundreds of millions of Rand due to unproductive employees. And the responsibility lies with the companies to educate their employees on good online etiquette. More specifically I’m becoming very pessimistic about the impact of technology because so much of it is a form of escapism from reality: everything from playstations, to chat room, or online social networks. Nothing beats the real thing!

5. How do you personally use communication technology (Facebook) and how much time do you spend on it

I use or at least try out all new technology as it emerges. I am also a regular blogger and contribute to many online forums. The most important technology for me is email, cellphones and Skype. My primary focus is using technology to communicate with large numbers of people in a personalised way. What I mean is I can use a bulk email software to email 1,000 people using their first name like “Hi Karen” and this gets a much higher response rate. In terms of time I spend to much time using the Internet because its at the core of my business. I spend about 8-10 hours online 6 days a week. I also switch my cellphone off after 8pm and have been working toward ONE Technology FREE day per week, usually Saturdays.

6. Which communication technology is used the most by the different generations?

Preteens and teens – MXit and other instant messaging platforms
20 and 30 year olds – Facebook and email, yes
40 – 60 year olds – Cellphone and email, yes

Podcast – Jeremy Maggs interview on SAFM

by Ramon Thomas in Downloads/Podcasts/Social Networking on 1717/090909/2007200720072007 • 1 Comment • facebook, interview, jeremy-maggs, Lynne-Cawood, mxit, Podcasts, SAFM, Social Networking, steven-ambrose

This was one of the best interviews I’ve done on the topic of Facebook and MXit ever. Also interviewed with me was Lynne Cawood, director of Childline Gauteng and Steven Ambrose, director of World Wide Worx Strategy.

The interview was for a almost an hour on the After 8 Debate, a segment of the morning show on SAFM, hosted by Jeremy Maggs.

Download the SAFM interview here (size 19MB, length 53 mins).

How is online social networking websites impacting children's ability to communicate

by Ramon Thomas in Social Networking on 0404/090909/2007200720072007 • 1 Comment • childline, facebook, jeremy-maggs, Lynne-Cawood, SAFM, Social Networking, steven-ambrose, world wide worx

This morning I was interviewed by Jeremy Maggs on the After 8 Debate (SAFM). The question on this debate is: are online social networking tools, such as Facebook, MXit & MySpace retarding our children’s ability to communicate? Lynne Cawood, director of Childline Gauteng and Steven Ambrose, director of World Wide Worx Strategy was also on the panel discussion via telephone. I was in studio. I never miss out on opportunities to meet the presenters/hosts in person.

Lynne Cawood stressed the proliferation of sexual images in the media and society in general. This has led to first sexual encounters occurring at younger and younger ages. Forced sexual contact has happened to about 40% of children by ages of 17 to 18 years. My own view is that cellphones/MXit is accelerating the development of relationships between teenagers in an unhealthy manner. They never learn through face to face feedback the lessons, which will become valuable later in life. And more specifically they could experience relationship burn-out as they just have nothing left to say/offer when they do get together face to face.

Steven Ambrose said that nothing in society has changes but the technology is allowing you to do same things in new ways. World Wide Worx research shows that teenagers do not even think of cellphones as technology because it’s seen as just being part of their daily lives and more of a fashion accessory for some

Download my latest MXit / Facebook presentation for parents/teachers.

My talks to parents/teachers/children now include information on Facebook. In just 4 months it’s gone from 20,000 to over 250,000 users in South Africa. The number is likely much higher because not everyone is linked with the South Afican network on Facebook.

Something we didn’t address in the interview which I feel very strongly about is the growing productivity challenges for companies with soaring use of the Internet / cellphones in the workplace. This could cost the economy over a R1 billion over the next 12 month in lost hours from employees goofing off during work time.

Facebook drains attention and a mental bandwidth

by Ramon Thomas in Business/Social Networking on 0606/080808/2007200720072007 • 1 Comment • Business, facebook, netiquette, Social Networking, workplace-productivity

This Wednesday morning I will be interviewed on eTV Morning Edition at 6h30am likely just after the news bulletin about the impact of social networking website Facebook on business. The views I am going to express is something that needs to be taken very seriously by companies, especially small business. You see small businesses and entrepreneurs often do not have the tools like larger corporates to block access in the same way. In fact in many cases they may not even realise how much time is being wasted on Facebook or sending/forwarding and reading joke emails. This must be the curse of the knowledge worker i.e. that you can pretend to work whenever you are clicking around on your PC.

