BPN 1315 Removing subs to social networks at death

Last week I attended the funeral of a former colleague of the Dutch technology research centre. Former and present colleagues of him were present at the burial and brought back many good memories.

When I came home, I just googled on his name and noticed some 100.000 links. Many of those links went back to his reports and writings. But I also discovered entries to social networks such as LinkedIn and Plaxo. That begged for the question, who will strike out the profiles?

The basic question is of course whether he left his access code and password somewhere around or with a friend. If he did not, his relatives might see the name popping up regularly. And for people new to the deceased one, it is awkward when they asked to be linked and do not hear anything.

For the social network organisation, it means that the organisation will build up a ghost database of deceased subscribers. This can have an effect on the marketing status of the social network. A core of active users and a slew of ghost subscribers is the fastest way to destruction. In 1989 Compuserve acquired the pioneer information service The Source and dismantled it integrating the active users and suspending the many ghost users.

So the question is now: who will cancel the entry. The company will not do it as they do not know about the death. The next of kin can only do if they have the code and password. Such only happens when death is foreseen; which was not the case with my former colleague. The chance is great that there is no access code and password to be found on the computer or in a log.


What can be done? I looked at the conditions of one of the social networks and there is no mention about the death of a subscriber. It is unbelievable that the administrators of social networks think that subscribers have the eternal life with them. Cynically you could offer the suggestion to move the deceased subscribers to Second Life. Yet I guess that the nearest of kin will have to write a physical letter with a copy of the death certificate to the administration of the social network and request removal from the site. (It is strange to see that you can start subscription online as a legal procedure, but to request removal you will have to write a physical letter and send it by registered mail!).

Come to think of it, that I registered for a lot of social networks, more for the purpose of lurking than for active participation. Although I do not have the intention to pass away soon, I should register my access codes and passwords and put them in the safe. But of course when changes are made, I might have forgotten to effect the changes also in the register in the safe.

Blog Posting Number: 1315

Tags: social network

BPN 1021 Building a virtual world at school

It is quiet around Second Life. No longer are governments, municipalities and banks wasting money and storming into the virtual world to show the world how internet savvy they are. But now a Dutch language (sorry; please try the translation facility) evaluation report Best practices: Virtual Environments in Education has been published about an education project using virtual environments. The conclusion is that virtual environments are valuable additions for education, provided that the virtual environment project is bundled in with the teaching content.

Seven high schools have participated in the pilot project. Four experimented with Active Worlds and three were active in Second World. The Dutch organisation Knowledge Net offered training and technical support. The pilot fits in the SURFnet/Knowledge Net Innovation program for education.

The report offers a series of recommendations in the field of technology, organisation, and didactics and practical tips for schools which want to start virtual world projects. Here are a few hints:
- Test the environment well beforehand and arrangements with system maintenance about support;
- Make a special section in the electronic teaching environment for the participating pupils and teacher;
- Produce a plan with clear objectives;
- Offer the pupils a special section in the system, where they can experiment;
- produce a map of the environment with the object to be built and a division of tasks;
- Bundle the project in with concrete teaching content;
- Keep the pilot small;
- Make the pupils depended on each other, which will promote cooperation.

In the report two examples are offered, which can be used during classes. In a module on Roman architecture, the teacher can show a lot of examples of temples and houses. Parallel with the lectures the pupils can start building a temple or a house with an atrium. Another exercise could be modelling the school (see illustration).

The report stresses that the virtual environment should not be a project for project’s sake. But it should be an exploration trip in which pupils can work together and use the knowledge they have picked up. A virtual environment object should help the pupils to gather information about a subject. Cooperation in such a project is essential. The virtual environment also serves to excite pupils and to activate them to learn something about a subject like Roman architecture.

In my opinion the teacher will be essential in starting such a project. And almost every teacher regardless of the subject which he/she teaches can start such a project. Of course subjects like chemistry, physics and biology as well as art can use virtual environments. But also language teachers can offer a virtual world around the Eiffel tower and have the pupils chat in French. Even those pupils following abstract subjects like math and philosophy can use virtual environments. What about building the cave of Plato and discuss the problem of representation of knowledge.

It looks all exciting, but these types of projects will depend on the enthusiasm of the teacher, his/her computer versatility and the factor time.

See movie.

Blog Posting Number: 1021

Tags: education, virtual world, virtual environment

Cross country for cross-media (14)

While the CMID07 was going on on Hemavan (Sweden), my Italian friend Max Giovagnoli organised the cross-media conference Cross-Media #2 in Rome. Max is professor cross-media at the Link campus of the University of Malta in Rome; in fact he will manage there the new Cross-media Communication and Management Master of Arts next academic year!. In his former life Max was involved in entertainment and especially in crossmedia and broadcasting, amongst other as a director of the Italian version of Big Brother. He is the author of a book about cross-media; however the book is in the Italian language (see cover). He has organised the cross-media conference for the second time as you can see from the announcement. Having returned from Hemavan, I asked him how the conference went.

How succesful was the conference and how many people were present)?
Between the 100 and 120 people attended the conference. Cross-media # 2 had a great result on Italian media. No less than 5 dailies, 2 weekly newspaper, 2 television stations and 3 radio carried items about the conference.

What was the most talke about question. Was there a discussion on the term cross-media?
I openend the conference with a speech and focused on new trends in the cross-media communication and management market. I stressed the importance of videogames, virtual worlds online, mobile contents and new media narratives as the most powerful battlefields of the present and future.

What was the most convincing cross-media case brought forward in the conference?
It was not just one. In fact we had three cases:
- Second Life;
- Spiderman;
- Final Fantasy.

I also asked him a question about the Italian broadcast company Mediaset of the former prime minister Berlusconi. Mediaset and John de Mol team up in a consortium to acquire Endemol. John de Mol wants to get back Endemol, while Mediaset wants to learn how to make international deals. Being a big player or even bigger soon, it is important to see whether Mediaset would become a driving force.

What direction will cross-media in Italy take? Will broadcast be the main drive or film? And what would be the influence of Mediaset, if it acquires Endemol together with John de Mol; will that give a special drive?
It depends on what Mediaset will bring to the partnership, and on what it wants to achieve from Endemol. In general, I never had partnership or contact with Mediaset for cross-media initiatives and projects, and I believe it could be a significant happening, since there's still a terrible confusion in Italian television concerning convergence, multiplatform distribution and cross-media. But I could be wrong (I hope)...

Blog Posting Number: 719

Tags: cross-media