There has been several articles and comments in the South African blogosphere about the impact of Facebook. Vinny Lingham highlights how stupid outright blocking of Facebook is and Mike Stopforth gives 5 reasons why you should let your employees use it. Both refer to this News24 article about South African companies blocking Facebook.

As an Internet evangelist I will always support more Internet access. So I agree fundamentally with Vinny that companies should address it on a individual basis. So I would recommend companies write Facebook and social networking access into the Internet Usage policy. Once they have informed employees that their access is being monitored the next step should be compulsory online netiquette training to increase workplace productivity and reduce technology stress.

You see there is a problem with multitasking as reported by CNN back in 2001. And if your block the access outright people will find a way around it. Secondly you won’t be able to monitor or track their activities. Remember nobody is teaching employees basic online etiquette these days. Way back in the early days of the Web there were many people who supervised things on their own accord like your friendly neighbourhood online bodyguard. Today companies are making a lot of assumptions about people’s online behaviour, their levels of self-discipline and their ability to take the initiative in improving their productivity. So for a better understanding of the Attention Age go here.

The Impact of Social Networking on the Value of Information

by Ramon Thomas in Events/Social Networking on 2929/070707/2007200720072007 • No Comments • Events, facebook, information-pollution, lecture, linkedin, myspace, seminar, six-derees-of-seperation, small-world-phenomenon, Social Networking, university-of-johannesburg

Last week I was invited to present a lecture at the University of Johannesburg by the Department of Information & Knowledge Management where I am an alumni as well as currently registered for my Masters degree in Information Science. Contact Andrea Ferreira if you would to be added to their list for similar seminars held every couple of months.

The key points were as follows:

Information pollution is devaluing faster then ever before – So learn how to avoid or stop information pollution and information overload.
The numbers: Worldwide Internet users over 1.1 billion, worldwide cellphone users: over 2.5 billion, IM users approximately 580 million users, Social networking users approximately over 300 million
MySpace and Facebook are both huge social networks for teenagers and increasingly people over 35. MySpace is particularly strong in the entertainment industry and Facebook has loyal support from the university/college campuses while experiencing explosive growth in South Africa.
LinkedIn is the most useful social networking tool for professionals with over 12 million registered users worldwide and over 25,000 in South Africa. It’s changing the way recruitment is done as well as background checks on new employees. You may be interested in the excellent ebook: How to double your income in six months using LinkedIn.
The concept of Six Degrees of Separation and the Small World theory is the basis for the success of online social networks.
Google has been a key driver in the emergence of the long tail in marketing and onlie retail. Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace for $580 million in 2005 and people thought he was crazy and not long afterwards signed an exclusive deal with Google guaranteeing at least $900 million over 3 years. Facebook users generate about $6 in advertising revenue while MySpace users only generate about $2. And based on Youtube‘s value it’s 124 million unique monthly visitors are worth about $13.
According to Rich Shefren, the information age is dead and we now live in the attention age. People with elements of ADD have an advantage because they can focus for short periods and maintain productivity levels while switching between tasks. Ordinary people’s potential efficiency is reduced each time they change tasks by 20% to 40% depending on the complexity of the tasks at hand. The abundance of choice impacts decision making because most people are NOT trained how to evaluate source of information. And therefore there exists a Paradox of Choice.

Some recommended resources of where you can start research and narrow your focus on more valuable information are: Squidoo, ChangeThis, Google Answers and to a lesser extent Yahoo! Answers. And if you still have not make some time to read the entire Cluetrain Manifesto, published in full on the website. As a side note if you are interested in the rise of Blogging read the quarterly report by Technorati: The State of the Live Web.

You can view the presentation or download it from Slideshare.net here:

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Video Professor offers Protect Yourself Online: Viruses, Scams and Social Networking Tutorial

Taalgenoot interview on the impact of Technololgy on Human Relationships

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